Vauxhall Astra Review 2024

You'll never go wrong buying a Vauxhall Astra, and the latest model has more personality than ever before. It should be cheap to run, while the slim-line model range makes hunting out a nearly-new bargain easier than before. A Peugeot 308 is a little nicer inside, while the Ford Focus and SEAT Leon are more enjoyable to drive, but the Vauxhall Astra is a strong all-rounder.

If you're considering the latest Vauxhall Astra, you might also want to look at the new Peugeot 308. It's mechanically very similar to the Astra but takes a slightly more upmarket approach. Otherwise, it's the same list of rivals as the Astra's predecessors: cars like the Ford Focus, SEAT Leon, Volkswagen Golf and so on. You may also wish to consider similarly-sized SUVs... cars like the Vauxhall Grandland, Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq.

If there's one area in which the Vauxhall Astra differentiates itself significantly from the closely-related Peugeot 308, it's the perceived quality of the interior. It'd probably be a little mean to describe the Astra as 'downmarket', but there are certainly quite a few harsh plastics and flimsy finishes. On the plus side, these should deflect muddy trainers and sticky fingers well – and that kinda thing is important in a family car.

All Vauxhall Astra models come with a 10-inch infotainment system alongside a 10-inch digital instrument cluster. This is the same Pure Panel setup that we first saw on the Vauxhall Mokka, spreading across from the centre of the dash to behind the steering wheel. It looks minimalist, while there's a useful ledge for resting your fingers when using the touchscreen, as well as buttons for the climate control.

It's all rather intuitive, although some of the graphics on both the navigation system and digital instrument cluster aren't the slickest. You can get around that by using Google Maps instead. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. However, only the Ultimate trim has wireless phone charging included as standard.

The new Vauxhall Astra is 4374mm long and 1860mm wide, making it a whole 4mm longer than before. That's not going to make a huge difference in the real world but a 13mm increase in wheelbase (that's the distance between the front and rear wheels) might be a little more noticeable.

There's certainly plenty of space in the front, where you'll find it easy to get a comfortable seating position. You get a handy storage area within the central armrest, as well as cup holders in the centre console and a tray for storing your phone.

Things aren't quite so good in the back, where adults will feel a little cramped (especially in the top-spec Vauxhall Astra Ultimate with its panoramic sunroof reducing headroom). It'll be adequate for children (or teenagers at a push), but if you're regularly transporting people in the back you might want to look at an SUV alternative like the Vauxhall Grandland instead.

In terms of boot space, the Vauxhall Astra can take 422-litres of luggage, dropping to 352- litres in the Astra Hybrid-e. That's good going, though the Skoda Octavia hatch can manage a huge 600-litres. You can always drop the rear seats to provide up to 1339-litres of luggage, though (1268-itres in the PHEV), while the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer estate caters for those with a need for a bit more space.

The Vauxhall Astra is available with an extensive engine line-up that caters for every buyer. This includes petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid, and pure-electric power.

Don't be overwhelmed by the choice on offer, though. The majority of buyers will be best buying a petrol Vauxhall Astra. This is a 1.2-litre petrol engine. That might sound small but as it's a turbocharged unit, it's just as powerful as larger engines sold in older models. You can get the entry-level Vauxhall Astra Design with a 110PS version of this engine but, unless you're really on a budget (or perhaps a new driver with an eye on insurance), we'd recommend the 130PS model. This is sold with a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox.

We've sampled the 130PS 1.2 petrol with the manual transmission and it's lively enough, with enough grunt to prevent too many unwanted gear changes. That's good news as there's not much going for the manual transmission – it's a bit soggy to use and nowhere near as precise as you'll find in a Ford Focus or Mazda 3. It's quite telling the new Peugeot 308 is only available with an automatic gearbox.

If you spend all your day covering the lengths and breadths of the UK motorway network, you might be better looking for a diesel, though it will now be a used model as Vauxhall dropped the diesel engine in mid-2024. It's a 1.5-litre turbodiesel producing 130PS and available with a manual or automatic gearbox. It feels gruntier than the petrol, thanks to its 300Nm torque figure, but economy-minded buyers might be better looking at the mild hybrid 1.2 Turbo e-DCT6 that takes the diesel's place in the line-up. It has 136PS and, while missing the 1.5 TD's mid-range grunt, it delivers good fuel economy.

