Holden as a brand almost seems forgotten by buyers but there’s elements of its fully imported range that deserves attention and offers excellent value for money. One such car that I rate highly is the Astra hatchback – the German built Astra offers a classy architecture for a five-door hatch, in particular the sportier flagship Astra RS-V really stands out on the road with larger 18-inch wheels. Currently on sale for $28,990 drive-away this small performance skewed five door Astra has much to offer. A 1.6-litre vibrant turbo engine with 147kW of power and a heathy 300Nm of torque links to either six-speed manual or six-speed automatic – only minus is a lack of manual shift paddles which make driving a car with sports flair more enjoyable. It comes with five-star safety, autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, blind spot alert and active cruise control. Comfort items include heated and cooled leather seats even a heated steering wheel, obviously a carryover from its European heritage. I like the rear view camera, front and rear park assist, the 8-inch colour high-resolution touch screen, electric park brake, dual climate control, satellite navigation and Apple Carplay and Android Auto phone projection. The Holden Astra’s European heritage to my mind sets it apart. Our sixth best-selling small car out of a field of over 20 its well packaged and sharply priced at present – the sportier RS-V offers much in terms of looks performance and features. Holden sales are down this year by 23 percent however the Astra is their No2 seller with sales up marginally on the same time last year. I’m David Berthon

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