Opel Crossland X 1.2T Cosmo Auto: Cultural crossover blurs many lines.

By Martin Pretorius

SUVs and crossovers are currently all the rage, so it makes sense for Opel to cover the market as effectively as possible. Just as they did with the larger Grandland X, they dipped into the Peugeot parts bin to create their smallest crossover, but this time around, they managed to infuse their offering with some genuine old-school Opel characteristics.

Styling

Imagine, if you will, a small MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) crossed with an Opel Adam, and you may have some idea what the Crossland X achieves in the styling department. Current Opel design themes can be found in the light clusters and the floating roof (disguised to an extent by the test car’s all-black roof treatment), as well as along the scalloped sides. It’s quite an attractive car, although the proportions give an impression of the Crossland X being slightly tall and narrow in relation to its length – hence that MPV reference I to which I alluded just now.

Up front, the headlight- and grille design mimics the Grandland X, even if it is quite dramatically scaled down. In top-spec Cosmo trim (as tested), the headlights are xenon units as standards, and include the “double wing” LED DRL detail for an instantly-recognizable signature. This detail is echoed in the rear lights, where the horizontally-oriented tail lamps feature the same pattern. Unlike the Grandland X, the rear end is rounded instead of aggressively square, giving the Crossland X a rather cuddly appearance.

The upper side window trim strip continues this cutesy theme, because it includes the same arched design as you’d find on an Adam, only elongated to enclose even the rearmost quarter windows. This leads to a long glass area, but because the shoulder line is quite high, outward visibility isn’t the greatest out there, while substantial roof pillars create noticeable blind spots. 17-inch alloy wheels round out the picture, but seem a little lost inside those deep wheel wells and tall fenders. Public reaction to the Crossland X was mixed, with most men finding it a tad effete but most female onlookers loving the cute, non-confrontational appearance. Perfect for the target market then, I’d say.

The Drive

Being based upon the Peugeot 2008’s skeleton, the Crossland X’s driving characteristics carry over largely as-is from its French sibling. It’s clearly profiled towards comfort rather than any kind of sportiness, with a compliant ride quality and plenty of body lean through the corners. This is actually much like you’d have found in Opels of the 1990s, actually, which usually offered a smooth ride to compensate for their early-onset understeer.

There’s another old-school Opel characteristic in evidence as well, and that’s noticeable torque steer. Even moderate acceleration at low speeds will see the Crossland X gently sniff out a new direction, accompanied by a light tug from the steering wheel. This trait is easy enough to control, but does come as a bit of a surprise in a car that isn’t exactly over-endowed with either power or torque.

Performance

Under the bonnet, you’ll find pretty much exactly the same hardware as you’ll see in a Peugeot 208 GT Line, with a 1.2-litre turbo charged three-cylinder petrol engine mated to a 6-speed torque converter automatic. Its output figures are entirely adequate at 81 kW and 205 Nm, which makes for reasonable (if not thrilling) performance in a car with a kerb weight of 1 289 kg. The 0-100 km/h sprint is dispatched in a claimed 11.8 seconds, and the maximum speed is listed at 187 km/h. These claimed figures are echoed in the perceived on-road performance – the Crossland X isn’t exactly lively in cut-and-thrust driving or in a straight-line sprint, but that useful swell of turbo torque does make for fairly effortless overtaking.

As with the Grandland X, the performance on tap is muted by the operation of the automatic gearbox, which prioritises smooth progress over snappy responses. Gearchanges are generally free of driveline shocks, but the penalty for that is a noticeable pause in the power delivery while the next gear is being engaged. It’s not really perky when downshifts are called for, either (even with the “tiptronic-style” gearshift being manually manipulated), so drivers are well advised to plan their power demands a few seconds in advance. That said, this languid power delivery suits the un-sporty suspension tuning in the Crossland X far better than it does the firmer and much more agile Grandland X.

