Astra H, unloved, but not actually that bad!

[greenarrow]

So you're reading this thinking, "why is someone doing a readers car feature about a 14 year old 1.6 Astra??" This is pistonheads . Well I've inherited this for the time being from my daughter who has moved away with no car parking space and you know what, it's one of those cars you expect to dislike but are pleasantly surprised.

Readers may remember my mk1 focus thread on here and the Focus is an icon in PH. Great car to drive and rightly praised for its qualities. The Astra H, less so. Didn't win any road tests and was given 3 stars.

Having driven both expensively now I think that's harsh. You see I really enjoy punting this car around. It's done nearly 110k miles but the engine is smooth, quiet and nothing rattles or squeaks. The steering is nice and light and it's easy to throw around. The ride though, well that's what makes this a great runaround. You see it sits on reasonable 16 inch wheels and is comfortable. Ok the high speed damping control can't match a Focus and it will understeer in extremis rather than lift off oversteer like all vauxhalls but I've thrashed it along my local lanes on the worse road surfaces and dare I say it, it might actually be better on the lumpiest lanes than my focus - sacrilege I know! Take the lane I was on this morning, it's got a little hump in the road part way down and when I took my focus down there a few years back, the front wheels briefly lost contact with the tarmac. The Astra however, was so unphased taking that bump at a slightly faster speed I realised I couldve gone at least 5 mph faster. My own 318d on run flats? 5-10 mph slower!!

This is the crazy thing with cars. This old Astra can just be driven harder along these lanes than the So called ultimate driving machine which is crippled by its ride on those silly tyres!!

So the Astra is like fish and chips for me, predictable, boring but hits the spot somehow on proper nasty wiggly back roads... I'm in shock as I never expected it.... Another shed special you can expect me to report back on again soon. The focus is dead, RIP, long live shed Astra !!!! Driving pleasure can come from unexpected places at times !!!

[W201_190e]

They get a bad rep for no particular reason, any normal Vauxhall that is. I guess they do nothing brilliantly but that’s not what they are for. Many older normal cars I see on the roads (older than circa 2005) seem to be Vauxhall’s. Mechanically durable and don’t seem to rust.

[SirGriffin]

These Astra's were very highly rated by some of the motoring press when they came out, being within shouting distance of the revered Golf.

[paradigital]

The issue with these for me was never how they looked or drove, it was the fact that the interiors were godawful.

They drove quite nicely, but at the price point they were aimed at, they disappointed. As a cheap used proposition they work.

[Mr Tidy]

I always liked 80s, 90s and 2000s Vauxhalls. I never quite understood why Fords were always more highly rated.

In 1995 I had a 1991 Sierra Sapphire GLSi and a 1992 Cavalier SRi briefly and still regret selling the Cavalier just because it had done twice the mileage - it was definitely the better car!

In 2005 my sister wrote off her 2000 Astra G 1.6 16V and replaced it with a 2002 Focus 1.8 LX, and I thought the Astra drove better than the Focus.

Anyway congratulations on getting a hidden gem.

[MR2 Steve]

We’ve had one of these for 5 years when a family member bought a new car and asked if we wanted it. They said if we wanted to sell it and keep the money then that was fine. It was gifted on the basis of do whatever you want with it.

We still have it despite being by far the cheapest and technically “the worst” car in the driveway of 5 cars.

It’s been brilliant and cost buttons to run. Gets used as a tip car and car park car. I love that it’s totally anonymous and is the exact opposite of a car for badge snobs.

Like you say, can drive the wheels off it without going particularly fast and it has a great ride on the high sidewall tyres.

I quite often get asked “why are you driving that piece of merde”. Love that.

[Lincsls1]

Had one for 5 years. Took it from 120k to 170k miles. It was a fantastic car doing everything much more expensive machinery can do.
Cost me a grand to buy, sold it for £950 and replaced it with an Astra J, which is also proving to be another excellent car.
Nothing wrong with a Vauxhall.

[greenarrow]

Nice to see such positive comments. I did post a little in trepidation for fear of being a laughing stock as vauxhalls generally get a slating on the general gassing threads. Nice to see what a broad church PH is though. Looking at the comments, yes the Astra interior is a little nasty in that era and in truth it doesn't do anything really well. I think the chassis lacks the polish of the focus, just small details like steering feel, adjustability on the limit (my focus mk1 was so neutral and tucked in so well) and high speed damping...But the focus isn't perfect. My last mk1 wasn't on the zetec sports suspension and had a real Achilles heel for the sort of humps and yumps you find on country lanes. The front wheels just ran out of suspension travel. Where I find the Astra sorted is that it's so well tied down, stable and predictable. Which means on the lanes you have confidence to just push hard.

Also, I remember Rob wilson, who tutors F1 drivers, taught them in an Astra K. Apparently Lance Stroll actually bought one off the back of that. So clearly not as bad as the internet would have you believe......with my car the amazing thing is that it's on mixed tyres with 3 unknown budgets, all perishing a little, two have done 39000 miles, the other two, 57,000!! So it drives nicely even on crappy rubber !!!

