Zafira could be the one for those in the Opel fan club

I HAVE driven several people carriers in recent weeks, the Ford C-Max, Renault Grand Scenic and last week the Opel Zafira Tourer. They are all fine motors and it got me wondering how people make up their mind as to which people carrier to buy.

Pricewise there is not a whole lot between the cars and they all offer plenty of space and a choice of five or seven seats.

In the end I came to the conclusion that most people are loyal to the brand they begin with. So if your first-ever car was a Ford Escort, then you would probably go for a Ford C-Max or S-Max, while if you started off with an Opel Corsa or Astra, then you are likely to opt for the Opel Zafira.

Now I could have gone into an Opel garage or indeed any garage where they sell second hand cars and compare this new Tourer version of the Zafira with the previous model. But while visiting an old friend one evening I noticed that his neighbour drove an 07 version of the Zafira. Both cars were black so comparisons were easy and the 07 owner was definitely envious. A touch of silver around the windows in the new version made it look much more attractive and naturally it looked much cleaner and brighter that the 07 model.

There is an awful lot of glass in your line of vision and you would probably need factor 50 if the sun shines for any length of time. The windscreen is massive and you can push back the cover over your head until it reveals a long piece of metal which does spoil the look of the windscreen. However, that long piece of metal is necessary to hold the rear view mirror in place. It’s was a bit like looking at a balding man with a long narrow piece of hair on his forehead.

For such a big motor it handled very well, it was very frugal and the bigger the load the more comfortable it was on the road. In the cabin there is a very useful console between the driver and the front seat passenger. You can use this console to hold cups or if the car is parked this area could be used as a deep and discreet place to store valuable items from prying eyes.

You get all the usual high tech stuff, stop-start technology, cruise control and speed restrictor, which you need to be careful with, otherwise you cannot go past the speed you have set, which I accidentally had set for 50km/h.

The middle row of seats are very flexible and can be folded in various ways. As my grandson is now back in Denmark I didn’t have any use for the third row of two small seats, but I know he would have loved them. So I left the two seats in row three folded into the floor to give me a decent-sized boot.

Prices start at

?¬28,495, but the 2.0 litre diesel model which I drove had lots of extras which brought the price up to

?¬35,995. So if you are in the Opel fan club and would like a big spacious people carrier with all that German efficiency then the Zafira could be the one for you.