AutoWeek 19 2023
You can read it in AutoWeek 19 2023
The all-new Opel Astra can now really go wild in Europe, because months after the hatchback, the Sports Tourer has now also arrived. The fact that station wagons in this segment are the most interesting for many is also proven by the recently refreshed Toyota Corolla Touring Sports. With these two cars we go back to the old normal, when space did not automatically mean ‘SUV’.
Is a station wagon more spacious and practical than an SUV?
Need space? SUV!’ In view of the car news and also the sales statistics, that seems to be the reasoning of most car buyers in 2023. That the long-legged is certainly not always the best choice for those who – let’s name it – have children, are proven by these two station wagons. With luggage spaces of roughly 600 to 1,600 liters, they easily outperform their respective SUV brothers.
Is the Opel Astra Sports Tourer more spacious than a Grandland?
Depending on the model and version, the Opel Grandland and the Toyota Corolla Cross are about 80 to 200 liters short, with the difference being even greater when the sofa is folded. Is the advantage of a high entry really worth the disadvantage? A matter of taste, but from a rational point of view this is difficult to defend. Moreover, station wagons are more economical and usually also cheaper, the latter being also relevant for additional lease drivers.
Are cars like the Opel Astra Sport Tourer and Toyota Corolla Touring Sports so affordable?
However, that is a sore point, because the cars in this comparison are certainly not cheap. The Astra costs about 35 grand, the Corolla even more than 38. For that money you get a standard 1.8 Hybrid powertrain from Japan that now delivers 140 hp, of course linked to an automatic transmission. If you also set that machine as a requirement for the Opel, then a completely different picture emerges. With Opel you automatically end up in a much better equipped version with more power. That drives the price up considerably. The Astra Sports Tourer is available with an eight-speed automatic transmission (separate from the plug-in hybrid) only as a 130 hp Level 4 and then costs a minimum of € 42,949. Do not think that you will then get into a fully loaded car, because even with the thick versions there are still plenty of options to choose from at Opel. At Toyota there are far fewer separate options and the chosen version therefore has a greater influence on the end result. We drive the Corolla as First Edition, the second of four available versions for the 1.8. So relatively modest, but you lack nothing. Anyone who wants more than the basic equipment at Toyota also immediately exceeds the limit of 40,000. So definitely count on that amount, but then you have a lot of space.
If we are going to talk about litres, how spacious are they?
The Astra offers 1,634 liters with everything in the rear folded down, while the Corolla can still have up to 1,606 liters with the bench flat. Perhaps more important than that small difference in liters is the difference in shape: the Toyota offers less space for really large items due to its flat rear window and fairly low roofline. In the back we sit better in the Corolla than in the Opel, which despite its (compared to the hatchback) somewhat stretched wheelbase offers a disappointing amount of legroom for adults.
Space is one thing, there are many more things involved and we will discuss that in this video.
This article is free to download in PDF format. To do this, you create an AutoWeek account once, after which you can download unlimited data from the AutoWeek archive.
login
or
Register
The full article can be downloaded for free. The article is offered in
PDF
format.
Download
Vauxhall Astra Toyota Corolla