Vauxhall Vivaro: The van with real Brit appeal

Verdict: Frugal engines, car-like refinement and a practical load area are key Vivaro attractions

Sturdy, well-built interior of the new Vauxhall Vivaro

What’s Hot?

• Come on, let’s hear it for England! We may be rubbish at football, but the lads at Luton have done us proud to build this van with so many local bits.
• And after all that, Vauxhall still manages to undercut Renault by £250 on its cheapest model.
• The RV guides such as CAP and Glass’s are predicting a residual premium of around £1,000 over the old model. That means you’ll get more for this van when you sell it.
•  In addition to the better fuel economy from the smaller 1.6-litre engine, the new van gets Electronic Stability Control, which helps prevent sideways skids, as standard along with power windows.
• Vauxhall reckons that fuel savings of up to 23% are achievable over the old model, thanks to a stop-start system and an ECO button on the dash which cuts the power down slightly but improves fuel economy.  We tried this feature on our test drive and while it gives the van a rather sluggish feel, we found that by pressing the button once at cruising speed on A roads, we could hardly feel any difference.

What’s not?

• Despite Vauxhall’s boast about better build quality, the firm only offers a three year/100,000 mile warranty against Renault’s four year/100,000 mile one. Mind you, if the van is built that well, there shouldn’t be any warranty problems anyway.
•  The old Vivaro was about best in class when it came to ride and handling but we feel that the new Transit Custom nudges ahead by a nose in the drivability stakes. It’s a close thing but the Tranny has a crispness about it that the Vivaro can’t quite match.