Here’s a detailed look at the paint palette available on the Vauxhall Astra 5-seater midsized family hatchback, and its estate derivative known as the Sports Tourer, which we hope will help you choose your perfect new car colour.
There are 7 main paint options for the Astra range, comprising 1 solid paint (called ‘brilliant’ by Vauxhall), 3 2-coat metallic paints, another pair of 2-coat premium metallic paints and then a single tri-coat premium metallic.
Vauxhall sells the Astra Hatch in Design, GS Line and Ultimate specifications, while the Sports Tourer is sold only in the first 2 of these – there is no Ultimate grade for the wagon. Similarly, the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain available for the Astra line-up is only sold in GS Line and Ultimate specifications, not base Design (which only comes with petrol and diesel engines), so if you want a PHEV Sports Tourer, for instance, it is going to be a GS Line.
Whichever body style you go for, both the GS Line and Ultimate cars have a Carbon Black roof plus a Carbon Black rear spoiler as standard, making for a 2-tone colour finish on 6 out of the 7 hues available in the palette. The base Design cars are all 1 colour, but for no extra cost GS Line and Ultimate Astra buyers can opt to have their cars without the contrast roof if they so wish. Anyway, besides the exterior finishes, we also outline the various interior upholsteries that go with these paint choices.
Paint Types
Solid = a simple body colour with no additives in the paint. Usually comprises 3 coats, these being a primer, then the paint, then a clear, protective lacquer. Solid paints aren’t particularly shiny and are normally the only standard/no-cost colours offered by manufacturers.
Metallic = same application process as above but the paint now has powdered metal mixed into it, which reflects more light to give the car a shinier appearance. Metallic finishes usually cost more than solid paints.
Pearlescent/Mica = as above, only instead of metal, ceramic crystals (known as ‘mica’) are added to the paint. These not only reflect light but refract it too, giving one colour different appearances in different levels of light. They’re normally as expensive as or pricier than metallic paints.
Matte = uses special ‘flattening’ agents in the paint/layering make-up to give the car a non-reflective appearance, and sometimes an unusual texture too. These are normally the most expensive and rarest of paint options, and are not offered on many new car models.
Exterior
Arctic White
Type: Solid (brilliant)
Cost: No cost (default colour on all models)
Available On: All models
As with its smaller Corsa and Mokka models, Vauxhall offers a white as the only free colour for the Astra family, this applying across all 3 specifications, all drivetrain types and in both body styles. However, despite being called ‘brilliant’ again when it’s a solid finish, Arctic White has a different name to the basic Corsa/Mokka finish of Jade White, even if Arctic looks pretty much the same. For a standard paint, Arctic White has a good lustre to it but, like all whites, it will need plenty of washing throughout the year to keep it looking tip-top.
Carbon Black
Type: 2-coat metallic
Cost: £600
Available On: All models
The first of 3 2-coat metallic paints, all costing £600 each, is the only body colour which cannot form part of a 2-tone finish, even on the higher-specification Astras like the GS Line and Ultimate. That’s because Carbon Black is the colour used for the 2-tone roof look on those models, so if you paint the body in it too then you end up with a monotone car regardless. Carbon Black is a shiny take on the shade, of course, and it’ll look superb when it’s spotlessly clean, but not only will it need regular washing in the winter months to get rid of encrusted-on road salt, it also reduces the impact of the dark-coloured alloys on GS Line-spec Astras.
Vulcan Grey
Type: 2-coat metallic
Cost: £600
Available On: All models
Again, this looks like Quartz Grey – the colour used on the Corsa and Mokka cars – but on the Astra, Vauxhall calls this midtone finish Vulcan Grey. A great name for fans of Star Trek, Vulcan Grey is going to be super-low maintenance all year round, mainly because it will hide a multitude of accumulated road grime sins in the colder months of the year. It’s also a classy colour that teams well with the Carbon Black roof on Astras with the 2-tone specification as standard.
Crystal Silver
Type: 2-coat metallic
Cost: £600
Available On: All models
The last of the 3 2-coat ‘regular’ metallic paints at £600 apiece – and also the last ‘sensible’ colour available for the Astra in the eyes of many – is this one, Crystal Silver. A finish that finally shares its name with the same paint used on the Mokka and Corsa models, Crystal is a classic light silver-grey that might not be the most daring colour in the Astra’s palette, but it will be one which won’t need the most regular washing throughout the year, either.
