Road Test: Opel Astra Saloon

The start of Opel's story in the compact saloon market goes back to 1962 when the Opel Kadett A was launched, writes Trish Whelan.

Now 51 years later, we've enjoyed driving the fourth generation of the Astra saloon, which is a core car in the model line-up.

This four-door family car was launched at the end of 2012, and was quickly dubbed 'Insignia's Baby Brother'.

It's sporty as well as elegant looking and shaply with a sleek silhouette. More upmarket than before, beautifully proportioned, and with good build quality.

There are some familiar features especially at the front - the headlights and front grilles tell you this is an Astra car. The 17-inch wheels are standard but you can choose from a large selection of designs. At the side, the roofline arches gently over the cabin, coming down in a nice seep through the raked rear window. Side windows follow the line of the roof. There's an integrated rear spoiler and rear lights follow the shape of other Astra models.

The boot can take 460 litres of space which is 90 more than the 5-door hatch. With the rear bench flat, this increases to just over 1,000 litres and there's a spare wheel below the floor.

Engines include petrols and diesels ranging from 95hp to 140hp. Petrols are 1.4, 1.6; diesels 1.3, and 1.7. So there's one to suit every customers' needs. All come with a precise 5- or 6-speed manual transmission.

The review car is the 1.7- litre 110hp diesel ecoFLEX version lively enough for most peoples' needs. Good steering control and suspension connect you to the road; the car's broad stance helps with stability when cornering, and the long wheelbase helps with a smooth ride even on bumpy roads. Very importantly, you feel good behind the wheel.

An ecoFLEX fuel saving mode helps reduce emissions, also helped by a gear shift up indicator in the instrument panel, and by the Start/Stop system. On my test drive week, the trip computer showed a fuel return of 4.9 L/100kms for the combined cycle which is around 57mpg in old terms. Officially, it's 3.7 L/100km or 76mpg for the combined cycle. C02 emissions in this 1.7CDTi are 114g/km which puts it into Band A4 of €200 per annum in road tax.

Seat comfort is always essential and General Motors are experts when it comes to orthopaedic sports seats. These adjust six ways and come with lumbar support so they can suit every size of driver. The seat cushion can be extended if needed.

Controls are all within easy reach and the whole feel is one of a driver-focused cockpit.

A crib for me, though, is that the surround of the gear shifter gets in the way of my fingers when I wanted to use the hand brake.

Cost-wise, you can get into the base model from €19,495. For that you get, as standard, air conditioning, cruise control, remote audio controls, ESP, six airbags and steering column adjustment.

While the 1.7 diesel is priced from €21,795, my review car at €22,995 came with a number of extras like the sat nav system (€1,214), Bluetooth (€350), front and rear park assist (€399) and metallic paint (€535) bringing the price up to €25,493.

New Astra is available with Adaptive Forward Lighting, the most advanced headlight system in the compact segment. The headlights adjust themselves to different driving conditions, making the best of every situation, improving road lighting by up to 90 per cent over fixed headlamps, and without dazzling other drivers.


In conclusion, this Astra saloon is an affordable alternative for those who would normally buy their car from the mid-size segment.