Road Test: Holden Astra CDTi Diesel

By Feann Torr - 20/Feb/2007

For some reason I can't seem to start a review for a diesel car without pointing out their numerous pros and their very few cons. But today is different, today is... Who am I kidding - these things are hard to beat.

Year on year the popularity of diesel-powered cars in the Australian new car marketplace is increasing, and it's no fad - the diesel engine is very practical and is getting more and more efficient every year. 

The majority of new diesel passenger cars sold in Australia are imported from Europe - Holden's Astra, the Volkswagen Golf and Peugeot 307 all included - and they are making lots of new friends thanks to these powerful-yet-frugal diesel engines.

Diesel cars are becoming more and more popular in Australia, with both the abovementioned cars selling significant amounts of diesel models, where some are even eclipsing sales of their petrol counterparts which would have been an absurdity five years ago. Indeed, there is now demand in Australia for these cleverly designed and efficient diesel-powered cars, and the European importers are only too happy to ramp up supply.

Seeing this trend towards diesel small cars, Holden decided to import its own oil-burning Astra, and first impressions of this car are very positive.

The Holden Astra CDTi Diesel, which costs $29,990, cuts a sharp image and is quite comfy to boot, featuring all the best bits from the petrol-powered Astra, only with better fuel consumption, less pollution, and would you believe better driveability? It's true, but more on that later.

The petrol version of this car is a pretty good vehicle, and cheaper in some cases too, but the thing with diesel cars is that they use their fuel much more effectively and efficiently, they are easy to drive, and they sound like a big old truck. What's not to like?

Well, there is the fact that the diesel infrastructure in Australia is not what it is in Europe, which means you'll sometimes have to use truck diesel pumps at the fuel stop, whose nozzles are often too big to fit in passenger cars. Groan...

But even with these infrastructure difficulties - which are on the improve - there are more and more reasons to consider diesel power, and it's almost a rubber stamp of approval now that Australia's largest domestic car maker has moved into the small diesel car market, and this thoroughly impressive Astra CDTi could be just what Holden needs to stop Volkswagen and Peugeot becoming the "go to" diesel mongers.

Upon turning the key, buckling in, and then accelerating down the road, the first impression of the Astra turbo diesel is one of effortless ease. Sure, the car looks very trendy - the epitome of European styling - and the interior is pleasantly bland (I believe the marketing term is 'minimalist') and there's all the mod cons you'd expect and a decent amount of bootspace. 

But it's the engine that gives this Belgian-built car an undeniably upbeat spirit.

The engine barely needs to be coaxed into action before the car starts moving, and even with just a couple of thousand revs on the tach this European-designed small car really starts to sprint.

The engine is so flexible that even from standstill, you can throw the clean shifting 6-speed manual into second gear and pull away without any problems. And because this thing weighs 1372kg and has 320Nm of torque, you'll never find yourself running out of steam.

On the highway, for instance, the Astra will happily convert from a fuel-sipping greenie in 6th gear into a swift sprinter by changing down into 4th gear -- but the truth of the matter is that overtaking other cars on the highway rarely requires a gear change because of the turbocharged diesel engine's huge reserves of grunt. Stick the boot in, hear the whistle of the turbo, and away you go!

Being an Astra, this car has very good road manners too, and if you couldn't give a toss about power and torque and the nuts and bolts of it, you'll be happy to know that this is an easy car to drive.

It has an average turning circle of 10.55m (kerb to kerb) but in reality it feels far more manoeuverable than this figure would suggest, and exhibits a relaxed ride, so you won't feel every little bump and pot hole in the road.

The small Holden has good rearward visibility so changing lanes in traffic and other regular activities like reverse and parallel parking are stress free events, and the seating position gives a pretty good view of the road ahead, and for the life of me I couldn't really find anything bad about the way this car drives.

Oh, I remember one thing - I couldn't figure out how to turn off the rear windscreen wiper and it began to drive me crazy, but I think this was mainly due to my own stubbornness (my sister figured it out in about three seconds).

Of course, if you want to know about the nitty gritty, I'm only too happy to please. For example the throttle control in this car is good - not too sensitive, but far from dull - and though the clutch has a bit of travel it's not heavy and the 6-speed manual has a great shift feel, encouraging you to row through the gears. 

Moving the gear stick from first to second feels fine, if a touch notchy, but in reality there's only a few manual cars which aren't notchy when changing from first into second.

Because this car's 1.9-litre 4-cylinder engine is turbocharged and intercooled, it has a real kick to its acceleration that is smooth but forceful, something that performance car drivers will warm to. At low revs its got heaps of go, and the turbocharger will pitch in to increase engine power in almost any gear, at almost any speed. Flexible? You better believe it.

The Astra CDTi begins to really wind up at about 1000rpm, and seeing that it idles at 800rpm you can begin to understand how easy it is to get this puppy going. By the time the engine speed has reached 1500 to 2000rpm, it's party time and you get pushed into the seat cushions quite convincingly - a sensation normally only found in more expensive performance cars like the Subaru Impreza WRX.

The way this car pulls is just brilliant - so much shunt so early in the rev range. And compared to the likes of the Peugeot 307 and Volkswagen Golf diesels, I reckon this one from Holden is slightly more powerful - it feels very strong. You only need to hold each gear for about two or three seconds to get the car cranking along, and once you've rowed through all six gears you're really moving.

