Opel/Vauxhall Astra L

It's the beginning of the new era for the Opel/Vauxhall Astra as this latest generation is the first all-new Astra under the Stellantis arm and it no longer bears the bits and bobs from The General since they migrated to Peugeot. We know that moving to its French masters is a difficult thing to do for the new Astra but it's for its own good. Let's investigate.

2022 Opel Astra

2022 Vauxhall Astra

Priced at 22,456 Euros (23,805 Pounds) plus additional costs, the all-new Astra L departed itself from being a foundation for the now-defunct Chevrolet Cruze during its GM years to a German equivalent to the third-generation Peugeot 308, which is a good thing for this new model because it's now expressing the joys of being fully European inside and out, thanks to its French connection. Anyway, no time to express optimism over the new car's French connection. Let's begin with the design.

Starting with the design, the Astra L dons the Vizor front face first seen in the second-generation Mokka crossover, giving the new model some cyberpunk looks, which is rather impressive but its squarish looks made the new Astra feel as abstract as a fancy abstract painting you saw in the art gallery.

2022 Opel Astra interior

2022 Vauxhall Astra interior

While the new exterior is less stylish compared to its Peugeot 308 equivalent, the minimalist-themed interior holds a different story. Like the new Mokka, the all-new Astra comes with a footlong-sized monitor with two screens on it, one for the speedo and the other one for the touch-screen sat-nav with smartphone connectivity on it. Of course, there are buttons on it but adjusting the air-conditioning can be a real challenge for the driver. On the plus side, at least the steering wheel is positioned at the dashboard, unlike the 308 where the steering wheel is positioned below.

In terms of comfort, the new Astra is surprisingly bigger compared to its Cruze-derived predecessor. Not only that, it's slightly roomier than the new 308 it was based on, which is more of a win-win for this new model. 

2022 Opel Astra

2022 Vauxhall Astra

Because it now dons on the same platform used by the Peugeot 308, the all-new Astra almost fully behaves like a proper European car. Moderate but easy to live with. This is how this new model rolls on a typical European setting like Berlin or London. Although it's not as enjoyable as proper European hatchbacks, probably because of the rear torsion bar setting used on it rather than multilink or independent, it feels so good to drive on a daily basis. It's all about enjoying life through good driving and this new Astra appeals rather well.

Under the bonnet, the new Astra offers a choice of all-new powertrains such as the 1.2L turbo petrol, 1.5 diesel, and the range-topping 1.6L turbo-hybrid powerplant similar to the one used on the new Peugeot 308. 

The latter produces a high-performance 180PS of power output, 360Nm of torque output, and because it's mated to an 8-speed automatic, it does 0-100kph in 7.6 seconds and flat-out in 225kph. With the electric mode engaged, it's good for 73km.

With safety the new normal, the all-new Astra is armed with numerous advanced driver assistance systems courtesy of its Intelli-Drive 2.0, adaptive cruise control, Intelli-Vision, and many others.

The all-new Astra may be more of a Germanized version of the new Peugeot 308 with a squarish front face that looks abstract and pixelated but it's shaping up to be a proper European hatchback for the masses. Migrating to its French masters is a hard thing to do but as it turns out, it feels good for the new Astra and looks like it's on a roll.

Photo: Opel/Vauxhall