Vauxhall Astra Review...

[jeebowhite]

Hi Guys,

Well, I want to assure one thing... I am not singing the praises of Vauxhall! as most of you know my fortune with cars of late has not been good, 7 months ago a Zafira crashed into the back of me and all but wiped my car out, and recently I had the Corsa come out and wipe out my rear end. Vauxhall has it in for me I suspect, so I have very few options to improve it! the only thing I can think right now is to try and be somewhat nice to vauxhall in the serious hope it helps to balance the scales and stops the sods trying to kill me....

I am seriously spitting blood as I say these things but I am desperate here, so dont shoot me if I am forced to compliment it! the fact is, I do this whilst forgetting the thing wears a gryffin!

So, this is my review of the hire car I have been given...

I was given a 2.0 TDCI 63 plate Vauxhall Astra Elite, and I am a Ford man through and through, but this is what I think of it so far!

Driveability:

The Astra goes relatively well, this might be aided by the fact the car is just over 10k miles, still new really and has a clutch that feels like it just left the factory. The gears seem relatively well placed to the point it seems to go well. The turbo kicks in smoothly and seems to make for a generally good driving experience. The steering is far too light IMO, its good for me because my neck and shoulders are killing me and the less weight I have to fight the better, but with no evidential way of changing the steering response, again another factor that is really not that good in preventing accidents. its bouncy (i can lift and drop the steering and its like dropping a bouncy ball) but for me at this time its good.

User Controls:

The centre console could have been designed better. Your overwhelmed by many buttons in a small confined space. I personally dont like it, there is no clear cut means of doing what you need to, there is no simple interactivity. 37 buttons in short space it makes things very difficult to interact with. I think this might be the reason so many vauxhalls are involved in accidents, if someone wants to turn the heat up they have to fiddle around with one of 37 buttons and they need to look away from the screen to see what button to press!

The trip computer is quite informative, but the menu button on the stalk is rather inappropriately placed. You have to get your hand behind the steering wheel to change anything, again, another factor that could cause a colission.

Otherwise the basic steering controls such as volume and cruise are relatively well located, all but one which I will get to shortly!

The controls are thankfully very similar to the Ford way, with the indicators and light controls as they are on most fords, so getting in and driving was relatively simple. The buttons however all have too much of a plastic'y feel to them. switches everywhere could really do with an extra 50p to make them feel just that bit better.

The gearstick feels like its quite well placed, but sadly the handbrake is not in a very good position, with no armrest to lift your arm further, you end up being stabbed, poked and prodded by the handbrake whilst your waiting at a junction.

Seating:

The car is equipped with leather seats, the seats are generally flat through and through with a very limited lip at both sides, apparently the wife likes this, but it doesnt seem to hold you as well perhaps as a seat with more of a lip. The leather is probably a good touch, but for me with my back in agony, I dont find I get on with it very well.

Information:

The car is very good at keeping you informed. The trip computer has a lot of details on its large screen, which make for easy visibility of whats happening in the car. The door warning is in the bottom right hand corner in about a 1cm x 1cm square, it really isnt overly well informative (it could have been that bit bigger) so if a door is open its not necessarily going to alert you very well.

The trip computer has 3 screens, one for the day to day (MPG, instant fuel miles to empty etc) one for the vehicle settings (things like imperial, metric etc) and also a third screen for the eco mode.

Features:

The car has little features within, bluetooth, heated seats, powerfold mirrors, global opening and closing, ECO mode, Cruise Control and Speed Limiting. All of these to an owner who is going to use them is probably a good little addition, but I only use the powerfold and the ECO mode. The ECO mode has its own position on the rev counter, so you can identify when the car is OFF or AUTO STOP.

The cruise control seems relatively simple to activate and use, but the speed limiter is extremely irritating.

If you accidentally press the wrong button (limit, instead of control), you would activate it in the same way as cruise, so turn it on, set the speed you are at with the up / down key. If you are not overly familiar with the car, you will do what I did, and end up limiting your speed to anywhere from 15mph to 25mph, it seriously irritates you when all of a sudden you hit this speed limiter, your in the way of other traffic and you cant do a thing to move. You have to then look aaway from the screen, try to fathom out where the disable button is, stop the limiter and start afresh.

Size:

The car is about the size of the Focus MK3, perhaps a little smaller? I would say there is little real difference in boot space or cabin space, and it seems spacious enough for a couple or maybe one with a small child, as I have 2 though, I dont know how well I will get on with it when they are both in the car.

Would I buy it?

If I wasnt a Ford man through and through, and didnt have a personal grievance with the car, I would probably consider it as an alternative, but I would be looking at a lot of other cars first. Its a smooth drive, probably comfortable outside of whiplash, but otherwise there is just too much clutter. I think there are too many small niggles like this - the layout probably could have been improved - greatly.

I must admit, I will be glad to get the Mondeo back, but as a hire car, it will do the job for now, and I will have to put up with its quirks.

[alexp999]

That is a lot of buttons in the centre stack, worse than the Focus MK3 which has been criticised for its button placement too.

Very fair review given your situation/experience, I think I would have to duck tape over that massive griffin badge on the steering wheel though...

[jeebowhite]

Haha I ignore the gryffin whenever I go near it and just treat it as another car...

[alexp999]

I could probably ignore the external ones, but that one on the steering wheel staring you in the face....?

[jeebowhite]

I avoid looking at the wheel as much as possible...

[L666JER]

So what your saying is that some of the design features (infotainment, speed limiter) of vauxhalls could cause accidents.

I like it :D

Maybe that corsa driver was adjusting his heater when he hit you.

[Stoney871]

Have you noticed the terrible torque steer and understeer on heavy corners yet?

Our Force are using them now and I had to drive one for a week and a half between losing my mk2.5 and gaining my ST3.

Capable cars but the estate model has a sloped roof which reduces the usefulness as an estate car (can't fit a decent dog carrier in it) and a decidedly unrefined drive compared with a Focus.

[Goodkat]

I hope that the karma points work for you, you managed to convey that the car sucks but in a discreet fashion. Well done.

[jeebowhite]

Hi guys,

Yeah I genuinely think these button arrangements, and functionalities may encourage attention distraction and genuinely I wonder if they could relate to an accident.

Clive, most the driving is slow speed, although the first day I had it I had to get somewhere quick, so I dosed up and drove it relatively hard, must admit it didn't feel I early with it but I didn't feel a mass draw of direction.

Haha, I hope karma rewards me, I said some pleasant things but emphasise points I think are concerning that much is true.