- 2 months ago
The Opel Frontera is back, but forget everything you remember about the rugged 4x4 from the 90s. Is reviving this legendary name for a budget-friendly, family SUV a brilliant move or a risky gamble?
In today's episode, I’m testing the all-new Frontera in its 7-seater GS version with a 145 hp hybrid powertrain. This car aims to be the ultimate answer for families looking for maximum space without a premium price tag. But is it really "as much car as most of us will ever need"?
Join me for a test drive where we’ll find out:
The 7-Seater Mystery: Can a 4.4-meter SUV actually fit more than just groceries in the third row?
The New 1.2 Hybrid: How does the successor to the infamous PureTech engines perform, and can it really average below 5 L/100km in the city?
Budget Rivalry: Is the Frontera a true "Dacia Jogger killer," or does "budget" come with too many compromises?
Back to Basics: Why the lack of a central screen in the base version might actually be a good thing, and how physical buttons feel in 2026.
Join me for the test and drive of the Opel Frontera—a car that doesn't pretend to be an off-roader anymore, but might surprise you exactly where you least expect it.
↔ 2026 Op
In today's episode, I’m testing the all-new Frontera in its 7-seater GS version with a 145 hp hybrid powertrain. This car aims to be the ultimate answer for families looking for maximum space without a premium price tag. But is it really "as much car as most of us will ever need"?
Join me for a test drive where we’ll find out:
The 7-Seater Mystery: Can a 4.4-meter SUV actually fit more than just groceries in the third row?
The New 1.2 Hybrid: How does the successor to the infamous PureTech engines perform, and can it really average below 5 L/100km in the city?
Budget Rivalry: Is the Frontera a true "Dacia Jogger killer," or does "budget" come with too many compromises?
Back to Basics: Why the lack of a central screen in the base version might actually be a good thing, and how physical buttons feel in 2026.
Join me for the test and drive of the Opel Frontera—a car that doesn't pretend to be an off-roader anymore, but might surprise you exactly where you least expect it.
↔ 2026 Op
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MotorTranscript
00:00are you in a market for a small but family oriented crossover with some off-road heritage
00:05no this is not a review of the rumored baby defender concept this is the new opel frontera
00:12yes this is a new frontera and it's a seven seater i'll let it sink in
00:32opel frontera not the one i'm reviewing today was a 1990s recreational body on frame 4x4 vehicle
00:39popular in europe it was later replaced by the opel antara aka chevrolet captiva an suv like we
00:46know them today less for off-road more for the family however as gm sold opel the german brand
00:53decided to bring the frontera nameplate back to the market even if in its current form it has
00:59almost nothing in common with the original beaten up examples of which happen to be still popular
01:05among off-road enthusiasts on a budget model name recycling can be controversial it's not a big deal
01:12when renault calls a half-baked crossover the same as it used to call a great people carrier
01:18some people did get annoyed when mitsubishi desecrated the space star and then the eclipse
01:25the frontera however is an interesting case because it's not a bad car and its biggest problem
01:31to all the three people using caps lock in the comments section is the name
01:38with this out of the way what is the frontera it's a rebadged citroen c3 aircross stellantis makes it a
01:46bit
01:46more confusing by also offering a similarly sized peugeot 2008 which unlike the former two models
01:53is not available with a third row of seats the frontera and the c3 aircross can be ordered as
01:59seven seaters but only in the combustion engine form as the ev version is exclusively a five seater
02:06the frontera is almost 440 centimeters long just shy of 180 centimeters wide and it's 165 and a half
02:13centimeters tall with the optional roof rails these are packaged with front fog lights also the third
02:21row of seats is optional it's available on the gs and higher trims and costs 800 euro and some 120
02:29liters of boot space the five seater has 460 liters of boot space but with the space in the lower
02:36part
02:36of the boot occupied by the seats we're left with about 40 centimeters to the window line the boot width
02:43by the floor is 100 centimeters between the wheel arches and the depth is about 85 centimeters by the
02:49floor to the rear seats instead of a rigid false floor you get in the five seater here we have
02:55two
02:56pieces of stiff-ish fabric clipped to the rear backrests they protect against items falling under the seats
03:03and if something does get under them it's going to be hard to find and remove as the seats are
03:09attached
03:09permanently to the floor unlike for example in the dacia jogger where the seats in the third row can be
03:14removed with the seats in the third row open there is no boot to speak of the question is whether
03:21there's
03:21any space on the other side and for whom
03:43so
03:46so on the plus side there are usb actually one usb port cup holders and that would be it i
03:54never expected
03:55frontera's third row to be for adults but i find it hard to imagine what age and size the children
04:01could be to kind of legally travel back here
04:07in the eu the minimum requirement for a child to travel without a child seat is 12 years of age
04:13or 135 centimeters height some countries state the child has to be at least 150 centimeters tall
04:20before the child seat or a booster seat can be ditched a booster seat in the back here might
04:25actually make sense because then the kid wouldn't have to keep their knees at chin level anyway the
04:32third row of seats is definitely something to differentiate the frontera from other cars in this
04:36segment but the jury's still out on how useful this feature actually is
04:42to get to the third row you first have to fold the backrest in the second row and then raise
04:47the entire
04:47seat no sliding rear bench to me this shows the third row is really a bit of an afterthought here
04:55however space in the second row is decent there is good leg room and headroom i'm 175 centimeters tall
05:02and the driver's seat is set to my driving position of course there is a tunnel running through the middle
