Family transport doesn't need to be a trip to Dullsville in a vehicle that looks like a bread van.

Not when the Zafira SRi is around. Vauxhall's popular MPV continues to astonish the motoring world with its ability to soak up seven people in a compact shape and making it look easy, while providing pleasure for motorists still red-blooded enough to enjoy their driving.

Zafira's unique party trick is where the last two rows of seats simply fold into the floor when they're not needed. It's an ingenious and incredibly simple operation that frees up a vast amount of luggage space within a few seconds - and nobody has yet done it better.

Vauxhall has spruced up Zafira's looks with a dynamic new front grille and bumper shapes, new chrome headlamp surrounds and mean-looking alloy wheel designs.

It has also provided prospective Zafira buyers with an incredible range of choices – no less than 29 models are offered, plus a big range of petrol and diesel models.

If you are one of those people who likes to have your cake and eat it, the Zafira SRi 1.9CDTi 16v (150PS) model combines excellent economy with plenty of driving brio.

SRi is the iconic badge that denotes a hot, sporting Vauxhall and the CDTi doesn't disappoint.

If I had to drive a diesel, this would be high on my list. Vauxhall's flagship turbo-boosted 1.9-litre with 150PS punch engine sees the Zafira zip to 60mph in a decently fast 9.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 126mph.

But its combined 46.3mpg figure means that you're not being overduly punished at the pumps at the same time. Expect well over 50mpg on a long run and more than 36mpg around town, too. My week of mostly urban travel yielded an average 40.9mpg, which was pretty impressive.

Vauxhall's CDTi engine is a quiet, refined turbo diesel with bags of power, but it never sounds rough edged, even when pushed to the rev counter red region.

It's an obvious diesel at start-up but everything hushes up on the move and it's the sort of set-up relished by sporting drivers – punchy changes whipped through a six-speed manual gearbox so that this Zafira tends to gallop in short, sharp bursts of speed.

The downside for me was an over-heavy clutch which can be tiring, but the SRi Zafira is much more car-like than many rivals, with sharp enough steering to encourage driver involvement.

Firm suspension and taut handling ensure that journeys become experiences rather than tedious trips ands the SRi even has the ability to corner with aplomb – though you might avoid putting it through its paces too hard with a full complement of passengers on board.

Even with seven up, the Zafira never feels cramped and provides a pleasantly light and airy environment, thanks to generous areas of glazing.

Even when it's used as a five-seater, Zafira boasts huge luggage room behind the rear seats and there's a stack of oddments space to keep the kids happy for hours.

I was impressed by the Zafira's quietly classy interior ambience – new soft-touch plastics are very tactile while low-level side windows and front and rear quarterlights maximise vision when manoeuvring.

A bulky dashboard means the driver is slightly alienated from the front of the car and I'm not a fan of the clumsy, stirrup-like handbrake, but I did warm to the Zafira's excellent ergonomics and clever steering wheel fingertip controls.

One thing's for sure – with the SRi version, the Zafira is one family vehicle that you can take out on your own just for the fun of driving it. How many other MPVs can you say that about?

At a glance:

• Vauxhall Zafira with built-in seven-seater flexibility, sharper styling, cool new interior finishes and more safety.


• Test model: Zafira 1.9 CDTi (150) SRi manual (£21,080). Range starts from £13,495.


• Zero to 60mph in 9.7 secs; 126mph top speed; combined mpg 46.3; CO2 emissions 165 g/km.


• Sales have grown stronger year on year, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the seven-seat MPV market in 2004 and outselling all of the rest of the top 10 combined.


• Seats can fold flat into the floor without taking up any loadspace with a tug of a few simple levers; luggage space rivals a panel van.


• Improved interiors have more upmarket feel, with soft-touch plastics and gently-damped controls.


• High quality fabrics and state-of-the-art entertainments systems.


• SRi model includes sports suspension, aluminium pedals, dark-tinted rear glass, driver info centre and trip computer.