I'm referring, of course, to anyone who buys one of those new Astras. The review on Top Gear tonight shows just how much people are paying for some truly mediocre motor vehicles.

Aparently during the recent motorshow 3 broke down whilst doing the taster test drives.

I fell about laughing when i saw the new GSi...

It's a terrible car

Not a Vauxhall fan myself just don't float my boat at all

The review on Top Gear tonight shows just how much people are paying for some truly mediocre motor vehicles.

Missed the show, but in TG magazine they rated the Astra ahead of the Golf MkV... :confused:

It think it looks quite nice actually... :sofahide:

Rob.

I dont like the new Astra and have never really liked modern Vauxhalls, I wouldn't mind a Opel Ascona though

The program is fantastic entertainment - and that's because their judgement of cars can't be taken seriously.

According to the TG team, a car is a good car if it:

1. is British

2. has character and/or soul (also, see 1)

3. has heritage and/or is a style icon (also, see 2)

The above list will explain every choice they made last night and in any other previous program for that matter. So the Golf fell in at least one category - "it's a Golf, and it's been there for 30 years", so heritage - while the Astra and Mazda3 fall in none of the above.

They expressly don't look at:

1. price/VFM

2. build quality/maintenance costs

3. practicality

I can understand why - it would be utterly boring TV!

The program is fantastic entertainment - and that's because their judgement of cars can't be taken seriously.

According to the TG team' date=' a car is a good car if it:

1. is British

2. has character and/or soul (also, see 1)

3. has heritage and/or is a style icon (also, see 2)

[/quote']

The Astra is built in Liverpool, so technically it is British. I agree with them about number two as well, as All Vauxhalls (even the VX220) look boring and dull, and most drive the same as well, although I like the look of the Mazda 3 as it looks a bit different.

It does not make it a bad car though, just medicore. Even the Skodas look a bit on the boring side, although I like the Octavias side profile and the front of the Fabia vRS. They are also goodto drive, which is not easy to do given the reputation of the golf 4 platform for providing crap driving appeal.

Yes, technically... But "technically" falls into the "boring" list and does not make good TV.

What people know is that a Vauxhall cannot and will not have character or soul as long as it's a German-developed Opel with a badge. Mediocre cars can't ever be good in TG's eyes - they're boring. The Golf is a boring car too, but at least it's a Golf.

I can't see any Skoda make the right side of the Cool Wall for a long time to come either! Skoda buyers are cheap and thus boring, and with new Skodas becoming less cheap people buying Skodas will be become even more average and boring.

Sadly, we've let our opportunity to establish Skoda as a cool, tongue-in-cheek brand for the distinguished individualist slip by...