Vauxhall Astra 1.4 SRi

[Yampiedog]

I have a journey to Kent tomorrow for work and so they have provided a hire car as in the title.

 

I love the look of the new Astra and once inside it is nice and comfy and looks nice. However here come a couple of niggly bits that I have noticed so far.

 

1 - some of the switchgear is in odd places, eg the rear wiper. It is a switch on the very end of the stalk - odd to say the least.

2 - the engine is absolutely gutless and feels like it should do more but is restricted. It seems almost impossible to accelerate hard.

 

I would be embarrassed to offer this to someone based on the way it performs. I appreciate I may expect more driving what we drive but compared to other cars I have driven with 1.4 engines this is like piggybacking a snail.

[Suits]

The engine is probably putting out the same 100hp (ish) they always have done but the weight of the car is now 1200kg's as opposed to the older 950-1000kg's, so feels trollop.

 

But yeah, I feel your pain.

[K370Z2]

Its a hire car - they do 90mph i second or die trying ha

[Yampiedog]

I will be doing over 230 miles in it tomorrow, it's going to have to work hard I can tell you that!

[Wayne370Z]

Know what you mean, the wife`s just got a Vauxhall Mokka which has the same odd little rocker switch on the end of the stalk for the rear wiper but what I find even more odd on that is the front parking sensors are only active after you`ve either selected reverse (which activates the rears and front as well) or pushed the button to turn the front on. So if you pull up to something to park and haven`t previously used reverse during your journey and haven`t remembered to hit the button you drive into whatever`s in front whilst waiting for the pings to tell you to stop. Why wouldn`t you just want them to be active all the time !!!

[gsexr]

Its so they work when parking and not everytime you pull up to a car on the road.

It would be a nightmare in traffic

[Yampiedog]

On our Jeep they only come on when below a certain speed, never beeped in traffic yet so they can work that way, shouldn't be a need to turn them on. That's pants!

[Wayne370Z]

Never found it an issue on my RCZ which were active all the time but might be that I don`t generally pull up to others that close in traffic so as to activate the sensors !

[AK350Z]

It's crippled so it can get in a nice low emissions tax band for fleet customers.

[gangzoom]

I had the auto version as a hire car last year for a bit...awful little thing, despite doing lots of M driving in it the MPG was awful.

 

[Yampiedog]

260 miles and refilled and it cost just over £47 - pretty shocking I reckon.

 

Drop down a gear and you'd expect a little bit of oomph but nothing, ease off the pedal and then it's a proper work up to get back to your speed.

 

I did notice the lighting below the heartsick surround though, that was pretty.

 

I have to say though around town it was quite pleasant to drive but overall the engine is awful.