Review - The All New Vauxhall Meriva

Wednesday 2nd June 2010 - 14:14:37

Meriva - Vauxhall's new MPV hits the showrooms

Meriva

First Look

The new Meriva looks more stylish than its predecessor, giving the impression of higher quality vehicle as Vauxhall looks to shed its dull functional image.

The Meriva incorporates many of the features employed on the Insignia and most recent Astra to give the new Meriva a premium look and feel including the arty door moldings and sweeping diagonal belt-line, which visually stretch the outline, it also has a rear-drive wheelbase.

The trapezoidal front grille is part of the corporate branding, although the kinked window line is new and demonstrates the amount of work that's gone into the exterior design.

The new model is a larger proposition with both track and wheelbase being longer and wider giving the new model a lower squat appearance on the road. The.

The most innovative feature is the 'FlexDoor' element the position of the door handles means the arrangement is visible even with the doors closed with the doors wide open the Meriva looks like nothing in its class.

Get Up & Go

Five engine options are now available in the Meriva when the model hits showrooms in the UK in June 2010, with a further two options (128hp 1.7-litre and 94hp EcoFlex 1.3-litre diesels) arriving at a later date.

The immediately available 74hp 1.3-litre diesel will take nearly 17 seconds to hit 62mph but it is miserly and under the 130g/km barrier. The larger 98hp 1.7-litre diesel is likely to be the more popular which is also available as an automatic transmission - an intelligent six-speed unit that offers engine braking and a sequential shifting option.

The new petrol units are the big news, with the focus on downsizing meaning the larger 1.6 and 1.8-litre petrol units have been dropped replaced by turbo charged 1.4-litre petrol power plants.

Entry point comes in the form of the normally aspirated 1.4-litre petrol engine with 98hp but it's the 118hp and 138hp turbo charged units that offer the greater performance with lower emissions and improved fuel consumption over the outgoing 1.6/1.8 petrol engines.

Both engines are reasonably nippy and the 118hp unit has little trouble pulling around the not inconsiderable bulk of the Meriva. It complains a touch more than the higher powered unit but the turbo quickly kicks in from reasonably low down the rev range giving ample  power available on demand for overtaking or swift exits from side roads.

When it comes to motorway driving the 118hp version is less well capable than the higher powered 1.4-litre turbo, but it comes into its element in and around town.

For performance and pulling power the 138hp unit is naturally the pick of the bunch. It's a very flexible unit, happy to rev freely the six-speed manual transmission aids works on the motorway and, like the five-speed box, has a slick and rewarding gearbox.

The Meriva is no sports car, but then again it does not feel like a typical MPV, but there's little body roll around country lanes and the chassis is very sure-footed. The ride quality is on the firm side, but the pay off in terms of handling and road-holding is impressive.

Inside

The only real negative is the A-pillar visibility issues of the outgoing model have not been fully solved despite considerable improvements.

That aside Vauxhall have boosted the quality inside the Meriva - a sculpted high-quality assembly that has benefited again from the Insignia and Astra.