Our Astra Sports Tourer might be highly specified and sporty, but it must justify its existence on a running cost basis.

Alas, the 125hp 1.7-litre diesel-powered estate has under-achieved in economy terms. Careful monitoring of the fuel used and distance covered computes to an average 46.2mpg, with peaks of 49.8mpg and 52.3mpg flattering to deceive for a model with an admittedly nominal combined official figure of 62.8mpg. Analysis unsurprisingly shows that the peaks involved predominantly motorway mileage.

In the meantime, the lack of a dedicated stop/start Ecoflex Sports Tourer with our 119g/km CO2 power unit imposes inherent consumption and environmental/tax penalties in urban conditions, and is illogical from a fleet perspective as that package is offered on the less tax-efficient 165hp 2.0-litre and less powerful 110hp 1.7-litre diesel counterparts.

Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer 1.7 CDTi SRi
Mileage 3762
Claimed combined
consumption
62.8mpg
Our average
consumption
46.2mpg
Forecast CPM 54.7p
Actual CPM 58.1p
Why we’re
running it
To see if the latest
Astra wagon can shake off
its predecessors’ stigma of
being a utilitarian workhorse.
Positive Parking sensors for
night manoeuvres
Negative Real mpg is well
behind official stats