Review of the year - October 09
The moment of truth for new Vauxhall Astra, with the future of GM’s European operation in the balance
As new car launches go, pretty much anything wearing a Vauxhall badge is extremely important. The outgoing Astra was the biggest-selling British-built car in the UK, so the all-new model ranked as one of the most crucial arrivals of the year when it pitched up in October.
The Luton-based firm’s future was still in the balance when we drove to the home of Astra production – the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire – to take one of the very first cars out of the factory gates. We didn’t know then that GM would decide to keep hold of its European firms, but were acutely aware all eyes would be on the newcomer.
Up against it (Issue 1,085) was our class favourite, the VW Golf, and its opposite number from Ford, the Focus. We tested the new 1.4-litre turbo Astra, and were impressed by its high-quality cabin and smooth ride comfort. It wasn’t enough to beat the excellent Golf, but it saw off its less powerful Ford rival. Vauxhall bosses weren’t entirely happy with our verdict, but that just shows the level of ambition within the company.
Our phone was soon ringing with an invite to drive the car again, this time at Vauxhall’s development centre at Millbrook in Bedfordshire – where its engineers had put the finishing touches to the car’s steering set-up. It gave us food for thought before we put a diesel model through its paces against more rivals in November.
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December
Verdict
Tester's notes
Dealing with disgruntled car company executives is one of the less enjoyable aspects of a road tester’s job. Some will fire off E-mails with their thoughts on our verdicts, others remain silent – and a few want to take us to task in person.
Vauxhall adopted the latter approach after our test of the new Astra saw it finish behind VW’s Golf, but ahead of Ford’s Focus. That’s why we talked an engineer through our verdict on the steering at the firm’s development HQ. It gave us a real insight into the way cars are tuned for different markets, although it didn’t change our opinion.
Photographing that test had been hard, as we had limited time in the model at the Ellesmere Port factory. On a tip-off from Vauxhall’s own snapper, we headed to a staff car park in search of the huge billboard you can see.
Luckily, the exact spot for the shot we wanted was vacant. On another day we would have been struggling, but the road test gods were shining – and so was the sun.
Ross Pinnock
Road test editor
