Car Carnival

2010 Vauxhall Astra

2009-05-19T03:05:00.000-07:00

These are the first official images of the new, British-built Vauxhall Astra, which will debut as a five-door hatchback in September 2009 at the Frankfurt Show and will appear in UK showrooms at the end of 2009.

Marking the sixth generation of Vauxhall Astra in 30 years, the new car's design team was led by Mark Adams, the British designer responsible for last year's European Car of the Year-winning Vauxhall Insignia.

With its strong, cab-forward silhouette, steeply-raked windscreen and sloping rear roofline, the new Vauxhall Astra makes ingenious use of many of the design features found in the Insignia, but in a fresh and innovative way. Also like the Insignia, it has spent over 600 hours in the wind tunnel, benefiting performance, economy and overall refinement.

"We're continuing with the same premium design cues as the Insignia, inside and out of the car," said Adams, Vice President of GM Europe Design. "However, the main design themes, like the wing-shaped light signatures and the blade, needed an individual execution to avoid 'cloning' the model ranges. This is why, for instance, you see twin wings in the rear lights and a reversed blade on its flanks."

Underpinning the Vauxhall Astra's rakish, 4.4 metre-length body, is an all-new chassis with a 71 millimetre-longer wheelbase, benefiting both passenger comfort and packaging. Wider tracks front and rear feature, as does a new rear axle design, which not only improves stability and agility, but takes the Vauxhall Astra's ride comfort into a different league.

Enhancing the Astra's dynamic performance still further is the option of Vauxhall's clever FlexRide system, a rarity in this sector which offers drivers three unique damper settings - standard, sport and tour - while being fully adaptive to changes in driving style and cornering speed.

Pictures of the new Vauxhall Astra's interior will be released soon, but in the meantime expect similar strides in quality to those found in the Insignia, combined with big improvements in packaging, seat design and in-cabin storage. Mark Adams' unique wrap-round dash treatment will also appear in the Vauxhall Astra, but with a different take on that found in the Insignia.

Unique in this sector will be the Vauxhall Astra's optional, latest generation AFL (Adaptive Forward Lighting), which features bi-xenon lighting that changes its intensity and reach to suit prevailing road conditions. A similar system was introduced on the Insignia, and is now recognised as one of the most advanced systems available.

The highlight of the new Vauxhall Astra's powertrain line-up is the introduction of an all-new, 140PS turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol unit, which builds on Vauxhall's commitment to engine downsizing and reduced emissions/fuel consumption, while retaining the performance of a larger capacity vehicle. The 1.4T joins three further petrol engines, which range from 100PS to 180PS, and four diesel engines ranging from 95PS to 160PS. All engines are Euro 5 compliant.

"The only part of the Vauxhall Astra which isn't new is its name," said Andy Gilson, Vauxhall's Marketing Director. "And that name currently accounts for around 30 per cent of all Vauxhall's car sales, with the five-door hatch taking 60 per cent of those sales alone - so it's important to lead with this body style. Not only is the Astra a crucial new model for Vauxhall, but we're confident that its blend of dynamic design, new-to-class technology and immense driver appeal will attract an even broader spectrum of buyers in this sector."

Car Carnival

2010 Vauxhall Astra

2010 Opel Astra

2009 Lancia Delta 1.8 Di Turbo Jet

2010 BMW Z4 UK Version

2010 Seat Ibiza Bocanegra

2010 Dacia Sandero Stepway

2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

2009 Bugatti Veyron Centenaire

2010 Ferrari 599XX

2009 Buick Business Concept

2010 Skoda Octavia RS

2010 Skoda Octavia Scout

2010 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG

2010 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG

2010 Jaguar XJ

2010 Seat Leon Cupra

2010 Seat Ibiza FR

2010 Lotus Evora

2010 Lotus Exige S

2010 Mercedes-Benz S-Class AMG Sports Package

2010 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class AMG Sports Package

2010 Opel Insignia OPC

2010 Vauxhall Insignia VXR

2009 BMW X5 Security Plus

2009 Hyundai Nuvis Concept

2010 Kia Forte Koup

2010 Subaru Outback

2009 Mitsubishi Outlander GT Concept

2009 Scion iQ Concept

2009 Acura ZDX Concept

2010 Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid

2010 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

2010 BMW 760Li

2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport