- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.4i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
103kW, 220Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 9.7L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2011 Holden Captiva Review
The release of the Series II Holden Captiva represents a mid-life makeover for the popular Holden SUV.
- More refined, quieter, more powerful, more efficient. Brilliant versatility, multi seat-folding. Sensational diesel and 6sp auto.
- Only a 3yr warranty. No E85 compatibility on 3.0 V6 until 2012. Petrol 4cyl engine hardly a rip-snorter, features old tech.
The release of the Series II Holden Captiva represents a mid-life makeover for the popular Holden SUV, which sold more than 15,000 units in 2010. When you look at the sales volumes, the Holden Captiva is about as popular as the Subaru Forester, the Toyota RAV4, and significantly more popular than the Toyota Kluger. It’s a strong-selling SUV – way more popular than the Kia Sorento or Hyundai Santa Fe. Which tells you something about the pulling power of the Holden badge, seeing as the Santa Fe, Sorento and the Captiva are all built in South Korea.
Headlining the Series II Holden Captiva story are the introduction of two new powertrain variants, new generation petrol and diesel engines with more power and better fuel efficiency, a new six-speed auto transmission, six airbags as standard across the range and (perhaps even more importantly) a drop in recommended retail pricing of $2000 across the entire Holden Captiva range – all of which will sit well with everyone … except possibly recent purchasers of the outgoing Series I Holden Captiva.
The Holden Captiva range is split into two basic models – the five-seat Captiva 5 and the seven-seat Captiva 7. Both Holden and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries are semantically promiscuous on this, sticking the Holden Captiva 5 in the ‘compact SUV’ category, while the 7 is officially labeled a ‘medium SUV’. Go figure – Holden told us there’s less than 100mm in overall length between the pair. (This is a bit like putting the Toyota Camry in ‘medium car’ and the Toyota Aurion in ‘large’ – ridiculous because one is basically a clone of the other, with a disparity of two cylinders. Thankfully, however, real buyers in the real world don’t buy cars according to industry categorisation.) But there are significant differences between the pair if you’re in the market.
Three engines are available – though not all are available on all variants (we’ll get to that). The price-leading base-model four-cylinder petrol is a 2.4-litre inline four-cylinder with variable valve timing, producing 123kW and 230Nm. Other latest-generation 2.4-litre engines from Hyundai-Kia feature direct injection, which gives them a performance edge (148kW, or about 20 per cent more power). It’s an edge the 2.4-litre Captiva could benefit from. Basically, its performance is adequate but not inspiring. It’s absolutely fine if you just want something for running around, and strong levels of performance aren’t high on your shopping list. But if they are…
…then the other two engines will suit you. The second petrol engine in the range is a 3.0-litre SIDI V6, which is essentially the same engine as the Commodore small V6. (SIDI stands for ‘spark ignition direct injection’.) It produces 190kW and 288Nm, and really likes to rev. The same engine in the Commodore has been calibrated to accept ethanol blends up to E85 (85 per cent ethanol in 15 per cent petrol), which GM refers to as ‘flex-fuel capability’. The same engine in the Captiva doesn’t feature this innovation – yet. It is on its way in 2012, however.
The diesel also features variable-geometry turbocharging, balance shafts, a maintenance-free catalysing particulate filter to minimise harmful diesel exhaust particles, and is Euro-4 emissions compliant.
Unlike many Euro-spec diesels, which come to Australia often as manual-only propositions, the diesel Captiva is available with the new 6T45 six-speed auto transmission – and the package works really well. Petrol Captivas get a new 6T40 six-speed auto (optional on the four, which is standard with six-speed manual). The auto is the pick in both cases, with very slick shifts, no disconcerting hunting and a low first gear for fast acceleration (and theoretically crawling over rougher terrain) and a tall sixth ratio for efficient highway cruising.
Running through the model range, which can be a bit like cracking the code on the Rosetta Stone for the uninitiated, the Captiva 5 kicks off at just under $28k for the front-wheel drive, four-cylinder petrol manual. The new six-speed auto adds $2k, and the new four-cylinder diesel with auto-only transmission and all-wheel drive (a new specification for Captiva 5) is just under $34k.
The Holden Captiva 7 is available in three model grades – SX, CX and LX. You can have a front-wheel drive SX with four-cylinder petrol and auto (new specification) for just under $32.5k, or a diesel auto front-driver for $3k more.
Series II Captiva 5 comes comprehensively equipped. For example, ESC (plus brake assist, traction control and ABS) and six airbags plus hill start and descent assist systems, a 65-litre fuel tank, an (almost) full sized spare, standard 235/65 tyres on 17-inch alloy wheels, climate control air conditioning, wheel-mounted audio controls, etc. iPod integration and GPS are notable exclusions from the spec on Captiva 5.
Captiva 7 is better equipped. SX specification is 2WD petrol four or optional AWD diesel on 17-inch alloys, plus all the safety stuff standard right across the range. Cloth seats are standard, four-speaker audio with no USB input or SD card reader (but you do get Bluetooth connectivity with audio streaming capability and a 3mm input jack), and a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls. There is a high level of standard equipment, but plenty of equipment-based inducements to ‘sell you up’ into CX or LX at the dealership.
According to Holden, there are 4386 different permutations of the various seats folded down/up in Captiva 7. (That’s a slight exaggeration: there are actually ‘only’ 32 permutations – provided you leave the driver’s seat up in every case.) Whatever – the point is that the interior space is very versatile from a cargo-people variability point of view. Surfboards and bicycles can be swallowed with aplomb by a Captiva 7, along with a range of unwieldy consumer goods and hardware store items. If push came to shove, and no suite at the Ritz-Carlton was available, you could even sleep in it.
The rough stuff? We didn’t test that – there was no opportunity to do so at the national media launch, and it’s not really the vehicle’s core intent. It seemed very composed over rough bitumen, and also on the brief unsealed road stint we had access to.
However, if Dad drives a Holden Commodore and Mum wants an SUV, and there’s a desire to keep it all in the same automotive family, then the new Holden Captiva Series II won’t disappoint.