Wheels Magazine
2006

wheelsmag.com.au

Holden's previous forays into the SUV market have brought little to make the heart soar, but that seems set to change with the arrival of the locally styled, locally tuned, Korean-built Captiva

You could be forgiven for forgetting that Holden did proper SUVs. Or at least, they used to until the lonely old Frontera and Jackaroo expired in 2003. As rival manufacturers like Toyota and Ford have ridden huge waves of success with their SUV stars, Holden has simply floundered in their whitewash, with its Suzuki-based Cruze and Commodore-wagon-based Adventra SUVs. Unfortunately, jacked-up, car-based derivatives just aren't what most Aussie SUV buyers want.

But, salvation has arrived, in the form of Captiva -- GM's all-new, globally-focused, mid-sized SUV. Twenty-five years after the Jackaroo first established Holden in the 4WD sector, it seems that Fishermans Bend may finally have the model it desperately needs to reverse Toyota's unquestioned sales dominance, and slow Ford's continuing success with Territory.

Not that the Captiva is a direct Territory rival. In size, it's near-identical to a RAV4 -- 37mm longer, with 47mm more wheelbase, but 10mm lower and 6mm narrower, and riding on slightly wider tracks (2mm front, 12mm rear) -- which also means it's the same size as a Kluger.

Like the Kluger (but unlike RAV4), Captiva features a transverse V6/five-speed-auto drivetrain, and offers seven seats in its middle and premium grades. It also weighs the same as a Kluger (Captiva LX is just 5kg lighter than Kluger Grande), and has an almost identical power-to-weight ratio to the Toyota, one even slightly better than an AWD Territory.

But, even the most costly seven-seat Captiva -- the 18-inch-wheeled, leather-andelectric-seated, ESP-and-curtain-airbagequipped LX -- is priced at just $41,990. A four-cylinder, five-seat RAV4 Cruiser L is $2000 dearer. A Territory Ghia AWD (admittedly with rear-view camera) requires $14,900 more, while a (camera and sat-nav-equipped) Kluger Grande asks for another $17,500!

Indeed, for the same price as an el-blando base-model Kluger CV -- with steel wheels, only five, clothtrimmed, seats, no six-CD stereo, no curtain airbags, and no ESP -- you can have a Captiva LX with the works. A saving as sizeable as that won't go unnoticed by consumers.

Neither will a sub-standard vehicle: our concerns are that, if Captiva is proven to be uncompetitive, it may eventually be dubbed ‘Craptiva'. But, such fears are, as yet, unfounded. A lightly re-heated old Daewoo (as in the Barina hatch's case), this most certainly is not. Yes, the car was designed entirely at GM-Daewoo's design centre in Bupyeong, South Korea, for global consumption, but, unlike the Barina and Viva, the all-new Captiva received a substantial amount of Australian input from the outset.

Captiva's exterior was styled entirely by former Holden design boss Mike Simcoe, and co-stylist Max Wolff, while working in Korea, and Captiva's 3.2-litre Alloytec V6 comes from Holden's Port Melbourne engine plant, built specifically for this application. Its dynamic set-up is all Holden, too, including its ESP and ABS calibration.

Considering the local chassis engineer's great work on the VE Commodore and WM Statesman sedans, you'd rightfully expect the Captiva to attain a high dynamic standard on both bitumen and dirt.

Fortunately -- surprisingly, even -- it does. Just five minutes into the launch drive, Captiva's (hydraulically powered) steering immediately impresses, with its crisp feel and response at straight-ahead -- just like VE does -- as well as throughout its 3.2 turns from lock to lock. Captiva's steering isn't as fastgeared as a Territory's, which is intentional, according to Holden chassis-development engineer, John Taylor, and was part of the dynamic brief to reduce occupant head-toss during directional changes, while maintaining lateral body control.

However, the consistency of its weighting, and its lovely progression in response, should satisfy a wider audience. Only the wheel's tendency to tug at your hands if the front tyres snag a pothole mid-corner, warrants any criticism.

Suspension is by struts up front, complete with side load-compensating springs to contain lateral forces in the strut assembly, and a fourlink, coil-sprung independent rear (with selflevelling dampers in seven-seat CX and LX).

The 17-inch-wheeled SX and CX wear Korean-made Kumho Radial 798 Plus 235/60R17s, developed specifically for Captiva, that are both surprisingly quiet on coarse surfaces, and unusually hushed (for Korean rubber) when cornerning hard. The flagship LX wears Japanese-made 235/55R18 Dunlop SP Sport 270s that lessen the Captiva's initial bump absorbtion and increase road noise, but also improve its ultimate grip and precision.

Dynamically, Captiva excels. It feels nicely compact and car-like on the road, with a pleasant ride, a real sense of balance, and unexpected involvement. Push hard, and it will mildly understeer, but ease the throttle, and Captiva promptly tucks its nose in, without troubling the standard ESP. Much the same applies on dirt.

