Holden Captiva LX 2007 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Pricing/Packaging/Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.5/5.0
X-factor: 2.5/5.0

You won't find the Captiva in any 2006 awards and it will struggle to raise a mention at a dinner party. It's too easy to dismiss it after concluding that it doesn't excel at anything. At the launch, however, CarPoint suspected there was more to the Captiva than met the eye -- hence our first Australian 3000km shakedown in the new model.

Initially overshadowed by the VE launch hype, the Captiva is in fact now generating more showroom traffic than the Commodore for several key reasons. It offers full-size seven seater capacity in a vehicle that is a half-size smaller than the Territory. It is close enough to a RAV4 in price and size not to matter, yet offers a V6 engine that has half a chance of hauling everything you can fit into it. And finally, it fits into most $35-40,000 user-chooser budgets and its clever seat-folding arrangements deliver a huge luggage platform that even extends to a folded front passenger seat.

The withdrawal of popular Camry and Magna wagons wiped-out practical family transport for many company car drivers. The Commodore/Falcon wagons are often seen as too extravagant for some workplaces while a softroader or peoplemover can generate political and image issues when nominated as a work vehicle. Only recently, politicians and senior government workers who opted for a Territory instead of a Falcon were blasted by the tabloids for indulging in a four-wheel drive.

The Captiva's relatively low height, compact size and generic looks might help it slip under the radar. Its unassuming presence, rejected by those who wouldn't buy this type of vehicle anyway, could prove to be its greatest asset.

Indeed, it is the first affordable alternative to a now unobtanium medium-sized V6 family wagon with the extra benefit of seven seats and all-wheel drive on demand. This premise is supported by the unexpectedly high demand for the test car's top shelf LX specification which has created shortages after Holden expected the under-$40K models to be the big sellers.

Buyers are spending Captiva savings on the better model.

Like all vehicles in this segment, the Captiva is a very fine balancing act between engine size, weight and function. Where the Hyundai Santa Fe's tiny 2.7-litre V6 and basic auto are too small for this segment and gulps fuel as soon as you make it work, the Captiva relies on a just adequate 3.2-litre petrol V6 with 169kW and a smooth five-speed auto.

Because the Captiva is a genuine adult seven-seater, it requires the safety structure to restrain and protect up to 700kg of human cargo.
As it also offers 100kg of roof carrying capacity, luggage space and a braked towing capacity of 2000kg -- it can't afford to be a cream puff hence it weighs 1770kg. Because this load and towing capacity is close enough to a heavy duty one-tonne ute, it must also have suspension that can cope with such a big variation in laden and unladen weight.

Anyone who drives it one-up around the block then dismisses its hard seats and firm ride as examples of flawed Asian engineering has already missed the point. Not only was the suspension developed in Australia, the engine is built here and the vehicle was styled by an Australian team. Because Holden is adamant that it is tailored to Australian requirements and its Korean manufacture is incidental, we threw everything we could at the Captiva almost fully laden over Aussie distances.

After starting in Melbourne, we proceeded to Cann River in far east Gippsland then up the Monaro Highway to Canberra via the alpine areas and into Sydney along the Hume. After several days of criss-crossing Sydney in traffic, the trip was reversed.

The variations in fuel economy highlight the fragile balance between economy and performance in this type of vehicle. The first Melbourne-Bairnsdale leg spent cruising at 110km/h wherever possible delivered a 10.74lt/100km figure. From Bairnsdale to Goulburn via Canberra which is mostly uphill, consumption climbed to 11.35lt/100km. The Goulburn-Sydney-Canberra leg which featured an equal mix of highway and city work boosted consumption to 12.22lt/100km versus Holden's claimed combined figure of 11.5 litres/100km.

The mainly downhill Canberra to Cann River return run was followed by a long section through the Gippsland bushfires where a police escort kept us to a strict 80km/h. Despite the searing radiant heat, the Captiva dropped back to a frugal 9.9lt/100km.

The final Bairnsdale-Melbourne stage which placed the Captiva headlong into a welcome but stiff cold front boosted consumption to 12.17lt/100km despite speeds and terrain identical to the first stage.

The Captiva formula depends on a low-slip automatic with close ratios and tall final drive that transmits power off the mark smoothly and efficiently. Around Sydney, its jack-rabbit pick-up was particularly useful where there are no second chances if you don't stake your place in the traffic. Once cruising, it then does its best to hold its tall fifth ratio with minimal revs whenever it can.

It is at this point that the Captiva's extra frontal area seems to create a wall at around 90km/h which then makes it too easy for extra weight and wind resistance to upset the equation. Locked into cruise control at 100 or 110km/h, the Captiva struggles to hold either of these speeds in fifth as soon as it is confronted with even a moderate rise or headwind.

The engine's 297Nm (at 3200rpm) torque figure explains why the Captiva has to constantly drop in and out of fifth in conditions where a passenger car of similar power would just serenely sail through with lower fuel consumption. At these speeds with weight onboard, it also doesn't have enough engine braking to hold a preset speed downhill and the driver must be ready to brake to be certain of staying within a speed limit. 

