With a name such as ‘Captiva’, you knew Chevrolet was simply asking for it. Such a name calls for an SUV with jaw-dropping good looks or formidable performance or maybe even both. Alas, with the Captiva, you don’t get either. Instead, you get a completely competent SUV with enough space for daily drive minus character. With well over a dozen possible benchmarks in the market today, it’s incomprehensible as to why Chevrolet took the path already taken—but they did.
It’s actually quite nice of Chevrolet to provide a choice of engines with the Captiva. Depending on the audible rattle at idle and the telltale turbocharger whoosh on acceleration, you can play ‘spot the diesel’ with the Captiva. With 150 horsepower and 320 Nm of torque, the diesel-fed Captiva has all the proper ingredients found in a modern-day oil burner. But the net effect felt somewhat like a half-cooked mushy Chinese (or Korean) cabbage dish with the usual diesel raucous. Sure, there is instantaneous acceleration and stupendous fuel mileage (Chevrolet reckons it can return 13.15 km/L); but the diesel could have used better refinement. Chevrolet had a full two years to develop a much better diesel engine than the one found in the Tucson, but instead plopped one in that sounded almost the same way.
If you can’t stomach driving a ratty diesel or can’t find a way to pay the additional P 100,000 for one, Chevrolet does offer a nicely quiet 2.4-liter petrol engine. With 142 horsepower and just 220 Nm of torque, this engine doesn’t offer the same satisfying power off the line, but at least it’s way quieter and more livable for high-speed, long-distance driving. It doesn’t offer the same slick feeling found in a Honda i-VTEC engine or even the satisfying low-end torque grunt of a Toyota VVT-I engine, but this one at least is fairly commendable. That is, if you can stomach the 5.95 km/L city fuel mileage (Chevrolet says 11.23 km/L, but maybe if you drive solely on highways).
Despite the lackluster engines, the beauty with the Captiva is that both powerplants are mated to a five-speed automatic which do offer world-class goods. They shift effortlessly with hardly any need to activate the manual override mode (which is hopelessly useless, by the way). Chevrolet was gracious enough to provide an all-wheel drive version of the Captiva, complete with its space-age script on the hatch. The all-wheel drive system on the Captiva is completely transparent and computer-controlled that primarily drives the front-wheels but can divert up to 50 percent of torque to the rear wheels when needed; a perfect ally given the sudden bursts of heavy rains in the Metro lately.
Style-wise, there’s absolutely nothing offensive with the Captiva. But, there’s nothing really to harp about either. Like the Aveo and the Optra before it, the Captiva simply follows the design mold of its rivals, making itself the proverbial appliance of the compact SUV kingdom. The designers probably found it easy to mishmash commonly used design elements such as large, projector-type quad headlamps, angularly sculpted hood, scalloped side panels, door-mounted mirrors (with turn signal repeaters), twin exhaust pipes and an arching greenhouse. The all-wheel drive version throws a stainless steel scuff plate into the mix too. Despite the non-originality of it, at least the Captiva comes out looking harmoniously. In terms of dimensions, the Captiva is on the larger side (a 7-seater version is made available in the European market), so there may be some slight difficulty entering tighter parking spots especially the more than 1.75-meter ride height.
The same nondescript pleasantness continues on the inside. De rigueur metallic trims flank the black dashboard stack that house the audio and aircon controls, and below that, the gear lever. More metallic stuff adorns the four-spoke steering wheel (which also has audio controls) and too the door trims. There’s a large looking storage bin at the top of the stack (probably houses a GPS screen for other markets), which provide just enough space for a parking ticket thanks to its shallow depth. Knowing Chevrolet, the audio system should provide good quality sound, but it can’t be vouched for in this test as someone re-programmed the anti-theft system. After hours of trying to crack the 6-digit code, a call to General Motors Philippines also proved futile as the code would come from Thailand. A week and 500 kilometers later, we didn’t get the access code. A shame, really.
Like the Optra, the Captiva has strips of fluorescent plastic that grow an eerie green at night. It doesn’t look good in photos, and it certainly doesn’t do well with readability. The Honda CR-V upped the ante when it came to interior design and materials and the Captiva simply struggles to follow suit. Overall, the seating and the layout is fairly logical, but tactile pleasure is simply lacking. The design strived for Hugo Boss, but the fabric and plastic execution are firmly Surplus Shop. What the Captiva lacks in execution, it makes up for it with space. Tons of space. It merely seats five, but with good room all around. The luggage area is enormous too, even without counting the two sub-floor storage compartments. There’s even a pair of cup holders in the luggage compartment which is a not-so-subtle way of saying, bring out the 7-seater!
Despite all the interior misfires and the rather lackluster performance, Chevrolet is simply known for its cheap price tag. Unfortunately, the Captiva doesn’t have that either. Starting at P 1,199,000 for the gasoline-powered 4×2 all the way up to P 1,499,000 for the diesel-fed 4×4 (with P 100,000 increments per variant), it won’t have its rivals breaking into a sweat. However, you cannot discount the number of standard creature features in the Captiva. Aside from the (non-working) six-CD audio system with auxiliary audio input, the Captiva also features a two-piece flip-up rear glass, front and rear fog lamps and split-fold rear seats. The all-wheel drive tested adds power folding side mirrors, automatic headlamps, rain-sensing wipers and reverse parking sensors.
With General Motors (at least worldwide) in a slump, it needs all the good cars it can muster to drive up showroom traffic. And while the Captiva is a worthwhile, and some say, much delayed addition to the line-up, it simply doesn’t provide that experience. Surely, some will find the commendable drive a worthwhile reason to consider one, but as a car, the Captiva is simply isn’t captivating enough. If it were named ‘Commentiva’, then things would have ended up different.
By Ulysses Ang | Photos by Ulysses Ang
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