Last week, I finally took the plunge and bought an 04 Registration Vauxhall Astra SXi 1.6l 16v Sport Hatch. I picked it up yesterday after waiting patiently for a few days while they got it ready for me. It’s something that I’ve been meaning to change for a while now, as my old Peugeot 106 was starting to get a bit long in the tooth.
My initial impressions are that it is about 1000 times better to drive than my 106 - it corners well, responds well and feels pretty sharp. The only thing that I’ve found so far that could be a little better is the acceleration in the lower gears - it is almost like they’re a little bit lagged. Accelerating at the top end doesn’t seem to be a problem for it though.
There’s a couple of minor things I want to do to it, but on the whole its a really nice car to drive - I’ve really enjoyed driving around in it in the ~24 hours I’ve had the car so far.