Category: Hot Hatchbacks 
Price Range: £15,405 to £22,000
Good performance, smooth engines, comfortable over distance
Not the most engaging hot hatches, indifferent residual values
Surprisingly good hot-hatch serves up good performance, if not outright thrills
Vauxhall's deadlocks typically perform well in security tests, and all models come with remote central locking and alarm. The Astra scores four stars in Euro NCAP's independent crash tests, which is quite good for the class, particularly as it was tested back in 1999 and an audible-seat-belt warning (which Euro NCAP is a fan of, but we aren't), isn't fitted. The Astra SRi comes with twin front airbags, with side 'bags a relatively inexpensive option. They're standard on the GSi. SRi models have traction control system, which - sometimes annoyingly - cannot be switched off. In snowy or icy conditions, this can sometimes be counter-productive, unexpectedly cutting power and unsettling the car; it should remain switchable like in the GSi.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Vauxhall Astra
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