SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.

*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.

We drive the Chevrolet Captiva 3,2 LTZ V6

A laid-back SUV to shuttle the kids around in

In common with many world cars, the Korean-sourced Chevrolet Captiva we finally got to drive in its top of the range guise recently has a few aliases. It’s known as Daewoo Winstorm (no ‘d’) in its home country, as Holden Captiva down under and as Vauxhall Antara in the UK. It was originally released in 2006 and reached us a year later. Engine options include a 2,0 litre diesel, a 2,4 litre petrol motor and the 3,2 litre all-aluminium Holden-sourced V6 that we report on here.

Overseas markets have a choice of five- and seven-seat variants, but here in SA we only get the prettier seven-seat version. If you don’t need the extra seats, you just fold them down into the floor and enjoy the additional cargo volume. “How much cargo volume?” you ask. This goes from 85 litres with all seats up, to 465 with third row down, 930 litres with second row folded and if the driver travels alone, she can command 1 565 litres of loading space. Getting to the boot area is via your choice of either an upward-lifting tailgate or just the tailgate glass.

Access to Captiva’s third row of chairs is easier than on some others, because both second row seats fold and tumble forward easily with a simple pull of a lever on top of each seat back. Getting in and out of there could be a little awkward for the unfit, but it’s really not that difficult either. What is nice, though, is that passengers have foot space beneath the second row of chairs, something missing on most other seven-seaters.

Once seated, there is just enough headroom and knee space for six-footers, but it might not be a grand idea to expect poor old Uncle Fred to sit back there all the way to Jo’burg – wills can be changed, you know. Similar comments apply to second-row space – there’s enough for taller folk without being unnecessarily generous.

The command post is neatly and usably laid out, with hard but decent quality plastic materials that fit well. A radio/ six-CD unit with auxiliary input provides music on the move, with remote audio controls on the steering wheel, right across from the speedocruise buttons.  The driver’s seat is electrically adjustable for height in addition to the usual functions of fore- and aft and recline. The passenger seat is fully mechanical, without height adjustment.

Other features include heated, foldaway exterior mirrors, tilt and telescope adjustable steering wheel, leather upholstery, self-levelling suspension, automatic door locking on the move, switchable ESP, trip computer and rear park assist.  In common with all except an entry-level 2,4 litre LT model, this version sports on-demand all wheel drive that kicks in via an electronic clutch as soon as wheel slip is detected. Depending on conditions, up to 50 percent of torque can be made available to the rear wheels.

Additional enhancements include the by now almost mandatory hill descent program and one of the nicest hill start assists I have encountered in quite a while. It actually holds the brake on for you beyond the one or two seconds offered by most competitors. Wonder if driving licence examiners allow candidates to use it? Just a thought.

Out on the road, this Captiva performs well enough for what is essentially a big family car, with 100 km/h coming up in just over 10 seconds and going on to a maximum of just under 200 km/h. The trouble is that it just feels unwilling to really get a move on. The automatic box feels distinctly “old technology” compared with the good stuff available today, tending to hunt and hesitate at times when you just want it to make a decision and stay with it. A manual override providing choices of “maximum fourth” or “maximum second” can be deployed to assist in marginal situations. I used the “maximum fourth” option on quite a few inclines.

Ride quality feels soft, almost ‘floaty,’ on first acquaintance but you get used to it quickly enough, with road behaviour on par with most family SUVs. Where the suspension scores high marks is on rough dirt roads. It treats these with contempt, soaking up bumps easily and tracking well. The ESP might have something to do with this, but results are what counts, right?

Overall, the Chevrolet Captiva in 3,2 V6 form is a very nice car. If you are more patient than I am, you will possibly enjoy its laid-back demeanour, but I would prefer it in manual or with a more modern auto ‘box.

The numbers

Price: R417 650

Engine: 3 195 cc 24-valve DOHC V6

Power: 169 kW at 6 600 rpm

Torque: 297 Nm at 3 200 rpm

Zero to 100 km/h: 10,2 seconds

Maximum speed: 197 km/h

Real world fuel consumption over 300 km: about 12,4 l/100 km

Tank: 65 litres

Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km with roadside assistance

Service plan: 3 years/100 000 km

Maintenance: 3 year- and 5 year plans available as options

 

 

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. 

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

 

Comments?

Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously. Contact me here

Back to Home page