This is not dissimilar to the Territory which always seems to be working harder than the equivalent Falcon for fuel consumption figures usually 2-3lt/100km higher than the Captiva. Although the Territory seems less affected by variations in wind and hills when loaded or towing, its 2075kg ensures it cannot deliver the lower fuel figures generated by the Captiva under light duties or stop-start conditions.

Thus the Captiva caters to a very different set of parameters than the Territory, and its lighter four-cylinder rivals for that matter.

It will excel in medium outer urban journeys where speeds rarely exceed 80km/h with seven onboard, for example, on a cross-town basketball run. At these speeds, it has more than enough grunt to run the climate control and stake its place in the traffic.

Hitch up a boat with the same seven onboard and you might force the engine and transmission to work too hard on some open road trips with a corresponding climb in fuel consumption and engine noise. The third seat row also places passenger heads too close to the rear window for comfortable long distance travel. If the resulting loss of luggage space is addressed with a roof top carrier, it will further upset this fuel economy-performance balance.

Despite this, the Captiva's smaller version of the Commodore's V6 and its five-speed auto achieves levels of refinement and smoothness of which the base VE Omega can only dream.

Providing you stay within its comfort zone, the Captiva is more impressive the further you travel. Its relatively long 700km cruising range is matched by a cabin that can deliver the first two seat rows fresh at their destination. It has an unbreakable feel thanks to a tight structure that doesn't groan or creak.

The Captiva's instruments and controls are simple and intuitive. Despite the fussy decorative white band in the main instruments, they are easy to read. The LX's leather bound steering wheel, extra silver highlights and leather trim, while bland, help generate a practical environment complemented by proper tilt and reach steering column adjustment and electric driver's seat adjustment.

Even if Captiva seats, which are firm like those in an Astra or Vectra, can seem uncomfortable initially they didn't create any sore spots after several eight-hour stints in the vehicle.

At highway speeds, the Captiva's firm suspension settings make sense especially when there is a load onboard. With the Level Ride rear end on the seven-seat models, there is little to suggest from the driver's seat, apart from the commanding view that the Captiva LX, is a high-riding SUV.

It handled the joining strips of Sydney's concrete roads at suburban speeds better than the choppy secondary highway surfaces out of town where the LX's big and grippy 18-inch alloy wheels seemed to follow the bumps too well. Yet over bigger dips and rises, there was little bounce or sway which is quite unusual for a vehicle of this weight and ground clearance. At no point, did the Captiva feel out of its depth on variable open road surfaces at speed.

It is unfortunate then that the ungainly rear styling criticised at launch can generate the impression that the Captiva is tall and unstable compared to the Territory. When the Captiva has a relatively low height and wide track for its size and type, it defies explanation why Holden opted for this look.

Handling is also remarkably neutral for a model that spends all its life in front-drive -- no doubt helped by the lightness of the all alloy engine relative to the rest of the vehicle.

The Captiva will transfer drive to the rear wheels on demand, albeit reluctantly as it is not difficult to provoke wheelspin at the front before torque is sent to the rear wheels. The Captiva neither pretends to be an offroader nor a better dirt road handler as a result of its extra drive to the rear wheels. Unlike an increasing number of rivals, it does not offer a centre lock-up facility for a fixed equal split front to rear.

Indeed, it is a front-drive model, end of story -- it happens to have the added ability to climb up a slippery boat ramp or a slippery or sandy track to access a secluded campsite. We didn't go looking for any nasty offroad situations as we didn't have a back-up 4X4 but it was confidence-inspiring to know that if the police needed to send us up a dirt track to escape the fires, it could handle it easily.

Because my co-driver's property was uncomfortably near the perimeter of the fires that flared up again after New Year, we decided on an early return to monitor spot fires.

It is a sobering sensation driving through the bush with the radiant heat of a fire just over 15 km away cooking your right arm and sending a shower of black leaves over the vehicle. As the burned leaves crunched under the tyres, it was a timely reminder that the Captiva for many rural owners could mean the difference between life and death.

As the police and other officials desperately tried to get broken down private vehicles moving again and out of the way, the Captiva serenely travelled onwards. 

Like Ford did with the Territory, someone at Holden has thought about what a family needs over long distances. There are several dash compartments with lids to hide mobile phones and iPods. There are two central drink holders and one each in the front doors. The centre console's cubby hole is big enough to hold a soup or coffee pot or large water container.

The second row is equally well-served with slide-out cupholders and storage compartments. The full-sized spare wheel is dropped out from underneath which in our case would have saved us from emptying car parts, bedding and personal effects all over the road. The opening rear glass (via key fob only) was a real asset when it left the load undisturbed while accessing food and drinks.

The LX climate control's air quality sensor and particle filter were highly effective and screened out the bushfire smoke as we drove through. The LX glovebox cooling might be useful for fruit or chocolate but it might create arguments over whose drink is chilled.

There were two glitches. There was a bug in switching-on the cruise control system which was more frustrating than usual when it had to be cancelled so often on downhill sections. The 'clever' third-row seat access which tumbles the second row seats in one simple movement had also stopped working.

Overall, the Captiva's performance with its flexible and spacious cabin over non-stop long distance running under some of the hottest climatic extremes that Australia can deliver was impressive. If getting there without drama rates above the excitement of driving, the Captiva is worth a closer look.