The Astra GSe is a top-of-the-range Astra that comes with lots of sporty badging, but the performance labelling is a bit deceptive, said Autocar. What we have here is a comfortable, nicely rounded, everyday plug-in hybrid. Softly suspended, it has a fair bit of roll in corners and the grip from the Michelin Primacy 4 tyres is OK, but not tenacious. It’s “quite satisfying on a twisty road, but it’s never exciting”.
Available in hatchback or estate forms, the GSe may be the most powerful Vauxhall available, but the powertrains are “lifted straight from the parts bin”, said Car Magazine. The widely used Stellantis Hybrid 225 combines a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor and a 12.4kWh battery, to create 222bhp combined and an electric-only range of up to 39 miles, with a 0-62mph of 7.5 seconds.
The GSe is nicely proportioned and classy, with comfy seats and a sweeping dashboard, said The Daily Telegraph. You can fit three adults in the back, at a push. But at £40,550, it’s no bargain, and you’ll pay £355 a year in luxury car tax (applied to all cars over £40,000). You’ll also need to fork out an extra £500 for a 7.4kW charger to plug it into a household wallbox and cut charging from 5.5 hours to just under two.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In pictures: Vauxhall Astra GSe
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film FestivalFeature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
-
Book reviews: ‘All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation’ and ‘Mother Mary Come to Me’Feature Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘balls to the wall’ memoir and Arundhati Roy’s terrifying mother
-
6 rustic homes on ranchesFeature Featuring copper kitchen counters in Colorado and a 380-acre property in California
-
Steve: a ‘gripping’ drama starring Cillian MurphyThe Week Recommends Murphy plays the frazzled headmaster of a boarding school for ‘delinquent’ boys in this bold Indie film
-
The Lady from the Sea: a ‘thrillingly contemporary’ Ibsen adaptationThe Week Recommends ‘Luminous’ cast dazzle in Simon Stone’s ‘hugely enjoyable’ production
-
Black Rabbit: slick crime thriller set in a high-end New York restaurantThe Week Recommends Two Manhattan brothers resort to ‘ever-more high-stakes’ schemes to tackle ‘huge’ gambling debts in the ‘glossy’ series
-
One Battle After Another: a ‘terrifically entertaining’ watchThe Week Recommends Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest release is a ‘high-octane action thriller’ and a ‘surefire Oscar frontrunner’
