Facelifted Antara under £20k

Vauxhall’s off-roader gets a new look and new engines but a lower price.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Tom Phillips

25th November 2010

Vauxhall’s Antara is looking sharp. These are the first pictures of the facelifted version of the firm’s SUV, which goes on sale next month.

To bring the Antara up to date, Vauxhall has added the firm’s new front grille and Griffin logo, as sported by the Corsa facelift, while SE models get fog lights mounted in leaf-shaped bezels.

New 19-inch alloys and tweaked rear light clusters complete the cosmetic modifications on the outside, while the interior gets extra storage, new trim materials and improved instruments.

Under the bonnet, the SUV gets a new 2.2-litre diesel engine, up from the current, single 148bhp 2.0-litre oil burner. The engine is available in two states of tune, 161bhp or 181bhp, but while power has increased, Vauxhall claims the unit is cleaner than before, although official emissions data hasn't yet been confirmed.

The 161bhp unit comes in front-wheel drive with a six-speed manual transmission only or all-wheel drive with either a manual or six-speed auto gearboxes. The 181bhp engine is four-wheel drive only, but buyers can choose manual or automatic transmissions. All cars benefit from revised spring and damper settings.

Prices for the new Antara start from £19,995, a saving of £2,835 on the outgoing base version.

For an alternative review of the latest Vauxhall Antara visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

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3 Comments

I hope the "revised spring and damper settings" have improved its handling - the previous version was an obnoxious slug on the road. Probably why they've had to reduce the price as well in an attempt to get them selling. You certainly don't see many on the roads...

By ncollingridge on 30 November, 2010, 10:34pm

ncollingridge has a point. A good one too. But let's see how it copes against the likes of the Ford Kuga and Toyota RAV4.

By JPW2010 on 2 December, 2010, 1:00pm

hmmmm..........

well certainly ncollingridge is correct in saying there aren't many of them on the road. I've seen a couple of these but aside from knowing it was a Vauxhall I had absolutely no idea what model it was, so undistinguished was its looks. As for competing with Ford's Kuga and the RAV4, prices I think are going to have to be really slashed if it's to stand any kind of chance. The Kuga is markedly more distinct even if it does look like an overgrown Fiesta. The Antara though to be fair, from the side it could JUST be mistaken for an Audi, if you don't look too hard.

By nick7 on 16 December, 2010, 7:28pm

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Pictures

Facelifted Antara under £20k