Vauxhall Grandland - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Vauxhall Grandland is a practical family car, but it's not without its flaws. The mid-size SUV has a roomy interior with a raised driving position, although the sloping bodywork can make judging the extremities difficult, so you’ll end up relying on the standard parking sensors and 360-degree camera system. The driving position has plenty of adjustments for the seat and steering wheel. 

Cabin storage isn’t a Grandland strength. The door bins are narrow, and we found that the bin at the base of the dashboard is too small for the latest smartphones, so you'll need to keep your devices in the central cubby between the seats, which is quite some distance from the USB charging port. The glovebox is also too small, with the fuse box hogging most of the space.

There's loads of space in the back for adults and children alike, plus the Grandland is also fitted with three ISOFIX points – two in the back and another on the front passenger seat. This will give families plenty of flexibility when installing a child seat. There’s no seven-seat option, however, so Vauxhall buyers seeking an additional two seats in the boot will need to look at the van-based Vauxhall Combo Life.

The Grandland’s seats are approved by AGR, an organisation that promotes healthy posture. These are potentially good for those with back pain, although they are rather firm and take some getting used to.

Dimensions and size 

The Vauxhall Grandland is 4,470mm long and 1,906mm wide (excluding side mirrors), meaning it’s longer and wider than most of its rivals, such as the Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq. The Grandland doesn’t feel like a cumbersome car on the road, but those after something a bit easier when parking or tackling tight city streets might be interested in the firm’s smaller Vauxhall Mokka SUV.

17

Leg room, head room & passenger space

The space in the back of Vauxhall’s Grandland is very generous. The flat floor means there’s room for three across the rear bench, with plenty of head, leg, and knee room. The large windows and light-coloured headlining also ensure that it never feels dark, cramped, or claustrophobic. 

That said, when we tested the Vauxhall Grandland against the Kia Sportage in our twin test, we measured up the cabins and found that knee and headroom were similar, but the Grandland lost out by a considerable gap on elbow room. 

Boot space

If you go for a petrol or hybrid Grandland, you get 514 litres of boot space, and it’s easy to access, thanks to the big, wide, and square tailgate. In comparison, the Nissan Qashqai and Peugeot 3008 offer similar luggage capacities with the rear seats in place, however the Skoda Karoq and Kia Sportage are much more generous.

At least the adjustable height boot floor can be made level with the aperture when loading heavy items into the Vauxhall, so you can slide things in easily. There’s a loading hatch in the middle of the rear bench, which is useful for taking long items when you still have passengers in the back.

Fold the rear seats down, and the load bay expands to 1,652 litres – two litres more than you’ll find in its Peugeot 3008 sister car and almost as much as some cars in the class above.

Our measurements show that the Vauxhall Grandland has a similar-sized load bay to the Kia Sportage, as we discovered in our twin test. However, the Grandland has a higher lip height to load bulky items over, ultimately putting the Kia in front.

Towing

How much your Vauxhall Grandland can tow also depends on which powertrain you choose. The basic 1.2-litre (128bhp) turbo models will tow a 1,400kg braked trailer, which is reduced to 1,200kg if you go for the automatic model. Meanwhile, the hybrid Grandland can haul a 1,250kg braked trailer.