LONG before the PSA group swallowed Vauxhall last year the two had been working on joint projects.

The result is Vauxhall's latest and largest crossover the Grandland X, which sits above the Crossland and Mokka in the range.

The newcomer sits on the Peugeot 3008 chassis, is built in the same French factory and also uses two of the Peugeot/Citroen groups tried and tested engines.

Nicely styled, theGrandland looks quite muscular and features a large grille flanked by LED lights, a central bonnet crease, chunky plastic wheel mouldings to add to the rugged look and nice alloy wheels.

You get quite a lot of car for your cash as theGrandlandis 4.5 metres long and there is room inside for five adults to travel in comfort with 514 litres of boot space. Fold the 60:40 rear seats flat and this goes up to 1,652 litres so it is one of the most roomy vehicles in its class.

Competitively priced from £22,310 to £28,035 theGrandlandis only available with two-wheel-drive but you can have it with an automatic gearbox for an extra £1,500 on top.

There's a choice of four trim levels called SE, Tech LineNav, SportNavand EliteNav, and all are generously equipped with either a seven or eight-inch colour touchscreen, a satnavsystem with European mapping,Bluetoothconnectivity, dual zone climate control, ambient lighting and lots more.

The EliteNavmodel I sampled added an eight-speakerDenonpremium sound system, wireless charging and a powered tailgate. It also had heated front seats, a powered driver's seat, leather seat facings, leather steering wheel, tinted rear windows, rear parking sensors, a safety pack with a driver drowsiness system, forward collision alert, automatic emergency braking and lane assist.

You also get a premium lighting pack with projector headlights, front fogs and a host of other useful goodies.

The interior is finished in good quality materials with soft-touch surfaces and a clutter-free design. The dash is neat and tidy and it is easy to select a good driving position, while all the controls are within reach and user-friendly.

Petrol and diesel engines are available but my ride came with the 1.2-litre 130ps petrol engine linked to a six-speed manual gearbox. That may sound a little small for a car of this size but it packed a decent amount of punch and never seemed to struggle.

With a top speed of 117mph it cruised comfortably on motorways and took 11.1 seconds to reach 60mph. The claimed combined economy figure is 52.3mpg but expect to get less in real driving conditions.

As you would expect the handling was safe and secure rather than sporty and it sometimes felt a little firm on the large 19-inch wheels of this model. Smaller wheels would probably be better for ride comfort.

TheGrandlandX also features Vauxhall's innovativeIntelliGriptraction control system. The optional electronic system ensures optimum road grip with different modes to cope with changing conditions and settings for Normal, Snow, Mud, Sand and ESP off.