Auto Trader Ten Point Test: Vauxhall Antara
Model tested: Vauxhall Antara 2.0 CDTi 16v
Price as tested: £26,320
Range price: £19,995 – 26,320
Insurance group as tested: 13E
Insurance group range: 11E-13E
Date tested: April 2008
Road tester: Adrian Higgins

Auto Trader Ten Point Test rating: 70%

The Vauxhall Antara is a five-seater SUV aimed at tempting you away from the Land Rover Freelander, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

Launched in 2007 the Vauxhall Antara has won praise for its chunky styling but will need to need to do more than turn our heads with such strong competitors.

We drove one for a week to find out what it has to offer.

Looks | Looks Inside | Practicality | Ride and Handling | Performance
Running Costs | Reliability | Safety | Equipment | X-Factor

1. Looks

The Vauxhall Antara is a smart-looking SUV aimed at motorists more concerned with style than off-road ability. We liked its chunky presence: 17-inch alloy wheels as standard, slightly-coupe-ish profile, wedge-fronted bonnet and vents set behind the front wheel arches.

7/10

2. Looks inside

The interior is finished to a high standard with the speedo and rev counter dominating the information display and flanking a small fuel gauge. The familiar Vauxhall central stack is topped by three circular chrome air vents then sat-nav, audio and air-con display. The two-tone slate grey and brushed metal dash is good-quality. The three spoke leather-covered steering wheel is comfortable to hold and we liked the short, chunky indicator stalks. The hand brake is neatly mirrored by a passenger-side grab handle. A big windscreen and sunroof ensure plenty of light in the cabin.

8/10

3. Practicality

The Vauxhall Antara provides plenty of room for driver and four passengers – it is based on the same platform as the seven-seater Chevrolet Captiva. With the second-row of seats in place there is just 370 litres available, flatten them and this expands to 1420 litres. The boot lip is also quite high. However, we did find the storage wells in each corner of the boot very useful. Cabin storage space is good, including a central deep storage box between the driver and front passenger and sculpted door pockets. S and SE models also feature a chilled glove box.

6/10

4. Ride and Handling

The Vauxhall Antara performs well enough here but fails to give its rivals a serious scare. It handles reasonably well, though tackling corners at speed challenges Vauxhall’s “car-like” claim. The ride is comfortable and copes well with lumps and bumps in the road.

7/10

5. Performance

There are two engines to choose from: a 140bhp 2.4-litre petrol and the 150bhp 2-litre diesel model we drove. Both models feature five speed gearboxes with the diesel version available with a manual or automatic gearbox. We drove the manual and found the gearbox a bit sloppy with gear changes requiring more concentration than we’d have liked. Go for the petrol model and you’ll be looking at an 11.9 seconds 0-62mph time and a top speed of 109mph. The diesel covers 0-62mph in 10.3 seconds and has a top speed of 113 mph – perfectly adequate for this car though the performance is a tad less for the automatic version.

7/10

6. Running Costs

The manual diesel model returns the best average fuel consumption at 37.2mpg, dropping to 32.8mpg and 29.4mpg for the automatic diesel and petrol models respectively. All models attract band F car tax of £210.

7/10

7. Reliability

The Vauxhall Antara was launched in 2007 so it’s too early to gauge the car’s reliability. Overall, Vauxhall figure reasonably high in the Reliability Index for cars sold in the UK market but outside the top ten performers.

7/10

8. Safety

The four-wheel drive Vauxhall Antara comes with front, side and curtain airbags and a host of driver aids including electronic stability program, anti-lock brakes, emergency brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution, cornering brake control and descent control system. It has not undergone EuroNCAP crash tests.

9. Equipment

There are three trim levels to choose from: E, S and SE, each of which features a decent level of kit. The E trim comes with roof-rails, 17-inch alloys, front foglights, anti-lock brakes, descent control system, CD radio, electronic stability programme and leather-covered steering wheel. Move up to the S and you’ll get 18-inch alloy wheels, chrome effect exhaust pipe, automatic headlights and wipers, heated front seats, climate control, trip computer, cruise control, leather-covered gear knob and chilled glove box,. The SE adds sat-nav, xenon headlights, leather seats and trim, parking sensors and a tyre monitoring system.

8/10

10. X-Factor

We liked the Antara’s looks most. It’s a smart-looking SUV inside and out.

7/10