LIKING the new Vauxhall Meriva was easy for me. For starters, it’s much better looking than the old one.

Rather than sitting on the chassis pan of the Corsa supermini, Meriva now shares much of its underpinnings with the altogether-larger Zafira.

The result is a car that is longer, lower and wider than its predecessor and has a much longer wheelbase, which makes for good interior space.

And yes, it has those suicide doors – that striking kink in the rear window line might give rear passengers a better view out to the side, but my suspicion is that it’s there to draw eyes to the front-opening door.

Mind, such things are hardly new. I recall a time when most car doors were hinged at the back. Perfect for easy, graceful access and especially egress.

But if the latch failed or they weren’t properly shut and the slipstream caught one… well, the ‘suicide’ appellation speaks for itself.

Even in this millennium we have already heard of them on the Rolls Royce Phantom and seen them on Mini Clubman and Mazda RX-8.

With the last two, however, you have to open the front door before the one behind it, which might take care of the suicide aspect of rear-hinged doors, but at the expense of doing away with much of the convenience a second pair of doors is supposed to confer.

No such problem with Meriva. The back passenger doors open independently when stationary – electronic locks keep the kids from opening them when on the move – and they open to almost 90 degrees, allowing Meriva to welcome its occupants with as close to open arms as a car can manage.

And apart from allowing all of us to enter easily and exit gracefully, there are real.. well… hinge benefits to the FlexDoors.

Scientific research shows that they can actually help reduce back strain and harmful twisting motions.

The arrangement that makes it easy for grandpa to get in and out – unlike the current generation of swoop-roof saloons, you get in or out at the highest point of the door – also makes it easier for parents to lift the younger generation into and out of their kiddie seats.

A biomechanical research team from Coventry University mimicked everyday tasks that drivers – in particular parents – will carry out, such as handling bags of shopping and fitting/removing baby seats.

New Meriva reduced twists and turns by up to 48% compared with a car with standard doors, while the loads put on the muscles were up to 58% lower.

Anyway, enough of the back doors. Time to step in through a front one and have a little play with Freelance’s Meriva demonstrator, a 1.4 120PS petrol in Exclusiv trim, that’s one from the top of the four-trim-spec range.

At the wheel, the impression is of a compact big car – something that will do its local sales prospects no harm at all.

The fascia and instrumentation are the upmarket articles first seen on Insignia and the electronic parking brake adds to the impression of being in something much grander than a tall medium hatch or small MPV – that’s a boundary I find well blurred.

The driving position is top drawer and while those who drove the old Meriva had visibility issues with the screen pillars, the new car’s A-posts never bothered me.

That little-big car impression continues when on the move.

Looking at the bare figures, the performance is on the money, but the experience is rather better than the bald data suggests.

That’s down to the fact that, thanks to the soft turbocharging, there’s a healthy dollop of torque available from a modest 1,750rpm all the way up 4,800 revs.

Sitting on that bigger platform also allows Meriva to offer a fine compromise between ride and driver enjoyment, which is completed by a particularly ‘feely’ electric power steering system.

Of course, for many motorists, much will rest on how well Meriva makes use of its potential extra space.

Tanking advantage of the room afforded by the electronic, rather than conventional, handbrake, a FlexRail system runs from the base of the dash to the rear footwell and onto its two aluminium-finished rails can be clipped a variety of modular storage devices.

The boot is large and well shaped, even if outright capacity is a fraction down on the old car’s.

But 400 litres should be enough for most and there’s more beneath the FlexFloor false trap and if you fold down the  rear seat – a one-hand job from cabin or boot – loadbay volume rises to 1,500 litres.

You don’t even have to worry about what to do with the parcel shelf, which has its own storage slot.

The back seat’s neatest trick, though, is the way it can slide fore and aft by almost 10 inches and at the rearmost point of their travel the outer chairs slide inwards to offer two adult occupants the maximum elbow room.

It’s no wonder that Meriva beat 34 rivals to make the shortlist of seven for the 2011 European Car of the Year award, losing out eventually to the Nissan Leaf.

What’s not to like? The only gripe I can think of is that the price does reflect the move up from a Modus competitor to a Scenic competitor.

When I tested Meriva a few weeks ago, it came after a run of seven-seaters that would not accommodate me in the back. That made the easy in, easy out Meriva that looks after five passengers quite well and four brilliantly such a refreshing change.

Oh, and the annoying Meriva/Zafira kids have gone.

That ad has been off the screens for a couple of years, but if you want any annoying children…