Originally just one engine was offered – a 165bhp four-cylinder 2.4-litre with a four-speed automatic gearbox. It’s not the most exciting unit, but is well suited to motorway cruising and gets to 62mph in 11.7 seconds. Overtaking takes some planning, but once up to speed, the unit is refined and smooth. Economy is poor though, with an average of just 28mpg and much less if you spend a lot of time in traffic.

High emissions mean it’s expensive to tax too. In September 2005 a 2.0-litre diesel engine was introduced. Badged DI-D, it’s actually borrowed from Volkswagen and with almost 140bhp and plenty of low down pulling power, it’s far better suited to the Grandis. It also uses a six-speed manual gearbox which helps give it a 0-62mph time of 10.8 seconds and a respectable fuel economy figure of 43mpg.

It’s fairly noisy on start-up and can clatter under hard acceleration, but has plenty of mid range punch to make overtaking easy.

Despite its size, Grandis doesn’t feel too cumbersome on the road. The steering is light and it doesn’t offer much feel, but the benefit is that it’s easy to manoeuvre in town – even parking is quite easy. Once on faster roads, the steering needs larger inputs and the Grandis lacks the composure and surefootedness of alternatives like the Ford Galaxy.

However, body roll isn’t excessive, so those in the back won’t feel sick even on twisty roads.