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By
EWAN KENNEDY
15 January 2007
After a gap of too many years, Holden introduced a replacement
for the Jackaroo and Frontera 4WDs late in 2006.
This is a larger vehicle than it looks, the soft, almost
European shape disguising its size. It’s almost as long as its
natural enemy, the Ford Territory and just a smidgen taller.
However, the Ford is substantially wider and has less rake in the
windscreen so gains a noticeable victory in the interior stakes.
Holden's Captiva is built in South Korea by GM- Daewoo.
Interestingly, it has considerable Australian input in its style
and chassis dynamics. Particularly in the former, as a couple of
Holden's senior designers played major parts during all stages of
the global GM project, living for a considerable time in Seoul to
do so.
Captiva comes with either five seats or as a seven-seater,
though the seven-seat option isn’t offered in all models. The
third row seats can carry adults in reasonable comfort, though I
don’t know if I would like to put my lanky frame in there for
too long. Four adults and three children will have room to move in
comfort even on longish trips.
Luggage space when all seven seats are in place is small, an
inevitable feature of any compact 4WD with three rows of seats.
All of the seats behind the front area can be folded flat to
provide up to 1565 litres of volume.
Our test car was a five-seater and we were impressed with the
layout of the rear area, especially the use of the floor and
underfloor space, where various areas are set out to hold luggage
of different sizes. As an example, our Christmas esky was held
nicely in place in one of the wells, instead of doing its usual
sliding around routine.
There are plenty of other storage compartments including a
glovebox cooler, front and rear centre console compartments, door
bins, drink bottle holders, an overhead sunglasses compartment and
seatback pockets.
Though it shares the same name as the others in the range –
the Captiva SX, CX and LX – the Captiva MaXX is significantly
different from the others in its shape, both inside and out. It is
slightly smaller than the others and only offered as a five-seater.
Another major Aussie feature of the Captiva is the locally-made
3.2-litre engine. A member of Holden’s Alloytec engine family it’s
closely related to the 3.6-litre unit in the Commodore.
After driving some early-build Captivas at the press launch a
few weeks ago, we came away feeling somewhat lukewarm about the
engine’s ability. However, we have just spent a week in our home
area in a Captiva with a lot more kilometres on the clock and the
running-in period has improved it considerably. It’s now a
smooth, willing powerplant with good launch feel and the ability
to reel off the miles with ease in country driving.
All Captiva models use the same part-time 4WD system, drive
normally being to the front wheels with the rear wheels being
automatically engaged when extra traction is needed. A five-speed
automatic transmission with tiptronic-style manual functions is
the only transmission option.
Captiva is likely to spend the most of its time in the suburbs,
not in the bush for which it is supposedly designed. It copes with
most road surfaces capably, being particularly quiet on motorways
and other smooth roads, but we found its ride jiggly at times on
moderate bumpy sealed roads. Dirt roads are handled capably but,
again, the ride can mildly upset if the surfaces are on the rough
side.
Steering is on the light side for our taste, but Captiva is
responsive for a vehicle in this class and provides decent
feedback as to what's happening between the wheels and the road.
Like the VE Commodore, all Captiva models come with the added
safety of electronic stability control, there are also ABS brakes.
A host of secondary safety items is specified as Holden is putting
a lot of emphasis on this vital area of car design.
Prices start at $35,990 for the Captiva SX, the CX is priced at
$38,990, LX at $41,990, the topline MaXX is priced at $42,990.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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