The first Astra to appear since automotive colossus Stellantis subsumed Vauxhall, this eighth-generation machine rolls a lot on its shoulders. Thankfully, it looks the part, successfully incorporating the film’s latest ‘Vizor’ design language to deliver some serious family hatch class appeal. It looks and feels just as good inside, with solid material quality and smoother digital displays than you could shake a semiconductor at.
Beneath its well-defined skin, the Astra shares pretty much all of its oily, electric elements with the equally fresh Peugeot 308, meaning you get the same smooth plug-in petrol-electric powertrains that will make a sheet of paper sing. fleet managers’ budget (Vauxhall claims at least 40 miles of EV running time, so expect 8% BiK bills), plus three-cylinder turbocharged petrols and frugal four-cylinder diesels.
Ride refinement is a strong point of the Astra, as is a smooth, controlled ride, making it a great choice for the hard-working highway nibbling types. It’s not exactly a laugh on your favorite stretch of twisty Tarmac, but the steering is precise and the handling is balanced and predictable, with the smaller-engined three-cylinder petrols feeling lighter on their feet. It’s arguably the best Astra in a while, and while it’s not best in class, it certainly deserves your consideration.
Launching into this list, in a very crowded hatchback market, is something of a result for BMW, whose 1 Series sedan – notorious for being the only car in the class to attempt to use a chassis with rear-wheel drive in the modern age – has what we might call a dynamically troubled past.
Suffice to say that now that it has adopted the mechanical convention for engine layout and axle transmission, the latest 1 Series has lost little and gained a lot. A front-wheel-drive layout (four-wheel-drive options are offered in tandem with the more powerful engines) serves the car well and handling is neat and sure, with body control and driver engagement good enough to distinguish the car of most of its rivals. Interior packaging, meanwhile, is much better than in the rear-drive predecessor, with much improved, but still largely competitive, second-row occupant space and luggage capacity.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-13 11:05:11
