► Living with a hot-ish hybrid Astra GSe
► Jake’s losing his rag with the auto ‘box
► Read month 6 here
The Astra is a well-designed, well-thought-out and good-value family hatch that can hold its own against even the posher stuff like a BMW 1-series or Mercedes A-Class, in my opinion. Vauxhall’s design team have played a blinder; and the recently unveiled Grandland shows their run of good form is continuing. And industry watchers will be impressed by how original and distinct the Astra feels, despite using a whole skip full of Stellantis common parts.
It’s a handsome car inside and out, and some serious logic has been applied to the interior. It avoids all the traps that so many carmakers stumble into with their interiors: massive screens replacing physical buttons, weird driving positions, form-over-function layouts…
The Astra handles sweetly, too, with accurate steering and good body control. The rear of the cabin is big enough, and so’s the boot. So be in no doubt, the Astra is very good for an ordinary, mainstream hatchback. The snag here is that this Astra isn’t an ordinary one. It’s a GSe, short for Grand Sport Electric, ‘Electric’ in this case meaning it’s a plug-in hybrid; I’ve never managed more than 22 miles of electric-only running.
It’s billed as a flagship offering ‘sporty styling, enhanced driving performance and all of the benefits of an electrified powertrain’ in the words of Vauxhall MD James Taylor.
Over seven months and 6000 miles, I’ve noted how sharp the GSe’s wheels look and how supportive its seats are. Well equipped, too: heated everything, sensible safety and driver assistance equipment, and a head-up display.
But have I been excited by anything design-wise other than the GSe’s wheels? How about its ‘enhanced driving performance’? Or the ‘benefits of an electric powertrain’? No. Because these qualities have barely registered. Giving your flagship 40 more horsepower and some fancy dampers doth not a performance car make, particularly when it’s connected to a truly dim-witted and power-sapping automatic transmission.
I concede that the Koni Frequency Selective Dampers improve the ride compared to a big-wheeled Astra without them, but it’s still fussy and jittery, and is at odds with a powertrain that’s so damp. And while the steering is accurate, I wouldn’t say it’s at a hot hatch level of weight and alacrity.
It’s almost as if Vauxhall put the minimum possible effort into the GSe, and hoped that nobody would notice how little it improved upon the regular Astra. Well, I noticed, and there’s only one conclusion to be reached: Vauxhall’s flagship Astra simply isn’t worth it.
Don’t be fooled. You’d be better off spending far less on a non-GSe version of the Astra, or a different car completely. It’s not as if you’re short of choices if you have £44k to spend.
Logbook: Vauxhall Astra GSe (month 7)
Price £43,250 (£43,750 as tested)
Performance 12.4kWh battery plus 1598cc four-cylinder, PHEV, 222bhp, 7.7sec 0-62mph, 146mph
Efficiency 256.0mpg (official), 40.0mpg (tested), 25g/km CO2
Energy cost 19.3p per mile
Miles this month 688
Total miles 9225
Count the cost
Price new £43,750
Part exchange £25,900
Cost per mile 17.2p
Cost per mile including depreciation £2.03