To be honest, since I started writing this Blog I have got a little sick of the usual run-of-the-mill test drives. I just feel that no one car can be summed up in one article… each time you write a piece it is affected by the mood you are in and that set me thinking: why not write a diary over a couple of days and see how the car fits into my life?
Luckily, one of the biggest pieces of news for Opel has been the launch of their new Antara and for quite a while now, I’ve been very keen to gets my hands on it. When I put forward my idea to the good folks at Opel Ireland, they were very interested… “Why not take the Opel Antara and see how it fits into your everyday life?” was the enthusiastic response.
I picked the Opel Antara up on Thursday evening after what had been a really long and tiring day and to be honest, I wasn’t in the humour for driving any car other than my own… So the Opel Antara had that to overcome, as I gathered my first impressions. The model I had been given was the Opel Antara 2.0 Litre Diesel and the first thing that struck me were these sporty looking side-vents. I thought “nice”… Opel was obviously drawing on its performance car background when designing the Antara. Then it was time to sit in!
Straight away, the handbrake caught my eye. It looked like it was based on a fighter jet design but it looked really good and not at all out of place. The handbrake design was echoed by the feel of the driver’s seat… an F.16 Jet came to mind as the seat just surrounds you and embraces you comfortably in place. Then I found a button… heated seats and once switched on, they heated up immediately. As 4x4s go, the interior was great.
Then the time came to make the journey home. Normally, 4x4s feel very agricultural to drive and keep in mind this was a diesel! Not so, in spite of misconceived expectations, this car was really brisk and responsive to drive and as I made my way from motorway onto country road, on my way home, I realised I wasn’t tired and stressed anymore. I was really enjoying driving Opel’s new 4×4. This was going to be an interesting few days!
