Vauxhall Astra Ultimate 1.6 Turbo plug-in hybrid

The recent all-too-brief stint of warmer weather has given our Astra a bit of a break, as it’s been sharing work and family duties with my 32-year-old VW Polo. There’s something quite grounding about reconnecting with mainstream motoring as it was not so long ago because, regardless of whether classics are a preference, a well […]

Vauxhall Astra GS Line 1.5 Turbo D Automatic

Report 2 Back at the turn of the Millennium, a good friend of mine had a Mk2 Astra as his first car. I remember it for two things; the 1.6-litre engine’s respectable turn of speed, and the lengths he went to modernising its audio setup. Our lunchtime drive-thru soundtrack came courtesy of tinny 1980s speakers […]

Vauxhall Astra SRi NAV 1.5 TURBO D

Fourth Report At the end of the last report, we were still in Devon enjoying a well-needed holiday, and I’m happy to say the Astra performed admirably. We stayed in the countryside near Totnes, and the navigation app Waze delighted in taking us along single-track B-roads at every opportunity, which was a great test of […]

Vauxhall Astra SRi NAV 1.5 TURBO D

Report 2 While exterior changes to the facelifted Astra were fairly minimal, some big alterations were made under the skin. The most notable is the 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo diesel engine, which isn’t to be mistaken with the four-cylinder 1.5-litre BlueHDi diesel unit fitted in many other models across the Stellantis brands. Instead, the Astra’s 1.5-litre […]

Vauxhall Astra SRi Nav 1.5 Turbo D

First Report The Vauxhall Astra is on the precipice of some big changes. The 21-plate facelifted model that’s just arrived on the Diesel Car fleet will in future be known as one of Vauxhall’s last pre-Stellantis cars. More than that, pub quiz hosts will try and catch out car geeks with the fact it comes […]