Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer GSE - long-term review

The cheapest Astra estate – sorry, Sports Tourer - Vauxhall will sell you is the base, entry-level ‘Design’ trim.

Because ‘Design’ trim sits on the very bottom rung of this hypothetical Ladder of Astras, it comes with a lowly – but no doubt Scrappy – 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine producing a heady 109bhp. It also comes with six gears you’ll have to select with your own hands [shudders]. This is why it costs just £28,170.

A lot of car – literally, because it’s got a big footprint – for the money, though keen Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer horsepower enthusiasts might want to climb up a rung and sling in an additional £600 to upgrade to the 128bhp Design trim version.

Really keen Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer horsepower enthusiasts might want to climb to the top of this AstraLadder and out of this increasingly tortured analogy to reach the range-topping ‘GSE’ Sports Tourer TopGear.com is currently running. This car swings in with 223bhp, for the rather healthier sum of… £43,100.

Now obviously, very few people actually go in and dump forty three large on a dealer’s desk and ask for the keys, but £15k-ish is an entire Dacia Spring over the base Astra. Indeed, you’re looking at £374 per month for the GSE.

For that, you get a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, a 12.4kWh battery, and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. On top of this beefier drivetrain comes the fancy Koni ‘Frequency Selective Damping’, um, dampers, matched to 10mm lower springs. It certainly gives the handsome Astra a proper sporty stance.

As do the lightweight 18in diamond-cut alloys with black inserts. As does the lower front grille insert, the gloss black detailing, designed to give what Vauxhall calls “an enhanced road presence”, and giant, AGR-certified sports seats. Really very comfortable, though they do make the rear bench a little… claustrophobic.

There’s actually tonnes thrown into this spec, as you’d imagine. A wireless charging pad that works at least most of the time, a panoramic sunroof, an electrically-powered boot, USB connections, a great head-up display, a great central display, and a 360-degree HD camera that’s very useful in parking the big ol’ lug.

There’s more. Fancy headlights. Dual zone climate control. Traffic and lane positioning alerts. Parking sensors all round. Keyless entry that works at least most of the time. A heated steering wheel, puddle lights, privacy rear windows, and some cupholders.

The entry-level Design trim gets… cupholders, some parking sensors, that central screen and a USB port, but not much else besides. But here's the thing - that base car costs £317 per month. So if you're a really keen Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer enthusiast, at 57 quid extra a month, this GSE looks like… pretty good value, actually.