Why the Vauxhall Astra should have been given a different name

Astra. It’s hard to think of a car name with such a gap between the intended connotations (celestial, magical, the twinkling glories of the universe around us) and the harsh realities (hire cars, people called Kev, medium-speed police chases). Except, perhaps, Mitsubishi Carisma.

It’s equally hard to imagine that anyone has aspired to own an Astra since the aero-shape GTE of the 1980s. In fact, it’s quite difficult to remember what came after, so forgettable were the many generations of Astra that followed. There was that rounded one that seemed okay at the time, mainly because its rivals were the portly Golf 3 and the dreadful Escort 4. Then there was a more angular one that, thanks to Lotus, wasn’t horrible to drive but seemed perennially destined to come in non-metallic gangrene with no wheel-trims and spend its life as a plain clothes police car. And after that… there was one with a rather racy three-door where the wheels looked too big, and another one that was, erm, sort of rounded, and maybe one that looked almost the same but where the back windows were leaking into the C-pillar and… oh, I don’t know. Frankly, Astras after the 1984 GTE are like Brosnan Bond films after Goldeneye; they merge into one unappetising lump. It was ever thus. You say Focus and your mind turns to crisp controls and driving thrills even in low-spec, low-power trim. Hear someone say Golf and you’ll think of stout, unfussy useability and all the everyday friendliness you get from the Labrador of cars. But if someone tells you they’ve got an Astra your reply is likely to be ‘Why?’ or ‘Can I help you with something, officer?’

> Vauxhall Astra GSe 2025 review

If your enthusiasm for Astras is, like mine, barely visible, you might not have paid much attention to the latest one. It's been on sale for a few years now yet I still hadn't driven one, so I decided to do something about this by borrowing one.

The first thing you should know about the latest Astra is that it’s based on the Peugeot 308 because, of course, Vauxhall is now part of the sprawling Stellantis group, as indeed are most car companies apart from the ones that aren’t. If you look at the Astra next to a 308 you can see they share proportions, but the Peugeot has a weird, heavy-handed front end and looks like its headlights are crying, whereas the Astra is quite a handsome thing with a high, flat bonnet line and that ‘visor’ nose, which works rather well. The back’s pretty good too, what with its slim, elegant tail lamps, a tidy little thumbnail of a central brake light, and a neat, bespoke typeface for the Astra badge. The design on the inside is solid too, with hard buttons for important functions, a large, glossy touchscreen for everything else, and an overall sense of being put together with care.

Then we get to how the Astra drives, and this too is unexpectedly pleasant. I was in the plug-in hybrid one which, it’s claimed, can trundle about in electric-only mode for 43 miles. What’s more impressive is that when the 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine kicks in, it happens so quietly the only giveaway is the digital speedo in the head-up display changing from blue to white to tell you petrol is being burnt. This is a very refined car. Economical, too, since I had it doing 47mpg even when I couldn’t plug it in. It’s also not a horror show if you decide to drive it in a lively manner. I mean, I’m not sure you’d book a week on the NC500 the day after you got it, but it’s got a bit of vim to the way it can be chucked into corners. It’s not perfect, of course. The ride is too firm, the boot is rather shallow, and turning off the tiresomely tugging lane assist requires a trip into the touchscreen every time you start the car.

Otherwise it wouldn’t be damning the new Astra with faint praise to say it’s really quite good. The most impressive thing about it is the refinement which, along with the smart design detailing, impressive interior quality and truly excellent seats, makes it feel expensive. Mind you, perhaps it feels expensive because it is. The car I tested was in Ultimate trim, a hyperbolic name about to be undermined by the arrival of a model above it, and with the PHEV powertrain it lists at – brace yourself – £38,850. But you can have lesser Astras from 25 grand and I’m sure they’re perfectly pleasant too. Previously this would have seemed irrelevant information, like knowing you can get a salad from McDonald’s. I mean, why would you want an Astra? But with the Focus feeling like a dead man walking and the Golf 8 rendered un-buyable by its dreadful touchscreen tech, there’s a lot to be said for this surprisingly swish and largely un-annoying Vauxhall. Not that this will win over anyone. After all, it’s an Astra. As such, many will never realise how nice it is. Perhaps they should have called it something else.

This story was first featured in evo issue 306.