Vauxhall Antara (07 on) - Review

It's a tall car, so headroom is excellent all round, plus there's plenty of legroom in the back and - as it has a flat floor - lots of footroom too. The ride is very comfortable and it's impressive on smooth roads, helped by the fact that self-levelling suspension is standard (on diesels) However, over bumps, the Antara bounces around and struggles to iron out uneven surfaces. On the plus side the rear is spacious enough for three adults (at a pinch). Refinement could be better at speed though - the diesel is clattery as it's warming up and noisy on the motorway. Plus there's a lot of wind noise.

With fold flat seats in the back, an easy-to-load rear and plenty of cubbyholes the Antara ticks most of the boxes when it comes to practicality. However the boot is narrow and with only 370 litres of luggage room, it's considerably smaller than alternatives like the Nissan X-Trail and even the Chevrolet Captiva - on which the Antara is based. Unlike many other 4x4s the rear seats don't slide either - limiting practicality when extra boot space is needed. One neat option, however, is a pull-out bike rack. Vauxhall calls it the FlexFix system and it slides out from the rear bumper (see gallery for details). It means that there's no need to fit a cumbersome aftermarket bike rack to the rear and it disappears back under the car when it's not being used.

If you're trading up from an Astra, Signum or Vectra, then you'll feel at home with Antara's interior as much of it is the same. It may lack pizzazz, but it's functional, clearly laid out and mostly easy to use. The driving high position is good, the steering wheel adjusts for reach and height and there's decent all-round visibility. The cabin is let down by the peculiar handbrake design (it's triangular and not especially comfortable to use) and on the first two trim levels, the colour screen is replaced with a black and orange LCD unit that looks dated and ugly. It spoils an otherwise attractive interior.