Vauxhall Antara   Women's view

Vauxhalls idea of mass market 4x4 motoring is found in their Antara. June Neary checks it out

Well, it looks smart, has lots of MPV-style touches but, unlike its General Motors stablemate, the Chevrolet Captiva, has only five seats. So of course have natural rivals like Toyotas RAV4, Land Rovers Freelander and Hondas CR-V, so that isnt necessarily a problem, particularly as the Vauxhall has more space inside than any of them. If that matters and you get the right deal, then this car has enough about it to tempt you away from more established names in this sector.

With the rear seats folded, theres 1,420 litres of luggage space available and even with them in place, the Antara isnt shy of capacity. The loading aperture is quite narrow, however, the tailgate fitting between the two big rear light clusters. The design is clever in reducing the perceived bulk of what is a surprisingly spacious vehicle. Viewed in isolation, the Antara looks to be about the size of a RAV4 or a Grand Vitara but the tale of the tape shows that its a much heftier piece of metalwork.

For a start, its fully 4,570mm long, compared with the 4,415 of the Toyota and the 4,470mm of the Suzuki. Even comparing it to the Vauxhall Zafira, we find the mini-MPV breaking the tape at just 4,467mm. That figure should be taken with a pinch if salt though, as the Antara has a lot more bonnet than the Zafira and the wheelbases are around the same. Perhaps engineering the Flex7 seating system into the Antara would have been too big an investment.

Lumping child seats in and out was as straightforward as its ever going to be with this kind of car and thanks to the excellent all-round visibility, parking was a pleasant experience. All the materials and plastics used seem to be reasonably hard wearing and the seats easily passed my familys ingrained chocolate test. Like more recently introduced Vauxhall models like the Corsa, the Antara can be specified with the optional FlexFix system, a clever slide-out bike rack which emerges from under the rear bumper. This was apparently pretty tricky to package in the Antara thanks to the rear wheels being driven but Vauxhall has managed it.

There are also roof rails fitted that will easily accept a ski box or additional bikes.

Theres a choice between either an entry-level 138bhp 2.4-litre petrol unit or the 148bhp 2.0-litre CDTi diesel, both fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard. Since almost everyone will buy the diesel, that was the one I tried.

I cant really see the point of wanting to change gear yourself in a car like this but if you want an automatic in this Vauxhall, then you need to buy the diesel variant. Prices start at around £20,000 and theres a choice of E, S or SE trim levels. The diesel isnt the quietest or the most advanced engine of its type but it is reasonably rapid in the mid-range overtaking zone where you need it to be. Sixty from rest is under ten seconds away en route to an academic maximum of 112mph.

Drive like this however, and you wont get anywhere close to the quote combined economy figure of 33mpg.

Could I Live With One?If youre interested, Antara is the equivalent of a verse in Hindustani classical music. What Vauxhall were less keen to tell me was that the name is also used for a prescription drug designed to lower cholesterol. This car will certainly relieve the stress felt by hundreds of Vauxhall dealers across the land who after the demise of the Frontera, for years had nothing to sell to all to all the people who wandered in wanting a 4x4.

Would I buy one? Well, its probably as good as it needs to be to snag undemanding 4x4 customers like me. If you liked the Frontera (why?), then youll be amazed at the wheel of one of these just how far 4x4s have come.