Crimson Red
Type: 2-coat premium metallic
Cost: £700
Available On: All models
Moving up to the 3 most daring paints for the Vauxhall Astra, the first is called Crimson Red. This is a premium metallic, rather than a regular metallic, so the asking price is an extra £100 at £700 all-in, despite the fact Crimson is still applied in a 2-coat process like Carbon Black, Vulcan Grey and Crystal Silver. As a husky, deep, smoky and peppery red, Crimson is a lovely colour for the Vauxhall – especially when teamed to the 2-tone finishes of the GS Line and Ultimate specs – and it shouldn’t need to be washed every weekend of the year in order to draw attention. Again, this is the third paint code that Vauxhall uses for very similar finishes across 3 different model lines: where this Astra option is called Crimson Red, on the Corsa the option is Hot Red and on the Mokka there’s a choice going by the name of Power Red. Whether they’re all the same shade of red or not would need you to see them all in the Vauxhall showroom, sitting side by side in the lights and polished to within an inch of their lives…
Electric Yellow
Type: 2-coat premium metallic
Cost: £700
Available On: Astra Hatch only – not available on Sports Tourer
Vauxhall, normally quite a sensible and straitlaced manufacturer, isn’t normally known for wacky colours, but since the company was taken over by Peugeot Citroen a few years back, it tends to offer one very bright, very eye-catching paint on each of its cars. In the Corsa’s case, that’s Power Orange; for the Mokka, it’s Mamba Green. And here on the Astra, we have Electric Yellow. This is a fabulous, bright shade and it suits the Vauxhall’s crisp design lines well, but bear in mind 2 things: 1, it will need plenty of cleaning during the year, as it will show up road muck pretty easily; and 2, Electric Yellow is the only colour in the palette not available to Sports Tourer customers – it is reserved purely for the Hatch model of the Astra.
Cobalt Blue
Type: Tri-coat premium metallic
Cost: £700
Available On: All models
Again, forgive us for being overly suspicious, but the only tri-coat premium metallic for the Vauxhall Astra is this Cobalt Blue colour… which we swear is the same as Voltaic Blue (yup, used on the Corsa and Mokka). But we digress. Anyway, despite the fact it has an extra layer of paint (3 coats instead of 2) when compared to the other 2 premium metallics of Crimson Red and Electric Yellow, Cobalt Blue costs exactly the same £700 upgrade fee. It’s worth it, because this is a lovely colour for the Vauxhall, which suits the 2-tone finish of GS Line and Ultimate cars nicely, while Cobalt should be easy on the eye whether it’s showroom-clean or wearing the rigours of multiple weeks out on the road all over its paintwork.
Interior
Jet Black Modene
Type: Cloth
Cost: No cost (standard interior for Design cars)
Available On: Design
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
Vauxhall keeps this simple, as there are 3 interiors pertaining to the 3 specifications – and you cannot switch from one cabin to the other without changing the trim grade of the Astra entirely. That means that Design buyers will have Comfort front seats in a Jet Black Modene fabric, which features light-grey detailing on the upper side bolsters and the shoulders of the seat backrests. This is teamed to a leather-covered 3-spoke steering wheel with satin chrome accents, a black fascia with Modene trim inserts, an Alexit Grey instrument panel bar, and Birdie Grey front door trim inserts.
Jet Black Greta
Type: Cloth
Cost: No cost (standard interior for GS Line cars)
Available On: GS Line
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
The GS Line Astras have upgraded Sports front seats, with deeper bolsters, and they have also received official approval from German body AGR, which specialises in preventing back pain. The front seats come with heating elements, over and above the Design chairs, and they are also trimmed in racier Jet Black Greta fabric, which features a centre stripe pattern, grey side-slash details on the seat backs and contrast stitching. This main upholstery is teamed to sportier-looking items elsewhere, including perforated leather with accent stitching on the steering wheel, a black fascia with Isabella trim inserts, a vivid Red Matt instrument panel bar, and Mistral Black front door trim inserts.
Alcantara Tramontane
Type: Alcantara and cloth
Cost: No cost (standard interior for Ultimate cars)
Available On: Ultimate
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
Ultimate-spec Astras, reserved for the hatchback body alone, have the only standard interior which has a material other than cloth as its main finish. This is because Alcantara is used for the seat centre panels, the material sporting a lateral stitching pattern, while the backrests also have silver side-slash details on them. The inserts in the black fascia are now High Gloss Black, with a Liquid Palladium instrument panel bar and Alcantara Tramontane front door trim inserts. The perforated leather-clad 3-spoke steering wheel is also heated as standard in Ultimate-grade cars.
Leather
Type: Leather
Cost: £2100
Available On: Ultimate
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
Only the top-spec Ultimate cars can have an upgraded interior, which is leather cabin that incurs a chunky £2100 expenditure at ordering time. The leather is black and has a chevron pattern on the seat centres, but be aware the side bolsters of this interior are actually leather-effect – not true cow hide. A further benefit of this interior, and perhaps accounting for most of the £2100 uplift in price on the Astra Ultimate’s ticket, is that the front seats are not only heated (as they are in all GS Line and Ultimate cars anyway), but they have ventilation and massage functions added into them too.
Check out our latest Vauxhall Astra leasing dealshere.
