Vauxhall Zafira Tourer review
The Vauxhall Zafira Tourer is a more spacious and luxurious seven-seater that's designed to rival the Ford S-MAX
The Vauxhall Zafira Tourer is not a replacement for the Zafira but will instead be sold alongside it for a short period of time. The older model starts at £13,995 while the Zafira Tourer costs £21,000. The extra money buys you a modern and luxurious cabin with a real quality feel and plenty of standard equipment. There's a good range of engines, with frugal diesels and petrol turbocharged units. It's also a sharper and more comfortable drive than the Zafira and comes with a more spacious and practical cabin.
Our choice: 2.0 CDTi (130) ecoFLEX S/S SE
Styling
The Vauxhall Zafira Tourer gets the manufacturers latest design language including boomerang style headlights and a 'tick' shape on its flanks. Compared to its predecessor, it's a much classier look which holds its own in the MPV style stakes. This cabin represents a step up in quality for Vauxhall, with a dash covered in soft-touch materials and higher-spec models coming with full leather upholstery and leather-lined door panels. The centre console is a bit cluttered but all the switches feel solid. Some models get a panoramic sunroof, adding to the feeling of space. A few classy touches like ambient interior lighting give it a premium feel.
Driving
The engine line-up consists of a naturally-aspirated 1.8-litre petrol with 138bhp, a turbocharged 1.4-litre with the same power and three 2.0-litre diesel engines putting out between 109bhp and 163bhp. Our favourites are the diesels which provide plenty of go, low running costs and a relatively refined driving experience too. The 1.8-litre petrol feels strained so, if you can afford it and you're after a petrol engine, it's worth going for the turbo. Handling is good for a car this size but it feels more stable and predictable than thrilling. A Ford S-MAX is the choice for keen drivers.
Reliability
The Zafira Tourer hasn't yet been tested by Euro NCAP but expect a five-star rating once it has been tested. Electronic gadgets will help to prevent a crash in the first place, like forward collision alert, blind spot monitoring and lane keep assist. The older Zafira came 47th in our list of the 2011 Driver Power top 100 models, and the new Zafira Tourer should prove equally reliable.
Practicality
Practicality has to be an MPV's strong suit and thankfully the Zafira Tourer has plenty of clever functions. The seven-seat arrangement features a second row of three individual seats that can be moved forwards and backwards, folded individually, and the middle seat can even be folded away while the outer seats move further out to allow passengers more room. The third row of seats can be folded completely into the floor to maximise boot space. With five seats up, there's 710 litres of space and with only two seats up there's 1860 litres.
Running Costs
The Zafira Tourer 2.0 CDTi ecoFLEX is the cheapest in the range to run, boasting CO2 emissions of just 119g/km and 62.3mpg. Although we've only tested the range-topping 163bhp 2.0-litre we can imagine the lower powered ecoFLEX feeling a little underpowered so it may be worth opting for the 52.3mpg 163bhp model. The 1.8-litre petrol engine is cheap to buy but will be expensive to tax and fuel.
