Thursday 14th January 2010

We were talking about how the all-new Astra compares to the Golf... It's been the topic of converstion here in our offices but we're most definitely not the experts. Here's an article from TopGear, which may have the answers...

Vauxhall Astra 1.4 Turbo SE (Driven Nov 2009)

Highlights from Sam Philip's article:

"We aim West out of Ellesmere, onto the M56 and into sheep country. We're in a high-spec Astra with the new 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine, and the first impression is how well the thing rides. It's a bigger car than the previous generation, having grown by 17cm in length and 7cm in wheelbase, yet it tackles motorways like a larger car, floating serenely over dodgy Liverpudlian tarmac, delicately smoothing bumps without ever feeling disconnected."

Sam then goes on to say...."No such qualms about the cabin. It's great, a proper mini-Insignia. Tiny red mood-lights lurk around the base of the front doors and under the gear lever, throwing a welcoming glow across the cabin like a cosy Amsterdam brothel on a stormy evening. Maybe you'll find it a bit chintzy, maybe it'll irk after a few years, but it makes people go ooh-look-at-that, and we like it. The instrumentation is classy and clear and the needles throw a pinpoint of light onto the rim of the dials."

And finally...."Night is falling and, 400 Welsh miles down, we slip quietly over the border back into England and rejoin the motorway for the monster night-time haul back to Fortress Top Gear. The Astra slips into long-distance mode, giving us time to consider the crunch question: should you consider one over a Golf or Focus?

"Short answer: yes, you should. The price, for a start, should keep you interested: similarly specced, the Astra undercuts the Focus by a few hundred quid, and the Golf by more. Mechanically, dynamically and, er, interiorially, the Astra is a fine car. It doesn't move the hatchback game on like the original Focus did in 1998, but it propels Vauxhall right to the head of the pack, a worthy rival that'll match the big boys in just about every department and maybe edge them out in one or two. And damn it, it's (mostly) British and for that reason alone it deserves to save Vauxhall, so bally there."

To read TopGear's full article, CLICK HERE