Automotive Faqs

Chevrolet is taking the UK by storm with its outstanding vehicles. The new Captiva is the newest vehicle that Chevrolet has released to the UK and it seems to be taking off with no problems. It may cost a steep £24,920, but it seems that you get your money’s worth and we mean that in every sense possible.

The Captiva 2.0d LTX looks fresh, muscular and compact for a seven-seat, four-wheel-drive soft-roader. This is Chevrolet’s first ever diesel and is one of the least industrial-sounding diesel engines on the market. The 1991cc common-rail unit hits all the right buttons. It’s turbocharged, as you’d expect given the Captiva’s load-lugging brief, and a Bosch direct injection system helps it to produce 147bhp at 4000rpm and a promising 236lb ft at just 2000rpm.

It is not particularly quick, the auto’ version takes 12.2 seconds to reach 60 mph (not 62 mph, note), but it is extremely refined, and at open-road speeds, the sound signature is no more obtrusive than that of a petrol engine.

Power is channelled to all four wheels on a part-time basis via a five-speed automatic gearbox, but a manual is also available for £1180 less. In normal running the Captiva is front-wheel drive, but when the car’s On Demand All-Wheel Drive system detects any slip whatsoever, the rear axle is deployed and it automatically becomes 4wd.

Driven within sensible restraints it is smooth, comfortable and light to the touch. Where it perhaps fails in terms of ‘driveability’ is in its tendency to roll on corners; not to a pronounced degree but clearly the suspension is biased in favour of ride-quality rather than handling.

The Captiva is clearly a vehicle for the large families. It may look like an SUV, but in a sense it works like an MPV. The good thing about this SUV though is that it doesn’t eat gas up like crazy. That is definitely a plus in my book!

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