Review of the new Vauxhall Meriva Range

Some manufacturers make a great deal of fuss about cars that few of us really deign to purchase. They'll issue tonnes of press releases, myriad tiny revisions and attempt futile publicity stunts in a desperate bid to get their mediocre product noticed. Others will bring a very good car to market and leave it to the public to figure out how good it is. Such is the case with the Vauxhall Meriva, a supermini MPV that's quietly gone about racking up some very respectable sales. Introduced in Spring 2003, the Meriva has in recent times been treated to a facelift and a few tweaks across the model line up to keep it at the top of its game.

The first change is rather predictable. Take a look at any modern Vauxhall and they'll all wear a very prominent V-shaped front grille and this frontal treatment works its way onto the Meriva along with a reprofiled bumper. Move to the rear end and the Meriva gets dark rear lamp lenses and a chromed strip across the tailgate. Drivers following you with their main beam lights on will get a nasty surprise! Vauxhall have widened the colour palette for exterior paint finishes and have also unveiled some interesting alloy wheel designs for the latest car. The interior has had a mild makeover too with additional chrome detailing lifting the rather sombre cabin. Revised fabrics are both more attractive and harder wearing.

Four petrol engines are offered along with a pair of CDTi oil-burners. The first diesel engine and the one likely to prove most popular is the 1.3-litre CDTi, already found in the Corsa and the Tigra. The key figure to bear in mind here is 57mpg, the figure this Meriva can achieve on the combined cycle. On a longer run it will nudge closer to 66mpg. Even in stop start city traffic, the figure will rarely dip much below 42mpg. Vauxhall reckon that when compared to a petrol version, a motorist covering 12,000 miles a year will save around £420 if they opt for the CDTi diesel car.

"Whichever way you care to look at it, Vauxhall has a winner on its hands in the chunky shape of the Meriva"

If you want more power, you can upgrade to the 1.7-litre CDTi. It's not particularly rapid, but this car's raison d'etre is offering family practicality and not costing the earth while doing so. Suffice to say that the diesel engines have enough low down pull to make zipping onto a roundabout or out of a side street hassle free.

If you're not sold on the prospect of a diesel supermini MPV, Vauxhall also have a petrol model that's well worthy of consideration. The 1.6-litre 104bhp Twinport petrol engine features 5bhp more than the outgoing Meriva 1.6-litre unit and is both zippier and more frugal, having a top speed of 112mph and a combined economy figure of 42.2mpg. Vauxhall claim this represents a six per cent improvement over the old car. Sitting below this is a 1.4-litre Twinport offering which acts as the entry-level point in the range.

In case you were wondering, Twinport technology builds on the standard four-valve technology of Vauxhall's ECOTEC engines. Fuel savings are achieved by a special intake manifold in combination with a high rate of exhaust gas recirculation. The advantages of twinport technology are achieved through a combination of fuel injection and exhaust emission control by a three-way catalytic converter. This reduces technical complexity and consequently the cost to the customer, making the Twinport solution particularly attractive for inexpensive cars like this, as power output and efficient fuel consumption are maintained. The Meriva's 125bhp 1.8-litre engine is less advanced than the Twinport contingent but it's pretty quick and suitable for buyers who can't stretch to the range-topper.

The last model in the updated Meriva line up is one that is unconventional to say the least. The Meriva VXR features a 179bhp turbocharged 1.6-litre engine that's also been developed for the Corsa VXR. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this sort of power in a car this small equals serious fireworks. Whether there's a market for a model like this remains to be seen, but hats off to Vauxhall for making the investment to find out.

Vauxhall have cleverly built a lot of big-car features into the Meriva but have done so in a way that doesn't radically bump up the asking price. Take the Adaptive Forward Lighting system as an example. Many executive cars now feature this kind of facility whereby the headlamps angle their beams according to speed and steering input, effectively lighting the way round a corner. The difference here is that the Meriva uses a conventional halogen light setup to keep costs manageable instead of the fiendishly expensive xenon units. Other convenient features include a power release tailgate and interior lighting that can be operated from the keyfob, showing the way to the car in a dark parking lot. An optional Bluetooth interface is also available so that you can hook your mobile up hands free.

Although the details have been finessed, the fundamentals haven't changed. The Meriva's based on an old-shape Corsa platform, making it a good deal smaller than a Zafira, which rides on Astra mechanicals. At 4,042mm in total length, it's still a tad shorter than an Astra, but with its wheel at each corner stance and its high roofline, the General Motors designers responsible for the Meriva have been able to create an interior that's supremely spacious.

Most of the time, the Meriva functions as a conventional five seat supermini-MPV, but many of us have tried travelling five up in cars like these and it can feel a bit of a pinch. The Meriva goes some way to alleviating the problem by offering one of the widest rear passenger shoulder width measurements in its class, but the real benefit comes when travelling with four rather than five aboard. The centre seat can fold flat into the footwell, leaving the two remaining seats at liberty to slide independently, not only backwards and forwards, but also on runners from side to side. This makes the Meriva feel extremely spacious indeed. But why stop at four? Vauxhall have equipped the Meriva with the capacity for all of the passenger seats to fold flat, freeing up an enormous 1,300 litres of available space. Even with the rear seats in position, there's a creditable 560 litres available.

We recognised the Meriva as a winner the day it was first unveiled and it's still a real favourite of ours. The latest set of changes only reinforce that belief. Vauxhall has a really strong product portfolio at the moment and the Meriva is a car with few credible rivals.

TOP 5 MERIVA DEALS

The results below show the top MERIVA deals on buyacar

Vauxhall Meriva 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX Exclusiv 5dr Diesel Estate
Price £14,265 Read Meriva Reviews	Save £5,230
Vauxhall Meriva 1.3 CDTi Exclusiv 5dr Diesel Estate
Price £13,893 Read Meriva Reviews	Save £4,992
Vauxhall Meriva 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX S [AC] 5dr Diesel Estate
Price £13,793 Read Meriva Reviews	Save £5,037
Vauxhall Meriva 1.7 CDTi 16V [130] SE 5dr Diesel Estate
Price £15,430 Read Meriva Reviews	Save £5,575
Vauxhall Meriva 1.7 CDTi 16V [110] Exclusiv 5dr Auto Diesel Estate
Price £17,689 Read Meriva Reviews	Save £3,601
VIEW MORE DISCOUNT MERIVA DEALS