Vauxhall Astra GTC review

Despite sharing basic underpinnings with the five-door Astra, Vauxhall has been just as fully occupied with the engineering of the GTC. It is lower, the wheelbase is longer and track widths both front and rear are up. The key feature is that HiPerStrut front suspension, which reduces torque steer and steering corruption. It all works. Every GTC drives very professionally, with ride and handling judged well enough to render the optional FlexRide adaptive suspension unnecessary. A stiff chassis helps it glide where others might thump, and it feels very agile, responsive and light on its feet. It’s better than you’d credit, certainly better than a Focus.

The engines are disappointing though. The turbocharged 1.6 is not smooth or punchy enough and, while the 1.4-litre turbo is more silken, it stiff suffers top-end boom. Our favourite is actually the 2.0-litre diesel: just don’t think the 1.7-litre versions are a lower-priced match for it. They’re not.