Just a quick comparison on the two cars. I have owned 2 Honda Civics ( '04 SI and '06 coupe, both manuals ) and just bought a '08 Astra xr 5 spd coupe acouple weeks ago. Both car body styles are very good looking in my opinion. As far as the engines go, the Honda's have a little more get up and go. But the Astra is far from being a dog! The interior and dash in the Astra are European quirky, but that is not a bad thing. The buttons and ***** are just in different places then I am used to. Time will tell how the Astra holds up? But as we all know, the Honda's will last a loooong time with very little maint. The previous owner of the Astra was a female and kept all maint. records, and by the looks of things she took very good care of the car. I have been very happy with the Astra so far! Just wish GM would of rebadged the Astra and kept importing it as a Chevy. I really like hatchbacks, and there just aren't that many on the market to choose from. Stay tuned for up-dates. EK