Moral of the story, as always with cars you have to try them to make your mind up. Some cars dismissed by the experts when new can be quite enjoyable if you open your mind to their charms.

Edited by greenarrow on Sunday 17th September 21:27

[Wanchaiwarrior]

I had a 2006 Sri 2.2 manual one of these, great leather, aircon and front heated seats.

Loved it to bits, pulled like a train, until intake manifold gave up the ghost, couldn't find a spare.

[Cambs_Stuart]

They're also from an era where cars were simpler, lighter and more manual. I remember at the time the reviews for the handling were along the lines of "It's not that far off a Focus/Golf"

[7 5 7]

Good simple, reliable cars - easy to fix and easy to live with.

Still loads about, which is testament to that.

Running a similar era petrol Vectra C, it's such a bland, boring, unpretentious tank of a car - it just gets on with it's job like a Casio watch, very similar to this era Astra's.

[Austin_Metro]

Safe enough OP, it’s a pretty good shed in my book. And it looks tidy. I had a lift in the back of a similar age zafira on Saturday and the leg room in the back was impressive. Didn’t even catch fire, which was a bonus.

[blue_haddock]

Quite simply a nope from me!

The missus has a 1.4 Astra H and its woeful!

Slow, noisy, unreliable and uncomfortable.

But its what she wanted!

[Greendubber]

Driven thousands of miles in these over the years when we had them for panda cars, they stood up to pretty much everything we threw at them.

I believe they were 1.7 diesels, they went pretty well and had decent handling. They must be good because they did well over 100k miles being ragged about estates and over speed bumps with zero mechanical sympathy!

The Peugeots of similar age were utterly crap in comparison.

[greenarrow]

blue_haddock said:

Quite simply a nope from me!

The missus has a 1.4 Astra H and its woeful!

Slow, noisy, unreliable and uncomfortable.

But its what she wanted!

Ah, that may not be the fault of the Astra (the uncomfortable comment aside), but the engine you have in it. I imagine a 1.4 n/a of that era is struggling in a car the size of the Astra. The 1.6 petrol I have is none of those things you describe above. Its not a rocket ship, obviously, but enough power to feel nippy around town and feels quicker than the old Mk1 .16 petrol Focus we owned. I drove from Bournemouth area to Manchester and back (a 510 mile round trip) recently and didn't find it remotely uncomfortable. But each to their own.

[greenarrow]

Greendubber said:

Driven thousands of miles in these over the years when we had them for panda cars, they stood up to pretty much everything we threw at them.

I believe they were 1.7 diesels, they went pretty well and had decent handling. They must be good because they did well over 100k miles being ragged about estates and over speed bumps with zero mechanical sympathy!

The Peugeots of similar age were utterly crap in comparison.

Ha, ha, reading your post reminds me of the Hot Fuzz film with Jim Broadbent and Simon Pegg screaming around in the slightly earlier Astra G panda cars. Brilliant fun!

Peugeot 307, yes, drove a few of those, an utter turd in my opinion. The start of the rot for Peugeot after the seminal 306. Thankfully the later 308s are much better.

Yes you've summed up the Astra well. Beneath the somewhat cheap feeling interior and tinny sounding doors is a car that seems to be an utter tank. I take speed humps way faster in this than I would dare to in my own BMW (run flats again lol) and it seems pretty unphased!

To answer an earlier poster, they do rust btw, on the front chassis legs. Ours had a bit of welding this year and then some rust proofing applied. My mate said it would be fine now for years. That aside however what they do not do is rust in the sills or the arches like the Focus Mk1s and 2s do. My garage said there was absolutely zero rust anywhere aside from the front chassis legs which is a peculiar weakness but not a car killer.

[ChocolateFrog]

Didn't Clarkson eat his own pubes over Vauxhall making these.

[Stick Legs]

I used to get these as hire cars all the time.

Never had a complaint about them.

Nice to see one saved.

[911Spanker]

I quite fancy a similar age Zafira. Look like a good car for not much cash.

[greenarrow]

ChocolateFrog said:

Didn't Clarkson eat his own pubes over Vauxhall making these.

That might be the Vectra, don't remember him or Top Gear testing the bread and butter Astra H tbh. They did get a VXR to torque steer badly which tbf isn't difficult in any FWD turbo hatch that doesn't have LSD.

But you've hit the nail on the head. The "Clarkson effect" is the main reason why Vauxhalls get such a pasting on the likes of PH. Their image has never recovered from that infamous Mk1 Vectra Top Gear test in 1995 or 1996. Strange, because as Mr Tidy points out further up this thread, the 80s and early 90s Vauxhalls weren't bad at all and often better than the cars Ford were turning out at the time (Cosworth editions excepted). I know, I owned an early Sierra and it was ruddy awful. Drove a similar age Cavalier and it was miles better to drive.