It was good around town and I’m sure the diesel would be very economical but it’s a complete dog for motorway driving. That’s what I think – I expected it to be a complete pig, but it only turned out to be a dog.”Barbara Lewin, 38, office manager from Hove Usual car: Peugeot 206″It felt a bit claustrophobic It was nowhere near as airy and bright as my Peugeot. When I last drove an Astra they were pretty basic and I think that’s what they were good for; something you could run and repair yourself cheaply. This is trying to be something it’s not, a small car version of an Omega.

Given the meagre fuel consumption and incredible 30,000-mile service intervals it will also be very cheap to run and competitive to buy.This may not be enough to make the Astra a keen contender, though. Petrol or diesel, it is not exciting or especially pleasurable over distances or through curves owing (according to the automotive nerds) to the absence of multi-link suspension. It is noticeably less lively and less eager to hug bends tightly than the Focus.Its main competitors may be longer in the tooth, but for a refined, higher-end hatchback the Golf and the Focus remain tempting for the more rewarding and involving drive they offer. But the car-buying public will, of course, be the final judge and jury.Andy Moore, 50, contract manager from Portslade Usual car: BMW 5-Series estate”I didn’t dislike it as much as I thought I would, although I would not buy it because it costs too much. Cornering and ride are reassuringly solid and while the steering is hardly fingertip sensitive (owing to dulling effect of electro-hydraulic steering assistance) it still offers a reasonable feel for the road.Perhaps it failed to impress because of the engine. Would this week’s panel have delivered a less harsh sentence on the Astra if we had tested a petrol version, maybe with the sportier ride of the optional Interactive Driving System?As Andy points out, the diesel was sluggish accelerating and overtaking on the motorway (where road noise also leaks in) but it’s nimble enough around town.

It may not be cheerful (as Barbara and Allen point out, the cabin is a masculine cave with walls of stark black plastic) but it feels and looks far superior to many of the cars tested this year (although the confusing and fiddly central information console controls need rethinking).Underway, the Astra behaves well. It sits eagerly on its rear haunches and that sharp crease ironed down the centre of the car works well giving it a sense of dynamism, as does the purposeful snout’s large, bold light clusters.The interior exudes quality, too. I never thought I would end up defending Vauxhall, a manufacturer of dull cars, designed by bean-counters for bean-counting fleet managers. Yet defend it is just what I feel like doing in response to the rather severe verdict our readers handed to the new Astra.We all agree, at least, on the exterior styling. It’s a good-looking car that’s hitting the forecourts at a time when its main competitors (the about-to-be-replaced Focus and the much-the-same-as-it-ever-was Golf) are beginning to look old and tired.There’s no hint of the old Astra’s joyless profile in the new Astra’s crisp lines. SPECIFICATIONS Price: £15,045 Engine: 1.7-litre CTDi Performance: 0-60mph in 14secs, 55.4mpg CO2: 138g/km Worth considering: VW Golf, Ford Focus, Honda Civic

SPECIFICATIONS Price: £15,045 Engine: 1.7-litre CTDi Performance: 0-60mph in 14secs, 55.4mpg CO2: 138g/km Worth considering: VW Golf, Ford Focus, Honda Civic
It has become a clich?o point out that while motoring journalists love to hate Vauxhalls, the British public carries on buying them in their millions regardless of the sniffy reviews.But today, the tables have turned.