Vauxhall Astra ST
Another car leaves the Garage. No tears, though
The past six months have been very uneventful in the life of the Astra Sport Tourer! It’s gone about its business in a solid if uninspiring way and never had a problem! It’s like a mild cheddar! If it’s in the fridge" then it’s going to do a job" but if you had the choice you’d buy the stinky" stronger variety!
It’s movement for the masses" this! The car you get given when you turn up for your first day at a sales job! But do you know what? It’s good! Very good! It rides well and feels quite premium inside" has a decent boot for a Sports Tourer #it’s an estate!$! Bashing out a lot of motorway miles is its bread and butter" and helping out on a trek to the west coast of Scotland as a tracking support vehicle was an occasion when it impressed everyone!
There were a few gripes" however! It’s got more beeps and bongs than a Kraftwerk concert! The parking sensors were forever going off" even when driving along on an otherwise empty road & I’m glad the button was near the gearstick as it drove me mad! Threading through back streets" the crash warning also flashed and screamed at me regularly! Annoying!
CarPlay is a great thing to have" but I just didn’t get on with it! Infotainment is so important these days" and I think Vauxhall has nailed it with its new system! No need to bother with CarPlay at all!
The top spec SRi included a heated steering wheel" which was fantastic in the winter" if a little slow to warm up! As was the whole car! It took a good '( minutes to get going in the morning!
The OnStar wifi was particularly handy with kids on board and helped ease the data burden of streaming music! But the ongoing costs would put me off renewing after the free year had expired!
Ultimately" though the Astra served us well" it didn’t inspire! A safe choice!