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Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 Diesel (A) Review
11 Dec 2009|23,580 views
And the product of such collaboration is the Captiva.
The Cruze must have had something to do with my eagerness in getting my hands on this Chevy, brimming with the prospect of driving a very comfortable utility vehicle with a healthy variety of features, above average fittings and plastics, spacial abundance, all tied together in a very handsome package.
These Sport Utility Vehicles, I never really got them. And I never really understood the phenomenon of very ordinary mothers buying themselves one of these to drop their kids off at school, get to work, get the groceries for the next two weeks done and then pick the kids up from school before heading back home.
Surely it can’t be for the handling. These propped-up masses have the highest centre of gravity in the business and the suspension usually is set to comfort, translating to squishy ride comfort paired with some dead steering feel.
So it probably had a lot to do with the gargantuan space available in such a behemoth. But, wasn’t all this the station wagon’s purpose of creation?
Well mostly yes, expect that the station wagon couldn’t really provide families with an appetite to stuff 7 people in.
So these SUV’s do make some sense.
The Cruze must have had something to do with my eagerness in getting my hands on this Chevy, brimming with the prospect of driving a very comfortable utility vehicle with a healthy variety of features, above average fittings and plastics, spacial abundance, all tied together in a very handsome package.
These Sport Utility Vehicles, I never really got them. And I never really understood the phenomenon of very ordinary mothers buying themselves one of these to drop their kids off at school, get to work, get the groceries for the next two weeks done and then pick the kids up from school before heading back home.
Surely it can’t be for the handling. These propped-up masses have the highest centre of gravity in the business and the suspension usually is set to comfort, translating to squishy ride comfort paired with some dead steering feel.
So it probably had a lot to do with the gargantuan space available in such a behemoth. But, wasn’t all this the station wagon’s purpose of creation?
Well mostly yes, expect that the station wagon couldn’t really provide families with an appetite to stuff 7 people in.
So these SUV’s do make some sense.
 |
The Chevrolet Captiva is lucky to possess some very inoffensive looks.
Dominated at the front with the company’s famous golden bow-tie emblem on a split gapping grill, the rest of the focus gets rapidly filled up by the flanking rectangular headlamps with a clean lamp cluster and a prominent circular fog lamp sitting high up the bumper, just below the front lamps.
To give it a more aggressive edge, thick dark grey plastic outline the ends of the vehicle, from the front bumpers, past the wheel arches and rounding off at the rear bumper.
The side-profile of the Captiva is worthy of praise to the designers at GM’s (General Motors) Korean office. A subtle grill gives rise to a pronounced crease that rises upwards past the door handles and works together with the sloping roofline (like seen on the Honda CRV) in giving the SUV a much sportier persona than some of its rivals.
 |
The twin exhausts poking out from beneath the rear bumpers rounds off the sporty and aggressive image the Captiva seems to be carving out for itself. Overall I think GM has succeeded in designing their mid-sized SUV to look exactly like what it was meant to be, an SUV that will see most of its time on tarmac but still capable of heading off-road when needed.
Interior
Getting into the Captiva, a sick-green hue (if you’re in for a test drive you’ll understand what I mean by sick-green and not sporty green) illuminates the ignition key slot and the gauges residing behind the steering wheel.
The central dashboard has been kept quite neat with the informational display at the top, air-con vents flanking it and then moving lower down to the electronic controls for the audio and air-conditioning. A very basic layout that’ll be appreciated for those of us who really don’t care about the fancy interactive interfaces and just need our essential controls stacked in easy reach of the driver.
On the Captiva, they’ve made that even easier by adding some extra buttons on either side of the steering wheel for a more convenient control over the audio functions and the selection of the cruise control.
The plastics used are on the cheaper side of the scale but are still tolerable, once you’ve seen the Captiva’s price point of $103,205 for the diesel and $88,499 for the 2.4-litre petrol unit.
The black leather seats felt good to the touch and provided good comfort with the help of the 4-way electronically adjustable controls. Not only was the seating level raised, the seats also provided enough support for the driver and his passengers during normal driving conditions.
Interior
Getting into the Captiva, a sick-green hue (if you’re in for a test drive you’ll understand what I mean by sick-green and not sporty green) illuminates the ignition key slot and the gauges residing behind the steering wheel.
