Road Test: Holden Astra Coupe CD

By Feann Torr - 21/9/05

With a sleek and sophisticated new image, the Holden Astra 2-door hatch is all about style. You may have seen the TV advert that caused a lot of controversy in Australia, where the car's owners stroll around a commercial shopping area in the nuddy, because the most stylish thing they need wear is their vehicle, the new Astra.

Though that may be pushing it a little, there is a lot to say about the Astra's attention-grabbing design: it's provocative, yes it's stylish and very aerodynamic too, lending it that unmistakable look of a car that easily cuts through the air - something well thought-out.

It's the kind of car that instantly fires up debate - do you like it? What about those rear windows? It's designed in Germany you know?!

At a time when large cars are being dumped in favour of smaller vehicles, the new Astra hatch is a useful weapon in Holden's assault on the small car market, which is now bigger than its ever been; Holden's range caters to all tastes, with new Astras spanning wagons, hatches, coupes, plus there's the 'classic' models, essentially the superceded (but cost effective) models. And you can add the budget-priced Korean-built small cars to the Holden range too.

But with fierce competition - and difficult-to-predict buyer trends - the new Astra will have it's work cut out for it as vehicles like Ford's Focus and the Mazda3 continue to attract interest. Let's take a look:

Holden's trendy Astra Coupe is quite a handy driver, with a tenacious character on the road

The minimalist feel in the cabin hides a good deal of functionality

Stepping for the first time into the new Astra 3-door hatch, I was a little underwhelmed at the views: it's not half as funky inside as it is out.

There's a sense of minimalism going on in the interior, and though this is at first a little dissatisfying, the vehicle's ease of use soon starts to make inroads on one's somewhat dampened mood.

The steering-wheel controls are some of the best I've ever used, with an intuitive stereo volume toggle, along with functions for changing CDs/radio stations, muting the speakers and so on. The tiller is also adjustable for rake and reach which is nice, while the front seats are 6-way manually adjustable, and quite comfy for cloth pews.

Being a 2-door coupe/hatch, the rear seats don't offer much room, but that's to be expected. The boot is quite spacious however, with 302 litres of space increasing threefold to 1030 litres when the rear seats are folded flat.

We tested the entry-level $23,490 Astra Coupe CD (at the time of writing there were only two coupe options - the CD and CDX) and as yet there's no top-shelf CDXi model, but the turbocharged Astra SRi Coupe is expected to aptly fill this hole in early 2006.

Standard features in the CD model include air conditioning, no less than four airbags, power windows and mirrors, cruise control, ABS and Brake Assist (BA) plus a well-oiled single-CD/MP3 Blaupunkt 7 speaker CD stereo and 15-inch alloy wheels.

On the topic of footwear, I was a bit apprehensive about the 15-inch wheels on offer. Shod with 195/65 R15 tyres, I visualised the Astra Coupe to be a pigs breakfast through a corner, but the stylish Holden defies its seemingly pedestrian wheel/tyre combo, exhibiting impressive handling characteristics when given a firm push.

I think because of its low kerb weight (1243kg) it doesn't put too much of a burden on the tyres' high side walls, and was unexpectedly pliable through corners, able to change direction rapidly and with no nasty after effects. It has a fairly firm ride, which suits twisty roads but the loss of some suppleness in the process can felt as it rides over uneven surfaces.

Grip levels are pretty good for tyres of this size, but an aftermarket set of ultra-wide wheels would bond this car to the blacktop like two-week old roadkill on a busy highway. It certainly has the chassis to perform, and could handle much more power without losing its balance (stay tuned for the turbocharged 2.0-litre model in the meantime).

It is a front-wheel drive vehicle, and does tend to understeer when a given a foot full or round increasingly tight bends, but decreasing the throttle input ever-so-slightly helps tuck it back into its original line quite nicely when things start to get a little precarious.

Stomping on the brakes (with BA and ABS) resulted in rapid deceleration too - I was more than happy with the effect the brakes delivered, on what is essentially the budget model, with mild levels of fade as the heat builds up.

The chassis felt good on the whole, quite predictable in most instances, and not far behind the Ford Focus - and quite possibly overtaking it when it came to feedback through the steering wheel.

