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03/09/2011
REVIEW By EWAN KENNEDY
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The eternal battle between Holden and Ford continues on various fronts. The latest skirmish is taking place in the mid-sized SUV market. Anticipating the heavily facelifted Ford Territory that arrived a few weeks back, Holden introduced a series of changes to its Captiva earlier in the year.
We have spent a week in a Holden Captiva to review it in its latest guise, and have come away impressed. Changes to the Captiva Series II see it with mildly revised styling, three new engine options, six-speed transmissions and safety upgrades.
Although built in South Korea by GM-Daewoo, the Holden Captiva has considerable Australian input in its body style and suspension. Well known Holden designer Mike Simcoe was largely responsible for the body and his success there has seen him promoted within the international GM empire.
External changes to both variants are concentrated at the front of the vehicle where Captiva 7 gets the large wide-mouthed, meshed lower grille. The Captiva 5 also gets a mesh grille, but it is shorter but wider.
All models now have alloy wheels, cruise control and Bluetooth phone and music connectivity. The conventional parking brake has been replaced by a flip lever that frees up space in the centre console.
Safety features include six airbags, ABS brakes with brake assist and electronic brakeforce distribution, stability and traction control,
As before, the Holden Captiva is offered with either five or seven seats, hence the names Captiva 5 and Captiva 7, and with the choice of two or four-wheel drive.
Our test Captiva 7 Series II had the new-design 2.2-litre unit that provides 80 Nm of additional torque over the 2.0-litre it superseded. At the same time it has lower fuel usage and fewer emissions. It had the new six-speed automatic transmission.
This combination makes an excellent drivetrain and we were impressed by the relatively low noise levels from the engine and the willingness of the automatic to hold onto higher gears.
Typical fuel consumption from this turbo-diesel will be around seven to nine litres per hundred kilometres in the country and nine to eleven litres around town.
The Holden Captiva 7 is an exceptionally versatile interior that offers no fewer than 32 seat/luggage combinations. The third row of seats fold neatly beneath the floor, the second row folding flat with a single movement. The front passenger seat flips over for extra long-load space or a flat desktop.
Interior comfort is good for four adults and three children, but it can cope with seven grown ups for short distances if they are good friends - and shorter distances if they don’t like one another...
Holden engineers have worked on improving Captiva’s handling and it has improved cornering feel and less body roll. Steering is reasonably sharp and the feedback it offers is good. Having said that, it still lags behind the Europeans in its on-road dynamics.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to retest the Captiva in off-road situations. But we know from previous experience that it’s pretty competent. You wouldn't describe it as a 4WD in the true sense of the term, but it’s in the top half of the soft-roader field in its ability to perform in the tough stuff.
All-in-all the new Holden Captiva Series II has many worthwhile changes that are sure to keep it at, or close to, the top of it’s division in the Australian new-car sales race. |
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