Five things you need to know about the new Vauxhall Astra

The Vauxhall Astra is one of the most popular hatchbacks in British motoring history. It’s one of those cars that’ll never set your pulse racing but it knows it’s job and does it well.

It has made a name for itself as a great value for money family car over the years, as well as appealing to big-mile drivers who spend hours on the road.

With a new version on the way, we were invited out to the international launch to give it a go. Here are five things we think you need to know.

It looks fantastic

Sometimes when a manufacturer brings out a car with a bold new design, it will look brilliant in photos but its proportions will look awkward in real life. Not so the Astra.

It’s wearing the firm’s new design language, which has already been seen on models such as the Mokka and Grandland and will be rolled out to others in due course.

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the Astra has a reputation for being quite a dull-looking thing, but this version flips that on its head. There are sharp lines all over the bodywork that give it a sporty, modern feel even in lower trims.

The interior is a bit hit and miss

Vauxhall is quite proud of its new twin-screen display, and rightly so. There’s a smaller-screened version on the lowest trim that looks so-so, but the the big displays on the upgraded version looks decidedly premium.

The seats are also very comfortable and it’s really spacious inside, making it more family friendly than before.

However, aside from the seat upholstery the materials all feel pretty cheap and it looks like it’s made to be hard-wearing than aesthetically pleasing. Meanwhile, the displays might look good from a design point of view, but the infotainment system is frustratingly unintuitive to use.

It’s incredibly comfortable to drive

We tested the car just outside Lisbon, Portugal, where the roads aren’t the best in Europe but are nowhere near as coarse and damaged as the UK. We’ll therefore have to reserve full judgement until we test it in the UK, but first impressions are that Vauxhall has made an incredibly comfortable car.

At lower speeds it feels impressively refined and soaks up bumps with little fuss, but it’s also impressive at motorway speeds. Coupled with those excellent seats, you can imagine spending hours behind the wheel without too much fuss.

It has electrification

The Astra sits on a new vehicle platform, which has provided the opportunity to include electrified powertrains. An all-electric version is coming next year, but for now there’s a plug-in hybrid.

This is the one we tested, and were hugely impressed by its refinement. At lower speeds, the motors were punchy and silent motoring is relaxing – and you can go up to 43 miles without using the engine if you top the battery up to 100 per cent before leaving.

There are some competent rivals

The crossover market might have become the more popular family car segment these days, but don’t count the humble hatchback out just yet. We’ve been hugely impressed by the Astra, but there’s a facelifted Ford Focus on the way this year, too, which is likely to be a worthy adversary.

Then there’s the ubiquitous Volkswagen Golf, with a new model released in the last couple of years. Others include the Seat Leon, Audi A3, Mazda 3 and ludicrously spacious Skoda Octavia. It’s a congested market, to say the least.