OPEL Antara Review

A bit understandable, especially after reading the previous test drive chapters, the comfort inside the Antara is pretty much its major high point. As long as it's not driven in a rally-like manner and the steering wheel movements are kept to a minimum - let's say, driving on a long stretch of road – the Antara is one of the most comfortable crossover/SUVs ever. Sure, the comfort zone inside the car would turn to nightmare as soon as some serpentine roads became involved in the equation, that unless the passengers actually are sea-sickness fans.

The wind noises are successfully kept away from the interior at higher speeds, which is not the same we could say about the diesel under the hood. At higher rpm, the not-so-noble sound it makes becomes one with the interior, which isn't very pleasant on the ears. Alas, as long as you keep your right foot away from pushing into the floor everything is going to be fine from this point of view.

Although not being very sumptuous, considering there was no leather trimming anywhere in the car except for the steering wheel and Opel interior designers aren't on very good terms with wood inserts on the center console, the quality of the plastics is pretty high. This, along with the decent interior space can make quite a pleasant ambiance for the passengers. People who would like a classier atmosphere can go for the optional leather seats.

As we mentioned before, the four-cylinder mill under the hood of the Antara 2.0 CDTi is of Italian origin. The company going by the name of VM Motori designed the RA 420 with vans and SUVs in mind. The DOHC engine delivers 150 horsepower and 320 Nm (236 lb ft) of torque with the help of a VGT turbocharger. The power levels aren't necessarily great, especially considering you can now buy two-liter engines with over 100 hp per liter from the competition, but it's not very low on power either.

Using a latest generation Common Rail system further improves the fuel consumption and diminishes noise levels; too bad that both performance and fuel consumption are counteracted by the immense weight of the car. And to think there's also a 127 hp version of this engine on the Antara...

The engine is also not exclusive for the Antara and is not even built by VM Motori, since its production is carried out under license by GM Daewoo and the Hyundai Motor Corporation. This basically means you're going to find it under the hood of about a dozen other cars. We wonder if it achieves its true performance on other vehicles, since under Antara's hood is a bit... constrained, to say the least.

The five-speed automatic gearbox was quite a nice suprise on the other hand, since it provided almost seamless shifts and didn't provide any noticeable lag moments between gears. Its fuzzy-logic processor isn't quite state-of-the-art but it does "learn" pretty quickly if you're a pilot or a Sunday driver when using the throttle.

Like most other technical bits on the car, the all-wheel drive system isn't designed by Opel, and is the same one found on its Vauxhall/Holden/Daewoo/Chevrolet/Saturn brother. But wait, not only on those cars, but also on the Toyota RAV4 since it was actually developed by the aforementioned Japanese and licensed to other carmakers. It works by using an electromagnetic coupling in the rear differential housing to transfer up to 50% of the power to the rear wheels only when needed. In reality, it either works seamlessly or we didn't quite put it to the test correctly, because we didn't feel the rear wheels pushing even once.

The Antara we got to drive was just the intermediate level of equipment (Enjoy), just between Essentia and Cosmo, which is the top model. Nevertheless, apart from a few so-called luxury items, the model was pretty well equipped. Here is a list of the most noteworthy-but-common gadgets we found in the car's interior: four electrically-operated windows, the equally snobby-but-helpful light sensors for the headlights and rain sensors for the windshield wipers, automatic single-zone climate control and three-stage heated front seats.

Naturally, these kinds of gadgets were to be expected on a car costing almost as much as two Volkswagen Golfs but that doesn't mean we weren't glad the car had them. A pleasant surprise came from the presence of a Bluetooth kit for mobile phones. The mp3-compatible radio CD-player is part of a decent audio system which doesn't stand out in either bad or good ways.

Apart from the aforementioned gadgets, we should also state that our test car had controls on the steering wheel for the audio system and for the on-board computer. As a downside, just like its Opel tinier siblings, the Antara also benefits from a very troublesome to use control of the on-board computer if being accessed from the center console, since there are about three different "OK" buttons which can be exclusively used depending on what page of the menu you find yourself browsing.

As far as safety goes, Opel Antara owners can rest assured about it. Although it hasn't been tested by any major crash-testing organization, its Chevrolet Captiva twin brother was. At the EuroNCAP, the Captiva scored only four stars out of five, but considering a few points you should know about our test car, we're going to give it a pretty good score.

First of all, what made us subtract points in dynamics and fuel efficiency is actually working in its favor when it comes to safety. The Antara 2.0 CDTi is one heavy automobile, weighing almost two tonnes without any cargo on board. One of the basic laws of physics tells as that when two objects collide the heavier one is pretty much having the upper hand in all circumstances. Considering most cars on European roads are quite a bit lighter than the Antara... well, you get the point.

Second of all, the Antara comes equipped with eight airbags in standard trim, which can protect the car's passenger's from impacts coming from almost any direction. If that isn't quite enough for you, learn the fugly crossover/SUV also comes equipped with anti-lock braking system, electronic stability control, cornering brake control and even a hill descent control for those rare moments when you're taking it down a ski slope. All in all, the Antara seems to be a pretty safe automobile.

To tell you guys the truth, we didn't start this test drive with the best thoughts about this car. We knew it's just another example of badge-engineering and globalization, which is not the best sign for what to actually expect from an Opel that's not actually an Opel. Well, apparently we were wrong on a number of preconceptions about the Antara, but we were also right about others. What's the best part about it? Probably its somewhat cozy interior (apart from the driver's seating position) and passenger comfort on longer trips.

As with other cars we tested, we were a bit undecided about choosing a single downside. Most of the problems had a single catalyst in our book: the gargantuan weight of the thing. Where did those extra kilograms (or pounds, if you prefer) actually went on the car we don't know. What we know is that the Antara 2.0 CDTi weighs way too much for having a body a little larger than that of an overgrown compact hatchback. It does help when it comes to the unfortunate event of a crash with another vehicle, but in every other area it's a very bad thing.

The ugly part about the Opel Antara? Well, we have to say it's the exterior design. Opel designers teased us with the Antara GTC concept/eye candy and then they came out with this "sports hiking shoe". Not a very good impression from this point of view, but obviously we're being very subjective. Some people might actually like driving footwear.