Vauxhall Astra review

It's an easy and satisfying car to thread through bends. The steering has good proportional response, natural self-centring and even a suspicion of road feel. Push harder and the rear tyres take up their share and follow the arc rather than shoving the fronts into early understeer. 

The ride is a bit taut, but it's not crashy or noisy so the suspension will mostly fade into the background of passengers' consciousness. Wind and road noise is nicely suppressed too. You've got very welcome Vauxhall soundproofing to thank for that.

What are the engines like?

The 1.2-litre engine comes in one state of tune with 128bhp, and will hit 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds. At time of writing it’s only available with an auto, but a manual is coming. It's characterfully chatty and decently lusty in the mid-revs, if a bit too vocal towards 6,000rpm.

The base hybrid is slightly quieter, and you're seldom conscious of the work of the e-motor. But even with its 143bhp, full-on performance isn't leagues better than the heartland 1.2, and 0-62mph in 9.0s is average. It’s at its happiest being used as an urban runabout, though it doesn’t feel too far out of its comfort zone when you do need to stretch its legs.

Where you might see a difference, though, is in fuel economy. In the pure petrol Vauxhall claims 48.7mpg (we saw mid-40s on our test run), in the mild hybrid you’re looking at 58.9mpg (we achieved 50s), with the small motor offering up to 28bhp under acceleration and at low speeds. Much welcome given current fuel prices.

And the plug-in hybrid?

This facelifted Astra gets an updated plug-in hybrid powertrain, and now outputs a combined 193bhp (up 15bhp) from its 1.6-litre petrol and 123bhp e-motor. More pertinently though is the 52 miles WLTP e-range courtesy of the 17.2kWh battery – about half as much again as it could manage before it was updated.

Unsurprisingly it’s also the quickest of the lot, with the 0-62mph sprint seen off in 7.6s. Still not rapid, but then it’s also 360kg heavier than the base petrol. Yikes. It’s noticeable but not crippling. Floor it everywhere however and you’ll quickly deplete the battery. No, far better to tread sedately and eke out the range.

Are there are sporty variants?

At time of writing, no. But pre-facelift there was an Astra GSe, which was the first car to wear Vauxhall’s new performance car sub-brand badge. On paper it looked the part, with its 222bhp hybrid powertrain, recalibrated steering, 10mm lower ride height and unique suspension set-up.

Except... it wasn’t that quick. T'was only two tenths quicker than the standard PHEV, while the eight-speed 'box was very hesitant and would almost immediately override any input you gave it using the paddles. Meh.

The steering was also very lifeless, and while putting it in Sport mode added weight there was still little feedback. The one noticeable improvement was when cornering, with improved grip and very little body roll, and negligible impact on ride and comfort.

Overall the feeling was of warm hatch identity rather than hot. Will we see a new and improved version further down the line? Watch this space…