New levels of power

means there will be no complaints when it comes to legroom in the rear.

There are some nice piano black inserts in the dashboard and doors, which make it feel more upmarket, and this model comes with sports-style front seats to hold you in firmly place on tight corners.

An 8in colour touchscreen gives you easy access to most on-board features as well as satellite navigation and this car comes with Vauxhall’s OnStar system so everyone on board has access to Wi-Fi on the move.

Surprisingly, though, there are no cup holders in the rear, which will probably annoy a few members of the family.

Externally, the Astra now has a sleek, futuristic look to it which definitely dates its predecessor.

It’s a car which is well equipped with features like air conditioning, hill-start assist and a special driving assistance pack which uses a forward camera system to give you forward collision alert, traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning.

You can even use a voice recognition system to operate various systems, although, oddly, with the radio you have to know and say the frequency of the channel you want rather than just saying ‘Tune to Radio 4.’

This car was also fitted with the Luton car maker’s Intellilux LED matrix headlights, an expensive optional extra at £1,250, but well worth it if you do a lot of night driving.

The system cleverly lights the road ahead brilliantly without dazzling oncoming drivers thanks to 32 LEDs, some of which can be switched off when necessary.

If you haven’t driven an Astra for a while it’s well worth checking out the bi-turbo. It impressed me and I’m sure it will impress you too.