Vauxhall 1.8 Petrol Engine Review

[Serafin Sonnier]

Incertain circumstances, the Grandland X can be ridiculously cheap to run. There was an extended period where we hardly went anywhere further than about 15 miles away and the cylinders of the petrol engine must have been gummed up with cobwebs. Such a big proportion of those few miles was being done on battery power alone (the battery was recharged before the next journey) that I was getting nearly 300mpg.

Problem is, heavy batteries combined with an SUV stance results in the Grandland running out of form and into trouble quicker than Harry Maguire. By the first corner, in fact. The handling is so ponderous that the full 296bhp was deployed less than the Swiss Navy.

Stealth mode engaged

Cornish roads are not its natural habitat, despite 300bhp. But when charged up on electric power, eco-friendly surfers are less likely to shout at me than the hundreds of Discovery drivers here.

So the plug-in bit of this test is going well, and for anybody thinking they might dwell in the halfway house between internal combustion and full electric, then slippers on and settle in for a very rewarding life with a Grandland.

Unfortunately, what follows is less spectacular. The steering is detached, firstly light and then leaden, the brakes are indistinct, the Michelin eco tyres have little lateral grip and the doughy front end is affronted by changes of direction.

You can flip between the two to see what suits you best. On my first Exciting Trip to Grantham, I went regenerative the whole way and had run out of juice on the return leg before I left the A1, needing to actually use some petrol for the last four miles home. Crazy.

My wife took the Grandland on Trip 7 and trashed a tyre in a pothole, less than a mile from home. Vauxhall Assistance and the RAC were brilliantly efficient, but the replacement Michelin Primacy 3 cost a hefty 192, negating (and some) all the cost efficiencies. I was not excited about that.

Alas, this proved not to be the case and the almost-as-expensive, almost-as-fast Vauxhall turned out to be a very different beast: the petrol-electric Grandland X Hybrid4, a modern crossover in so many senses it is hard to know where to start.

So the Grandland is not short of kit, power and seemingly space too, which could mean it is a fine all-rounder, or that it is jack of all trades, master of none. In its favour, the Grandland X sits on the EMP2 platform used on the similar Peugeot 3008 and DS 7, which is not a bad place to start.

It also competes against the prince of plug-ins, the Mitsubishi Outlander, and it is here that the main battle will be fought. Yes, this is a Very Expensive Vauxhall (I think I may be hearing that phrase a few times in the coming months), but the Outlander is a Very Expensive Mitsubishi, and that has not stopped it being a roaring success.

Usual wear and tear. Nothing disastrous, keep up the oil changes and belt changes and you should be OK with these engines. Brakes and suspension have been the biggest expense, but I do drive it hard and it is getting older now, so can't complain.

What a good looking car. A sleek coupe (kind of) from Vauxhall that really stands out from other Astra's like the 5 door versions you normally see about. It is a really great looking car from all angles. Best in darker colours with a nice set of alloy wheels.

SXi model is rather basic (go for Design or Elite models if you want to the lot), but you do get a lot of electric equipment as standard and the interior has a quality feel. Surprisingly comfortable for a sporty little car, but the ride can get a little too firm at times on UK roads pottering about town. It's best suited to long country roads, and handles pretty sharp.

1.6 petrol engine has average performance, it is no race car, but can overtake with ease if it needs to. Glad I got the 1.6 though - had a test drive in a 1.4 and it felt underpowered. You can also get a solid 40 MPG if you drive carefully. Go for the 2.0 if you want more performance, though expect the fuel bills and insurance to be higher of course. The car has a bit of a boy racer image attached to it.

Overall a great looking car, with average performance in all other areas being the only let down. I guess you can't expect much from a Vauxhall that is based on a run of the mill Astra, but if you want a good looking car that's a bit different from the other dull hatchbacks you see on the road, give these Sport Hatch Astras a try - you can get them now very cheap and they are much the same running costs as a regular Astra if you go for the smaller engines.

These old Vauxhall cars are not reliable. Never buy an old Rover or a Vauxhall. Not worth it; I keep going to garage more often with my Astra. Mostly it's electric problems and engine problems. Goodbye Vauxhall.

Also, did the previous owner take care of it? Sounds like you got a bad example - did you test drive/inspect it before you bought it? I've had countless Fords and Vauxhalls and they have all been fine even with over 100K miles on them. I'm with you about Rover though - those were terrible; had one back in the 90s and it was no where near as good as your Ford/Vauxhall or whatever.

