A few weeks ago we headed off to Camp Bestival. There was no way that my little car would be man enough to transport all our camping stuff, so we were very grateful when the folks at Vauxhall offered to loan us a lovely Vauxhall Astra Tourer CDTi for the week.
I have owned many cars over the years, but never an estate; so I was looking forward to giving it a whirl.
Space and Practicality
As you would expect, the Astra has a decent sized boot and each section of the 60:40 split-fold rear seats can be lowered. If the rear seat cushions are folded up against the front seat-backs, the Sports Tourer has a completely flat load floor and a maximum load capacity of up to 1550 litres.
The boot area has a two-touch luggage compartment cover, which slides upwards and out of the way with a simple tap to load or remove smaller items. However, for larger loads the cover retracts completely. If you don’t need it, you can store it below the floor of the boot.
Baby wanted to test out the boot space!
Design
The Astra Sports Tourer’s look is practical, but polished. The interior is high quality and very comfortable.
Technology
One of the most appealing things for me was the onboard wifi! It was fab to be able to drive down roads where normally there is no signal and to be able to carry on working (Mr Hubby driving of course!).
I also loved the stereo. Simply connect your phone to the stereo via bluetooth and each time you get in the car, it will automatically start playing the music from your phone, without you doing anything.
Power and Economy
We reviewed the diesel version with a 1.7-litre CDTi engine, which combines high performance with 55.4mpg combined economy and emissions of just 134g/km. This doesn’t mean much to me, but what I do know it that it was super economical and I only wish my car was that good on fuel.
As an estate, I expected it to perform like a workhorse, but it was actually quite nippy and powerful.
Features
Air conditioning, curtain airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESP), Electronic Parking Brake (EPB), an aux-in socket and Active Safety Front Head Restraints, all as standard.
Overall, I really enjoyed driving the Astra, it was a real treat to have the wifi and parking sensors. Plus very useful to have the large boot space, but still maintaining a nippy drive.
Disclosure: We were given this car for a week in order to give our opinions.
Comments 1
Wow, what a fantastic thing to be asked to review! That boot is huge!