New Vauxhall Astra 2022 Around and interior video

The new Astra debuts a new infotainment system to take full advantage of the new Pure Panel screen layout. All the systems work well, and are easy to navigate, with excellent integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto supplementing Vauxhall’s very effective standard-fit sat-nav. Our system glitched a couple of times on our test drive, but we’ll put that down to it being an early production model.
Elsewhere, Vauxhall’s IntelliLux matrix LED headlights are an option, and driver assistance technologies can be specified, too - something Vauxhall calls IntelliDrive. This combines adaptive cruise control with active lane centring and will semi-autonomous lane changing, too. It’s not Tesla levels of driver assistance, but it should help make long journeys a little less tiring.
If you like clean design with a lack of visual gimmicks, the Astra should appeal. There’s a progression of the ‘Pure Panel’ screen layout that first started with the latest Mokka, with two 10.0-inch screens merged together in one solitary design element. It’s bold and we rather like it, even if it’s a design treatment that’s rapidly becoming the default.
The quality and choice of materials is impressive. There are soft touch plastics on the dashboard and front doors, the leather-wrapped steering wheel feels great in your hands and its buttons work with precision. With the Volkswagen Golf taking a tumble in interior quality recently, the Astra is now taking a step up the league table. You’ll also find just enough buttons elsewhere to make navigating the touchscreen, and operating the stereo and heater easy enough, reducing the number of times one needs to prod the touchscreen.
It’s easy to get comfortable, there’s plenty of room upfront, and the seats are supportive. Kneeroom is tight behind a six-footer in the front, and headroom is adequate rather than generous. Here, the Ford Focus has the Astra licked. The boot space is rated at 422 litres with the rear seats up, and 1,389 folded. This reduces to 352 and 1,368 for the plug-in hybrid version.
There are 109 and 128bhp petrol options, with a six-speed manual standard and an eight-speed auto optional on the punchier engine. A single 1.5-litre diesel with 128bhp is available with a choice of manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.
There are two plug-in hybrid variants available. First up is a 180hp version which cracks 0-62mph in a respectable 7.9sec with a punchier 222bhp version dropping this to 7.7sec making it the fastest Astra available. Both are cover up to 37 miles on official WLTP tests, giving CO2 emissions from just 24g/km and economy of up to 256.8mpg. That’s not quite Mercedes-Benz A250e good, but still allows the PHEV to attract the lowest rate of BIK tax.
There’s even an all-electric Astra-e due in early 2023. Given it’s lifting pretty much everything else from the 308, it’ll share the e-308’s specs including a 54kWh battery and a 156bhp e-motor. Those are an upgrade on the 50kWh battery and 134bhp motor currently found in Stellantis electric cars including Peugeot’s e-208 and e-2008, and Vauxhall’s Corsa-e and Mokka-e.
Vauxhall says the new Astra is 4mm longer but with a 13mm increase in its wheelbase and is 14% more torsionally rigid than before for better handling. Compared with the previous Astra this one takes a big leap forward, and is now up there with the best in class. We sampled the 128bhp petrol model in six-speed manual form, and the 177bhp plug-in hybrid, and although both were badged as Opels, they are identical to UK-spec cars.
The first impressions of the plug-in hybrid are that it’s impressively refined and retains its electrical charge very well indeed in give-and-take driving. Choose the hybrid drive mode and it always pulls away super-quietly and retains that near-silence up-to motorway speeds. When the 148bhp four-cylinder petrol engine cuts in, it’s very quiet and unobtrusive. Choose Sport mode and it ramps up in sound, but again is a long way from being intrusive. Those looking for a refined drive will not be disappointed.
You can run it as a pure electric car, too, and we were impressed by how strongly it pulls in zero-emission mode all the way from 30mph in town to quick A-roads, without the need for assistance from the petrol motor. City dwellers and low-mileage drivers should find the PHEV suits their needs perfectly well.
Moving to what promises to be the biggest seller, the 128bhp petrol model also majors on quietness and refinement. Yes, the three-cylinder petrol engine thrums away under acceleration, but it’s a nice sound and the actual noise levels are kept low. The six-speed manual is a pleasure to use - light and accurate action, snicking between ratios delightfully. New Vauxhal Astra 2022.
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