Faults:

The famous rear brake squeal started within 10km of picking the car up. The rear brake dampers were fitted at the 1500km service. The fitting of the dampers has made a noticeable improvement to the brake feel of the car. Especially when stopping and starting.

There was also a noise from inside the center of the dash around the stereo. It happened to be a cable rubbing which was fixed also at the 1500km service.

Other than that it has been good.

General Comments:

I am quite impressed with the performance of the automatic. The initial launch of the car when moving off from a standstill is better than any small 4 cyl auto I have driven, even some larger engined cars. It is a very nippy car for around town. It still lacks the acceleration of the Mazda 323 4WD turbo I had before though!!

NVH levels are so low it even puts a lot of larger cars to shame. Holden should take a leaf out of Opel's, namely the Astra, book on NVH for the Commodore.

The seats are firm, but I find them comfortable, especially for longer trips. However I feel they need more lateral support, especially if you enjoy some enthusiastic driving around corners!! The air conditioning takes a long time to get cool (10-20 min on a 30 deg C day), however once cool, you have to turn it down before you freeze. The strange thing is that the dealer said this is normal (it tested OK they they said) during the 1500km service!! The Mazda never took that long to cool the pipes etc.

Ride and handling is very good. It has a touch of BMW in the way it drives. The suspension is relatively firm, however it still manages to soak up bumps and ruts with aplomb. The steering also has a nice feel to it. Cornering prowess is very good, enough to even put some 'sports' cars to shame.

To sum up it is a very nice car that has a very solid feel to it. The car goes much better than a 1.8L automatic with only 90kw should. I can see why it has won the best small/medium car under $25,000 in Australia's Best Cars awards for 3 years running.

Faults:

Very soon after I picked up the car the brakes started making a creaking/squealing noise. So, I immediately phoned the dealer who knew immediately what the problem was. Apparently as an improvement, new brake caliper/dampers were put on the new Astras. Unfortunately they had this noise problem. The dealer ordered the replacement parts (took a few weeks from Europe) and they have now been replaced - no noises so far.

General Comments:

I picked this car over the Peugeot 206 and Toyota Corolla Levin. I was looking for a sporty Hatch with a bit more power than a 1.6L which struggles when the air conditioning is switched on.

Great car to drive. The suspension gives you a firm ride, but not too hard. As a comparison I found that driving the Peugeot 206 you would feel every hole in the road.

Nice interior and decent 8 speaker stereo (for the average music enthusiast) compared to the Toyota Corolla which still has an awful sound system. Also quite like the music controls on the steering wheel which I initially thought was a bit of a gimmick.

Like the cruise control which helps prevent you from accidentally speeding.

Noticeable good aerodynamics in the sense that you can drive with your windows down and not experience wind noise and movement. Just feels like a pleasant breeze. Great for summer.

Seats are hard, but I like them this way as I use sheepskins which provide a soft cover over a firm surface.

ABS and traction control are also an added benefit.