Most MPVs can perform some neat party tricks with their seats. The Grandis has an unusual one: the whole back row can be reversed to face rearwards.
While this isn’t the kind of feature you’ll use every day, you will be glad of a spacious interior. Five passengers can get very comfortable. Even the sixth and seventh seats offer reasonable legroom, although tall passengers will find their heads rather close to the ceiling.
What’s more impressive is that the Grandis comfortably swallowed our full load of holiday luggage with only the rearmost seats stowed away.
The 2.0-litre diesel puts out 228lb/ft of torque, which provides ample performance solo. With a hefty van in tow, it’s no more than adequate, accelerating from 30-60mph in a still-respectable 15.6 seconds. When pushed hard through the lane-change manoeuvre the Grandis responded well enough, although the slow steering demanded more arm-twirling than in most cars. The brakes brought Grandis and caravan to a halt in a respectable 11.27 metres.
With a list price of close to £24,000, the Grandis isn’t cheap. However, Warrior trim comes with almost every option you could wish for as standard, while reasonable resale values should keep overall running costs down.