Thursday, April 14, 2005
Vauxhall Astra Estate 1.9 CDTi 150
THERE’S never a good time to be a sales rep, what with roadworks, congestion charging and pressure to make appointments. In fact, it’s probably one of the most thankless jobs around – spending the majority of your working life in a car ploughing up and down the nation’s road network.
Which is why the latest crop of lower-medium estate cars – the real bread and butter workhorses of any fleet – will be so welcome to your high- mileage drivers. Car rental uk.
Why? Because they’re so good and so much better than the models they replace.
Take Vauxhall’s latest Astra estate. It’s got great styling, a well-designed interior and it’s very good to drive. It’s a quantum leap from its predecessor, which is why the new model was recently named lower-medium car of the year at the Fleet News Awards. Car rental uk.
And as well as looking and driving so much better than before, the Astra feels different too. Vauxhall has invested a lot of time and money in improving quality and it is evident from the moment you grip the chunky door handle, to the thud of the door when it closes. Then there’s the steering wheel and dashboard, again both reassuringly chunky in feel. There are also nicely bolstered seats and a clear dash with aluminium- effect centre console.
There has been a similar level of improvement in the driving experience.
The Design model rides and handles better than any of the sporty models from the previous Astra generation. The front end is well planted to the road and the steering is very direct – just because cars like this are designed for motorways doesn’t mean they can’t be fun on the twisty roads. Car rental uk.
Our test car was fitted with the most powerful CDTi common rail diesel engine offered – a 1.9-litre unit with 148bhp. It has stacks of mid-range power which makes motorway driving incredibly easy.
If you want to accelerate into the fast lane, there’s no need to change down a gear or two – just plant your foot, give the turbo a moment to spool up and you’ll soon be up with the fast lane pace. And after having driven the Astra back-to-back with the Ford Focus, the Vauxhall is a better drive – it’s got a better gearbox and there’s less engine noise intruding into the cabin. It’s effortless, relaxed and comfortable – what more could you want? Car rental uk.
Well, as this car is designed to be a workhorse, how about a huge boot to carry samples? The Astra’s luggage compartment has been designed with a very low loading sill, making getting heavy items in less of a chore. It’s also slightly longer and has more carrying capacity than the Focus.
In fact, this new Astra does everything very well, so it’s disappointing to see it not perform as well in our running costs analysis (see panel right). The problem is that the CDTi 150 engine is only available in top-spec Design and SRi trim levels, meaning a high front-end price. Lower-spec, and cheaper, versions are available with the 128bhp engine, but they would be a better bet for fleets.
Which is why the latest crop of lower-medium estate cars – the real bread and butter workhorses of any fleet – will be so welcome to your high- mileage drivers. Car rental uk.
Why? Because they’re so good and so much better than the models they replace.
Take Vauxhall’s latest Astra estate. It’s got great styling, a well-designed interior and it’s very good to drive. It’s a quantum leap from its predecessor, which is why the new model was recently named lower-medium car of the year at the Fleet News Awards. Car rental uk.
And as well as looking and driving so much better than before, the Astra feels different too. Vauxhall has invested a lot of time and money in improving quality and it is evident from the moment you grip the chunky door handle, to the thud of the door when it closes. Then there’s the steering wheel and dashboard, again both reassuringly chunky in feel. There are also nicely bolstered seats and a clear dash with aluminium- effect centre console.
There has been a similar level of improvement in the driving experience.
The Design model rides and handles better than any of the sporty models from the previous Astra generation. The front end is well planted to the road and the steering is very direct – just because cars like this are designed for motorways doesn’t mean they can’t be fun on the twisty roads. Car rental uk.
Our test car was fitted with the most powerful CDTi common rail diesel engine offered – a 1.9-litre unit with 148bhp. It has stacks of mid-range power which makes motorway driving incredibly easy.
If you want to accelerate into the fast lane, there’s no need to change down a gear or two – just plant your foot, give the turbo a moment to spool up and you’ll soon be up with the fast lane pace. And after having driven the Astra back-to-back with the Ford Focus, the Vauxhall is a better drive – it’s got a better gearbox and there’s less engine noise intruding into the cabin. It’s effortless, relaxed and comfortable – what more could you want? Car rental uk.
Well, as this car is designed to be a workhorse, how about a huge boot to carry samples? The Astra’s luggage compartment has been designed with a very low loading sill, making getting heavy items in less of a chore. It’s also slightly longer and has more carrying capacity than the Focus.
In fact, this new Astra does everything very well, so it’s disappointing to see it not perform as well in our running costs analysis (see panel right). The problem is that the CDTi 150 engine is only available in top-spec Design and SRi trim levels, meaning a high front-end price. Lower-spec, and cheaper, versions are available with the 128bhp engine, but they would be a better bet for fleets.
# posted by Liz Laurie @ 10:30 AM 
