Vauzhall Combo Life
By Ian Strachan
When you drive a car that’s based on a van, you probably wouldn’t expect much in the way of creature comforts. But in the case of the Vauxhall Combo Life, you’d be wrong.
Based on the Combo van, the Combo Life comes with a range of features you’d expect to find on an upmarket saloon. You get an excellent touchscreen infotainment system with digital radio, and Apple CarPlay, a head-up display, a heated steering wheel, lane-keeping aid and smart 16 inch alloys. Not the sort of things you’d expect in a commercial vehicle.
But that’sthe Combo Life’s strength. It combines the advantages of a big estate with the interior versatility of a people carrier and the practicality of a van.
Despite being based on a commercial vehicle. this tall, roomy and supremely practical car still looks good. It looks solid, with a purposeful stance on the road. You can see its van heritage in the boxy shape and rear sliding doors, but inside you get premium features and a fair degree of comfort as well as impressive load-lugging capacity.
Inside, because of its height, the Combo Life feels big, and it is. Even with the 60/40 split rears seats up you still have an impressive 600 cubic litres of space. This car will eat up the weekly trip to the tip, with bags of space to spare.
You get a nice airy cabin – a bit like driving a small greenhouse -and great all round visibility. The large tailgate opens to reveal a low loading height to save your back muscles.
Driving position is good – quite high if you raise the driver’s seat – and instruments are large, simple and clear, with much of the car’s function controlled from an eight-inch touchscreen.
Despite its height this car still handles well. Cornering is crisp and positive and the ride is soft without being too wallowy.
I drove the turbo-diesel powered Combo Life with a 1.5 litre Blue Inhection engine pumping out 100 horsepower. It’s not the quietest diesel engine in the world, but neither is it the most sluggish. Inside the car it feels refined, with good flexibility and power whenever you need it. Fuel consumption is frugal – 67.3 miles to the gallon in mixed driving
Standard equipment on the Energy trim level which I tested includes front and rear parking sensors, air conditioning, digital radio with MP3 compatibility, USB port and Bluetooth, steering wheel-mounted controls, remote central locking, automatic stop/start, electrically adjustable heated door mirrors, lane keeping function, cruise control, front fog lights, sliding rear doors (good in tight car parks), electric front windows and automatic lighting with high-beam assist.
My car was also fitted with a head-up display (£355), touchscreen navigation (£450) and the brightest red paint you’ve ever seen (£285.)
The Combo Life gives you a lot of vehicle for your cash – which is just £22,060 for this specification.
