Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer GSE - long-term review

In 2025, this is as pointy as performance Astras get. New performance Astras, of course, because you’ll no doubt be able to pick up a decent used VXR or GSI for less than this car’s £44k asking price.

Call us if you manage to find a decent Mk2 GTE that hasn’t eaten itself, though. That’s not a joke – seriously, call us. They’re great. Moving on.

Though, it’s hard to move on from those cars because even with their various shortcomings, they always represented Astras that had personality. And after months of living with this one, we’re not sure it really… does.

Largely because the drivetrain isn’t that appealing. A reminder: there’s a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine up front producing 176bhp on its own, matched to an electric motor drawing power from a 12.4kWh battery. All in, it makes 223bhp and Vauxhall claims 0-62mph in 7.5s.

It’s a setup used across the Stellantis portfolio, and it sounds fine. But it’s not… fine. Sure, with the battery suitably topped up, it’s reasonably punchy off the line, smooth, and refined. The transition from electric to petrol is fairly seamless most of the time, and you can make nice, sedate progress.

And sure, getting from A to B is comfortable. Those special Koni ‘FSD’ dampers provide a really plush ride, and the GSE feels nicely sorted. But any car will get you from A to B. What if you want to go from A to B via A1, A1(a), and A1(a_1) and away from this awful analogy?

Things start to unravel. The gearbox is too slow, and when you inevitably run out of e-juice (and to my shame, I’ve not been refilling as often as I should, hence the dip in mpg) the engine sounds quite coarse and rough – so much so, we thought something had gone wrong. Plus the brakes are unforgivably inconsistent. There’s regen, but the level of force required varies, and that’s really quite annoying. And there’s no steering feel.

It grips gamely enough, with little body roll, so perhaps underneath there’s some mischief to be extracted. Perhaps a gutsier, less thrashy and less irritating engine up front could put those Konis to better use.

It’s a shame, because the Astra could otherwise have made a really good case for itself. We’ve said it loads but it bears repeating: it looks good, is comfortable, sensible and refined. But unlike those VXRs or GSIs or GTEs, there’s not enough of a wild side.