23 Apr 04
Vauxhall's Astra is one of Britain's best-selling cars, but reviews and features on it inevitably include the words "underrated", "often overlooked" or generally just express surprise that actually, it's a lot more fun to drive than you'd expect. Well, let's not beat about the bush here: the new Astra IS good. Very good, in fact. It has a high-quality, feel-good interior, looks well screwed-together and has a reassuringly solid feel - very Germanic, if you like that sort of thing. The Golf-alike character is emphasized by the plain black dashboards of some models, simply-decorated monochrome facias and tasteful upholstery (though the options are there for some more garish choices, or for fake wood if you really want it). The new platform, with its overhauled suspension, has taken the Astra's handling to a new level of agility and precision. The styling may not be pretty, but the Mk Five Astra is far less bland than its predecessor, either to drive or to look at.
Topping the range, at least for now, is the 2.0-litre Turbo model, which develops 170bhp and 184lb ft of torque. It's not meant to be an all-out hot hatch - it comes in five-door form only for the moment - and is not especially quick (135mph and 0-60mph in 8.4 seconds), but could serve as a usefully rapid small family car, going head-to-head against Ford's Focus ST170. Priced at £17,195 (SRi specification with lowered suspension) or £17,645 (Design, with part-leather sports seats, full electrics and MP3-compatible stereo/CD), it's the quickest Astra until a 200bhp model is launched summer 2004.
There will be a few differences between this Turbo and the 200bhp model, which will be offered in both three- and five-door bodystyles. Both have a six-speed manual gearbox, but the 200bhp/193lb ft model will have closer-spaced lower ratios and a lower-set sixth gear, for better performance at high speeds rather than acting as an economical overdrive ratio. The 200bhp model is going to do 144mph, and accelerate from 0-60 in 7.4 seconds: more creditable for a hot hatch, if still not in Honda Civic Type-R or Golf R32 territory. The 'proper' sporting Astra follows in autumn 2005, probably to be launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show; this will be three-door only and will have "over 220bhp", according to a Vauxhall spokesman, as well as being uncompromisingly performance-oriented.
