Vauxhall’s Antara has failed to capture the car buying public’s imagination since it went on sale in 2007. Always regarded as one of the weak rungs in the manufacturer’s range, Vauxhall struggled to shift 1000 of the things per year. So it’s no bad thing that they’ve drastically overhauled the unsuccessful model.
The latest Antara is a far, far better beast, and Vauxhall are probably right to be anticipating selling three times as many of them.
Although it doesn’t go on sale until the end of April, Opel (as Vauxhall are known on the continent) brought a brace of left-hand drive versions to Scotland for reviewers to try out.
The overall shape hasn’t changed very much, but a number of styling tweaks make it look up to date. For my money, it’s not as attractive as the Ford Kuga or Volvo XC60, but it’s handsome in a solid, American way.
Available in front or rear wheel drive, it comes with a six speed manual or automatic transmission. The manual has a nice, slick throw and is a cinch to use, although I prefer an automatic on a car this size.
Power comes by way of a 2.2 litre turbodiesel, available with either 161 or 181bhp (the figures below are for this version in entry level Exclusiv trim).
With the standard manual transmission and front wheel drive, fuel economy is 44.8mpg, although even if you choose the 181bhp version with four-wheel drive and automatic transmission, you’ll only drop two miles per gallon.
The diesel — Vauxhall, wisely in my opinion, are not even bothering with a petrol Antara — is a smooth, quiet unit with plenty of pulling power.
Interior space is good in the front and the back and boot space is a reasonable 420 litres, rising to 1420 litres with the rear seats folded.
Antara ownership starts at just under £20,000 for the two-wheel drive model, and £22,345 for the 4×4 model. The two-wheel drive version is actually a poorer cousin — despite having the same Exlusiv badge, it misses out on heated front seats, automatic lights, tinted rear glass, electronic climate control, parking assist front and rear, cruise control and 18″ alloy wheels.
It does at least come with air con, hill descent control and hill start assist, electric parking brake, leather steering wheel and heated side mirrors.
Top whack for an Antara is £26,905 for the 181bhp SE 4×4 automatic. It comes with additional SE spec goodies such as chrome door handles and exhaust, rain sensing wipers, leather seat facings, xenon headlamps, tyre pressure monitoring system and 19″ wheels.
Ride quality is good on a smooth road, but the Antara doesn’t love bumpy surfaces, bouncing over ruts and potholes rather than absorbing them. For its size it’s reasonably agile, although not in the league of the BMW X1 or X3.
Our test route included a small off-road course which showed that, while the Antara’s not going to be up to wading through rivers or climbing fallen trees, it can at least cope with steep slopes and a bit of mud.
Overall, the Antara shows huge improvement in every respect. It’s not a class leader — the Ford Kuga, Volvo XC60 and aforementioned BMW models are simply too good for that. But at least now it can run with the pack.
Price: £19,990. 0-62mph: 9.9 seconds. Top speed: 117mph. Fuel economy: 44.8mpg. CO2 emissions: 167g/km.