Vauxhall Astra 1.4 SRi

I drove a Vauxhall Astra 1.4 SRi again this week. Having already reviewed the Astra a few times (here, here and here) I am now struggling to find anything to say about it. It was black. It had 4 wheels. It was slow, inane and numb. That’s pretty much it.

It's an Astra; in black

So I thought I would use this space to tell you about my journey instead. Pulling off the M6 motorway I came across a car on fire. I pulled over on to the hard shoulder, a safe distance away from the car on fire, and got out to investigate. Thankfully the driver had escaped the vehicle in good time and called the Fire Brigade. He’d even had time to save his golf clubs!

The Fire Brigade arrived promptly and extinguished the fire in no time at all. The Mazda 6 was a write off. Speaking to the owner he said that the oil light came on and before he had a chance to pull off the motorway there were flames coming from under the bonnet. He acted wisely and promptly and thankfully no one was hurt.

Mazda on fire

It does serve as a reminder though to be prepared whilst out and about in the car. A hi-viz vest or jacket, warning triangle and mobile phone (with charger) are a pain to carry around but are an absolute godsend should anything ever go wrong. Even a small fire extinguisher might have meant that this car could have been saved.

So if you get a minute this week, review what you’re carrying round in your car and ask yourself; are you prepared for the worst case scenario? Oh yeah, and don’t bother driving an Astra SRi - you won’t get those minutes of your life back.