Vauxhall Astra review: Driving's no drag in this…

Vauxhall Astra review: Driving's no drag in this slippery customer

We have a new upgraded and facelifted Vauxhall Astra – but it’s the changes you can’t see that are the best.

Visually the car looks very similar to the model being replaced, with the usual mild facelift which involves a revised front grille, bumper and lights.

But what are invisible are the changes that have lowered the Astra’s coefficient of drag (quoted as Cd) to 0.26.

That’s very slippery. And the updated Astra estate, called the Sports Tourer, slips through the air even more slickly with a Cd of 0.25.

The new Astra has new engines. Petrol versions are all three cylinder units in either 1.0 litre or 1.4 litre capacities, and the diesel is a 1.5-litre four cylinder at 122bhp.

Interior of the revamped Vauxhall Astra (HANDOUT FREE TO USE)

Average Co2 levels are down 19% – a colossal improvement. Some of that is down to the improved aerodynamics.

Beyond the choice of petrol and diesel, you have a variety of transmissions. As well as conventional manual gearboxes there’s a CVT (Constantly Variable Transmission) that comes with the 145bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine, and a 9-speed automatic gearbox available with the diesel engine.

We drove Astras with all three, but we’ll concentrate on the diesel-powered car for a couple of reasons: it’s going to be popular with fleets and it’s the one I think is the best car.

Diesel? Isn’t that the fuel of the past? No. The fact is a modern advanced diesel engine as fitted to the new Astra is pretty clean. This one, for example, has SCR (Selective Catalyst Reduction) which removes 90% of nitrogen oxides.

Vauxhall Astra Ultimate 1.6i (Bristol Post)

The diesel is available with a six-speed manual gearbox as well as the automatic. Our test car had the latter transmission. It’s a £1,660 option but worth it if you do big mileage and also drive in town a lot.

It’s smooth and despite having nine gears to choose from it was usually in the right ratio.

As soon as I’d gone a mile up the road I was impressed. I will be shunned at the bar at the next new car launch I attend for saying this, but many of my colleagues (usually the younger ones) are overly obsessed with how a car handles and how fast it is. What matters to me – and I’m sure to you also – is how comfy a car is and how relaxing it is to drive.

This new Astra ticks all those boxes. I was particularly impressed with how well it soaked up bumps. Vauxhall’s engineers have made adjustments to the dampers but the suspension is fundamentally the same as found on the old car.

Perhaps it is the heavier weight of the diesel engine compared to the lighter three-cylinder petrol engine, but the diesel Astra was more comfortable over bumps than the petrol versions we drove. They rode comfortably, too – just not as well as the diesel.

Inside the Astra, not much has changed. It’s logically laid out, well put together and the controls are easy to use. The lower spec cars are best, whereas the high spec Elite Nav model is an awkward mix of modern digital instruments and old-school analogue.

I suspect the next generation Astra might have a snazzier and more imaginative interior with its French influence from new owners Groupe PSA – makers of Peugeot and Citroen.

The new Astra might not be as sporty as the Ford Focus but that doesn’t matter to most drivers. It’s a better all-rounder and more comfortable.

It goes to show that you can make little changes and still get a big improvement.