It's been a long time since Vauxhall has made a mainstream model as well received by enthusiastic drivers as the latest Astra. 'Go Drive' is, for once, an appropriate advertising strapline. If you're to do so, your model of choice may well be the 180bhp 1.6T SRi. Assuming of course you've the necessary £18,000 budget and can afford the hefty insurance. For most of us who can't, yet still want to 'Go Drive', the 1.8-litre Astra 1.8 SRi featured here will be the weapon of choice.

For substantially less (£16,300 to be exact), you get a familiar 125bhp petrol powerplant that's 2s slower to sixty (9.8s) and 14mph slower flat out (123mph) than the engine fitted to this car's pricey stablemate. You get reasonable group 8 insurance and virtually the same subtle bodykit fitted to the 1.6T. You also get five-door practicality - either as a hatchback or, for about £1,000 more, an estate - though there's also an identically-priced three-door Sport Hatch option. It is worth pointing out, however, that the more modern 1.6-litre turbo is half a mile per gallon more economical than the 36mpg you get in the 1.8 and churns out 185g/km as opposed to the 187g/km of the less powerful car. This takes the edge off the 1.8-litre SRi's price advantage but a £2,000 saving still sounds a fair deal to us.

Vauxhall has tweaked the Astra's cosmetics a little, with sharper-looking front and rear lights, a revised front bumper, more chrome splashed about the grille and the choice of piano black or matt chrome interior finishing. Sport Hatch models also get a honeycomb front grille. As befits its sporting nature, this SRi features lowered suspension, sports seats, sports instruments, front fog lights and a matt chromed centre console. Mind you, many 'sporting' Vauxhalls have featured such things in recent years, yet serious drivers have ventured out in them only to be bored and disappointed. Not so this time.

Cornering roll is minimal, which encourages you to throw the car into corners with greater gusto. You can do so later too, thanks to meaty brakes which are so powerful you'll thrill at their bite. Watch other road users apply their brakes and then sail past them, relying on the SRi's astonishing powers of retardation. Gearboxes are not a Vauxhall strongpoint and this close ratio example certainly could be slicker. It is however, one of the company's better efforts. The steering's responsive too, with plenty of feedback when you want it, yet usefully light when you don't.

"Unless you really need the extra performance of the 1.6T, this 1.8-litre SRi ticks most of the boxes."

Of course, we've had stiff suspension set-ups on Astras before - but at a cost; a ride that shook the fillings out of your teeth. Here, thankfully, its different. In fact, the SRi's ride is arguably class-leading, thanks to the way it handles poor surfaces with accomplished ease. This is complemented by impressive levels of refinement; you feel you could drive this hot hatch all day without getting tired of it.

The driving position helps in this regard, second to none in the class, with height adjustment on both the driver's seat and a height and reach-adjustable leather-trimmed chunky three-spoke steering wheel. The pedals are perfectly aligned and the sports seats supportive, with bucket-like side bolsters. So far, so good.

Certainly, you don't need to go very far to realise that you're at the wheel of an uncommonly well-engineered car. One thing that Vauxhall trust will be immediately apparent is the Astra's ride quality courtesy of an advanced suspension system. It's the first car in its class to feature Continuous Damping Control (CDC), electronically controlled shock absorbers that continuously adapt to the road surface and the driver's style. It's all part of what Vauxhall dub the Astra's 'Interactive Driving System' (IDS) that can integrate all of the electronic functions in a way that's a good deal cleverer that you might think.

For example, the ESP stability control system now beefs up the damper forces first before applying the brakes to the front wheels during extreme cornering manoeuvres making for a more sensitive and less intrusive intervention. Despite all of these high tech touches, the Astra still uses a relatively simple beam axle at the back instead of the sophisticated multi-link layouts used by Volkswagen and Ford.

The forgettable styling that has historically characterised this car has also been banished. Vauxhall's bland effort last time round with this model range cost them dear when the dynamically-styled Ford Focus was subsequently launched. "That Astra was the answer to my prayers", one Ford marketing man told me at the time. The men from the Blue Oval are unlikely to be as smugly self-satisfied this time around.

That's not to say that practicality has been sacrificed at the altar of styling. Clever packaging and a long wheelbase have helped to maximise the car's interior space, helped in no small part by the fact that the exterior tale of the tape shows the Astra is one of the biggest cars in it's class. That sloping roofline looks as if it'll pinch rear headroom but look a little closer and you'll notice the sloping line that catches the eye is but a chamfer and the actual roofline arcs higher.

Rear headroom is in fact better than the old-shape car and legroom and shoulder room is in another league. A Vauxhall spokesman claimed that the interior of the new Astra fitted like a glove, but as few people we know are shaped like hands, this would seem to present certain problems. Not so. Big doors and surprisingly upright side windows give an airy feel to the interior, although anybody familiar with the look and feel of the latest Vectra's cabin won't find much to excite them with the Astra's fascia.

A good package then, both as an overall car and in this particular guise. Unless you really need the extra performance of the 1.6T, this 1.8-litre SRi ticks most of the boxes and shouldn't be overlooked, even if you'd normally have a snobby attitude to the Vauxhall badge. Try it before you knock it. You might well be pleasantly surprised.

TOP 5 ASTRA DEALS

The results below show the top ASTRA deals on buyacar

	Vauxhall Astra 1.8i VVT SRi 3dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £207	Saving £4,279	Price £12,366
	Vauxhall Astra 1.8i VVT SRi 3dr [Exterior pack] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £4,514	Price £12,931
	Vauxhall Astra 1.8i VVT SRi 5dr [Exterior Pack] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £4,514	Price £12,931
	Vauxhall Astra 1.8i VVT SRi 3dr [Exterior pack] Auto Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £4,805	Price £13,675
	Vauxhall Astra 1.8i VVT SRi 5dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £218	Saving £4,279	Price £12,366

typical 10.72% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000