The central dashboard has been kept quite neat with the informational display at the top, air-con vents flanking it and then moving lower down to the electronic controls for the audio and air-conditioning. A very basic layout that’ll be appreciated for those of us who really don’t care about the fancy interactive interfaces and just need our essential controls stacked in easy reach of the driver.
On the Captiva, they’ve made that even easier by adding some extra buttons on either side of the steering wheel for a more convenient control over the audio functions and the selection of the cruise control.
The plastics used are on the cheaper side of the scale but are still tolerable, once you’ve seen the Captiva’s price point of $103,205 for the diesel and $88,499 for the 2.4-litre petrol unit.
The black leather seats felt good to the touch and provided good comfort with the help of the 4-way electronically adjustable controls. Not only was the seating level raised, the seats also provided enough support for the driver and his passengers during normal driving conditions.
As with most SUV’s out in the market, the second row does the obligatory 60:40 split, making way for a massive 930 litres in storage space at the back, without which you’d only have to make do with 465 litres. And also, as with most other SUV’s, that 465 litres of space shrinks to be 85 litres, enough for a folded mat or your tennis racket once you’ve got the third row of seats up.
Even with the roof sloping south, rear headroom is still very good.
Driving impressions
On the road the 2.0-litre diesel unit developed in the American’s Korean plant pulls the almost two tonne Captiva respectably off the line.
The way it gets the 148 bhp and 320 Nm of torque from the engine through the 5-speed automatic though isn’t anything short of shocking. The time from when your foot hits the accelerator to the power actually coming in, highlights the engines lack of refinement and urgency as it gets the job done in a sloppy and (audibly) abusive manner.
Perhaps the likes of Audi has spoilt us journalists into thinking that in this day and age, diesel technology has come a long way in regards to refinement, that we’ve forgotten the major companies like GM who have only in recent times jumped on the diesel bandwagon.
So with the initial disappointment aside, when the engine does decide to get the power down, it does so in a huge way, making expressway and normal road over-taking procedures easier than in a similar petrol vehicle.
And that’s when another potential problem comes into light. The suspension.
Even with the roof sloping south, rear headroom is still very good.
Driving impressions
On the road the 2.0-litre diesel unit developed in the American’s Korean plant pulls the almost two tonne Captiva respectably off the line.
The way it gets the 148 bhp and 320 Nm of torque from the engine through the 5-speed automatic though isn’t anything short of shocking. The time from when your foot hits the accelerator to the power actually coming in, highlights the engines lack of refinement and urgency as it gets the job done in a sloppy and (audibly) abusive manner.
Perhaps the likes of Audi has spoilt us journalists into thinking that in this day and age, diesel technology has come a long way in regards to refinement, that we’ve forgotten the major companies like GM who have only in recent times jumped on the diesel bandwagon.
So with the initial disappointment aside, when the engine does decide to get the power down, it does so in a huge way, making expressway and normal road over-taking procedures easier than in a similar petrol vehicle.
And that’s when another potential problem comes into light. The suspension.
 |
Of course I wasn’t expecting sports car like stiffness, but the bouncing and floating around over bumps and mumps on our local expressways made me a little uneasy.
This explains me making the decision to not push the Captiva through the corners, after finding out how much body roll trouble it got itself into after the first attempt.
Should you consider this?
A pretty easy conclusion this. No.
This explains me making the decision to not push the Captiva through the corners, after finding out how much body roll trouble it got itself into after the first attempt.
Should you consider this?
A pretty easy conclusion this. No.
It’s a good looking car with an admirably large amount of space inside, clean and simple layout, comfortable seats, very good level of equipment and safety, and a willing engine that (if you can get past the racket under the bonnet) has a large amount of torque at its disposal.
But despite all that, the Captiva, or rather GM’s diesel engine isn’t ready for mass offer especially in a place like Singapore.
Up’per’-market brands like Volkswagen and Audi have been teasing us with their own diesel variants that are hugely popular in the European markets. Although it’s still hard to come across one here, there have been some buyers for these diesel variants.
But despite all that, the Captiva, or rather GM’s diesel engine isn’t ready for mass offer especially in a place like Singapore.
Up’per’-market brands like Volkswagen and Audi have been teasing us with their own diesel variants that are hugely popular in the European markets. Although it’s still hard to come across one here, there have been some buyers for these diesel variants.
And the product of such collaboration is the Captiva.