Space and Comfort

At first glance, the Crossland X has a cabin that’s not much different from that of the Grandland X, except for that fact that it is noticeably narrower inside. The same sweeping dashboard design is employed, with the touchscreen infotainment interface (featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) taking pride of place in the middle of the dash. You’ll see similar soft-touch plastic on the dash top, and even the instrument cluster is very much like that of other Opels. In fact, the cabin is the one place where the Crossland X disguises its mixed ancestry very well.

Our test car came equipped with some rather upmarket driver aids, such as lane departure warning, parking sensors front and rear (along with a rear-view camera) and an automatic parking assistant. All of these things make navigating the Crossland X through its natural city habitat a painless experience, and add to the driver’s comfort. In addition, there’s a head-up display which projects basic data onto a small screen which rises from the dash top when the car is started, while there is a dedicated USB charging point mounted below the infotainment input port above the centre console storage tray.

In spite of its narrower cabin, the Crossland X also has decent cabin space, and luggage space is quite good, with a minimum of 410 litres available. There may not be enough room for a quartet of 6-footers (in spite of the generous head room), but, like all vehicles of this ilk, it’s well-suited to a young-ish family. Oddment space is adequate, although the front door bins are oddly shaped, and bottles may get in the way when stowed in the centre console’s cup holders.

The front seats aren’t brilliant, however, and suffer from the usual Opel bugbear of excessive lumbar support – some drivers appreciate this as a feature, but my lower back didn’t enjoy it very much. The fold-down centre armrest on the driver’s seat was much appreciated, however.

Safety

With a full-score 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating, the Crossland X is undoubtedly a nice place to be if you’re planning to crash. Stability control and ABS are obvious standard features, and 6 airbags should keep your squishy bits safe in the event of a collision. The aforementioned driver aids also do their bit to keep the Crossland X out of trouble, but things like blind-spot monitoring only arrive if the buyer ticks the option box for the Driver’s Assistance Pack, while the LED headlight upgrade forms part of the Advanced Lighting Pack. To cut a long story short, the Crossland X is very safe even in base trim, but you’ll have to shell out extra for the really neat stuff.

Fuel Consumption

Opel claims an average fuel consumption of 5.4 litres/100 km, but this is rather optimistic. After a week of mixed-cycle driving (60% in traffic, 40% on open roads), the trip computer came to rest at an indicated 8.0 litres/100 km – very similar to the figure achieved by the larger, more-powerful Grandland X. This is a bit disappointing, considering the fact that the Crossland X can’t match its bigger sibling for space or performance, and is actually quite a bit worse than the 7.4 litres/100 km average I managed in the larger, sportier Mokka X not very long ago. It will probably be a bit less thirsty with a manual gearbox, however, and open-road cruising sees mid-6 litres/100 km numbers appear on the driver information display.

Price

With even the most-expensive Crossland X (such as our automatic “Cosmo” trim test car) coming in well below the R400 000 mark before options, this is not a terribly expensive car when its standard features are considered. It sits in an slightly awkward spot in the market, however, being pricier than a Ford EcoSport or Renault Duster, but less expensive than the larger crossovers such as the Hyundai Tucson.

The closest competitor would likely be the Hyundai Creta, which largely mirrors the Crossland X range in pricing, yet can’t approach its level of trim quality or standard feature list. Seen in this perspective, the Crossland X comes out as a surprisingly strong value proposition for a car of this type.

The Verdict

Though the Opel Crossland X has some flaws (such as rather languid performance and a relaxed approach to driving dynamics), it does have some charm and a quirky character. This makes it the polar opposite of the Grandland X, which is all business and serious competence but with very little real charm, and you have to admire it for that. In addition, it’s well-finished and screwed together tightly, offers fair comfort, and has plenty of nice features at a reasonable price. Sure, it won’t get any love from the enthusiast crowd, but such “mommy wagons” seldom do, anyway. Take it for what it is, and this is a pretty agreeable little car – and infused with some Opel nostalgia, to boot.

Expert rating:

3.5/5