Written by Ted Welford Updated: 6 December 2024

Overview

If you’ve been looking for the best small SUV, in previous times we’d have told you to stay clear of Vauxhall. Its compact Mokka excels on style but offers few other reasons to choose it, while the ageing Crossland was well off the pace. In fact, it’s a car we’d actively tell you to avoid.

But the good news is that the Vauxhall Crossland is no more and its replacement is the Frontera. If that name rings a bell, it’s because Vauxhall sold a family 4x4 under the same badge in the 1990s and early noughties, and it’s now seen fit to revive it for its budget family-sized crossover.

You can choose it with mild-hybrid engines (as tested here) or as an EV, which we’ve covered separately in our Vauxhall Frontera Electric review. The key thing here is that both are priced identically, with the Frontera being the first car to achieve price parity across the two powertrains.

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Unlike the five-seat-only EV, the mild-hybrid Frontera has the advantage of being available with a seven seats, which is rare in this class. They are a £550 option, however, unlike on a Dacia Jogger when you get three rows of seats as standard.

Vauxhall calls the Frontera a spiritual successor to the Zafira, its popular MPV that sold especially well to families in the early 2000s, and it certainly seems capable of filling such shoes.

Priced from £23,495, the Frontera costs similar to small crossovers, such as the MG ZS and Dacia Duster, but is actually the same size as larger cars of this type, such as the Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq. In terrms of size it sits between the Vauxhall Mokka and larger Vauxhall Grandland, but it’s cheaper than both of those cars owing to its lower-cost underpinnings.

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So has Vauxhall finally got one of the best compact SUVs on its hands with the Frontera? We’ve been to Mallorca to try it out for the first time ahead of UK deliveries starting in the middle of 2025. Read more about how we test cars at Parkers.

What’s it like inside?

That low price has to come from somewhere, and it’s the cheaper interior of the Frontera that ultimately helps to enable it. At first glance, it looks good for the price as you get modern screens, smart seating upholstery and interesting silver decorative trim. However, on closer inspection it starts to feel like the cheap car it is.

Base-spec models especially are littered with hard and scratchy plastics, with no soft-touch materials or fabrics on the doorcards at all. It reminds us of a van interior, which isn’t particulalrly high praise. Certain aspects don’t feel very well screwed together, either, with a particularly flimsy dashboard and plastics that don’t feel like they’ll stand up to family life.

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But despite that, we rate the Frontera’s functional, user-first interior. Neither the touchscreen or digital instrument cluster are particularly advanced, but they each work well. They’re responsive and they tell you all the information you need without digging through a catalogue of submenus. Standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as wireless smartphone charging, are also impressive for a car of this price – and we rate the Frontera for keeping physical climate controls on a separate panel.

How much space is there?

The Frontera is a noticeably bigger car than the Vauxhall Crossland it replaces. Its dimensions are closer to that of a Nissan Qashqai, which costs around £7,000 more. It has quite a narrow cabin, so as a driver you may feel closely sat next to your front-seat passenger.

But rear-seat space is particularly generous. The mild-hybrid Frontera has more room in the back than the electric model, which has a slightly raised floor to accommodate its battery beneath. Adults will be able to sit comfortably behind someone with a similar frame and, thanks to the Frontera’s boxy shape, headroom is never an issue. 

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We also can’t forget the fact that the Frontera is available with seven seats, making it one of the cheapest cars on the market available with three rows of seats – even when you consider it’s a £550 option. However, we haven’t yet been able to try out a seven-seat Frontera as Vauxhall didn’t have a single one available on the launch. That leads us to think that the rear seats will be especially tight, and only likely suited to small children.

The boot measures 460 litres and also includes a useful height-adjustable boot floor. However, this and the parcel shelf are quite flimsy and aren’t the easiest to take out or put back – it’s aspects like this that show the Frontera’s budget roots against more expensive rivals. That said, with the rear seats folded, the space on offer is vast – 1,600 litres, which is around 150 more than you get from a Nissan Qashqai. It’s a big car, and not for a lot of money.