Then there are the plug-in hybrids that are badged as the Vauxhall Astra Hybrid-e. They combine a 1.6-litre petrol engine with an electric motor to provide a combined output of 180PS and 360Nm torque or, that's not enough, you can have a more powerful version with a total output of 225PS.

Frankly, we reckon the 180PS Astra Hybrid-e is more than sufficient for most buyers. It's eager off the line, while it's capable of travelling up to 35 miles before the petrol engine kicks in. It can travel at up to 84mph in fully-electric mode, too, so you're not exactly limited to town use under electric power.

The Astra Electric has a 156PS motor that offers 0-62mph in 9.6 seconds and offers a range of up to 260 miles.

Vauxhall benchmarked cars like the Volkswagen Golf when developing the new Astra and generally it's quiet and refined, with even the diesel and three-cylinder petrol settling down nicely once up to temperature. The latter has a distinctive burble when you're accelerating harshly, but so has every other small petrol engine used in rival cars. We did notice a bit of wind noise at motorway speeds in our test car, but nothing that can't be drowned out by the radio.

Obviously, as it's capable of engine-off running, the Vauxhall Astra Hybrid-e is the most refined around town. For the ultimate in refinement, though, the pure-electric Vauxhall Astra Electric is the model to have.

The latest Vauxhall Astra comes packed with cameras, radars and sensors designed to help keep you safe on the road. The level of driver-assistance tech you get depends on how much you're willing to spend, but all models come with an automatic emergency braking system at low speeds (with pedestrian detection), a driver drowsiness alert and lane departure warning with lane keep assist.

The mid-spec Vauxhall Astra GS Line upgrades the forward collision alert system to work at all speeds and adds a traffic sign recognition system and 360-degree parking camera. The top-spec Vauxhall Astra Ultimate comes with the full suite of safety tech, including a rear cross traffic alert system (which'll notify you of approaching traffic when reversing out of a space) and a lane change assist function.

The new Vauxhall Astra has now been crash-tested by Euro NCAP and awarded a less-than-perfect four stars out of five. NCAP criticised its autonomous emergency braking system, which it says "performed only marginally" in response to other cars or pedestrians.

Vauxhall doesn't tend to perform particularly well in terms of reliability, ranking bottom in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. That said, this will reflect older Vauxhall models built under General Motors ownership – the new Astra is more of a Stellantis product, meaning it shares parts with the new Peugeot 308 and DS 4. Time will tell how reliable these will be.

What insurance group your Vauxhall Astra falls into will be dictated largely by the type of propulsion it uses. The Electric comes with a rating of group 26 or 27 depending on trim, while the plug-in hybrids sit between groups 26 to 31. The 1.2 petrol line-up resides in groups starting at 16 and rising to group 21.

You'll pay a flat rate of £190 a year to tax a Vauxhall Astra, or £180/year for the Astra Hybrid-e. Looking for free road tax? You'll need the Astra Electric.

First-year road tax is usually rolled into the new price, so it's not worth getting too worried about as it's not expensive for any Astra where it's applicable.

Refreshingly for anyone who's battled with a brochure for older Vauxhall models, the new Astra is available in just three trim levels. The range kicks off with the Vauxhall Astra Design, which feels far from basic in terms of spec. 

Standard equipment includes 16-inch alloy wheels, a 10-inch navigation system (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a 10-inch digital instrument cluster and a whole host of safety kit. This includes lane departure warning with lane keep assist, speed sign recognition, driver drowsiness alert, forward collision alert (low speed), automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection and cruise control with intelligent speed adaption. Front and rear parking sensors are standard too, as well as keyless start, an electronic parking brake and LED headlights/tail lights.

The majority of buyers are expected to go for the Vauxhall Astra GS (formerly the GS Line). Standard equipment on this includes 17-inch black alloy wheels, black exterior highlights, forward collision alert (all speeds) and a 360-degree parking camera. It also gets adaptive cruise control, keyless entry/start, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats and dual-zone electronic climate control.

Topping the range, the Vauxhall Astra Ultimate comes with 18-inch grey diamond-cut alloy wheels, adaptive LED pixel headlights, a head-up display and a wireless phone charger. There's lane change assist, blind spot alert, lane positioning assist and rear cross traffic alert. Finally, the Vauxhall Astra Ultimate comes with Alcantara interior seat trim and a panoramic glass sunroof, though this does pinch rear headroom so be careful what you wish for with this trim.