Holden Astra Sportswagon
A little history
There was a time in Australia when there were no SUVs. Back then, if we wanted something that would carry the family and give extra room for luggage we bought a station wagon … and lots of Australian’s bought station wagons.
Back then, if you were a car manufacturer who wanted to appeal the widest customer base you had a station wagon in every vehicle size in your catalogue.
But then along came the SUV and marketers did their best to convince us that we didn’t need … or want … a station wagon anymore.
Pretty soon station wagons disappeared off the showroom floors. Some manufacturers still offered them but it might take a while to get one for you while other manufacturers ditched them entirely.
That was the path that Ford took with their Falcon station wagon despite the fact that they had always been quite popular. Of course, they still had a wagon in their range but it was a Mondeo … a smaller vehicle that had less room than the Ford Falcon wagons of days gone by.
Holden was different … they bucked the trend and stuck with a station wagon in the Commodore range. They promoted it hard and kept on developing it and the Commodore wagon turned into a beautiful piece of machinery that I loved to drive.
Lots of other people loved the Commodore wagon too … just look around while you’re out driving and you will see plenty of them on the road
It did everything right. It had looks, it had power to spare, it was quite economical to drive … more economical than many of the Japanese SUVs … it was very comfortable, it was quiet inside and it was built to give you every possible bit of storage space possible.
And now Holden is bringing out another station wagon … not in it’s big-car range but down in Astra range … and it looks every bit as good as the Commodore wagon.
The Holden Astra Sportswagon will be available in Australia in October. It was designed in Opel’s Russelsheim headquarters and is built in the UK at one of Vauxhall’s plants.
It not only offers loads of carrying space for people who don’t have a need for a bigger vehicle. With the real seats folded the Astra Sportswagon gives you 1,630 litres of boot space.
Safety and comfort
The Holden Astra Sportswagon comes with a full suite of safety features that would have made early station wagon owners green with envy.
The range of safety features includes Auto Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist and Forward Collision Alert in addition to a Rear View Camera – all available as standard across the range. All combine to offer a full five star ANCAP safety rating.
Power
The Astra Sportswagon is powered by a 1.4-litre turbo engine with six-speed automatic transmission that produce 110kW and 240Nm of torque.
Astra will give you all of that and only ask for around 5.9l/100kms of fuel so running the Astra will be light on the pocket.
The Astra Sportswagon range
There will be two versions of the Astra Sportswagon available in Australia.
The LS+ auto has a price tag of $25,740 while the LT Auto carries a price tag of $29,940
LS+ Equipment Levels
1.4-litre turbo engine (110kW/240Nm)
6-speed Auto standard with Stop/Start
16-inch alloy wheels
Leather Steering Wheel
Rear Park Assist / Rear Camera
Holden Eye forward facing camera
AEB City Stop
Lane Keep Assist
Forward Collision Alert
Forward distance indicator
Phone projection (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto)
Digital Radio (DAB+)
Rain sensing wipers
Electrochromatic Mirror
7-inch colour touchscreen
Projector headlamps with LED DRL’s
Six speaker premium audio
Cruise Control – with Speed Limiter
60/40 fold flat rear seat
Express Up/Down Windows
LT Equipment Levels (additional to the LS+)
17-inch alloy wheels
Leather Interior Trim
Hands-free power liftgate
Passive Entry & Push-Button Start (PEPS)
8-inch colour touchscreen
Embedded satellite navigation
Climate Control
Side Blind Spot Alert
Advanced Park Assist (automatic park)
Heated Outside Mirrors
Colours available
Absolute Red
Nitrate Silver*
Cosmic Grey*
Phantom Black*
Heron White
Darkmoon Blue*
* Prestige paint – $550 premium