A few weeks ago my company had to hire a car for me due to the fact that someone decided to slide into my car and put it off the road, leaving me stranded for work purposes.
Anyway, thanks to the brilliant people at Enterprise car hire I ended up with a ‘59’ plate Vauxhall Astra 1.8 Sri , it was either that or a 1.2 litre Ford Fiesta and as I now that the fiesta would have been slower than a snail crawling uphill I decided to opt for the Astra.
I have driven Vauxhalls before, an Astra, a Vectra, (never again) and even a Chevette, (remember them?), so I knew what to expect from this hire car.
I must begin by telling you that my usual car is a Focus C-Max, for my sins, but once you’ve been driving a good sized car like a C-Max it is a little claustrophobic getting into a smaller vehicle.
I don’t want to compare the two cars as they are in totally different classes, the C-Max being a small family car whilst the Astra 1.8 SRi is more a sporty model for the younger generation.
Anyway, my experience with this Astra is not 100% pleasurable, making me glad that I can hand it back when the insurance company decide what to do with my own car, (you get attached to a car after a few years don’t you ), but first the boring bits regarding the specs of the vehicle I have been driving for a while now…
(You can skip this bit if you want to…)- 5 speed Manuel gearbox
- 5 door hatchback
- 16V
- 129 mph top speed
- 0-60 in 9.5 seconds
- 52 litre (11.4 gallon) fuel tank, giving approximately 450 miles
- Runs on unleaded petrol
- 28.8 mpg Urban
- 49.6 mpg Extra Urban
- 39.2 mpg combined
- Emissions is 172g/km
- Insurance group 8
** What’s on offer…
As standard you get the usual power steering, air conditioning, electric front windows, electric mirrors, central locking, immobiliser and a shabby looking CD/radio.
And for those safety conscious people you get ABS, (Anti-lock brakes), ELS, (electronic stabiliser) and driver, passenger and front side airbags.
** The looks …
The outside certainly looks the part of a semi-sporty motor with its curved front and little spot lights either side of the lower front grill, the large main lights stuck to the side.
The overall curvy shape giving it a bit of charm and style, in fact the only straight part of it is the antenna sticking out of the top at just above the boot.
It’s height isn’t great and the doors really do look a little on the long and short side when you open them.
The metallic paint certainly gives it a nice look, although this one being black certainly shows the slightest of marks.
It’s 16 inch alloy wheels look the right size for the bodywork, there are some cars where there wheels look too small for the bodywork, a little like putting pram wheels on a rolls Royce, but this Astra seems to have got the sizing right, giving it a bit of a boy racer look about it.
Sadly, when you open the door, or even look through the window, the interior starts to let the looks down with its dull black and grey colour and even duller charcoal cloth seats, even the odd speckle of silver trim doesn’t help.
The only interior brightness you get is from the ‘speedo’ and ‘rev counter‘, which sits on the dash board right in front of you, although if you position the steering wheel too low you won’t see either dial properly.
Speaking of the steering wheel, well, Vauxhall have done there best to make it look sporty, giving it a nobly grey grip on the ‘quarter to 3 position‘, but it seems to have made it look like a boy racer wearing those leather driving gloves that your grand dad wears.
To me it seems like the designers leaned toward the fact that the boy racer owner would be going too fast for bystanders to see the inside of the car, thus relying on the neat looking exterior for the sale.
So for me overall the exterior looks the part, albeit targeting the younger generation, but the interior really does bring it back down to earth with an axel shattering crash.And for those interested in putting anything of size in the boot, well you can as it is quite a good size. A boy racer could easily fit a dozen crates of lager and several packs of alcopops and still have room for a friend or two, although they might have to take out the shelf if they want to look out of the window.
** So that’s the looks then, what about the rest..?
Getting into the vehicle is not an easy feet, unless you’re a contortionist with little or no body fat at all. I mean, I’m not the fattest of blokes and I’m quite bendy at the best of times but this car just seems to make it difficult to actually get into, sometimes making you look like a drunk driver as you push yourself into it, one leg on the road and one leg trapped under the steering wheel, with that police officer smiling as he walks over to you, notepad and handcuffs at the ready.
Once you do manage to get into the drivers seat it’s a matter of adjusting everything until you’ve found your comfortable position, this is quite easy to do as it is the same in most modern cars, adjust the height of the steering wheel, pull your seat forward/backwards, higher/lower it until you’re happy.
That was it, I was finally happy as I sat a few inches off the tarmac below me so I took it for a bit of a test drive just to get used to the handling and its capabilities, trying not to compare it to the C-Max, but constantly thinking about the big differences between the two, realising instantly how much easier it is to get into the C-Max.
