Holden Astra Sedan

Honey, I shrunk the Caprice.

- Tony O'Kane

WHAT you’re looking at is an Astra in name only. Sourced from Korea, rather than Europe where our Astra hatch comes from, the Astra sedan is in essence a rebadged new-gen Chevy Cruze.

Sheetmetal, interior plastics and critical dimensions all differ greatly from the hatch, and the Astra sedan boasts its own character and flavour.

There is, however, some commonality. The 1.4-litre turbo four that serves in the Astra R and R+ hatch powers all three variants in the sedan range, and though its 110kW and 240Nm outputs are modest compared with the firecracker 1.6 turbo in the five-door RS and RS-V, it’s smooth, tractable and more than adequate.

Lugging four adults up hills at just 2000rpm doesn’t faze it. Relaxed, unfussed and exceptionally quiet, it may be the smallest engine in the Aussie Astra family but it’s a sweet one. Paired with the slick-shifting six-speed automatic that’s optional in the base LS grade and standard in LT and LTZ, it’s especially good.