De-phaser pulley on the inlet manifold disintegrated and sheared from the camshaft when the car was started on the drive; no warning of impending failure. The engine was a complete write off with bent valves and damaged piston heads; uneconomic to fix on my budget. Since then I have heard of three other instances of failure of this engine from other owners, as the engine is found in Astras and Zafiras.

The car had a Jekyll and Hyde personality, in which one day the driving experience was mediocre and the next a pleasure. One wonders if this may have been an early symptom of failure of the de-phaser.

Hi all, As we all know, the start of September was the roll out of the new E10 petrol. Now according to the DVLA website, ALL Vauxhall models can use the new E10, excluding models with the 2.2 litre direct injection petrol engine, code Z22YH, Vectra, Signum, Zafira. Which should use the E5.

My Astra is a 1.6 16v petrol, and 19 years old. It was running ok to start with, but in the last week it has been quite gutless, and economy fell through the floor. Wife went out on Monday and put in 30 of E5, and it now is running sweet again, and fuel economy is back to where it used to be, which is good.

I always believed that supermarkets got their fuel from the main suppliers, i.e., BP, Esso, and Shell, and it was just transported in the supermarkets own vehicles. Had to use Tesco today as our BP has not had any fuel for about a week.

I too remember them doing away with the old 4 star, luckily my datsun was OK with it, not needing harder valve seats like some cars had to have done. I just adjusted the carb mixture and she was good to go.

Hi Andy and all, I'm glad this question is finally getting some attention as I tried to raise it with Vauxhall months ago (including the Owners' Club) and got no response. I often drive my 2005 Zafira in the Netherlands, where E10 was brought in over a year ago, and I needed to know whether I could put it in my Zafira or not. The Dutch website referred to Opel of course, and listed Zafira A and Zafira B, and I had no idea whether my Zafira Life was one of those or something else! Now that E10 has been introduced in the UK as well there is at last a UK website giving advice, and it seems that it is OK to use E10, so I have stopped tanking up with the more expensive premium fuels and started using E10. So far, no problems. Fingers crossed.

Hi Sue, so glad to hear that you have been able to get sorted. I wasn't sure about my own Astra G, so I went on the UK DVLA website and found the info that i posted, in the hope that it would help other Vauxhall/Opel owners. And it appears that i have, even across the to the Netherlands. Have your Petrol stations increased their prices like the UK?

It doesn't seem to have made a difference with my fuel economy. I did 130 miles the other day on 15 of E10, and the old girl gave me 56 mpg. I don't mind that from a 20 year old car that's done nearly 230,000 miles.

I have a 2003 Astra 1.6 manual that has covered just over 86,000trouble free miles. However, since putting E10 in it's running erratically and jerky as I pull away or take my foot off the throttle pedal. Whether it's the fault of the petrol or another problem, I don't know. I guess the first action I should take is to fill up with a higher premium petrol and see if that cures it. Having a number of vintage & classic cars & motorcycles I am already suspicious of this new petrol but back in the 60's I used to run my bikes on Cleveland Discol which had alcohol added and I suffered no problems with it then.

My Astra did run a bit rough at first on the E10, but it was also due a service at the time. But the old girl seems fine now, and is still giving good mpg for a 20 year old with over 200,000 miles on her.

The Ethanol burns a bit hotter which would help to keep the engine clean but it also leads to slightly less MPG which along with the higher cost of fuel is leading us to be under the illusion that we are not getting much to the gallon as before

Don't think anyone will be as stupid as me. Buy thought I'd mention this. I have always used e5 shell in my vectra vxr. The other day was out and was really low (c.o.l) so I pulled in to morrissons to try there super unleaded. Didn't have none so put a tenners worth of e10 in the car now got a horrible misfire engine management and service light on. Two bottles of redex later and 50 of e5 later car is OK. Plz any vxr owners don't even chance a tenner if desperate. Yes I am a idiot

Hi Davep, glad to hear you got your vxr sorted. Obviously being a higher spec motor it prefers the e5. My old girl seems to prefer the e10. As I mentioned in previous posts, it was splutters and sluggish for a bit, but a good service, and she seems happy again. Just recently did a trip of nearly 300 miles, and she returned 59.6 mpg, at a steady 60mph. I must be doing something right.

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