Less is sometimes more The saying goes that you get what you pay for, and that adage certainly rings true in the small passenger car segment. If European-built products including Volkswagen's Golf and Peugeot's 308 have taught us anything in recent years, it's that a healthy premium over lesser-priced equivalent tends to get you a lot more car. Especially in...

There are two types of people in this world*. Those who like hatchbacks, and those who prefer sedans. We're not making any judgments. If you're a sedan fancier, it's your business, and hatchbacks have their leagues of loyalists, too. Whichever way you lean, Holden hopes it has something to please you with hatch and sedan versions of its Astra small car. This...

Life as Holden's go-to small car hasn't always been easy. First it was the Astra, then it was the Nova, then the Astra again, then the Viva, then the Cruze, and now the Astra once more. But is the latest iteration now the greatest? And does it offer small-car buyers enough incentive to get them out of their Toyota Corollas, Mazda 3s, Hyundai i30s, and Volksw...

If you’ve been paying attention, my opinion on the Metallic Moss hatchback that is my Holden Astra RS long-termer has oscillated wildly from ‘love’ through to ‘moderate discontent’. So now, after nearly half a year behind the wheel, where do I stand? Am I any less conflicted than I was in the beginning? It’s hard to develop an emotional attachment to somethi...