- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 7 seats
- Engine
2.2DT, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
135kW, 400Nm
- Fuel
Diesel 8.5L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2016 Holden Captiva LTZ new car review
A good name can go a long way to winning over customers.
The Holden badge on the front of the Captiva SUV is likely to have helped convince plenty of motorists that the brand's South Korean crossover is a sure thing. Holden sold nearly 16,000 examples of the Captiva 5 and Captiva 7 in 2015 before updating the high-riding wagon for January, dropping the "5" and "7" references to its seating capacity and giving it a tweak or two to tempt customers away from fundamentally fresher competition.
What do you get?
The revised Captiva has a new look that includes LED daytime running lamps mounted within its headlights, a redesigned grille, new wheels and different bumpers that look a little like aftermarket touches.
On the inside, the big news is a new 7-inch touchscreen display features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity offering sat nav and internet radio through your smartphone.
Priced from $26,490 plus on-road costs, the five-seat and front-wheel-drive Captiva LS features 17-inch wheels, cloth trim, rear fog lamps, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. Additional versatility in the form of a seven-seat layout costs $30,490 plus-on-road costs.
The LTZ tested here adds seven seats and all-wheel-drive as standard along with touches including front fog lamps, 19-inch alloys, leather trim with heated front seats and electric driver's adjustment, front and rear skid plates and alloy side steps as well as driver aids including blind spot alert and rear cross traffic alert systems.
More advanced safety features such as active cruise control and autonomous emergency braking are not available on the Captiva, though they are offered by some rivals.
Holden's standard warranty covers the first three years or 100,000 kilometres, though it is possible to pay to extend it, or to receive a longer warranty during special offers.
The top-of-the-line Captiva LTZ is officially priced from $40,490 plus on-road costs in petrol or diesel form, though Holden often has special deals in place to tempt customers into its family SUV.
Holden's website currently offers the LTZ with a $3250 discount for on-road costs that makes it just under $42,000 drive-away. But the car was offered for $37,990 with five years of warranty and roadside assistance throughout June, suggesting that there should be a fair bit of wriggle room for buyers in pursuit of a deal.
Entry-level Captiva models are currently offered in five-seat form for $25,990 drive-away, while the seven-seat version is on sale for $29,990 on the road.
What's inside?
Space and value form the key arguments in favour of the Captiva. The interior has room for seven people in a body compact enough to shrug off urban challenges.
Approaching it objectively, the Holden wins points for having smart keys, a steering wheel adjustable for reach and rake, a modern infotainment system and more seating than rivals such as the Mazda CX-5.
From an equally pragmatic perspective, a lack of third-row airbags and rear air conditioning vents could be dealbreakers to customers looking to use the Captiva's third row on a regular basis.
Setting down the clipboard, a stint inside the Captiva reveals firm, flat seats with little side bolstering, disappointing touch points including flimsy window switches and indicator stalks and hard plastics amid a generally underwhelming space.
There are signs that this is an old car at its core.
While newer keyless machines use a simple starter button, the Captiva has a crude lump of chrome plastic drivers must twist in place of a key, and back-seat dwellers miss out on modern touches such as USB charging points.
Suggestions that the all-wheel-drive layout may be useful off-road are shut down by the absence of a spare tyre, as the Captiva range is fitted with an emergency tyre inflator kit as standard. Holden offers a 16-inch space-saver spare as an optional extra.
The wagon offers 85-litres of storage space with seven-seat mode, 465-litres in five-seat configuration and 930-litres as a two-seat proposition.
Under the bonnet
Two-wheel-drive Captiva variants are fitted as standard with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that pushes 123kW and 230Nm to the front wheels through a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
The top-end Captiva LTZ tested here offers a choice of petrol or diesel power for the same price.
The standard engine is a 3.0-litre petrol V6 that uses 10.7-litres per 100km to produce 190kW and 288Nm, while a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine consumes 8.5L/100km while offering 135kW and 400Nm. We drove the latter, which served as a reminder of what passenger diesel engines used to feel like.
It's a coarse proposition at idle and vocal at speed, offering little of the refinement buyers should expect from an SUV in 2016. The diesel's saving grace is that if offers plenty of shove, pulling strongly under load while using less fuel than its petrol sibling.
Holden says the Captiva can tow up to 2000-kilograms, and that it requires servicing every six months or 15,000km.
The Captiva benefits from Holden's lifetime capped price servicing scheme that lists the first four services as costing $1516 for the diesel LTZ.
How it drives
While Holden's SUV is a lot of things, you could not call it a dynamic benchmark.
The Captiva lacks refinement on the road, exhibiting poor body control with slow reactions and a jiggling, fussy ride that feels firm on its 19-inch wheels and low-profile rubber.
The car's six-speed auto is slow-witted, the steering heavier than expected and the engine noisier than ideal.
It feels a generation behind newer machinery. And it is.
But that may not matter to buyers with the bottom line as their top priority, or to people who simply need a new car to shift the clan from A to B.
Verdict
The Captiva does not represent Holden's best work.
This ageing SUV is outclassed by newer models in almost every area, though it is sharp value when heavily discounted from time to time. There are better options offered by several brands, while Holden stalwarts may be better off waiting for a replacement model.
A good name can only go so far.
2016 Holden Captiva LTZ pricing and specifications
Price: $40,490 plus on-road costs
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel
Power: 135kW at 3800rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 2000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic, all-wheel-drive
Fuel use: 8.5L/100km