Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Review & Prices

The Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer is a family-focused estate that comes with either petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid power. It goes up against the likes of the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia to name a few in the crowded family estate market. 

All versions come with a boat load of space and a fresh design that helps it stand-out from the crowd, while being pretty affordable. It’s like a fancy AirBnB that’s cheaper than it really should be. 

Let’s start with the looks, and Vauxhall has improved a lot recently in making its cars more stylish. The Astra is helping that charge, with the black panel on the face that integrates the headlights and lower grille help create a smart design, while the rest of the car is sleek and streamlined. It’s not the boldest of looks, but the clean lines and chrome detailing on higher-end trims look excellent. 

In the cabin it’s much more of the same, with simple lines and large displays helping create a stylish interior. There’s plenty of piano black trim bits (though these can get grubby quickly), while the metallic details continue on the steering wheel and on the dash. Top-spec models get alcantara trim, which looks and feels the best with the soft-touch material also used on the dash.

In terms of passenger space, the Sports Tourer has a bit more than the hatch but it can feel a bit tight for taller people, with the curving of the roofline cutting into headroom. Legroom is also a little tight for taller passengers, but most will be more than happy with the space on offer.

Boot space is decent, too. Go for a pure-petrol or diesel car and you’ll get 597 litres, which isn’t too far behind the Skoda Octavia Estate’s huge 640-litre space. The shape is also good, with hooks and nets also fitted on higher-spec models. There are also seat folding levers to make putting the rear seats down much easier. However going for the PHEV does reduce space by about 80 litres, as you lose the adaptable load floor and underfloor storage.

Currently the Astra Sports Tourer is offered with a petrol engine developing 110hp or 130hp, a 130hp diesel and a 180hp petrol plug-in hybrid. Only the 110hp petrol engine is offered with a six-speed manual — you get an eight-speed automatic with the 130hp petrol, the diesel and PHEV.

There’s something to be said about the comfort of the Astra. It soaks up the bumps well, while only a handful of knocks are transferred at lower speeds. It’s also very refined, with limited wind noise coming into the cabin, even at higher speeds. 

It’s not the most exciting car to drive, but it’s got direct steering and the extra kick from the hybrid’s motor will helps you exit corners pretty quickly. The switch between all-electric and petrol drive is also pretty smooth.

Although it may not be the most exciting, the Astra Sports Tourer is an estate that you should definitely consider looking into. If you’re interested in one, why not check out new deals through Carwow, while you can get used deals on other Vauxhalls as well. If you want to sell your car, you can go through Carwow, where our trusted dealers will bid on your car to get you the best price.

The Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer is competitively priced against its alternatives, with the Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Golf either just above or below the starting price of the Vauxhall.

If you want to be driving with efficiency and zero-emission driving in mind, the Astra Sports Tourer is the only one currently available with a plug-in hybrid, while an all-electric version is on the way soon as well. That will be the most expensive option though.

The Astra Sports Tourer is comfortable over long distances and easy to drive in town - especially in electric mode for the PHEV - but it's name doesn't translate when you drive on a twisty road

In town

With this car measuring 4.6m long, it isn’t the smallest car – a Corsa is a touch over four metres – but it still feels pretty manoeuvrable. With the help of an all-round camera on GS-Line and Ultimate models, you get a great view to help get you into small spaces and reduce the risk of any bumps or scrapes. 

The steering feels light which makes driving around two easily. The large 18-inch alloys seen on the mid- and top-spec models don’t transfer too many bumps and there’s little exterior noise breaking into the cabin. At low speeds its okay, but there’s some harsher bumps that you can feel. The optional 17s on Design models do offer the best overall ride. 

Visibility is also pretty good, with the large rear window helping you see clearly out the back, and the side windows being large enough to limit the blind spots. The wing mirrors are a little small, but they don’t hamper your view.

With the PHEV, you can run on all-electric mode to cruise quietly round town. You get 37 miles of EV running, which could mean you complete your commute or trip to shops without waking the petrol engine.

On the motorway

Where the Astra Sports Tourer makes the most sense though is on the motorway. It’s got more noise insulation and it’s more streamlined than the previous version, so there’s very limited wind whistle from the roof rails or wing mirrors.

Driving the PHEV on the motorway means you’ll be using the petrol engine more often than not. But when using the adaptive cruise control, the electric motor does kick in to help make cruising even more efficient when you slow down for another car in front. Getting up to speed can reveal that the engine sounds a bit gruff.  

On a twisty road

Despite the name, the Astra Sports Tourer is not a sporty car. It’s a bit too soft-set for that and you do get some body roll when you go round sweeping corners at the national speed limit. Flicking into sport mode does change things, but not enough to justify the overly heavy steering and loud engine note. 

The manual transmission is not the best shift compared to rivals, but it’s okay, and when paired with the 130hp petrol it’s quick enough for most people. The PHEV does feel heavy through the corners, but braking or coasting helps put power back into the battery so you can use the electric motor for punchier acceleration or in town.