The Cruze must have had something to do with my eagerness in getting my hands on this Chevy, brimming with the prospect of driving a very comfortable utility vehicle with a healthy variety of features, above average fittings and plastics, spacial abundance, all tied together in a very handsome package.
These Sport Utility Vehicles, I never really got them. And I never really understood the phenomenon of very ordinary mothers buying themselves one of these to drop their kids off at school, get to work, get the groceries for the next two weeks done and then pick the kids up from school before heading back home.
Surely it can’t be for the handling. These propped-up masses have the highest centre of gravity in the business and the suspension usually is set to comfort, translating to squishy ride comfort paired with some dead steering feel.
So it probably had a lot to do with the gargantuan space available in such a behemoth. But, wasn’t all this the station wagon’s purpose of creation?
Well mostly yes, expect that the station wagon couldn’t really provide families with an appetite to stuff 7 people in.
So these SUV’s do make some sense.
The Cruze must have had something to do with my eagerness in getting my hands on this Chevy, brimming with the prospect of driving a very comfortable utility vehicle with a healthy variety of features, above average fittings and plastics, spacial abundance, all tied together in a very handsome package.
These Sport Utility Vehicles, I never really got them. And I never really understood the phenomenon of very ordinary mothers buying themselves one of these to drop their kids off at school, get to work, get the groceries for the next two weeks done and then pick the kids up from school before heading back home.
Surely it can’t be for the handling. These propped-up masses have the highest centre of gravity in the business and the suspension usually is set to comfort, translating to squishy ride comfort paired with some dead steering feel.
So it probably had a lot to do with the gargantuan space available in such a behemoth. But, wasn’t all this the station wagon’s purpose of creation?
Well mostly yes, expect that the station wagon couldn’t really provide families with an appetite to stuff 7 people in.
So these SUV’s do make some sense.
|
The Chevrolet Captiva is lucky to possess some very inoffensive looks.
Dominated at the front with the company’s famous golden bow-tie emblem on a split gapping grill, the rest of the focus gets rapidly filled up by the flanking rectangular headlamps with a clean lamp cluster and a prominent circular fog lamp sitting high up the bumper, just below the front lamps.
To give it a more aggressive edge, thick dark grey plastic outline the ends of the vehicle, from the front bumpers, past the wheel arches and rounding off at the rear bumper.
The side-profile of the Captiva is worthy of praise to the designers at GM’s (General Motors) Korean office. A subtle grill gives rise to a pronounced crease that rises upwards past the door handles and works together with the sloping roofline (like seen on the Honda CRV) in giving the SUV a much sportier persona than some of its rivals.
|
The twin exhausts poking out from beneath the rear bumpers rounds off the sporty and aggressive image the Captiva seems to be carving out for itself. Overall I think GM has succeeded in designing their mid-sized SUV to look exactly like what it was meant to be, an SUV that will see most of its time on tarmac but still capable of heading off-road when needed.
Interior
Getting into the Captiva, a sick-green hue (if you’re in for a test drive you’ll understand what I mean by sick-green and not sporty green) illuminates the ignition key slot and the gauges residing behind the steering wheel.
The central dashboard has been kept quite neat with the informational display at the top, air-con vents flanking it and then moving lower down to the electronic controls for the audio and air-conditioning. A very basic layout that’ll be appreciated for those of us who really don’t care about the fancy interactive interfaces and just need our essential controls stacked in easy reach of the driver.
On the Captiva, they’ve made that even easier by adding some extra buttons on either side of the steering wheel for a more convenient control over the audio functions and the selection of the cruise control.
The plastics used are on the cheaper side of the scale but are still tolerable, once you’ve seen the Captiva’s price point of $103,205 for the diesel and $88,499 for the 2.4-litre petrol unit.
The black leather seats felt good to the touch and provided good comfort with the help of the 4-way electronically adjustable controls. Not only was the seating level raised, the seats also provided enough support for the driver and his passengers during normal driving conditions.
Interior
Getting into the Captiva, a sick-green hue (if you’re in for a test drive you’ll understand what I mean by sick-green and not sporty green) illuminates the ignition key slot and the gauges residing behind the steering wheel.
The central dashboard has been kept quite neat with the informational display at the top, air-con vents flanking it and then moving lower down to the electronic controls for the audio and air-conditioning. A very basic layout that’ll be appreciated for those of us who really don’t care about the fancy interactive interfaces and just need our essential controls stacked in easy reach of the driver.
