Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (05-10) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 17 April 2009
The Astra Sport Hatch is very different from its dull five-door sibling and Vauxhall has done a great job in producing a sporty and distinctive design. The model is a fairly common site on the roads so it's easy to forget how attractive and neatly styled it is with a low, purposeful stance. It's entertaining to drive too thanks to a lower ride height than the five-door, although the steering still feels a little remote. The cabin is disappointing - it's a dull design and the switches on the centre console are fiddly to use while the boot is awkward to access due to a narrow opening and high lip. If you can forgive these shortcomings however the Astra Sport Hatch makes a chic three-door and comes with a good choice of engines including some hot hatch rivalling turbocharged units.
3.5 out of 5

Other Vauxhall reviews

4 out of 5

Safety

The five-door has earned a five-star Euro NCAP rating and the Sport Hatch is similarly strong. Every car gets dual front, side and curtain airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners and Active Head Restraints (which reduce the risk of whiplash). Cars fitted with the Panoramic windscreen have extra reinforcement around the glass area to make them as structurally rigid as a standard model. All models have remote central locking as standard, which includes Auto Lock - a feature that re-locks the door after five minutes if no doors have been opened.

NCAP Test

Euro NCAP logo Euro NCAP

Provides motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe.

Visit Euro NCAP for more info

4 out of 5

Reliability

The previous Astra three-door was (on the whole) reliable, but suffered from a string of niggling electrical and trim problems. Quality on the current Astra is better, with few faults reported from owners so far.

Car check problem points

Body

No problems reported.

Engine/Gearbox

No problems reported.

Other

No problems reported.