Five reasons Holden Equinox beats Captiva

Holden is back in the business of selling a medium SUV. The company's Korean-built Captiva 5 was discontinued in March of last year, leaving the seven-seat Captiva 7 to hold the fort (the '7' was dropped from its name and a five-seat version took the place of the Captiva 5).

But Captiva was still a 'large SUV'. The all-new Equinox sits in the medium SUV segment, despite the fact there's almost no physical difference in size between it and the superseded Captiva.

So we’ll include package size as one of five reasons it's time to update:

5. Total cost of ownership is lower
Through to the end of December, Holden is offering Equinox buyers a seven-year warranty. And despite its turbocharged engines, overall fuel consumption should be lower than the Captiva's. Add to that its 12-month/12,000km service intervals, and the Equinox offers the buyer the potential for significant savings over the period of ownership.

4. Enhanced style
Design often polarises opinion, but we’re guessing most people will find the Equinox passably attractive. Once upon a time the Captiva may have been attractive to buyers too, but its best days are long past. Equinox actually looks clean, modern and fairly well proportioned; more than one journalist at the local launch noted a hint of Cadillac (General Motor’s premium North American brand) in the grille. Measured against its rivals in the segment, it doesn't appear old, ill-proportioned, derivative or over-cooked. Amongst the 18 other mid-sized SUVs currently sold in Australia, the Equinox looks better than all but a handful.

3. Feels solid
In our last review of the Captiva, road tester Bruce Newton found fault with its olde-worlde body control and compromised ride/handling balance, plus the flat seats – to name just a few of his concerns. Across the board, the Equinox has moved on a full generation. The seats are more comfortable, it's quieter (fewer clanks, rattles and thuds of the kind I heard during my own Captiva review a year earlier), and it rides better, relative to its cornering ability. On the safety front, the Captiva was last tested by ANCAP in 2007 – and it only scored four stars. ANCAP is yet to announce the crash test result for Equinox, but Holden anticipates the new SUV will achieve five stars – in accordance with the 2017 test regime.

2. A better package
For the purpose of comparing apples with apples, Holden might call the Equinox a medium SUV, but at 4652mm it's barely 20mm shorter than the Captiva, a large SUV as far as industry statistician VFACTS is concerned. In fact, the Equinox sits on a wheelbase of 2725mm, which is actually 18mm longer than Captiva's. And Equinox is just 6mm narrower than the Captiva, which most passengers won't even notice. As for the older Captiva 5, Equinox is 56mm longer overall. And the height of the newer SUV is 1661mm, which is 95mm lower than the Captiva, and 56mm lower than Captiva 5. Our test of the Equinox indicates its hip point makes access easier, and there's no shortage of room for adults in the rear. That longer wheelbase translates to rear-seat knee room to suit six-footers.

1. Performance and fuel efficiency are much improved
Built on an all-new platform and boasting advanced turbocharged engines, the Equinox is nearly 300kg lighter than Captiva, which translates to better performance, better fuel economy and a livelier driving experience – even with the tiny 1.5-litre engine in the base-grade Equinox LS. Fuel consumption in combined-cycle testing favours this Equinox variant (6.9L/100km) by nearly three litres over the 2.4-litre Captiva auto (front-wheel drive) and 1.3L/100km ahead of the Captiva 5, even with a 2.2-litre diesel/auto combination. RedBook calculations show the Equinox is also ahead of Captiva and Captiva 5 for power-to-weight ratio – 85.7W/kg for Equinox, versus 69.3 for Captiva and 73.2 for Captiva 5 (diesel).