Extending the Astra to the Sports Tourer improves the boot and cabin space, but you do struggle with headroom as with the hatchback

Being an estate, the Astra Sports Tourer doesn't struggle too much for space. You get a decent amount of adjustment in the steering wheel column and seats, while there's enough headroom to make sure you aren't too cramped.

In terms of storage, you get a decent-sized door bins, cupholders that have a sliding cover and a place in the centre console to plug in your smartphone or charge devices.

Space in the back seats

With the extended bodywork, you do get some extra space in the rear seats. The Astra does struggle with headroom, and the Sports Tourer does as well. You can get comfy, but other estates offer more room.

You'll also find storage spaces that are practical enough. There's a well-sized door bin either side, while there's a seat pocket on the back of the front chairs. Thankfully, people in the back can also charge devices with a couple of USB-C ports. If you're fitting a child seat, there are two ISOFIX points on the outer seats at the rear.

Boot space

Compared to its alternatives, the Astra Sports Tourer is one of the largest you can get. The 597-litre space is a good shape with nets either side and hooks to hang bags from. There are also pull handles to release the rear seats to fold down. When you do that, you get 1,634 litres, which makes for a flat space that also includes a space under the floor. Picking the plug-in hybrid reduces the overall capacity by 81 litres.

The Skoda Octavia Estate has 640 litres and Volkswagen Golf offers up to 611 litres, only slightly larger. The Ford Focus has 575 litres with all the seats in place.

You do get decent displays with the Astra Sports Tourer and the material quality is good, but it's rather dark in the cabin with lots of black and grey surfaces

If you’re after the most forward-looking interior in this class, the chassis-sharing Peugeot 308 will be the car to go for. But the cabin of the Astra Sports Tourer is still a nice place to be. It’s a bit on the darker side, with a lot of piano black on the centre console and either side of the main displays. 

There are a few shortcut buttons for the infotainment, the drive select rocker switch, drive mode selector and your parking brake. But that’s your lot button-wise. It’s very tidy, with lots of straight edges, with the display panel also incorporating the driver’s side air vent that can be a touch fiddly. 

Plenty of soft-touch materials used too, such as on the upper dash, seats and steering wheel, with metallic accents picking out some detail. The Ultimate models will come with a sliding sunroof to make the cabin feel a bit larger.

The infotainment system is not the most straightforward to use, and you can easily get lost in some of the menus trying to find some features. The 10.0-inch driver’s display also isn’t that configurable, with only two display layouts available. The only thing you can also change on the move is the trip computer, so it’s not a great display.

The 10.0-inch infotainment touchscreen is clear enough, but as with the driver's display, the software isn't the smoothest. More likely than not though, you’ll use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but the Android Auto won’t be full screen.

To keep your choices simple, Vauxhall offers very few options to customise your car. There are different wheel and colour choices, as well as deselecting the contrast roof.

If you’re after the most fuel efficient Sports Tourer, you’ll need to look into the PHEV. Vauxhall says it’ll do 256mpg, and if you have access to an electric wallbox charger you’re more likely to get close to that figure. If not, you’ll likely get in double figures around the 60mpg mark, which is still pretty good. 

Go for the diesel if you want efficiency without the plugging-in. With 62mpg, you should be able to cover a fair distance, even if the performance isn’t that exciting to help you along the way. But what’s impressive is that the petrol units aren’t too far behind. Vauxhall says the 130hp version can achieve 50mpg, while the 110hp version can do 51mpg – which is pretty decent. 

The PHEV also offers the lowest CO2 emissions of 25g/km, with the diesel the next best at 120g/km on the GS Line and 118g/km for the Design version. Petrol versions range between 120g/km and 130g/km. The lowest emissions from the PHEV mean it has the lowest company tax levels, while all of the models will have fairly reasonable tax rates too.

As standard, the PureSense safety technology gives you lane departure warning with lane keep assist, cruise control with intelligent speed adaption, automatic emergency braking, speed sign recognition and driver drowsiness detection. GS-Line models also feature traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control with distance control and front collision avoidance.

From Euro NCAP, the Astra scored four stars which isn’t the best in the segment. Alternatives like the Toyota Yaris, Seat Leon, Ford Focus and VW Golf all score five stars, with the Astra lagging behind on pedestrian safety and assists.

With the Astra Sports Tourer, you get Vauxhall’s three-year/60,000-mile warranty package and you can combine that with a three-year servicing plan to ensure that your Astra stays in the best condition. 

Vauxhall is also offering 12 months of RAC breakdown cover with new Astra Sports Tourer models. 

It’s also now being built in the same factory as the Peugeot 308 which has a much better reliability record on the previous generations, so the Astra may perform much better than previously. With Vauxhall being owned by the Stellantis Group, there’s hope that the new Astra will be much better.