Vauxhall Grandland review

Anyone expecting theatrics is quite clearly in the wrong place – this car will most likely be spotted at the supermarket or next to a boggy five-a-side football pitch. It’s not a useful four-wheel-drive car either (unless you spend big on the top EV powertrain), but then SUVs don’t pretend to be anymore.

Handling is perfunctory, with inert steering that’ll get you through a corner and nothing more. The surprise with the Grandland is how much speed the front wheels can carry through that corner – more than any of your passengers will be comfortable with at any rate.

It’s not an enjoyable experience, but if you happen to arrive at a corner (with a very long run-up, presumably) carrying too much momentum, this version will take things in its stride. Can’t say the same for the Grandland Electric.

What’s the engine like? 

The mild hybrid Grandland combines a 134bhp 1.2-litre turbocharged 3cyl petrol with a 28bhp e-motor and a weensy little battery. Does that sound underpowered for a 1,600kg family SUV? Yes, it does. Good luck attempting 0-62mph in 10.2 seconds when you're fully laden with offspring.

The engine has been refined to the point that you can’t usually tell on the move whether it’s on or off – none of that exciting 3cyl thrum here – but if you look closely there's a dashboard graphic that shows where the power is coming from. You’ll be surprised how often this Grandland is running on e-juice.

What about the PHEV?

Again the powertrain is surprisingly quiet and refined, and the handover between petrol and electric running is dealt with smoothly. It's brisker than the mild hybrid too, with 222bhp on tap and a claimed 0-62mph time of 7.8 seconds. That'll hardly set your pants on fire, but it's useful for the odd motorway slip road burst.

Is there anything fun about the Grandland?

No, sorry. You’ve got three drive modes – Eco, Normal and Sport (stop sniggering at the back) – which tailor the driving experience by altering steering, braking and engine response. Almost noticeably, we would say.

Driving engagement isn’t the Grandland’s primary goal, though, and it wouldn’t be good for economy. Vauxhall claims 50.1mpg and we managed around 38mpg in the 1.2 in the chilliest part of a UK winter. During our first go on the continent, that figure was in the 50s. Shows you the effect the thermostat can have...

As for the plug-in, we got 40mpg out of that but with the battery completely flat – start fully charged and that number would climb rapidly.

Is it comfortable?

It’s better than the previous Grandland at least, which was much maligned for its poor ride quality. Here it’s largely comfortable – on the firm side, sure. But the mild hybrid contains any body roll and smooths out speed bumps. The plug-in is a little more brittle and feels less in control of its weight.

The driving position is decent, even if the fancier seats of higher specs have a mish mash of analogue and electric adjustment. A bit of steering feel would be nice, but the Grandland will generally stick to the line you point it on and you’ll give up before it does.

At motorway speeds it’s reasonably quiet and refined with smaller wheels, but be warned that the larger 20-inch options do create a fair bit of road noise.