Vauxhall Frontera (91-03) - Review

Review by Parkers on
Frontera is based on an Isuzu design (called MU in Japan), revised and updated over the years. It offers a wide choice of three petrol engines and turbo-diesel engines in two body styles. The Sport puts the emphasis on leisure while the bigger five-door estates are better family choices. Early models are now cheap but they are flawed. Post-1995 cars are better made and noticeably more refined, especially the current generation models from late 1998 onwards.
2 out of 5

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2 out of 5

Performance

There are eight different engines. The first generation (to 1998) came with 2.0i, 2.2i 16-valve and 2.4i petrol engines, or turbo-diesels in 2.3 TD, 2.5 TDS and 2.8 TD form. The current second-generation models have the 2.2i petrol engine, a 3.2 V6 or a direct-injection diesel 2.2 DTi. The 2.2-litre petrol perfectly adequate for the undemanding user, 2.2 DTi turbo-diesel though is powerful, but refined and ready for some hard work (older 2.3, 2.5 and 2.8 TD units are rougher, but offer lots of pulling power). Automatic gearboxes seem clunky and are far from smooth, so stick to manuals. The V6 offers the best performance getting smoothly to 60mph in just over nine seconds. It's not economical, though.

2 out of 5

Handling

There were significant handling improvements for Frontera from 1998. The steering was made more responsive and bodyroll through corners was tightened. Off-road performance was also improved. Push-button engagement of four-wheel-drive on the move was added, combined with a proper low ratio gearbox. The ride is choppy at all speeds and hard in town.