Damien O’Carroll reports that the Astra family its now complete, thanks to the arrival of the wagon on New Zealand shores.
With the wagon arriving it is a rather multi-cultural family, with the wagon being like its hatch sibling – a European designed and built car – while the sedan is a Korean effort, and is still sold in other parts of the world as the Cruze.
Still, a slightly confused heritage aside, the Astra in all its guises is a pleasing and high quality thing, with the new wagon turning out to be particularly pleasing.
The Astra wagon’s sleek and handsome looks help immensely in that area, with a conservative, yet distinctive look, thanks particularly to that brilliant D-pillar styling. Our test car also looked especially good in red.
Inside the understated good looks continue with a swoopy, modern dash that makes the small wagon feel far more special than it would ever really need to.
Nicely laid out controls, an excellent infotainment system and a seriously strong climate control system all make the Astra wagon’s cabin a nice place to spend time, while the comfortable seats and lovely little sculpted steering wheel top things off nicely.
That said, it is all a bit dark and monochromatic, while the “leather” is a bit down-rent (and sticky on a hot day) when compared to the rest of the interior.
The 110kW/240Nm 1.4-litre turbo engine is a thoroughly fantastic little unit. Revvy and powerful, it is impresssively flexible down low too, while the six-speed auto is delightfully good and particularly satisfying in manual mode.
On the road the Astra is massively surprising for a small wagon – it is delightfully nimble and responsive, with ride and handling that are a lovely middle ground between the sportier hatch and softer sedan. Wonderfully composed and adjustable, it is also rather fun on a winding road.
Delightfully surprising, the Astra wagon takes the best bits of the athletic hatch and the comfortable sedan and rolls them up in a practical package that is also actually fun to drive.
Two things get in the way of ultimate fun though, both to do with the transmission. Or rather, how you use it.
Firstly, the Astra wagon would be massive fun with paddles, not that you actually expect them on a wagon. And secondly, the manual shift action is the wrong way around.
Yeah, I know, that is subjective, but I always think you should pull down to shift up and push forward to change down – it simply feels more natural and actually works with the G-forces of acceleration and deceleration. But the Astra does it the other way around.
However, that is a very small niggle in the grand scheme of things and pretty much irrelevant when it comes to small wagons. The fact that it is vaguely annoying in the Astra is simply a testament to how good the rest of it actually is.
Specifications:
Body type Five-door wagon
Drive Front wheel drive
Engine type Inline four-cylinder turbo petrol
Engine capacity 1399cc
Max power 110kW @ 5000rpm
Max torque 240Nm @ 2400rpm
l/100km (Combined) 5.9
C02 emissions 137g/km
Boot capacity 540/1630 litres
Spare tyre Space saver
ANCAP rating 5 Stars
Price $39,990