Fuel consumption is another drawcard for this car, and our average across our seven day test was 6.5L/100km, which included plenty of hard driving, making the figure all the more impressive. It also compares well to Holden's 1.6-litre Barina, which has a petrol engine, and has a claimed 6.9L/100km, which puts things in perspective, and highlights how efficient modern diesel cars can be.

Inside the cabin, the leather steering wheel is a nice addition to the Astra CDTi, but it's a shame the leather quality is so poor. However, there's some nice contouring at 10 and 2 o'clock on the tiller, and the steering wheel audio controls are rather nice, featuring spring loaded dials to scroll through stations, menus and what not, leaving you to keep your attention focussed on the road. 

There's nothing terribly special about the cloth seats but the cushions are supportive and they won't destroy your back on longer journeys either, which is something this diesel car is very good at. In general the interior of the diesel-powered Astra is unfussy, but there are enough extras in there to make your journey relatively pleasant, such as air conditioning, cruise control, a good 7-speaker Blaupunkt stereo with a MP3 compatible 6-stack CD system, and a dorky little trip computer that initially annoyed the hell out of me. There's also old school orange dials and unlike the Astra Coupe the rear window is more than just a peep hole through which light can wanly filter.

Rear seat room is not grand, but it's enough to transport 4 adults over short/medium distances, and if you have young kids this car would be fine for family transport, with enough room for bags, lunch boxes, and sports gear.

Though cars like the Astra, the VW Golf, the Peugeot 307, and a couple of other European hatchbacks are starting to look a bit samey, they are at least attractive. From the outside, this car looks good and your $29,990 is reflected in the smooth style of the bodywork, sporty wheel arches, the multi faceted headlight clusters and nicely styled 16-inch alloy wheels. Even the overall body shape - the car's silhouette - is easy on the eye. The diesel-powered Astra has a tidy looking rump as well, the prominent feature being the smooth Euro-style brake light clusters.

So far we've ascertained that this car is well suited to city, urban, and highway driving, but how does it fair on the race track? No idea really, but on fairly twisty roads it's a tidy little package, with a fairly stiff chassis that combines well with decent 205/55 R16 tyres for good levels of grip. Though it's not quite as decisive through a corner as the Astra SRi Turbo, it's not as far off the pace as you'd think, and in a straight line it comes close.

There is a level of understeer in the Astra CDTi, and the power steering system is more suited to city driving than tearing it up through the Great Dividing Range, but if you decide to take the long way home, you won't be disappointed with the cars tenacious character. And may even surprise a few other drivers along the way.

Another thing I liked about the the diesel Astra when pushing it hard was that is has quite good levels of engine braking (thanks to the high compression ratio), which gives you more confidence when your closing in on a corner because you can just drop a few gears and make the engine help to decelerates the car as well. Which is good, because the standard brakes aren't much chop. They feature ventilated 280mm discs up front and 264mm solid rotors at the rear, and it may be the callipers or the brake pads, because they feel pretty soggy after a few forceful prods. That said, if you don't plan on flinging this thing into corners and driving it the wheels off it, you'll find them more than adequate. 

It's got ESP (electronic stability program) as well, which is reassuring (particularly when the roads are wet), and when all things are considered this car has a pretty good safety complement for an imported European car priced at under thirty large. As well as ABS, the car gets six airbags that cover both front and rear passengers, and lap-sash seatbelts for all five occupants.

Practicality? Pretty good. The boot's not huge, but compared to other cars in this class is fares well, and the general fit and finish is better than most Australian-built cars and feels pretty solid. 

The Holden Astra is a very good car in and of itself. It's a stylish and roomy small car with solid build quality and a capable chassis, the latter aspect being quite handy if you ever get the urge to take the long (and twisty) way home. However, a word of warning: the manual model is brilliant, but the automatic version is a bucket of bolts. It has less power, fuel efficiency drops significantly, and the automatic gearbox seems to be calibrated for a petrol engine, as the car feels like a brick. The automatic model confounds - you pay more but get less.

Overall: 4/5

The Holden Astra is an amazingly versatile vehicle. Built in Europe, it's now being sold in a range of global markets, and has just recently been badged as a Saturn in the US, which means big bickies for GM.

Here in Australia there are a number of body styles on offer, from the wagon, to the 5-door hatch, to the coupe, to the twintop convertible, and there's even a range of performance models including the Astra SRi, plus the SRi Turbo and the range-topping, badge-swapping HSV VXR which is the flagship model of sorts.

The reason such a diverse range exists is because the Astra is a popular car, and it's popularity is a result of it being a very capable small car. And this diesel version is easily the best Astra I've ever driven, with performance levels that made me wonder whether the petrol-powered SRi Turbo was even necessary. This thing has incredible grunt for such a tiddler, which can really move when asked and the best part is that fuel economy is excellent.

There were a few bits and pieces that I didn't really like here and there with this car, but none of them were significant enough to warrant a downgrade, and at the end of the day I was thoroughly impressed with how the Astra went about its business. It's more expensive than some petrol models in the Astra range, but at the same time you get a number of added extras, least of which is the brilliant 4-cylinder diesel engine. 

If you're considering buying a new small car, you should check out the new generation of diesel cars. Why? Because they're superior in almost every respect compared to their petrol counterparts, and of these new quieter, smoother and more powerful diesel cars the Astra is one of the best. It's a great little car, simple as that.