• Average passenger room
• Excellent boot space
• Lots of storage space in the front

How much space is there?

The Vauxhall Astra should work well for small families and empty nesters. The hatchback’s front seats have loads of adjustment, and oodles of legroom. Our six-foot tester had no trouble at all getting comfortable, without resorting to sitting with the seat in its lowest position.

Space in the rear is more disappointing. Kneeroom is tight behind a six-footer in the front, and headroom is adequate rather than generous. Here, the Ford Focus has the Astra licked, although it’s way better than the Toyota Corolla and competitive with the Kia Ceed.

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Boot space and storage

Petrol and diesel powered Vauxhall Astras have 422 litres of boot space with the rear seats up and 1,389 litres with them folded. That makes it more spacious than the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and Kia Ceed, although it’s smaller than a Honda Civic.

Opt for the Astra PHEV, however, and space falls to 352 litres and 1,368 litres respectively, as the battery for the powertrain is stored under the boot floor. If you need more space, you can always plump for the stylish Sports Tourer estate version.

There are loads of useful cubbies, pockets and trays to empty your pockets into as well. In other words, it’s as inviting as it is practical. We’re particularly impressed by the size of the mobile phone holder and integrated induction charger in the centre console, which was large enough to hold the current top-of-range phones. That’s not always the case.

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Is it easy to park?

The Astra is a classically-sized European hatchback and feels compact on the road. Forward visibility is good, although the rear view is limited thanks to a shallow screen and bulky rear-pillars. Vauxhall has alleviated the matter by fitting front and rear parking sensors as standard on every version of the car.

Mid-range GS Line cars also come as standard with a rear-view camera, while the range-topping Ultimate model features rear cross-traffic alert and a 360-degree parking camera. If money’s tight, though, you can manage just fine without these features.

View dimensions in the Vauxhall Astra specs pages

Safety

• Class-leading levels of safety kit available
• But some of the best features optional 
• Which means the standard car scores four stars

Euro NCAP put the Vauxhall Astra through its paces in May 2022. The hatchback achieved four stars in tests, although it’s worth bearing in mind that its score was dragged down because of its safety equipment. A lot of the more advanced equipment, such as rear cross-traffic alert, lane positioning assist and traffic sign recognition, is optional.

Delve deeper into the report, though, and you’ll find that the new Astra crashes quite well. It achieved a respectable 80% score for adult occupants and 82% for child occupants. The testers were particularly impressed by how well the Astra’s front seats protected their passengers from whiplash.

Other handy safety features include Vauxhall’s IntelliLux matrix LED headlights, which can cut approaching traffic out of the beam pattern to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers. You can also have a driver assistance system called IntelliDrive on the flagship Ultimate variant, which combines adaptive cruise control with active lane centring.

We’ve tested these systems in their latest form and they work very well. It doesn’t quite offer Tesla levels of driver assistance, but they help make long journeys less tiring.

Watch the Vauxhall Astra crash test video