See all New Car Reviews
Pros: Large interior, easily accessible, good value for money
Cons: Looks like a van
What is it?
The Combo Life is Opel's 7-Seat family MPV. Its aim to provide a versatile interior and innovative safety makes it an affordable alternative for families compared to a large SUV. We drove the new Opel Combo Life for a week to see if it really is the ideal family MPV.
What’s it like?
With its boxy profile, the Combo Life isn’t the most stylish 7-seater car on the market and does share its design with the Opel Combo (Van). On the outside, there are two side-access sliding rear doors which make it easily accessible for passengers getting in and out. 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights and body-coloured bumpers all come as standard in the Energy model.
Inside the cabin is reasonably comfortable with a raised seating position that gives you a full view of the road. The Energy level trim includes some innovative technology including heated seats and head up display. An 8-inch touchscreen is fully compatible with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, which is extremely easy to connect to and works seamlessly even with voice recognition. The system also features a 180-degree wide angle panoramic rear-view camera that really does display a clear picture that makes parking easy.
At the rear, the focus is on versatility and is available with five or seven seats that can be flexibly configured to suit your requirements. There is tons of storage in the Combo life with 28 clever compartments throughout and boot space with a minimum capacity of 597-litres which is expandable to a massive 2,126-litres.
Performance wise the Combo Life isn’t the quickest, as can be expected from a large family MPV with a 0-100km/h in over 13 seconds. Most notably when driving on a motorway, with a number of passengers on-board the Combo Life struggles to pick up speed. But it does have quite a smooth and comfortable ride with the 1.5-litre diesel engine operating well.
For such a wide vehicle the Combo Life has surprisingly light steering and is reasonably manoeuvrable around corners and into spaces. Considering the interior is so large, you might expect there to be a bit of engine noise or echo, but the cabin is a surprisingly quiet and relaxed environment.
There are several impressive safety features in the Combo Life that come as standard. The automatic emergency braking first warns you of a potential collision, giving you time to brake yourself, and if no action is taken the vehicle will brake automatically. Other safety features include lane keep assist, driver drowsiness alert and six airbags throughout.
Pricing for the Combo Life starts at €21,800 for the basic 1.2-Litre Petrol 5-seat model. The 1.5-litre Turbo Diesel 7-Seat model we drove starts at €23,800 with the all optional extras costing an additional €3,640. Optional extras include head-up display, parking pack, two coat metallic paint and more. There also a Combo Life XL model available which gives you even more luggage and load space and starts at €24,675.
Model driven: Opel Combo Life Energy 1.5 7-Seat Turbo Diesel
Prices from: €21,800
Price as tested: €27,440
Annual Motor Tax: €200
Engine: 1.5-Litre Diesel
Power: 100 PS @3,500 RPM
0-100km/h: 13.1 seconds
Transmission: Manual
Body style: MPV
Boot Space: 597 Litres (7-Seats), 2,126 (5-Seats)