On the Captiva, they’ve made that even easier by adding some extra buttons on either side of the steering wheel for a more convenient control over the audio functions and the selection of the cruise control.
The plastics used are on the cheaper side of the scale but are still tolerable, once you’ve seen the Captiva’s price point of $103,205 for the diesel and $88,499 for the 2.4-litre petrol unit.
The black leather seats felt good to the touch and provided good comfort with the help of the 4-way electronically adjustable controls. Not only was the seating level raised, the seats also provided enough support for the driver and his passengers during normal driving conditions.
As with most SUV’s out in the market, the second row does the obligatory 60:40 split, making way for a massive 930 litres in storage space at the back, without which you’d only have to make do with 465 litres. And also, as with most other SUV’s, that 465 litres of space shrinks to be 85 litres, enough for a folded mat or your tennis racket once you’ve got the third row of seats up.
Even with the roof sloping south, rear headroom is still very good.
Driving impressions
On the road the 2.0-litre diesel unit developed in the American’s Korean plant pulls the almost two tonne Captiva respectably off the line.
The way it gets the 148 bhp and 320 Nm of torque from the engine through the 5-speed automatic though isn’t anything short of shocking. The time from when your foot hits the accelerator to the power actually coming in, highlights the engines lack of refinement and urgency as it gets the job done in a sloppy and (audibly) abusive manner.
Perhaps the likes of Audi has spoilt us journalists into thinking that in this day and age, diesel technology has come a long way in regards to refinement, that we’ve forgotten the major companies like GM who have only in recent times jumped on the diesel bandwagon.
So with the initial disappointment aside, when the engine does decide to get the power down, it does so in a huge way, making expressway and normal road over-taking procedures easier than in a similar petrol vehicle.
And that’s when another potential problem comes into light. The suspension.
Even with the roof sloping south, rear headroom is still very good.
Driving impressions
On the road the 2.0-litre diesel unit developed in the American’s Korean plant pulls the almost two tonne Captiva respectably off the line.
The way it gets the 148 bhp and 320 Nm of torque from the engine through the 5-speed automatic though isn’t anything short of shocking. The time from when your foot hits the accelerator to the power actually coming in, highlights the engines lack of refinement and urgency as it gets the job done in a sloppy and (audibly) abusive manner.
Perhaps the likes of Audi has spoilt us journalists into thinking that in this day and age, diesel technology has come a long way in regards to refinement, that we’ve forgotten the major companies like GM who have only in recent times jumped on the diesel bandwagon.
So with the initial disappointment aside, when the engine does decide to get the power down, it does so in a huge way, making expressway and normal road over-taking procedures easier than in a similar petrol vehicle.
And that’s when another potential problem comes into light. The suspension.
|
Of course I wasn’t expecting sports car like stiffness, but the bouncing and floating around over bumps and mumps on our local expressways made me a little uneasy.
This explains me making the decision to not push the Captiva through the corners, after finding out how much body roll trouble it got itself into after the first attempt.
Should you consider this?
A pretty easy conclusion this. No.
This explains me making the decision to not push the Captiva through the corners, after finding out how much body roll trouble it got itself into after the first attempt.
Should you consider this?
A pretty easy conclusion this. No.
It’s a good looking car with an admirably large amount of space inside, clean and simple layout, comfortable seats, very good level of equipment and safety, and a willing engine that (if you can get past the racket under the bonnet) has a large amount of torque at its disposal.
But despite all that, the Captiva, or rather GM’s diesel engine isn’t ready for mass offer especially in a place like Singapore.
Up’per’-market brands like Volkswagen and Audi have been teasing us with their own diesel variants that are hugely popular in the European markets. Although it’s still hard to come across one here, there have been some buyers for these diesel variants.
But despite all that, the Captiva, or rather GM’s diesel engine isn’t ready for mass offer especially in a place like Singapore.
Up’per’-market brands like Volkswagen and Audi have been teasing us with their own diesel variants that are hugely popular in the European markets. Although it’s still hard to come across one here, there have been some buyers for these diesel variants.
Car Information
Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 VCDi Turbo Diesel (A)
CAT B|Diesel|11.6km/L
Horsepower
110kW (148 bhp)
Torque
320 Nm
Acceleration
12.2sec (0-100km /hr)
This model is no longer being sold by local distributor
All Used Chevrolet Captiva
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