** My experience with the performance…
The modal I have been driving is a 1.8 litre and allegedly goes from 0-60 in just over 9 seconds but as I have not had the opportunity to test that statement we will just have to rely on what it says on the book, although if I get the chance I’ll certainly let you know.
It certainly makes a noise when you press the accelerator, the engine roars like a lion, alright, maybe not a lion, more like a cat with laryngitis, but it is still a noise which will attract attention.
Then I put it into first gear, or should I say forced it into first gear after double clutching and a bit of brute force, (this may be due to previous bad drivers who hired the vehicle before me).
It is a bit snappy when you let the clutch out and pull away so make sure you take your time our the inevitable embarrassing stall may happen, leaving you red faced and panicking to restart the engine.
So I was finally off, heading down the road in this ‘sporty’ Astra, wondering why it was taking the strength of a grizzly bear on steroids to change gear, the car jerking slightly as the gears cogs chomped together, making me look like a learner driver, (and no I’m not a learner driver).
As I drove along, slightly struggling with the gears but getting a little used to them the more I changed gear, anyone driving along a main ‘A road’ in rush hour knows exactly how many times you have to change gear as you crawl along at the speed of a one legged horse dancing on ice.
Anyway, over the next few days I got used to the car and it’s rather annoying ways, quickly realising that if I wanted to listen to the radio/CD player I had to turn the volume up to almost full pelt due to the noise of the noisy engine as I sped along the road, so there was no chance of opening the windows if I wanted to enjoy a bit of Beethoven, good job it had air conditioning so I could keep the windows steam free.
No wonder those young drivers blast that head banging music out if that’s all they can hear over this cars engine grumbling.
Although this has power steering, which is supposed to aid you in turning the steering wheel easily, well what a loud of cobblers that is, in fact I have to use more brute strength to turn the wheel when doing something like a three point turn so I would hate to think what would happen if I had to turn at speed… I’d no doubt end up sliding into a tree instead of getting round the corner.
Luckily though the handling is simply brilliant for a Vauxhall, even if the ride is rough. It grips the road as if the tyres had been smeared with glue, taking corners as if slotted into grooves in the tarmac. (I did not test this at high speed as I consider myself a safe driver and speeding is not something I do, plus if I did crash it my boss would not be happy)
The brakes were keen, stopping me in an instance, so I had to get used to them or risk being slapped in the face by the windscreen every time I wanted to stop. In fact, the handling and the braking are the best thing about this car, although the 16 inch alloys with a branded logo on them certainly help the handling
It is a good job the handling is good as the suspension is terrible, giving one of the most uncomfortable rides I have had in a long time. I felt every little bump on the road, and believe me there are a lot of bumps on the road, going over speed bumps is suicidal and may even pull your back out, even at crawling pace. It is one of the hardest rides I have ever had, even from a Vauxhall.
** Just for fun…
Inside the car, just above the stereo, there is a little tiny button with the word ‘sport’ on it, so, after checking the manual to see what this little tiny button did, I decided to press it to see what happened.
The manual claims that when this button is pressed it tightens the suspension and improves the steering so as to give that more sporty feel….
Well, when I pressed it in for the required few seconds I waited in anticipation for the different feel to the car… but I felt no difference in the handling at all. The steering remained as heavy as ever and the suspension didn’t improve one little bit as I drove along the road…
What was I doing wrong?
In all, in my experience with this Astra 1.8 SRi 16V, this is not the performance car that it claims to be and is certainly not the sporty car that the body work states.
It looks nice from the outside, then again sprouts look quite nice on the outside, but the inside really does need a bit of attention.
The ‘sporty’ performance is as impressive as Eddie the Eagle’s skiing skills and the ride is as gentle as sliding down a stair carpet naked.
As I said earlier, the Astra I am driving at the moment has been hired for me by my company but after a quick check on prices this particular model is on sale for around £15,000 - £20,000 OTR, (dependant on extras)
Would I pay 15K for this car..?
Not a chance.
I wouldn’t even pay half that for this particular model as it just wasn’t what I expected and there are so many better vehicles out there for a few grand less.
It may be nice looking, have a little bit of power under the bonnet and grip the road like Velcro but getting into the car takes the skills of a athlete and the ride is as rough as wiping your bottom with sandpaper.
So for me the bad points out way the good point by far so I would personally steer clear of this new shape Astra and look elsewhere for a better vehicle, unless you’re a bendy boy racer with a great sound system and a strong back bone.
Back to the drawing board for the new look Astra sport 
