‘Great-looking’ Vauxhall that surprised Jeremy Clarkson with its power can be yours for less than £5k
A VAUXHALL motor that once surprised Jeremy Clarkson with its power can now be yours for a bargain price.
The Astra SRI CDTI 1.6 Ecoflex, to be precise, was released in 2014 and is still available to buy today.
But used models from around 10 years ago can be found for under £5,000 – and when new they were certainly given the stamp of approval from Clarkson.
Writing for the Sunday Times in 2014, the former Top Gear host couldn’t fault it, writing: “The current generation is good-looking and if you push and pull at all the bits of trim, you will quickly learn that it’s well made too.
“And, of course, it’s reasonably priced.”
What’s more, this particular motor is diesel and so has the typical pulling power that you’d expect.
Even so, the little Vauxhall‘s torque certainly surprised Jezza.
He said: “ I put my foot down and it was like diving into a lake of torque. It’s a big lake too, with more torques in it than you get from an equivalent Volkswagen or Renault.
Q&A Vauxhall design chief Mark Adams on the new Frontera
FRONTERA is a famous old Vauxhall name. How did you settle on that for this new car?
The Frontera, back in the Nineties, was a pioneer for the compact SUV that we know today. So it was the natural fit for this car which is in the heart of the SUV market.
Size-wise, it sits between Mokka and the new, larger Grandland. Is that deliberate?
Yes. Exactly. Right in the heart of the market. It has the footprint of an Astra hatchback but the interior space of an Astra wagon. So really great packaging in this vehicle.
You look Peter Crouch-size to me?
6ft 4in and a half.
Can you fit in the back?
Yeah, of course. When the driver’s seat is set up for a normal person, I’ve still got seven to eight centimetres of leg room and the same above my head. So lots of interior space, ideal for a young family or just going out with friends.
It has all the tech you’d expect in a modern car but tell us about some of the smart everyday stuff as well?
We’ve got two 10in screens but a great balance of hard switches you can get to straight away. There’s a groove in the front seats, a bit like a high-quality bicycle seat with separate cushions, to give comfort on long journeys.
To stop your bum going numb?
Exactly. There’s lots of really nice materials that uplift the interior – and lots of little details like the flexible cup holder strap and rear seat pockets for iPhones. Just simple features people will really value.
I know you won’t say it replaces Crossland but it does the job of Crossland in terms of practicality, right? And it looks great.
We think it does much more because it offers not just physical space but more presence. The front is much more upright with a proud, confident look and a great stance.
“And that means you never really need to change gear. It’ll always pull no matter what the revs. And it’ll pull hard.
“This is a very good engine. Economical as well.”
Of course, Clarkson does caveat this by claiming “the biggest problem” with the Astra is that “you don’t want one.”
He added: “That’s why we chose the Astra as Top Gear’s Reasonably Priced Car.
“The whole point of this segment in the show is we’d put big-name stars in the sort of vehicle that is so reasonable and inoffensive that even reasonable people would rather drive something else.”
10 years on from Clarkson’s words, these motors can be picked up very reasonably.
Indeed, we found one for as low as £4,495 on the Piston Heads website.
According to Priceanycar, at a dealer you can expect to pay between £5,900 and £7,450, while the most you’d pay a private seller is up to £6,700.
Elsewhere, an iconic sports car that’s loved by Clarkson recently rolled off the production line for the final time.
And a group of car experts have revealed to Sun Motors five of the best used cars you can buy now for under £11,000 after they received major price drops – including the Ford Mondeo.