2001 Holden Astra City review from Australia and New Zealand

Nothing.

I bought my Astra hatchback just recently. Before purchasing, I test drove almost every small hatchback available on the market. I eventually chose the Astra because of its looks, handling and performance. In my opinion the Astra is the best small car available in Australia for the price.

Astra is very hard to fault, but if you were being really picky, then you should take note of the following:

- The seats are VERY hard, I'm planning to install some new ones next month.

- The gear change lacks the precision and smoothness common to Japanese cars.

- The throttle is weird, you really have to adapt to it.

- Don't get the factory CD player if you have to pay extra! The player is terrible. I was going to have the CD player installed (roughly 800 bucks), but after hearing the sound quality I decided against it. You can easily get a much better quality after-market CD player head unit for under $500 installed.

But don't let these negative comments put you off, no car is perfect. In terms of a package, the Astra is second to none for the price. And don't just take my word for it, the Astra has won the 2001 NRMA/RACV best small car (under $25000). It also won the same award last year.

Another piece of advise is that you should use premium fuel. It will give you a much better ride and more power. I actually did some calculation, using premium fuel (I use Shell Optimax) will cost you roughly the same as using unleaded. Although unleaded fuel is cheaper, but Optimax will allow you to drive further.