Vauxhall Astra 1.4T 16V 150 Sri 5Dr Auto Petrol Estate

Driving Experience

Like the rest of the Astra Sports Tourer, the suspension is shared with the Astra hatchback. Reducing this latest model's weight by up to 200kgs has had a significant effect on the way this car drives. It now soaks up bumps better and turns into the bends more easily, aided by a stiffer chassis and torque vectoring that helps with cornering traction. As before, this Vauxhall does without the kind of independent rear suspension system you'd find on a rival Ford Focus Estate, instead favouring a neat Watts linkage system that claims to reduce sideways motion between the axle and the body of the car as you go through the corners. Under the bonnet, those in search of petrol power have an up-to the-minute range of options. We'd suggest you bypass the most affordable 100PS 1.4-litre engine in favour of the lighter, more responsive and much more efficient 105PS 1.0-litre ECOTEC turbo three cylinder unit. If you need more power, there are a couple of 1.4-litre Turbo powerplants offering 125 or 150PS, plus a top 200PS 1.6 Turbo option. Diesel drivers get Vauxhall's refined 1.6-litre CDTi 'whisper diesel' unit with a choice of three power outputs - 110, 136 or 160PS. The 110PS ecoFLEX variant delivers class-leading efficiency figures - 91.2mpg on the combined cycle and 82g/km of CO2.

Cost of Ownership

You're not going to find an Astra Sports Tourer model that's going to cost you a huge amount to run. Even the 1.4 petrol turbo is likely to return around 50mpg with a light right foot, while of course the 1.6-litre CDTi diesels will manage much more. If operating costs are your biggest worry then step forward the 1.6 litre CDTi 110PS diesel ecoFLEX model, a car capable of around 90mpg on the combined cycle while emitting not much more than 80g/km of CO2. Sadly Vauxhall have dropped their 100,000 mile 'lifetime' warranty and now offer a standard three year 60,000 mile effort; the industry standard in other words. Residuals may be marginally improved by a promised extra focus on quality - we'll wait and see on that. As usual, you can help yourself in terms of model depreciation by exercising a little restraint when it comes to ticking boxes on the options list. It's very easy here to get up towards a £25,000 car without too much effort. Stick to the essentials that will make the vehicle more appealing to its potential second owner and you shouldn't do too badly.

By Jonathan Crouch

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