Dec 2009

David Ithier recently won a competition on MSN Cars to drive the new Vauxhall Astra at the Millbrook test track. Here’s what he thought of the new car…

The new Astra is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous model in terms of styling and quality of materials used. The new design of the centre console echoes that of the Corsa which we own and love. The amount of standard kit was impressive too. The 1.6 was not as lively as in the previous model though and was mated to a truly awful gearbox as the ratios were just too far apart. However, the 1.6 turbo was impressive and enjoyable to drive and would be the petrol model of choice for me. This was mentioned by everyone I spoke to who drove it.

The competition was really knocked out of the park apart from the cars main rival, the golf. It would come down to pricing as to where my money would go. I think the Astra is more stylish than the Golf, however, the Golf does offer a great drive, superb handling, outside styling (inside it is functional but a little unimaginative) and excellent build quality.

The Focus drove well but was let down by mediocre materials used in the cabin and too much road noise. The Civic was a great drive let down by poor quality of plastics used in the cabin, the Peugeot was simply let down all round. The Audi was great but who would pay that much for that type of car?

All in all I would be really pleased if I owned an Astra 1.6 Turbo SRI, however, at £20,555 with none of the optional extras it is a lot to ask especially when a comparable Golf is cheaper. Vauxhall has improved so much in their cars, the problem I have as a consumer is the middle class image it still conveys when society wants to portray itself as more affluent.  It commands the price for the quality it offers and is justified, it just doesn’t command the image as well. Maybe time will tell, for me it has the quality of an Audi but not the image of as Audi.

To read the review on MSN Cars, please click here