The Vauxhall Grandland X joins the fleet

Vauxhall doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to SUVs. Though its compact products – the Mokka X and Crossland X – are half decent, it’s yet to produce a good large SUV. The old Antara and its Frontera predecessor were downright terrible.

Enter the Vauxhall Grandland X, which we’ll be running for six months to see if the British brand has finally figured out how to crack this market sector.

It certainly stands out from the crossover crowd. I can only picture the Vauxhall press office cackling and rubbing their hands together in glee when they specced our Grandland. Call it whatever you like – Golden Sunstone (brochure), Gold (DVLA), or disgusting (my Grandma) – what we have here is a BEIGE Vauxhall.

I’m not averse to interestingly coloured cars – in the last few years I’ve owned red, brown, spring green and purple – but the metallic beige does no favours for the Grandland’s looks. In one of its other shades, like the Dark Ruby Red or Topaz Blue, it looks every bit the modern crossover, and quite a handsome one too with its bold grille, sharp headlights and interesting C-pillar treatment. As it stands, we’re driving around a mobile retirement home.

The dealer we collected the car from, Eden Vauxhall in Fareham, skirted neatly around the issue of colour, but was hopeful that we’d like the car. “Grandland X has been really good for us,” said Adam Street, the dealers’ new car sales controller. “There’s no denying it’s a massive improvement over, well…” he tailed off, with either traumatic memories or brand loyalty preventing him from mentioning the old Antara or Frontera.

There’ll be plenty of time to harp on about the colour during our six months with the car, though. What about the rest of the package? Well, Vauxhall’s kindly given us a high-end Sport Nav model, so the kit list includes 18-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights and chrome trim to jazz up the exterior.

Inside, niceties such as auto lights and wipers, all-round parking sensors, dual-zone climate control and cruise control all feature, along with Vauxhall’s own eight-inch touchscreen infotainment display. There’s plenty to play with here, including the OnStar remote assistance service – more on that in a later report.

Vauxhall has also specced a few extra features. I’m very glad to see full LED headlamps, the heated windscreen and panoramic glass roof are both pleasing touches. There’s a wireless charging pad under the armrest – admittedly of limited use to me, with last year’s smartphone – and the Winter Pack, which heats both front and rear seats and the steering wheel.

Our Grandland X packs the product of the brand’s collaboration with PSA Peugeot Citroen – namely, the 1.2-litre PureTech petrol engine. It’s mated here to a six-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive.

The recipe’s actually quite a good one, as the PSA engine – the 1.2-litre PureTech – is a gem in most cars we’ve tried it in, refined at speed, powerful enough at the low end and very efficient. Yet it seems to have had all of its character engineered out of it, along with the low-end torque – it actually stalled trying to get up my driveway in first gear.

Still, over the 700 miles I covered during my first week with the car, it did prove itself reasonably capable and comfortable as a motorway cruiser. As time progresses we’ll investigate whether it’s more impressive on the twisty stuff than first impressions suggest. We’ll also be looking into whether rose-tinted sunglasses actually improve the colour…

Facts at a glance
Model: Vauxhall Grandland X 1.2 Turbo S/S Sport Nav
Price: £28,175
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol
Power: 128bhp
Torque: 230Nm
Max speed: 117mph
0-60mph: 10.9s
Fuel economy: 55.4mpg
CO2: 117g/km
Mileage: 5,371

This month’s highlight: Cruising in comfort over 700 miles