The Aussie-tuned ESP allows a degree of tail slip to keep the nose pointing in the right direction before deftly hauling the Captiva's reigns; in contrast to its chief Toyota competition. Like its knack for cornering, the Captiva's fully switchable ESP always works with the driver, not against.

While Holden's SUV offers a Kluger/Territory-beating 200mm of ground clearance, it still isn't a proper off-roader. There's no low range, and its on-demand AWD arrangement is predominantly front-drive, until the system deems four would be better, and sends up to 50 percent of drive to the rear pair. But actuation  of all four wheels is intuitive and seamless, with torque steer and power-on understeer never an issue, surprisingly. Indeed, Captiva never feels like it's a semi front-driver.

Its Melbourne-built, Alloytec V6 is something of a surprise, too, although mainly for its refinement. The 169kW 3.2 is basically a smaller-capacity version of the VE's High-Output 195kW 3.6 -- sharing the larger V6's continuously variable cam phasing on inlet and exhaust, its variable intake manifold, and its 85.6mm stroke, but with an 89.0mm bore (down 5.0mm), and compliance with Euro 4 emissions regs (up from Euro 3).

Captiva's 3.2 will keenly extend right to 6800rpm, when driven in the auto's pseudo-manual gate, maintaining the selected gear when it nudges its rev limit, while remaining fairly quiet about its business.

The Commodore engine's wheeze on light throttle is barely detectable in Captiva, and the general improvement in the V6's sweetness is welcome.

Yet the drivetrain has its flaws. Its initial throttle response is very perky, and obviously tuned to make Captiva feel lively, but flattening the right pedal merely extends engine revs. Breach 4500rpm, and the 3.2 V6 cranks up the intensity, which is fine, but the silken Aisin five-speed auto wants to grab a taller gear at 6100-6200rpm -- not at the 6600rpm power peak.

The first-to-second shift sees engine revs fall to bang-on the 4500 step-up, but when Captiva selects third (at just over 100km/h), it drops to 3800rpm and feels quite languid for the next 20km/h until the power band reignites. Consequently, overtaking on two-lane country roads isn't as effortless as it could be.

Despite its tall gearing (at 120km/h, the V6 is ticking over at just 2400rpm in fifth) and the slick auto's keenness to grab top cog fairly early (meaning downshifts back to third on the freeway aren't unusual), Captiva's performance is smack-bang in the Kluger/Territory ballpark.

Its claimed 0-100km/h figure of 8.8sec slaughters its four-cylinder soft-roader competition, and Captiva's official ADR81 fuel-economy number of 11.5L/100km looks pretty good, too, next to those of Kluger (12.3) and Territory AWD (12.8).

In-cabin refinement is generally impressive, although the overall execution of its interior design is clearly Korean. The contrast with the Opel-designed Captiva MaXX's funky interior isn't a favourable one, but, conservatism aside, the normal Captiva's interior has several highlights. Cue the front-seat headrests with three forward-adjust settings, the flock-lined glovebox, and proper grabs on all doors, plus map pockets.

Quality, too, is on the ball, although the steering wheel's cruise-control buttons and the graphics in the LX's display screen look No Frills cheap.

Captiva's centre-row seat lacks the gorgeous support of a Territory's, and doesn't appear to offer quite the legroom of a RAV4, but the seat itself isn't bad -- a little flat in the cushion, yet still fairly roomy, and with an adjustable backrest. Clever, though, is the double-movement of the seat as it flips for rear access. Flick a side lever, and the backrest falls onto the cushion, locks into place, then lifts itself via a gas strut against the front seats.

This attention to detail continues in its rear compartment, with markings on the floor showing where to put your feet when the middle seat folds back, and auto-fold headrests that never need to be removed. It's all rather unexpected, we must say.

As the first real example of Holden's collaborative relationship with GM Daewoo Auto & Technology in  Korea, Captiva needed to be more than just lots of stuff for stuff-all. In doing so, it has created a virtual class of its own, where seating capacity, driver appeal and a bargain price can co-exist.

HOLDEN CAPTIVA
BODY: steel, five doors, 5/7 seats
DRIVETRAIN: front-engine (east-west), all drive
ENGINE: 3195cc V6, dohc, 24v
POWER: 169kW @ 6600rpm
TORQUE: 297Nm @ 3200rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed automatic
SIZE L/W/H: 4637/1849/1720mm
WHEELBASE: 2707mm
WEIGHT: 1770-1805kg
0-100km/h: 8.8sec (claimed)
TOP SPEED: 204km/h (claimed)
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 11.5L/100km (ADR81/01)
PRICES: $35,990 (SX); $38,990 (CX); $41,990 (LX)