The Astra returned to give Holden a credible small hatch again, built on solid European underpinnings. This is the car for the buyer who wants a bit more polish than the budget end offers, without stepping up to a premium price. It lands among the Golf, the i30 and the Corolla and brings a continental flavour to the contest.
Simone spends the week in the suburbs and on the freeway, and the Astra feels grown up over both. The ride irons out the rough stuff, the cabin is quiet at highway pace, and the turbo engines pull cleanly when you ask. She does flag that the badge anxiety of the era was real, and resale was the question mark hanging over an otherwise capable car.
This is worth a look for the buyer who values the way a car drives over the logo on the nose. Anyone fixated on long term resale should go in with eyes open. The Astra was a genuinely good hatch that deserved more attention than it got.
The full review is on the CarTell.tv YouTube channel above.
