Vauxhall Antara (07 on) - Review

There are two engines available - a 2.4-litre petrol and a 2.0-litre CDTi diesel. Very few people choose the petrol, which is hardly surprising considering that it's only available in entry-level trim and averages just 29mpg. With 150bhp, the 2.0-litre CDTi has a useful amount of power. It does, however, slightly overwhelm the car in first and second gears, while not offering the 'punch' higher up for overtaking that's expected from a diesel. It gets from 0-62mph in 11.1 seconds (12.8 for the automatic) and onto a top speed of 111mph. There's a choice of a five-speed manual and an automatic gearbox on the diesel, but the standard manual is very poor with a sloppy shift. The odd gear spacing doesn't help either and means that quick changes are needed between first and second, while in top gear it works too hard with high revs, a lack of refinement and quite a lot of noise. This is especially noticeable on the motorway.

Vauxhall knows that Antara will mainly be used in towns and it's a pretty good drive on city streets: its compact shape (it's only marginally longer than an Astra estate) means it's easy to get into spaces in traffic and not too tricky to park. It gets caught out on faster roads though, where it's let down by its wallowy suspension, vague steering and noticeable bodyroll. The Antara has an 'on demand' four-wheel drive system, which means that there's no need to worry about low ratios and engaging a separate gearbox when the going gets rough - the system does all the thinking and provides power to the wheels that aren't slipping. There's even a hill descent control system that aids the driver when going downhill off-road. The downside is that it's not a real 4x4 and can't tackle more challenging terrain. Updates in early 2011 included a tweaks to the chassis. Modified shock absorbers and adjustments to the anti-roll bar has given the Antara more resistance to body roll and ride comfort has improved. Despite a slight improvement on the previous version, get in to any tight corners and there is still a fair amount of roll while the any crease or damaged surface in the road compromises the ride (although opting for smaller alloys will help).