Vauxhall Astra Hatchback 1.5 Turbo D Design 5dr Owner Review

Waited a long time for this car. It is my new company car. I have had the previous Astra before this one.
The main problem is the comfort of the drivers seat and it’s position. The seat is extremely uncomfortable. There is a very hard lumber support that is not adjustable, this is forced into your back. The head rest is too far forward and bends your head down. The position of the seat to the pedals feels wrong. I have tried many combinations of adjustment but all are uncomfortable. My back was hurting after the first drive.
You feel as if you are sat on the seat and not in the seat.
There is a foot rest to the left of the clutch pedal, this gets in the way every time you press the clutch down to change gear. It has caused me to miss gear changed and crash the gears. I have had to cut the carpet to remove the section of hard foam underneath. This is now much better. I think the foot rest is best suited to the automatic version when you wouldn’t have to use your left foot. The central tunnel is made of very hard plastic with a hard square edge at the top that is uncomfortable agains your left leg when driving.
The manual gear box is hard work requiring constant changing up and down as the engine can’t cope with the gear ratios. An automatic is the one to go for if you have the choice.
The car looks good from the front and the rear, but side on is plain and dull.
There is a surprising number of options on the entry level Design that I have. The infotainment system is good and sound quality is acceptable.
The Drivers display is lacking in clarity of basic information like fule level and engine revs.
The screen is cluttered with small items that are hard to interpret quickly while driving.
There is a row of switches for operating the heating, air con and screen heaters, theses are very handy for quick operation.
The car is very economical achieving about 61 mpg.
It is a great shame that it is so uncomfortable, I would willing go back to my old Astra.
It is as if the design brief was to make the drivers seat as uncomfortable as possible.