New review of Vauxhall Grandland 2022

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New, simplified Vauxhall Grandland The range presents better value than its predecessor, while new infotainment technology and design updates make it a more appealing family SUV. It’s an extremely competitive class, though, and while the powertrain and Vauxhall offer fair amount of improvements and efficiency, the Grandland’s ride and its infotainment technology still have a lot to offer. Can be more polished.

It’s June 2021 when updated Vauxhall Grandland was first announced in July when it went on sale in the UK. It means to follow the updates Crossland crossover in the launch cycle, but Covid has paid us to drive the car in the UK for now, with the brand’s best-selling product Astra bloom family jump queue.

But the Grandland family SUV is a big car for Vauxhall and this update is crucial to the fortunes of the British brand under the Stellantis umbrella, so what’s new to retain buyers? Well, like its smaller sibling, it dropped the ‘X’ from its name, so it’s now simply called: ‘Grandland’.

That coincides with Vauxhall’s sportier ‘Vizor’ front grille layout that’s been redesigned in a sleek fashion, with headlights neatly extending next to this dashboard. There’s a cleaner look at the back, with the name ‘Grandland’ written on the back door.

Under the bonnet, the familiar engine line-up is a 1.2-liter three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 128 horsepower. That’s the car we’re driving here and will continue to be the most popular powertrain in the lineup.

The Grandland is still based on the “multi-power” EMP2 platform, so there’s a 222-horsepower plug-in Hybrid-e powertrain right from the get-go. We were told a 296bhp Hybrid-e model would join the lineup later, but we can’t imagine many buyers would opt for this.

Inside, like other Vauxhalls, updates extend to the infotainment, with the brand’s Pure Panel setup incorporating a 7- or 12-inch digital instrument panel depending on specs with 7 or 10 inch touch screen.

Our Ultimate-spec car boasts the latter grouped together in a piano-black surround, and although it does a good job tweaking the old cabin design (with some styling tweaks, too). small form factor and new materials are lowered on the panel) but still has a lot of hard, shiny plastic. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration is standard across the range and provides a smoother interface than the standard setup.

The Grandland’s trim break is in line with other Vauxhall models where, by design, the GS Line and Ultimate construction are much more streamlined than before.

Design trim (£25,810 in manual 1.2 Turbo, entry-level model now £1,780 cheaper than before) boasts LED lights, comprehensive parking sensors, lane departure warning with assist lane keeping, automatic emergency braking, cruise control and dual-zone climate control, plus 17-inch alloys.

Step up to the sportier GS Line model, which costs an extra £2,260, as well as a rear view camera, adaptive cruise, sportier seats, a contrasting black roof and an upgrade to two seven-inch screens. 10-inch touch screen and a 12-inch digital control panel.

The top-of-the-line GS Line trim costs £31,570 with the 1.2 Turbo manual cover and boasts adaptive pixelated LED lighting, a 360-degree camera system, parking and side blind spot assist, wireless phone charging , full keyless entry, Alcantara upholstery and a larger 19-inch display than the wheels among other sets.

On the move, Grandland is dynamicly reminiscent of its predecessor. The 1.2 Turbo has plenty of torque, at 230Nm for a 0-60mph time of 10.4 seconds when mated to a six-speed manual transmission. It’s a powerful engine that pulls hard and offers good agility – this is the kind of performance you need in a family SUV, rather than all-round acceleration.

The gearshift action of the six-speed manual transmission is more aggressive than we remember, so much so that it doesn’t detract from the driving experience. Improvement is also good, with only the slightest grunt from under the bonnet when you crank up the engine.

The steering is light and completely unfeeling, but again, this makes the Grandland very easy to drive. As a result, it’s also easy to maneuver in tight spots, which will benefit more buyers than the ultimate cornering ability.

There’s enough here, of course, and the Grandland feels safe, but the ride – especially the way the rear axle responds to bumps while crossing the road – is harsher than we’d like. This affects comfort on country roads or in town, as the chassis communicates more through the cabin than we would ideally like in a car like this. However, at higher speeds on smoother roads, it feels stable enough.

Practice is a positive. There’s no loading medium to lift the luggage, with the boot floor able to move flat from the bumper when positioned higher, while a 60:40 split seat and load hatch are included for added realism use.

A total of 514 liters of luggage space is available, while the Grandland is equally spacious in the rear, meaning that while it’s not the most spacious in the segment when it comes to legroom, there’s still plenty of room for that. so many, so much. Space is good.

Returning 44.8mpg and 141g/km CO2, the petrol-auto Grandland’s performance is competitive but not groundbreaking, so running costs should be reasonable – but then if you want ultimate cost-cutting PHEV will be better bet, even if it is over £4,000.

This is where the petrol model comes in as Vauxhall is offering a £1,500 donation on top-of-the-line Ultimate models, with a four-year contract costing £349 per month based on an annual 8,000-mile limit.

While the Hybrid gets a stronger £2,000 contribution, it will cost an extra £50 a month on similar terms, even if Vauxhall claims the total cost of ownership will be close to that thanks to the strong performance. more powerful – if you remember to plug it in.