Astra: Great, or just very good?

It’s intriguing from a technical perspective in the way that it makes 280PS through the front wheels seem like such a sensible engineering solution.

It’s thought-provoking in the way that its interior feels built better than you’d ever expect from this bluest of blue collar badges.

It’s a car that will focus your attention when it does what it’s designed to do, namely demolish a series of corners with real aggression.

It’s like the Nissan GTR of hot hatches in that it gets the job done effectively, while at the same time making many of its rivals look a bit silly.

It’s hugely quick, the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-pot smashing it to 60mph in less than six seconds en route to a 155mph maximum.

That performance, unlike some VXRs of yore, is genuinely exploitable too, with a broad torque plateau and a three-stage Active Ride system that works very well.

But is it an easy car to fall in love with? That’s a very different question.

At no point during the drive did it tug at my heart strings in the way that a Megane 265 might.

I never started pondering how much trouble I’d be in if I arrived home having put a deposit down on one and I questioned why this was the case. It’s well equipped, it’s a lovely shape, it offers a great blend of ride, handling and sheer oomph and it’s not overly showy.

Perhaps it lacks that last couple of per cent that separate the very good from the great.

Talking to some of the madly passionate engineers in charge of the project, I left in no doubt that if those last couple of per cent aren’t quite there now, they’ll be along shortly.

This is one to watch.