Test Opel Grandland GSe – the same treatment as the Astra turns out differently for SUV

Wasn’t there already an Opel Grandland with a 300 hp plug-in hybrid powertrain?

Beats. Before the facelift, when the Grandland still had the letter X after its name, you could also get the SUV with the so-called 300 hp Hybrid4 powertrain. After the facelift, it returned to the Grandland GSe. GSe is Opel’s new performance label and the car has therefore been tackled in terms of appearance, and also in terms of chassis and steering. That 300 hp is now in a somewhat sportier package.

Is the Grandland GSe really sporty?

You get in with less high expectations than with the Astra GSe. It has a bloodline of Astra’s GSi and OPC versions, we have never seen a performance label on an SUV at Opel before. The car hardly leans over and has a sturdy chassis for this type of car. The control is communicative and direct. It is sometimes difficult to reconcile with the high seating position that the Grandland offers. You also sit on fine, special GSe seats. An SUV is heavy, you know that

Is a plug-in hybrid powertrain better suited to a ‘sporty’ SUV than a hot hatchback?

It does indeed fit better, although you also want the most direct possible response to the accelerator pedal in a sporty SUV. But this powertrain also manages that a bit better thanks to the second electric motor at the rear axle. In the front, the 1.6 petrol engine with turbo and the electric motor control it together, but the rear axle also jumps in immediately and you can feel that. And those two electric motors (the Astra GSe has one) have another advantage. If you drive away with the battery pack charged, you will notice that there is a lot of pure electric power, so that driving completely electrically feels nice and smooth. The electric motor at the front delivers 110 hp, behind is one of 113 hp. Yet not everyone within the Stellantis Group agrees that you really want to make an SUV of this size with this powertrain really sporty. The Peugeot 3008 Hybrid has the same technology, but it is not available as Peugeot Sport Engineered.

What is the added value of the Grandland GSe compared to the Grandland 1.6 Turbo Hybrid with 224 hp, also a plug-in hybrid?

The price difference of €10,000 is largely due to the decoration, which actually produces a different character, but the GSe also has more electrical power. So even if you think you can cover many kilometers entirely electrically, the GSe drives differently than the less powerful Grandland Plug-in Hybrid. After all, it only has an electric motor of 110 hp, the PSe has an extra one with slightly more power.
In the video we take a closer look at the new top version of the Opel Grandland.