Specifications
Model tested: Vauxhall Astra 1.6i 16v VVT, Vauxhall Astra 1.7CDTi
Price as tested: £18,205, £21,935
Range price: £15,675 - £23,695
Insurance group as tested: N/A
CO2 emissions as tested: N/A
Company car tax %: N/A
EuroNCAP result: N/A
Date tested: October 2009
Road tester: Vijay Pattni

It’s the biggest-selling UK-built car in Britain – and now there’s a new one.

Vijay Pattni travelled to the Vauxhall Astra’s spiritual home at Ellesmere Port to see if the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf should be worried.

It has got a history spanning more than forty years, and now enters its sixth incarnation as one of Britain’s best-loved hatchbacks.

Make no mistake, this is a very important car for Vauxhall. So important, they decided to launch it where they’re going to build it – at Ellesmere Port.

Tom Schmidt – plant director at Ellesmere Port – and his team managed to ‘win’ the contract from GM to build the Astra in the UK.

And it’s coming home to a right old battle against its fiercest rivals – the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus.

Gallery: click below to view images of the 2009 Vauxhall Astra

Diesel Power

And first impressions are good. The new Astra boasts a ride quality which is among the very best in class, with good refinement and excellent handling characteristics.

We’ve already tested the 1.6-litre petrol engine and found it to be wanting in grunt – so we jumped into the diesel to see if its pulling power can compensate.

Read the full road test of the new 2009 Vauxhall Astra hatchback

On start up the 1.7-litre turbo-diesel sounds a little agricultural, and while the Astra’s fine noise-deadening does a good job of filtering out the drone, the classic diesel ‘rattle’ is evident.

Press on however, and the grunt of the engine makes a good case for itself. It produces 125bhp and 200lb/ft of pulling power. While the 0-60mph time is 10.7 seconds – just 0.2 seconds quicker than the standard 1.6 petrol – the in gear shove is impressive.

And this extra power seems to grant the Astra’s chassis a little more urgency – and crucially, allows you to play a little more. At motorway cruising speeds, the noise quietens and is perfectly acceptable for a long jaunt.

We drove quite ‘enthusiastically’ and we see no problems in achieving Vauxhall’s claimed 60.1mpg. It also emits just 124g/km of CO2.

There’s also a 2-litre turbo-diesel with 160bhp and 260lb/ft of pulling power – meaning a 0-60mph time of just 8.5 seconds.

We reckon the extra potency of the diesel’s shove combined with its mpg makes the Astra an even more enticing proposition.

Find out more about the new Vauxhall Astra

Search for a used Vauxhall Astra on Auto Trader

Video: watch a BTCC ace race the Focus and Golf in a new Vauxhall Astra