What engines are available?

The Frontera uses the same 48-volt mild-hybrid system as you’ll find across most of the Vauxhall line-up these days, as well as cars from Citroen and Peugeot. It’s paired with a six-speed automatic gearbox as standard, and despite the Frontera’s chunky styling – and 4x4 roots – it’s all for show as every model is front-wheel-drive. 

There are two mild-hybrid models available, with the entry-level model (which costs the same as the EV) producing 100hp and 205Nm of torque (pulling power). Above that, there’s a model with 136hp and 230Nm of torque. 

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So far we’ve only been able to try the more powerful model, which is able to accelerate to 62mph in 9.0 seconds, compared to 11.0 seconds for the less powerful version. 

What’s it like to drive?

There are key strengths and weaknesses to the way the Frontera drives. We’ll start with the positives, chief of which is its unquestionably comfortable ride. It’s well judged for urban use, with a soft suspension setup doing a great job of absorbing rough city streets or speed bumps. It behaves much like a Citroen in this respect, which isn’t too surprising when you consider the Frontera shares plenty in common with the new Citroen C3 and Citroen C3 Aircross.

The steering is quite slow to react, meaning you may find yourself turning more than usual, but it’s good around town especially as it’s so light. It’s not a car that is meant to drive quickly, with plenty of body roll apparent if you drive it enthusiastically. Instead, it’s best to drive slower and make the most of its comfy seats and soft ride.

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The main weak links are refinement and this mild-hybrid system. Starting with the latter, it’s quite noisy and performance is hamstrung by the slow, dim-witted gearbox that takes too long to change down when you require more progress. It’s a shame as when you are in the right gear, performance is relatively brisk for a car of this type. 

The changeover between electric running and the petrol engine isn’t very smooth, either. We much preferred the way the way the electric Frontera drives over this. It’s also not very refined, with lots of road noise making its way into the interior and the noisy hybrid system sounding quite unpleasant. We wish Vauxhall would offer the non-hybrid 1.2-litre petrol engine with a manual gearbox (available on the mechanically-similar Citroen C3) as we think this would make the Frontera better to drive.

What models and trims are available?

Vauxhall has trimmed down its line-up for the Frontera, with just two trim levels available – Design and GS.

Considering the low £23,495 starting price, standard equipment is respectable. A 10-inch touchscreen, digital instrument cluster of the same size and wireless phone charging are included, as is a reversing camera, full LED headlights and cruise control. It’s a lot of car for not a lot of money.

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Upgrade to the GS, which is available from £25,895, and it adds LED rear lights, blind spot alert, climate control and electric folding mirrors. It’s more stylish to look at with its 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, tinted rear windows and black roof, too.

What else do I need to know?

Vauxhall claims 53.3mpg and 111g/km CO2 emissions for the mild-hybrid, figures we think will be quite hard to achieve considering we struggled to manage 40mpg on our test drive, albeit with quite a heavy right foot. Vauxhall claims the Frontera can travel for up to a kilometre at a time and up to 50% of the time around town on electricity but, in reality, the engine seems to be running far more than this.

There’s a much better deal available with the electric Frontera, too. Not only is it the cheapest electric SUV you can buy, but Vauxhall gives customers £500 towards home or public electric car charging, as well as 50,000 Tesco Clubcard points if it’s purchased through a Vauxhall dealer – the equivalent of £500 of vouchers. It makes the EV the far wiser financial choice to go for.

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There are a few options available on the Frontera that are of note, too. On the top-spec GS model, you might want to consider the ‘Ultimate Pack’, which brings heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated windscreen and roof rails. If you stick with the base trim, a Design Style Pack adds some funkiness to the Frontera with a white roof and white steel wheels for £400.

If you want seven seats, it’s a £550 option and only available on the top-spec GS. The difference between the 100hp and 136hp hybrid models is also aroiund £1500 for both trim levels.

Read on for the full Parkers verdict.