| Product: |
Vauxhall Frontera Sport 2.2i 16v 3-door |
| Date: |
21/12/01 (635 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Cheap, Fun, Robust
Disadvantages: People hate you when you pull their Range Rovers out of ditches
I've had to edit this opinion because of public allegations that I work for Vauxhall or that I am in the motor trade.
Well sorry to disapoint the Sherlock Holmes's out there but I don't and never have. I dont even currently own a Vauxhall.
I have however had two Frontera Sports as Company cars and thought that they were great.I drove both of them over 100,000 miles in total and had no issues at all.
This means that in my own personal experience they are absolutely reliable and I wont change that view just because a JD Power survery tells me.
I would buy one, but what I wouldnt buy is another car magazine.
It all started in 1962 when Vauxhall launched the F.B Victor. Problems with the steel manaufacture and build processes meant that the 62 and 63 models rotted almost immiediatley like pears, causing Vauxhall to take drastic remedial action to the production process.
Unfortunately this 2 year aberation made it fashionable for motoring journalists to have a go at anything with a Vauxhall badge.
The "Vauxhalls are rotboxes" myth continued throughout the 60's and 70's, when in actual fact the old Viva's and Victors lasted easily as well as their Ford and BMC counterparts, whilst the Japanese imports so loved by the motoring journalists decomposed before your very eyes.
Despite the best efforts of motoring magazines people have consistently bought high volumes of Vauxhalls and usually become loyal repeat buyers.
When the Frontera was launched it gave the press a problem. Here was a very funky, and very good looking off roader, at the price of a small family saloon (whereas the competition was the price of a small family house)and it had a vauxhall badge....they couldnt possibly like it could they!?
So it couldnt work off road could it? - Sorry guys I've driven three Fronteras (one being a demo of the new V6)off road in both specialist off roa
d tracks (extreme) and casually and I've never seen one stuck yet.
But it must be mechanically delicate? - Sorry again I drove mine as company cars up and down motorways day after day, usually at a steady flat out and never had a problem. My mates £40,000 Range Rover however always has a problem starting if its damp.
But it was based on a pick up truck? - So what the Range Rover was based on an army truck designed to be thrown out of aeroplanes.
So to summarise:
Looks - Great, chunky and sqaure like a 4x4 should.
Power - Never a street racer but adequate. Too high geared for lots of motorway use really.
Gearbox and 4 wheel drive box - Fine and positive but you cant go into 4 wheel drive on the fly.
Interior - quite basic and the older Sports were not well insulated in terms of noise. Getting people in and out of the back can be a pain as well.
On the road - Great tall driving position, good road holding, excellent brakes, good turning circle.
Off the road - Never got it stuck!! Really pleased with this aspect of its performance.
Economy - If this interests you then you should look under Nissan Micra. Seriously like most petrol 4x4's you should have an inflight refuelling probe fitted.
Towing - We brought a massive trailer (probably about a ton) back from Calais with my last sport and the only problem is that we kept forgetting that it was there such was the unchanged driving characteristics of the car.
Fun - This is it the Frontera is fun for the price of a boring Mondeo.
All in all the Frontera Sport is great value for money, particularly second hand right now. Go buy one and send Jeremy Clarkson pictures of it at the top of mountains.
In my opinion...............
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 17/10/07 Having Recently (Last Weekend 13/10/07) Driven a (Standard) 2.2 Sport down a 50Degree Hill and taken it through 2ft of Sticky Mud to Rescue a Defender , I have to say that even though this Review was written a while back it is still spot on! |
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- 07/02/02 good op, sorry i didn't catch the unedited version thought, having said that i still don't like them |
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- 24/12/01 Thanks Sidney. Firstly the JD Power survey is bogus as they sample a very small number of people, most of whom have an axe to grind (I was one of them once). It is typical self perpetuating propaganda as to get on the survey you have to be a watcher of certain programmes or read certain mags... and these are the mags and programmes which slag the cars off in the first place.
Your pedantic and vociferous view that Fronteras are unreliable despite having no first hand experience of having one proves my point. You have swallowed the propaganda so well that you are prepared to argue that my first hand experience with two vehicles and 100,000 miles of usage was "unusual"!
As I said I had two Fronteras of my own, I drove a couple of others, and at least three of my friends had them at one point or another without any problems.
Why on earth would anyone want a Rav 4 unless they are a comedy hairdresser? Simply put they look crap.
And yes I did have both my Fronteras and a Vauxhall test drive V6 off road and believe me they work very well thanks. I used to go away for weekends occasionally with friends who had serious land rovers and my pretty and polished Frontera went everywhere they did.
Finally yes I love the Cherokee and think that it is better than the Frontera, however the Frontera was about 13k new wheras the Cherokee was 26k new so how can you compare? |
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