05:08because it's a euro spec front wheel drive hatchback there are two usbc ports a 12 volt outlet but no
05:16air
05:16vents the rear seats split 60 40 ice fix anchor points are only available in the second row there is
05:24no
05:24armrest there is no pass through to the boot there are pockets in the front seat backs a large one
05:30at the
05:30bottom and two smaller ones at the top the doors have pockets large enough for half liter bottle but not
05:37for a
05:37larger one not only do the doors not cover the sills but opel also opted for a styling trick intended
05:45to
05:45give the frontera a more rugged look this plastic cladding imitating side steps does a great job of
05:52collecting dirt especially on wet days you're going to be brushing against them all the time
05:59the cockpit now the gs trim gets two displays the base edition trim only comes with one screen and
06:07a docking station for your phone and i think that's even better here we have single zone automatic climate
06:15control with physical buttons in the base trim there is manual ac with three knobs to control it now if
06:24you're wondering how is it possible that a car these days can be operated without a central display
06:30which usually features all sorts of settings the frontera and its siblings from stellantis the fiat
06:38grande panda citron c3 and c3 aircross have very little settings and the most important ones are on the
06:46driver's display or controlled with physical buttons yay anything else you want to turn on or off there's
06:56a physical button somewhere for example to disable isa notifications you have to long press a button
07:01above the left knee apparently some markets have a manual transmission version then there is also a button
07:07to disable the start and stop system but in the automatic version it can't be disabled
07:12i recommend the optional winter package which includes heated seats very effective a heated steering wheel
07:19weak but better than nothing and an electrically heated windshield great because you don't have to
07:25scrape the windows on frosty mornings besides that there are usb-c ports a weak wireless charger that
07:33doesn't disconnect but only maintains your phone's charge a miniature storage compartment under the armrest
07:40the lid slides for adjustment and a glove box the door pockets fit my water bottle but they are not
07:47contoured to keep it upright you start the car with an analog key
08:08the opel frontera is available as an ev or with a mild hybrid petrol engine and not so mild either
08:15as
08:16the 48 volt system allows maneuvering at speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour in electric mode and
08:23temporarily shutting off the combustion engine while cruising at a constant speed of up to 150 kilometers
08:28per hour okay the traction battery capacity is less than half a kilowatt hour so it's not toyota hybrid
08:35level but the impact on fuel economy is noticeable
08:42around the city i easily managed less than five liters per 100 kilometers extra urban staying below
08:48100 kilometers per hour it was five to six liters and at 130 kilometers per hour the car was using
08:54around eight liters per 100 kilometers under the bonnet of this test car is the more powerful version of the
08:59three-cylinder successor to the 1.2 liter there goes my cambled puretec engine with electric boost it makes
09:06145 horsepower the less powerful version has 100 horsepower claimed zero to 100 kilometers per hour
09:14acceleration is nine seconds there is no sport mode just l mode which stands for lazy and is used for
09:20engine braking anyway in my testing i got nine and a half seconds although the frontera feels much quicker
09:30the new mild hybrid engine feels very flexible the frontera is therefore both agile in city
09:36driving and has enough oomph for overtaking on the highway i took the frontera on a 700 kilometers trip
09:46350 kilometers each way mostly on a dual carriageway i remember doing the same trip a couple of years ago
09:53in a dacia jogger with an overnight stay and despite the overnight rest the return trip in the jogger was
10:00terrible and i do feel sorry for all those people who have to drive it and pay for it yeah
10:07i'm sure i'm
10:08being classist and something else but jogger enthusiasts club can cancel me so so be it anyway
10:15okay in the frontera i drove back on the same day and i think for occasional trips it's more than
10:20adequate at least for the driver as the passengers complained about the seats being rather firm now
10:28these seats have this kind of special groove in the center center of the cushion which is like
10:35on a bicycle seat and it's designed for your tailbone apparently and after eight hours behind the wheel
10:41i didn't feel any discomfort so i think the seats are good and the passengers can suffer through it
10:53of course the frontera doesn't have the best soundproofing out there but we're talking about
10:57a budget car and there is no adaptive cruise control or active lane keeping assist visibility around the a
11:04pillars is okay but because the passenger seat can't be moved any further back you have to lean out further
11:10at intersections to check for traffic to the right the rear window ends high so you might lose sight of
11:18smaller cars when they're close behind the suspension absorbs bumps well enough the steering is light but
11:25precise and the brakes are fine this is a truly well-rounded car without unnecessary features
11:39price of the opel frontera start at 24 190 euro for the edition trim with a base petrol engine you
11:46have
11:46to pay almost five grand more for the ev which based on my experience with the ec3 is probably a
11:53hard sell
11:53anyway this test car in gs trim with options costs 32 190 euro the opel frontera is about as much
12:04car as
12:05most of us need it's simple to use pleasant to drive and relatively affordable by today's standards i'd skip
12:13the third row of seats and i'd probably go with the addition trim where you can get green paint with
12:18white
12:19roof and white series because it looks mega and how do you like the opel frontera what else do you
12:25want
12:25from a car let me know in the comment section below if you like my sarcastic down to earth and
12:33possibly
12:34mildly amusing car reviews join me every friday at 3 pm central european time and don't forget to subscribe
12:41and like this video as it helps me move the youtube algorithm thanks for watching and i will see you
12:47in the next one