WEIRD how some types of vehicle are there one minute, gone the next. Sometimes they reappear, sometimes not.
We’re talking about small station wagons, or estates, if you like. A few years ago buyers had quite a choice.
But these days there’s no more Corolla wagon, nor one from Lancer, Nubira, Lantra or Laser. The market has shrunk to just a handful – but it’s a pretty good handful: Skoda has its strange-looking but competent Roomster, Peugeot is fielding its 308 Touring, Hyundai is about to launch a wagon version of its i30 and then there’s the Holden Astra. That’s it, just four contenders.
Our car this week is the last, the CDTi model of the Astra, which means it has diesel power.
At $32,490, it’s the most expensive of the three-model wagon range, which starts at $26,090 for the 1.8litre petrol-sipping CD, then goes a bit upmarket to $29,790 for the CDX.
The 1.9litre turbo-diesel is the newest member of the wagon clan, all of them automatics.
The wagon is a good looker – clean-cut lines with a rakish snoot and a neat tail with a jaunty rooftop aerial.
It runs on 10-spoked 16-inch alloy wheels shod with Michelin Energy low profile radials and yes, of course it has roof rails. What for, I don’t know, but every wagon, SUV and 4WD just has to have them these days.
It’s not short on equipment either, with standard gear including six airbags, electronic stability and traction control, ABS with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist, climate control airconditioning, power windows and heated mirrors, cruise control, a trip computer, remote central locking, CD player with auxiliary jack and a couple of 12-volt outlets.
The Astra spare wheel is carried underneath, so the load space has a flat floor with handy cargo tie-down hooks.
The back door lifts high and wide for easy access to the vast box-shaped space. If you need more room, the split-fold back seats can be folded forward, but they don’t lie quite flat.
The interior is pleasant with adequate head, leg and shoulder room fore and aft and the driver gets good seating and steering adjustment. The seats themselves are OK, but could do with a bit more side bolster.
The dash is quite an attractive affair, easy to read and with well-placed controls. However, the vehicle’s Euro-heritage told my brain its indicators were on the left, so I kept setting the wipers in action when I wanted to signal a turn, or lane change. It took a while to accept the blinker control had been ’Stralianised.
Visibility is a strong point with wagons and the Astra gave excellent vision to all occupants and was easy as pie to park.
There’s not a great deal of storage, and unlike most rivals, it doesn’t have cup-holders all over the show. Just one in front, for example.
The diesel engine was a loud guttural number that performed quite well, but was not as frugal as others we’ve sampled in recent times.
It drives the front wheels through a sweet-shifting six-speed automatic and reaches 100km/h in 11 seconds, but the sixth ratio is a very tall overdrive one that is seldom engaged in the urban area.
The motor puts out only 88kW and a more impressive 280Nm of torque, which is where most of its zip comes from.
Economy, for a turbo-diesel, was not all that wonderful. It’s officially rated at 7.3litres/100km, but we couldn’t get better than 8.5litres/100km. Still, it’s a heck of a lot better than most petrol-powered vehicles of similar size.
The Astra drives beautifully. It has an excellent floorpan that incorporates lessons learnt in years of top-echelon rallying and the ride feels solid and secure.
It’s a joy through the corners, has excellent stopping power and negative thinkers will have their drive brightened in the knowledge the Astra scored a five-star rating in the Ncap crash tests.