Vauxhall Grandland SUV (2021 - ) review

A Grandland with a petrol engine in the cheapest of the three trims looks a very affordable choice for private buyers, while the plug-in hybrid available in the two higher grades will be similarly attractive for company drivers. Sensibly Vauxhall has dropped the more powerful hybrid option in the previous car, on the basis nobody really needed a 300 horsepower Grandland and the lower-powered one can be priced more competitively. It’s still a chunk more money than the petrol but you could quickly claw that back in Benefit In Kind, while if you only do short journeys and can be bothered to plug it in there are potential fuel savings to be had as well.

Vauxhall is now part of a group of companies with the likes of Citroën, Peugeot, DS and more, all of whom do well on reliability surveys. The fact the Grandland shares much of its engine and other technology with these brands is therefore confidence inspiring, Vauxhall already having a decent reputation here in its own right.

There’s a decent haul of safety equipment in all Grandlands, including the usual nudges to the steering to keep you in lane, automatic emergency braking, LED headlights and front and rear parking sensors. The latter are welcome, given the lack of rear visibility typical of crossovers and SUVs of this type. Going up a grade to GS Line gets you a parking camera while hybrid versions also gain a more sophisticated Lane Positioning Assistant and radar-monitored cruise control that keeps you a fixed distance from the car in front even if speeds change in heavy traffic. Ultimate trim adds this to the non-hybrids with the automatic gearbox, while also getting Vauxhall’s super fancy IntelliLux headlights, parking assistance and a 360-degree camera. It’s a shame blind spot alerts – one of the most useful of these modern assistance gizmos – are only included on this top model.

The Grandland is pretty standard inside for a car of this type, with reasonable space for families and the benefit of the taller stance found with the ease of strapping kids into their seats, for which there are two Isofix mounts in the back and one on the front passenger side. That does at least mean you can carry three kids in the car, though like most vehicles it leaves the centre seat on the rear bench near-as unusable. Up front and on the two higher trim grades driver and passenger benefit from Vauxhall’s long-standing relationship with a German ‘healthy backs’ association, its seal of approval giving validation to claims of the ergonomic design. A pity the same can’t be said of the ride quality, which on the 19-inch wheels of our top spec car was decidedly harsh, especially at lower speeds. It’s a common issue in SUVs and crossovers, the taller ride height meaning they need harder springs to stop them rolling about in the corners but coming at a cost in town. We’d like to try one of the lower trim levels to see if the smaller wheels they come with make a difference. Elsewhere the boot is a decent size, though the seats only split 60:40 and hybrid versions lose a big chunk of luggage space under the floor to the batteries.

The engine line-up for the Grandland is pretty simple, with a single petrol you can have with a manual or automatic gearbox, automatic only diesel with the same power output or a more powerful plug-in hybrid. We tried the petrol manual and, for a small engine in what’s a pretty big car, it does a good job. True, it’s not the most refined, there’s quite a lot of vibration at low speeds and the gearbox isn’t the nicest to use but it pulls well and delivered impressive mid-40s mpg in our hands. The diesel is there if you want it but, these days, most people who’d have bought it will now likely go for the hybrid instead. We drove the more powerful system in the older car but have used versions of this 225 horsepower one in related models from Peugeot and Citroën and it’s very slick to drive with good power and excellent efficiency. With over 30 miles of pure electric range you could feasibly do the school run or a short commute without even firing up the petrol engine if you can plug it in at home every night, too.