The 1.8-litre 4-cylinder engine shifts the vehicle's bulk easily, and it's quite a quick revver too when coupled with the 5-speed manual 'box, smoothly-but-convincingly increasing road speed. It does get a little breathless as it nears the rev-limiter, and torque drops off the harder you rev it, but that's to be expected in a naturally aspirated sub 2.0-litre powerplant.

If you're used to a large car or a 4WD for instance, jumping into the Astra Coupe will be a dream, as it can be easily driven in a way that promotes fuel efficiency. Holden claims a fairly frugal 7.8 litres of fuel used on the combined highway/city cycles (I wish they wouldn't combine...), but when in hands of a miserly driver on the open road, the Astra is a very tidy little fuel consumer.

This charismatic Astra makes good use of its 92kW of power with five forward gears. The ratios are well spaced for cruising; it doesn't mind being slotted into a fifth gear from as low as 60km/h, which is useful in some situations (low fuel). If pedalled hard, you do need to stay on top of the gears. But from where I sit this is no bad thing - I quite enjoy perfecting my shifts and clutch pedal is hardly weighty. But if you dislike having to constantly change gears to keep the tacho needle in it's sweet spot (above 3500rpm), you may not be so enamoured with the 5-speed transmission.

When not cruising through winding hinterland roadways, the Astra Coupe is even more self-assured, able to navigate the hussle-bussle of city and suburban traffic adroitly. The only real shortcoming to regular driving in the Coupe is rearward vision - the C-pillars are rather fat and the rear windscreen is quite slim - one of the prices you pay for the car's eye-catching sense of style.

There's almost a hint a Alfa Romeo 147 in the backside, particularly in the rear window

Beyond that, the car is a doddle to drive in urban areas, as you would expect from a small car city-bred car like this. Measuring 1753mm in width and 4250mm in length, its small size make it a breeze to duck in and out of traffic, and parking it isn't too difficult either (providing you make good use of the wing mirrors) and another bonus is the well-weighted steering wheel, which takes the effort out of slow-speed manoeuvring. It's 10.55 metre kerb to kerb turning circle isn't class leading, but gets the job done 9 times out of 10.

Another area where the car excelled was build quality - it's a very well constructed car, inside and out. Panels are flush fitting, the dash looks quite nice and the doors emit a solid enough 'thud' when you slam them shut.

From the outside the car is quite an eye-full and shares only rudimentary sheet metal with the more conservatively styled 5-door hatch (front quarter panels, front bumper and bonnet). The roof is much lower than it's siblings and the way the rear side windows and roof slope down towards the rear end is perhaps a little radical, but very appealing.

The rear windscreen looks great as a slim-line peep hole from the outside, but once driving you'll probably wish there was a larger viewing portal. And to be quite honest, these photos don't do the vehicle justice - it looks much more inspiring in the flesh, and has a great presence on the road.

Short front and rear overhangs give the car a sporty stance on the road, as do the flared wheel arches, while up front the multi-cluster headlights lend the car a technical aspect. The grille adds a little bit of elegance with a shiny horizontal bar crowning the big Holden lion badge, while the lower air dam's modern shape identifies this as a GM product, similar to other Holden cars like the Vectra and Commodore.

Overall: 3.5/5

Not easily missed in the small car segment, the Astra sticks out like a well-dressed fashionista amidst a crowd of analogous has-beens. It's not often that a car's image eclipses almost all other features, but in this instance it certainly does.

Many people buy cars based purely on whether they like the look of the vehicle, viewing their car as an extension of their wardrobe if you will, and in this respect the Astra Coupe is bang on the money. In terms of the way it drives, the way it feels to sit in and the way it hauls cargo, it's not quite as blindingly successful, but still maintains a high level of functionality.

It's a very nice car to drive, happy to run around the city and easy to operate in commuter traffic, and at the same time it's mildly sporty suspension tune ensures the enthusiast in all of us will have a rollicking good time to boot. It's engine is a capable unit, but is by no means going to win any land speed records. In general use it's an easygoing vehicle that's a joy to drive because of the attention it attracts. I certainly had fun cruising around in it, the large windows wound down.

Considering the solid build quality, the keen level of performance and of course those head-turning good looks, I reckon the Astra Coupe CD makes a good value-for-money proposition, and gives Holden an attractive boost to its small-car range.