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Long-term report: Our capacious Vauxhall Grandland X makes short work of a house move

We put our SUV to the test with a fully-loaded day running around hilly Bath

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One of the perks of this job is having access to large, practical cars whenever you need to move large loads. One of the downsides is having access to large, practical cars whenever your friends, family or random acquaintances need to move large loads.

And so, it was that L9 VXL and I got called into action to help my friends condense their two Bath flats into one as they moved in together.

Of course, a van would have been the ideal transport for this, but the Grandland X has plenty going for it when it comes to acting as an impromptu delivery service. First of all, as I’ve mentioned in previous reports, it’s a big, capacious car. Fold the rear seats down and there’s a 1,652-litre load bay, plus a flat floor courtesy of the boot divider on our car.

With some creative packing, we managed to transport everything from clothing to sofas across the city. The wide tailgate opening made loading easy, although the fragile blind for the panoramic sunroof necessitated some careful loading. I also had the opportunity to make use of the Grandland’s built-in 4G hotspot – stringent parking regulations meant I had to remain with the car as my friends unloaded, giving me plenty of time to browse.

Normally I find myself wishing our Grandland X had a torquey diesel engine, but a day of stop-start driving made me glad we had the petrol. I always feel a little guilty using a diesel engine for repeated short trips, knowing full well that while it’s cold, it’s at its most polluting.

I had no such qualms with the petrol, zipping back and forth many times over the course of the day. The 1.2-litre unit still grates on me with its lack of low-end shove, though – the rolling hills of Bath and a fully loaded car proved challenging for it and required some serious revs and plenty of unsatisfying rowing through the notchy, six-speed manual gearbox.

Again though, I found myself surprised at the fuel economy. An entire day of stop-start traffic saw our average figure drop a little, unsurprisingly, but the car’s still returning 43mpg overall. I don’t think I would have achieved any better in the equivalent diesel on that day.

Outside of being a delivery van, the Grandland’s mostly been racking up the miles mostly heading to and from airports and launch venues. I’m sad to report that it’s still yet to blow me away in any department besides the continued decent economy. I’m finding myself coveting my neighbour’s own compact crossovers – never a fun position to be in – and avoiding the Grandland in favour of almost any other car we have in the office.

However, soon we’ll get some time in a high-spec Grandland X ‘Ultimate’ fitted with – blessed be – a 2.0-litre diesel engine. We’ll report back on whether this improves the Grandland experience as much as we’re hoping.



  • 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: 7,851

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