VAUXHALL does not believe in resting on its laurels. It may have produced a cracking car in its new Astra hatchback and estates, but why stop there?

Nothing is so perfect that it cannot be improved on, and soon to arrive in the showrooms is a three-door version, followed by a sports hatch with a panoramic roof, while there are serious plans to launch a red hot Astra hatchback, producing a massive 240bhp.

The three-door will be lining up with a choice of four petrol and three clean and economical common rail diesel engines, with power outlets from 90bhp to 170bhp.

As well as the wide choice of power, the model also promotes Vauxhall's drive to introduce more hi-tech into the mass-market cars.

For example, owners can specify a special chassis with electronic continuous damping control, evening out the ride over bumpy surfaces without the driver noticing any change in ride performance. In some models the driver can switch to a sport set-up that not only regulates the drive performance, but also speeds up throttle pedal response and ensures steering is responsive.

Then there are the steering-linked adaptive headlamps capable of turning with the wheels, so lighting up the road ahead immediately and eliminating the usual black spots on bends.

Safety features are also key to the three-door models, and as such have been more-or-less transferred from the five-door version, which received the maximum five stars through the Euro Ncap passenger survival crash test checks. The three-door version should collect the same rating by the time it goes on sale next year.

Although the three-door shares much of the style of the five-door - short overhangs, eye-catching rear lights and a more pronounced tapering front and rear end - the car actually sits about 15-millimetres closer to the road.

It is also a surprisingly roomy car, despite its sleek looks. There seems to be plenty of room front and back for the six-footer, and if there is a need to carry extra luggage and fewer people then the back seats can be folded down.

The three-door Astra is being built at the same Belgium site as the five-door and estate, and about 70,000 vehicles will be built yearly.

United Kingdom prices of the three-door can be expected closer to its arrival here. Also on the way is a three-door Astra sport hatch with a panoramic windscreen, meaning that all in the car have an almost unlimited view of what is happening outside all around them.

The windscreen glass extends from the bonnet up over the front seats to the middle body pillar, with no crossbeam restricting the view. While the roof might make the passengers feel they are open to the elements, everyone is actually well protected, say Vauxhall engineers. Extensive crash tests show that the windscreen maintains the car's safety, with an extra cross member also in the middle of the roof, as well as a sturdy floor pan, to make sure the car's driving performance is not affected.

Passengers in the car are also protected from the sun by the special heat-absorbing glass, and two foldout sunblinds.

The panoramic Astra joins the UK fleet later next year.

A high performance version of the Astra comes with a 240bhp and 310Nm of torque from its two-litre turbo engine, giving it a top speed too high to mention and a 0-60mph sprint time of under 6.5-seconds.

At the moment this particular charger is said to be in concept form, and uses a modified version of the 2.0-litre turbo fitted into the VXR220 roadster. However, much of the car's design points to the arrival of a high-speed VXR model, probably next summer.

Finally, a new five-door Astra SRi powered by a 200bhp version of the high performance engine is on sale for £18,145.

Updated: 09:00 Friday, October 08, 2004