Of family favourite needs no French dressing to be winner BEST OF BRITISH
145bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine and also a nine-speed automatic gearbox available with the diesel engine.
We drove cars with all three engines but we’ll concentrate on the diesel for a couple of reasons – it’s going to be popular with fleets and I also think it’s the best car.
Diesel? Isn’t that the fuel of the past? Well, a modern engine as fitted to the new Astra is pretty clean. This one, for example, is fitted with SCR (Selective Catalyst Reduction) which removes
90% of nitrogen oxides. The diesel is available with a six-speed manual gearbox as well as the automatic gearbox. Our test car was fitted with the latter transmission. It’s a £1,660 option but worth it if you do a big mileage and drive in town a lot. It’s smooth, effective and usually in exactly the right ratio.
As soon as I’d gone a mile up the road in this Astra I was reminded of one I had on long-term test almost 20 years ago. There was nothing really outstanding about it but it was easy to live with and remarkably relaxing to drive.
This generation Astra is very similar in character but with almost 20 years of development it’s even more sophisticated. Forget how a car handles and how fast it is, what really matters to me is how comfortable it is and what it’s like to drive.
I was particularly impressed with how well the new Astra soaked up the bumps. Perhaps it was its extra weight over the lighter three-cylinder petrol engine, but the diesel Astra was more comfortable over the rough stuff than the petrol versions we drove. They rode comfortably, too – just not as well as the diesel.
Inside, not much has changed. It’s logically laid out, well put together and the controls are easy to use.
The lower spec cars are the best whereas the high spec Elite Nav model is an awkward combination of modern digital instruments and old school analogue. I suspect the next-generation car, with its French influence, might have a snazzier interior.
The new Astra might not be as sporty as Ford’s Focus but that is of no consequence to most drivers. It’s a better all rounder and more comfortable with it.
I was expecting this mildly tweaked car to be rather mundane. I was wrong – little changes, big improvement.