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Last weekend we took out the Vauxhall Combo Life for a spin in the beautiful countryside around Sussex. Come with us as we drive around the scenic coastline, the South Downs National Park and of course, our very own Brighton beach!
As we’re just a small family I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on the Vauxhall Combo Life, I was a little intimidated. I usually only drive medium sized cars, so the thought of getting behind the wheel of a 7-seater did make me feel slightly nervous. But once I started packing it with everything we wanted to take on our day out I quickly realised how much a car this spacious could change our road-tripping and camping weekends. We normally have everything squished tight in the boot, plus the seats around Charlie and often on our laps too! Not this time.
The car’s height (my 7 year old could stand up without touching the ceiling) means that there are no compromising angles, and you can certainly pack everything you need to take on a camping trip for a family of five comfortably (as you can see on our fun drone photo). I stopped by my (family camping-veteran) friend’s house with it, and she was honestly so impressed she actually started contemplating swapping her Vauxhall Zafira for the Combo Life right there and then – keep in mind she has a mahoosive tent, all the gadgets on earth, and three kids, 12, 10 and 7 year olds!
And off we went, driving out of Brighton straight to the picturesque Devil’s Dyke, the narrow country roads no problem at all for what is a fairly large car. To my surprise, the Vauxhall Combo Life was an absolute breeze to drive – it was light, responsive and has a wide variety of sensors (front, side and back) that were very reassuring.
The driver’s screen features the local speed limit (which flashes if you go over), and there is a handy (though slightly alarming at first if you’re not aware of it) lane control feature – steering you back into lane if you’re driving a little untidily on a motorway.
The large touchscreen navigation screen was simple enough to use without having to consult the manual, and had all the features we’ve come to expect and more. It has a handy USB cable too, which is always useful to keep our gadgets charged-up, bluetooth so we could connect our phones (and listen to hours of Roald Dahl audiobooks!), a sat nav (that connects with your driver screen (very cool!) and DAB radio.
The car has sliding doors on both sides, which means easy loading and off-loading of children – particularly good for larger families, and no risk of bumping the car next to you! I also really like that we could keep them both open when we had a picnic next to the car – again, perfect for roadtrips!
After our picnic at the gorgeous Hale Farm where we’ve camped on several occasions, it was time to for us to head back to the coast, this time towards Beachy Head, one of the most beautiful places in Sussex, for a nice walk before finishing our tour back home in Brighton – and a magnificent sunset!
The Vauxhall Combo Life is not a flashy car, but it’s not meant to be. It’s amazingly functional. As big fans of roadtrips, slow car travel and (too many) camping breaks, it would be perfect for us. But it’s not just for those who have a travel obsession like us – its spacious interior, features such as the sliding doors and brilliant multi-sensors make it an ideal car for larger families.
If you’d like to read more about the Vauxhall Combo Life, you can do so here , or if you’d like you can read another review of the Vauxhall Combo Life from Globalmouse and here from Mini Travellers.
nb: This article was written in collaboration with Vauxhall, but as always all opinions are my own.
