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The TwinTop

It's March and the days are getting brighter, if not drier. We've had one or two decent days recently when the masochist in me thinks it would be rather fun to put the hood down on a soft-top.

Of course, today's soft-tops tend to be anything but soft. Coupe-cabriolets are very much in vogue with every major manufacturer having adopted this technique of delivering wind-in-the-hair motoring with the security of a metal roof.

Vauxhall are among the champions of this technique, together with Ford, Peugeot and Renault.

Now, few people buy these types of cars because they're practical, but you may be surprised to find how easy this model is to live with. Not only is it affordable at £16,995 for the entry-level version, but it's a pretty versatile car. It seats four in comfort, yet accommodates up to 440 litre of luggage. Even with the roof down (and therefore, stored in the boot space) it holds 205 litres.

That's pretty impressive, and it's mainly down to the roof design. Most of its rivals have two-piece systems but this car has a three-piece roof which means it folds smaller.

In fact, it's a pretty ingenious car with few real faults. It looks a little bulbous from the back, but that's the price you pay for a car which stores the roof in the boot, and from the front it looks as good as some cabriolets costing £10,000 more.

The Astra TwinTop goes from hard-top to open-top in 30 seconds.

Vauxhall has done a good job of designing this car. With the roof up it's every part the sleek and sport coupe. With the hood down, it's pretty sexy.

The cabin

The cabin is, at first glance, a bit of a letdown. It looks a little sparse but a better word might be uncluttered.

The Design variant comes with a host of automated systems including lights, wipers, mirror dimming and keyless entry and starting that eliminate the need for many of the controls anyway.

The TwinTop seats four, but extra passengers will need to be small or supple to squeeze into the rear seats. In fairness, none of the coupe cabriolet models are generous in terms of passenger legroom, and few people buy three doors so they can fill the back with adults.

The Astra TwinTop is a car for two the majority of the time, and by those standards it's capable. The boot, with the roof up, is large enough to deal with suitcases and boasts a ski hatch for longer items.

On the road, the TwinTop is exceptionally capable. The chassis remains taught with the top down, and in coupe mode it can be thrown around happily, cornering sharply and with a minimum of fuss.

The Sport button present in the Design model sharpens up the steering and throttle response, although you need to be giving the car a decent workout to notice a great deal of difference.

The pace isn't blistering, but the 1.8 litre unit takes it to 60mph in under 11 seconds and feels very smooth. There are larger turbocharged petrol and diesel units if you really want more power but coupe-cabriolets have never been about out-and-out pace, anyway.

Able to provide wind in your hair fun during the summer months and a sensible, efficient and secure commuting in the winter, the Astra TwinTop is a fine of example of why the coupe-cabriolet format has proved so popular. Well specced, efficient and competitively priced, the 1.8 Design is one of the more considered option in Vauxhall's ample range.

Vauxhall Astra TwinTop Design

PRICE: £19,570

ENGINE: A 1,796cc engine which emits 140PS

PERFORMANCE: Top speed 130mph, 0 to 60mph in 10.7 seconds

COSTS: Urban (town) 27.4mpg; extra-urban (country) 45.6mpg; combined 36.7mpg

INSURANCE: Group 10E

WARRANTY: Three years, 60,000 miles

7:40pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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