Vauxhall Astra
British contender has the power and the kit, but is that enough in this test?
MODELTESTED: Vauxhall Astra 1.6 CDTI 136 SRI Nav PRICE: £23,305 ENGINE: 1.6-litre 4cyl, 134bhp THE latest Vauxhall Astra surprised many people when it was transformed from an also-ran into one of the best cars in its class. It’s great value for money in SRI Nav trim as well. It costs from £23,305, so it sits in between its rivals on price, but has a more powerful engine than either the Honda or Renault.
Design & engineering
VAUXHALL uses some clever details in the architecture underpinning the Astra to cut down on weight, so it’s up to 200kg lighter than its predecessor thanks to strategic use of aluminium components. At 1,275kg – 65kg less than the Honda and 123kg lighter than the Renault – the car has the lowest kerbweight here by a decent margin, which is a big help when it comes to allimportant efficiency and its driving dynamics.
Just like its rivals, the Astra uses Macpherson strut front suspension, and at the rear there’s what Vauxhall calls a ‘compound crank rear axle’. This is in effect a torsion beam, which helps packaging, with some extra locating bars to improve lateral stability.
Inside, quality is at least on par with the Honda and a little behind the Mégane, but the design is starting to look a little dull next to the more interesting layouts in both rivals. The Astra has a functional cabin, but offers none of the Renault’s flair; it’s quite dark and features big expanses of plastic that aren’t exactly upmarket.
This SRI Nav version is well equipped, and features an eight-inch touchscreen sat-nav display with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, as well as the Onstar concierge set-up, which includes a Wifi hotspot. There are also 17-inch alloys, while the Astra’s styling has been evolved for this model. It’s a shame heated seats cost £355 extra, but you do get a heated steering wheel thrown in with that option as well.
Driving
FOR this budget you can get into a more powerful 134bhp Astra, which gives a reasonable boost over the 118bhp Honda and 108bhp Renault. It also produces the most torque of our three cars, with 320Nm available from 2,000rpm.
At the track, the Vauxhall accelerated from 0-60mph in 8.7 seconds, comfortably the quickest of the three and also helped by its low kerbweight. It’s the same story with in-gear performance, where it easily beat both its rivals in our 30-50mph and 50-70mph tests in each ratio.
What’s even better about the Astra is the way it rides and handles. The hatchback flows smoothly over British roads, with enough compliance to iron out the worst of the bumps. Plus, it has enough body control in corners so that the car feels secure and fairly well tied down, although the Honda is a little sweeter in a series of bends.
Even if you increase your speed the Vauxhall remains comfortable and composed, and you can carry plenty of momentum into bends, so combined with the more powerful engine it’s easy to make swift but fairly relaxing progress even on poorly surfaced B-roads. The steering weight is good, and the driving position is decent as well, so you can genuinely enjoy a drive in the Astra. However, the Vauxhall is let down by a rubbery gearshift action compared with the superb Civic.
Practicality
AS there’s only 370 litres of boot space, the Astra is the least practical car on paper, but the load area is a useful square shape, so you can maximise what’s on offer. The boot is still big enough for a family car in this class, and it’s not likely to cause a huge problem day-to-day; it’s just that the other models here provide a bit of extra flexibility should you occasionally need it.
The Vauxhall’s sloping roofline means it looks like rear seat headroom wouldn’t be that good, but it’s actually fine for adults even with a fairly upright seating position. It’s about on par with the Mégane for legroom back there, too.
The driver-focused dashboard and centre console design mean the front seats feel a bit more cramped than the Renault’s, although it’s a similar story in the Honda, which also has a busy dash. At least there’s a good amount of storage up front in both.
Ownership
VAUXHALL scored poorly in our Driver Power 2017 survey, finishing in 23rd place out of 27 manufacturers overall and 22nd for its dealers. That’s a shame, but the brand has so many dealers around the country that there will be one close by should your car need work.
A five-star Euro NCAP crash test safety rating is a plus point here, and it matches its rivals. Driving Assistance Pack One is standard on this model, and it adds autonomous braking, forward collision alert, traffic sign recognition with lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist. Go for the £750 Parking Pack and you get blind spot warning, self parking and a rear view camera as well.
Running costs
THE Astra recorded the best economy on test, with 53.4mpg. It proves there are still plenty of positives to diesel.
This means it will cost £1,254 to fuel each year, but that’s not much less than its rivals, at £1,329 for the Renault (50.4mpg) and £1,337 for the Honda (50.1mpg). The Astra’s higher insurance bill counteracts this, though. Our example quotes showed an annual policy cost of £649, compared with £474 for both of its competitors here.
However, while routine maintenance costs undercut the Honda’s, it can’t match the Mégane’s impressively affordable £99 three-year service pack.