My latest Opel press car was the Sports Tourer version of the Opel Astra hatchback which I have already reviewed in its BEV powertrain format.
It has everything you’d ever want in a car; top styling, big interior comfort, oodles of luggage space and roof rails to carry a load, not to mention the remarkable frugality of the 1.5 diesel engine which should be a boon for those who travel a lot or for rural drivers. It was also great not to have to worry about recharging a battery as is normal when I test drive an electric car as the Astra’s 52 litre tank holds over 1,000kms of fuel.
I’m at a loss to understand why more families don’t opt for an estate car, especially families with teenagers who need to carry a lot of their ‘stuff’ with them, or for a family’s camping or other holidays.
While my car looked good from every angle with its sharp, muscular style - it’s certainly got attitude - the Black Pack is not what I'd choose myself as I felt it didn’t do justice to the lovely sleek styling and also prevents the black Opel logo from standing out.
The car sits low to the ground which means tall people have to bend their heads quite a lot when getting in and out.
The modern and stylish interior has really nice fit and finish but is perhaps a bit on the dark side. That said, I liked the black fascia and those nice trim inserts and believe the fittings and upholstery will wear well. The central console is angled towards the driver and features a 10-inch touchscreen, with Apple Car Play and Android Auto, and a same-sized digital driver instrument cluster. Both appear to merge together within the glossy black surround. Heating controls are via up and down arrows, buttons are for things like front seat heaters, heating the steering wheel, a handy Home button, A/C etc and there’s a knob for volume control.
Seats, in black Alcantara suede, were extremely comfy. My seat could be heated, had 4-way seat adjustments and two memory seat settings.
There’s a huge storage area below the twin butterfly doors of the front armrest, a good sized glovebox and pretty decent door bins. A small C-type USB port and a wireless charging pad are offered in my top GS trim. You have the option of having a received text message translated into a voice message which I found very helpful when driving.
Those in the rear enjoy good knee and head space even seated behind a tall person in front; the knee room is aided with knee indents on the backs of the front seats. The spec includes an ISOFIX child seat anchor on both outer rear seats.
My Astra Sports Tourer had a high manual opening tailgate for added practicality; the boot can hold 608 litres of luggage that can expand to a whopping 1,634 litres (to roof) with the rear seats folded down - but you’d have to leave the teens at home for that space. There’s a moveable load compartment floor to help fit items you need to take with you but you can have a high boot floor level with the sill; and full marks to Opel for providing a temporary spare wheel instead of a puncture repair kit.
There was good all round visibility. Parking aids included front and rear parking sensors, and a 180 deg rear view camera allowing views of around your car when parked, and an excellent reversing camera that at night lit up the road behind my driveway almost as if it were daylight. As with many Stellantis produced cars, there’s just a small red blind spot monitor at the far end of each side mirror.
The automatic transmission gear shifter is located on the centre console and includes a B mode for one- pedal driving. It’s always good to find this Stellantis flick-switch selector in a test car as it’s so easy to use.
Trims are SC, Elegance and GS. Engines are a petrol 1.2 110hp with a 6-speed manual transmission (from €31,295), and a 1.5 turbo diesel with 130hp matched to an 8-speed automatic transmission (from €39,995). My diesel GS spec is from €43,195. Annual road tax is from €200 to €210.
Standard safety items on my car included Hill Assist, Forward Collision Alert with Braking, Adaptive Cruise Control, Auto Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, keyless entry and start, and Hill Start Assist. Yet Astra received just a 4-star rating from Euro NCAP out of a possible 5 stars when tested in 2022. I found the 1.5 turbo diesel very quiet and refined on the road as well as being highly efficient for fuel consumption making it ideally suited for those who travel long distances or for those rural owners who want to stick with diesel. They will also be interested to hear that the Astra ST has provision for a tow bar attachment. Priced from €31,295; €43,195 for my car.
