Vauxhall is looking to clear the 4x4 slate with its Antara. Andy Enright reports...

The Antara is Vauxhall's compact 4x4 and it's a good one. Well built and comfortable on the road, it has those chunky 4x4 looks that buyers seem to like and it's quite a size as well. It's not a great off-road tool but how many of the entrants in this sector are? For family duties on the tarmac, the Antara is a winner.

Let's not beat about the bush. Before we get any further discussing Vauxhall's latest 4x4 we need to lose our inhibitions a bit and get the F-word out there. For all the Antara's appeal, it's impossible not to frame it against the last 4x4 Vauxhall sold in volume. Routinely bottom of user satisfaction polls, the Frontera hasn't given the Antara too much to live up to. It's been a long time since the Frontera vanished, unnoticed and unloved in the late nineties, and Vauxhall is a very different company. One brief look at the Antara is enough to confirm this.

It's neatly proportioned in a manner not dissimilar to class leaders like the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V. Indeed without its badges, most would identify this as a Japanese car, the intricate detailing, extensive use of chrome and clever packaging making it look anything but a European or American 4x4. The fact that it shares most of its parts with the Chevrolet Captiva will only add to the confusion until it becomes clear, with a little investigation, that this model was developed at the GM Daewoo design centre in Incheon, Korea. Suddenly it all starts to make a lot more sense.

Customers now only get one engine option - a 148bhp 2.0-litre CDTi diesel, fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard. Although the engine does its best work in a relatively narrow band between 2,800 and 4,000rpm, if you're quick with the stick, you can make very respectable progress - breaking ten seconds to 60mph and going on to a fairly academic top speed of 112mph.

What the Antara is definitely not, however, is a challenger to the likes of Jeep or Land Rover. Although it does boast four wheel drive, ground clearance is limited and although it does come fitted with a hill descent function, there's no low range transfer case. In fact, for most of the time, the Antara runs in front wheel drive mode only, the electromagnetically operated electro-hydraulic clutch sending up to fifty per cent of drive to the back wheels when the going gets slippery.

Design & Build (200 words):

Drop into the cabin and it's undoubtedly a Vauxhall product. The centre console features switchgear that's familiar to Astra owners. The stereo controls are even broadly similar to a Cadillac BLS, such is the global reach of General Motors these days. Three circular air vents dominate the fascia, sitting beneath a unit that houses the satellite navigation, if it's specified, or the stereo controls and on-board computer, if it isn't. Unlike the Captiva, which can be specified in seven seat trim, the Antara is strictly a five-seater. With the rear seats folded, there's 1,420 litres of luggage space available and even with them in place, the Antara isn't 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 it's a much heftier piece of metalwork.

For a start, it's 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. And interior flexibility? Well, perhaps engineering the Flex7 seating system into the Antara would have been too big an investment. Pity.

There's a choice of Exclusiv or SE trim levels. The next question is, what does 'Antara' mean? At first I figured it was one of those vaguely Greek sounding made-up words that creative agencies are paid a fortune to come up with but it is, in fact, the equivalent of a verse in Hindustani classical music. Vauxhall was even beaten to the punch as a trade name, Antara being a prescription drug designed to lower cholesterol, so perhaps an even pricier agency should have been commissioned when tasked with naming the car.

Although this Antara can't guarantee to combat the effects of an artery-clogging fry-up, it at least encourages a rather more active lifestyle. As with 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 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.

Running costs are reasonably healthy, with the diesel engine managing 37mpg on the combined cycle and putting out 198g/km of CO2.

The Antara isn't the most capable nor the most innovative 4x4 on the market but what it does offer is neat styling, decent build quality, a badge that people trust backed up by a massive dealer network, tried and tested engines and an affordable price tag. The Antara looks set to rack up some respectable sales. While the Vauxhall's biggest rival may be its cousin, the Chevrolet Captiva, it nevertheless looks set to banish memories of the unfortunate Frontera for good. For that, if nothing else, it should be welcomed with open arms.