After it ws introduced during this year Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Vauxhall Astra is arriving in UK showrooms this March. It is the second body version of the new Astra and is priced from £16,585 on-the-road. Astra is important for British car buyers with almost three million sold in the UK over the last 36 years, including 50,000 in the last 12 months. More than 25 per cent of British motorists have either owned or driven an Astra.
And the car is built at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port manufacturing plant in Cheshire, the only plant to build this body style.
The latest generation Sports Tourer has almost the same dimensions as the outgoing model- length 4,702mm, width 1,871mm and height 1,510mm. But it offers much more space for passengers and luggage: driver can enjoy 26 millimetres of additional headroom, passengers in the rear have 28 millimetres more legroom, can take up to three child seats in the rear and can also carry up to 1,630 litres of luggage.
The Sports Tourer is based on an all-new lightweight architecture. The new Astra Sports Tourer is up to 190kg lighter than its predecessor. It is the most aerodynamically efficient estate car built by Vauxhall with a co-efficient drag-value of 0.272 making it as streamlined as the five-door variant.
Range highlights include the 1.0-litre three-cylinder Turbo Start/Stop ecoFLEX model priced from £17,285 on-the-road. With an Easytronic five-speed automatic transmission, the same model achieves 97g/km CO2 emissions. The range-topping 1.6-litre (200hp) is available in SRi trim priced from £21,725 on-the-road. The diesel offering includes the 1.6-litre ‘Whisper Diesel’ (110hp) Start/Stop ecoFLEX model (prices start at £18,785 on-the-road) that achieves 83.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 89g/km.
The new Astra Sports Tourer range includes Design, Tech Line, SRi and Elite, with Nav versions of the SRi and Elite trims also available. All models come with Bluetooth hands-free phone connectivity, audio streaming, Aux-in and USB ports. DAB+ enables better radio selection and reception.
The Sports Tourer offers Forward Collision Alert with Collision Mitigation Braking functions. The Forward Collision Alert (FCA) feature assists drivers in avoiding or mitigating the impact of front-end collisions. In case of a potential collision, it warns the driver with a loud audible alarm, a visual warning in the instrument cluster and an LED projection on the windscreen. The system now also includes Integrated Brake Assist and Autonomous Emergency Braking. Vauxhall’s award-winning ultrasonic Side Blind Spot Alert provides an additional safety net both for Astra Sports Tourer drivers and other road users.
