Vauxhall has started marketing the new Astra with this viral video. It shows a prototype sixth-generation Astra being driven around the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, hunting down a Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. Of course you can guess which is fastest, but then Vauxhall has one of its own BTCC drivers behind the wheel of the Astra.
Remind me about Vauxhall’s new Astra
Under the skin of Vauxhall’s new Astra sits GM’s Delta platform which also underpins the Chevrolet Cruze. The five-door Astra has already been unveiled and will be on display at the Frankfurt motor show in September. A Sport Tourer estate follows in 2010, then a three-door Sport Hatch, but the CC coupe-cabriolet is currently on hold
Most of the engines are carried over from the current car, with petrol engines ranging from 99bhp to 178bhp, and four diesels with 94bhp to 158bhp, but the big news is a new 138bhp 1.4-litre turbo petrol. There’s also a 270bhp VXR Astra expected, and maybe even a plug-in hybrid version as the Delta platform also underpins Chevrolet’s Volt and the Opel Ampera.
The new Astra goes on sale in December 2009, and is expected to be priced from £14,000.