But before you dismiss this new Astra SRi as a cheese-tastic bodykit wrapped around a tame-looking car, pause to take in some numbers. The SRi uses the same 2-litre turbocharged engine as the Astra Coupe Turbo, which means a sturdy 187bhp and 184lb ft of torque. But best of all the Astra hatch weighs less than its lower slung sister. According to GM's figures, it sprints to 60mph in 6.7sec and runs on to an impressive 145mph. Let's be clear: the Astra SRi is a quick hatch and the lump up front is nothing short of fantastic. It's got enough of that climactic thump to keep forced induction fans happy, yet signally lacks discernable lag or off-boost torpidity. Decent progress is also aided by a slick shift and firm clutch.

Okay, you're thinking, the Astra SRi is impressively fast and it has a great engine, but the chassis is going to be terrible, surely? Au contraire, mon brave. On smooth, sweeping bends this Vauxhall is grippy as you like, with neither end showing much sign of letting go. Oh, and in the dry the non-switchable traction control doesn't barge in to spoil the party either. Let it also be known that the steering, if not exactly bursting with feel, is at least pleasingly direct. Ultimately, a seven-tenths B-road hustle in this car is fun, the chief pleasure coming from that muscular engine with the chassis putting in strong support - for the pace it allows you to carry, if not its delicate adjustability.

So there you have it: the Astra SRi is impressively fast and, driven with a schnifter of spirit, can make satisfyingly rapid cross-country progress. But this doesn't make everything rosy in the Garden of evo. Sad to say, when you turn up the burners the SRi's apparent class act begins to come apart at the seams. It's that chassis. Moving at a decent lick it's fine, but when you give it some real beans there's neither the feedback nor the ultimate composure you crave.

On less-than-glassy road surfaces the ride remains essentially well controlled but the suspension finds it hard to deal with small bumps, especially if they come in rapid succession. The Astra jinks and twitches, fidgeting as if its wheels and tyres are unusually heavy. Throw in a thick slice of full-fat turbo torque and the real comedy wheel- writhing antics begin. Those meaty 215/40 tyres - on handsome VX220-style wheels - grip manfully but you can feel them struggling to maintain their contact patch on cacky tarmac. The Astra never actually veers wildly off line, but the constant shifting about and shimmying of the steering wheel during hard driving on typically bumpy B-roads is enough to make you back off.

Oh yes, the steering wheel. The lower third is sheathed in dubious off-grey leather, whilst at the ten-to-two position nobbles on the inside of the rim are complemented by auxiliary norks on the outside at somewhere around 20-to-four. Unstylish and uncomfortable. Then there are the central dashboard panels that in some Astras make the best of a dull lot with a lick of silver paint, yet here are sprayed in a bluey-grey hue that looks like primer. The seats are firm and supportive, though, so it's not all bad.

The Astra's exterior has never been more than neat but missable, and this would perhaps add to the low-key appeal of a 187bhp version were it not for the sudden appearance of a whacking great boot spoiler, coupled with SRi plaques on the doors and a none-more-cheesy 'turbo' badge on the tailgate. Drive this car and no one is going to confuse you with a style guru.

Despite the iffy add-ons, the Astra is a fine machine for people whose priority is straight-line poke plus flattering handling at reasonable speed. The SRi is happiest somewhere slightly short of its limits, and that's a shame when the engine is so darned good. In fact, in the real world the Vauxhall's motor is more user friendly and exploitable than, say, the only slightly more potent screamer in the Civic Type-R. It's so gutsy that five speeds are more than enough, and it's refined too, though at speed there is quite a lot of wind noise.
In isolation the Astra SRi is a decent car, not least for that splendid engine. But this is not isolation; this is medium hot hatch land where cars like the Civic, the new Focus ST170 and the Clio 172 deliver high-strength hits of press-on driving pleasure. And the Astra, frankly, doesn't. It's a good hot hatch but, alongside these fine rivals, which meet it head-on for price, sadly not a great one. Poor old Vauxhall.