Chevrolet Captiva RGR Limited Edition
Maxabout Review
Truly Captivating
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Chevrolet's Captiva SUV sports a modern, global unitary body platform, with an American brand name, as Chevrolet is distributing GM's Daewoo models in Europe. Chevrolet India had recently launched a limited edition variant of Captiva - The Captiva RGR. Following additions have been made in Captiva RGR:
1) Reverse Parking Sensors
2) Refrigerator
3) GPS - Global Positioning System
The addition of these features has made the deal more tempting in comparison to Ford Endeavour & Honda CR-V. But Toyota Fortuner is still the best of the lot.
Design & Style
Captiva’s expressive design can be described as “strong, sophisticated and sporty”. It looks great with a tall and chunky appearance. Roof rails and plastic side mouldings give it real off-road credibility. he exterior it is dominated by large 6-spoke alloy wheels with bold wheel-arches and tubeless tyres. The car also features perfectly placed cylindrical prism type headlamps, LED type turn signal lamps, turn signal repeaters integrated in the door mirrors and pull-out type chrome door handles.
Its sleek yet bold design is accentuated by strong wheel arches and a sweeping feature line that runs from the front fender vent through to the tail lamps. A grey sill finish runs around the vehicle, reducing its apparent height and is interrupted by contrasting ‘undertray’ features on front and rear bumpers.
Interiors and comfort
The neatly designed dashboard and centre console look good. And although hard cabin plastics are the order of the day, solid build quality and generous equipment compensate. The third row of seats can accommodate two teenagers and even adults for shorter journeys. The interior materials are good quality upgraded plastics. The seating offered on the Captiva is flexi type. The second and third row seats can be folded. The driver's seat is 8-way electrically adjustable. Audio controls are mounted on the steering wheel for driver's convenience. The actual audio controls and air conditioning dials too are easily accessible.
A CD player and air con, plus the inevitable reminders for seatbelts and key in ignition. Storage for five-passenger car is 465 litres, rising to 930 litres when you lower the second row. However, if you use all seven seats, room for luggage is restricted to 85 litres. Whatever layout you choose, there is the benefit of opening rear glass, so you needn’t raise the entire tailgate to gain access to the boot. Unfortunately, the heating panel and stereo are positioned far too low, while a needless storage cubby occupies the more desirable location higher up.
Engine & Ride Quality
The 2.0 litre four cylinder VCDi diesel engine is the first of an all-new family of diesel engines that have been developed jointly by GM Powertrain and GMDAT with Italian firm VM Motori. It develops maximum power of 148 Bhp @ 4000 rpm with maximum torque of 320 Nm @ 2000 rpm. It has aluminium cylinder heads, sophisticated injection systems and a variable geometry turbocharger for smooth turbo intervention from low rev levels. It consists of a MacPherson strut configuration at the front and an independent four link set up at the rear.
Captiva's 4×4 set-up is an on-demand system, meaning that as driving conditions require, the rear axle is instantly selected via an electromagnetic coupling to give maximum traction through all four wheels. The set-up also seamlessly interacts with the ESP and ABS systems, enhancing driver control of the vehicle and safety margins. The ESP itself has additional functions like HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assist), HDC (Hill Descent Control) and ARP (Active Rollover Protection). Overall, it is a well proportioned and feature packed SUV with good off-road capabilities.