Is the Grandland GSe better than the Astra GSe?
Exterior – Front
Lets start with the styling of the Grandland GSe. Well just like the Astra there are no changes from the normal Grandland apart from a black bar below the central air vent to make the central airvents look bigger. On this test model we do have a black bonnet which will only be on Opel cars. This is a shame really as I think it suits the car well and makes it different from the normal Grandland. So what do we get. Well we get the normal Visor with Intellilux Pixel light technology. We also get some fake side vents but the overall design is quite sporty for the car.
Exterior – Side
Moving round to the side and we get the plastic cladding in body colour. We also get the new GSe wheels but again apart from that it is a regular Grandland.just like the Astra I would have liked a side skirt on this model.
Exterior – Rear
Moving round to the back we get something different. We get a rear diffuser. It could be fake but we get something different. Apart from that we only get a GSe logo. So what do we get then well we get the normal Grandland taillights and the central Grandland lettering. Everything else is the same. Lets have a look at the engine setup.
Car and engine specs and price
So for the engine of the Grandland GSe you get a 1.6 litre turbo unit with a dual electric motor setup. This creates a 4 wheel drive system but also 298 bhp. This will make it do 0-62 in 6.1 seconds which is not that bad. This makes the car similar to the Range Rover Evoque P300e, Kia Sportage PHEV and the Volvo XC40 Recharge T5. out of these cars the Grandland is second best in performance with the Range Rover Evoque coming first. Now this powertrain may should very familiar. This is because this used to be known as the Grandland X Hybrid 4. the GSe does get some changes to the suspension making it stiffer and make it have quicker steering. The suspension is also slightly lower. The price of the Grandland GSe starts at. £43,700.
Interior – Design
So, getting in the Grandland GSe to be honest it is even worse than the Astra GSe. We get these slightly sportier seats with a GSe logo on them but they look and feel very similar to the normal Grandland Seats. Apart from that there are no other changes. We get the older steering wheel that is not perforated, we get the older infotainment system that is not as good as the new Astra and we also get this older design that is a mixture of the new Mokka and the old Grandland X. the car feels outdated and a mess in my opinion. I would have liked a sportier perforated steering wheel as I know they can make that as the old Astra and Insignia had it. I would have also liked to have seen the new infotainment system and some GSe badges. Apart from that I can live with everything else. Lets have a look at the rear seats.
Practicality
So getting into the back and legroom and headroom is ok. You also get some nice touches in the back as well as an arm rest and some air vents. There is definitely more room than the Astra which is nice.
Boot Size
So the boot size for the Vauxhall Grandland GSe is 514 litres with the seats up and with the seats down it is 1,652 litres
Summary
So, in summary then the Grandland GSe is better than the Astra GSe as the power is better and it feels a bit more like a GSe. You see the GSe brand is supposed to be a replacement for the VXR and for me this does not feel like a VXR. To make it a proper VXR replacement I would have liked to have seen different bumpers, side skirts, different steering wheel and sports bucket seats. This would make the car much more unique so it stands out from the normal Grandland.
Exterior 3/5
Interior 2/5
Practicality 5/5
Total 10/15
Model | Vauxhall Grandland GSe |
Price | £43,700 |
Engine | 1.6 Litre Turbo 4 Cylinder + 2 Electric Motors, 298 bhp, 0-62 = 6.1 Secs |
Transmission | 8 Speed Automatic |
On Sale | Yes |
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