Holden Captiva LS 2017 review

The Captiva range starts at a breathtakingly low (we're talking mini-SUV pricing here) $26,490 for a five-seat Captiva LS manual, or $28,690 for the six-speed auto, both 2.4-litre petrols. The diesel is $31,690, all before on-roads. Seven seat LS pricig runs to $30,490 for the petrol and $33,490 for the diesel.

LS money buys you 17-inch alloys, front and rear fog lights, electric and heated power mirrors, LED daytime running lights, cloth trim, auto headlights, cruise control, rear parking sensors, reversing camera, leather steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, power windows all around, three 12 volt power outlets (front, back and boot), cloth trim, and a tyre inflation kit.

The 7.0-inch touchscreen is powered by Holden's most up to date 'MyLink' software and pushes sound out to six speakers. You can connect via Bluetooth or with USB you can active Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

Curiously, you have to select 'Phone Projection' to activate these two, rather than an option popping up automatically (as it does in the LTZ). Having these on board also softens the blow for not having sat-nav.

Our test car was a black Captiva Active petrol auto. Based on the five-seat LS, it costs $31,690 and adds leather-look upholstery, 18-inch wheels and a cargo cover, but mechanically it's the same. There's also a similarly specified seven seat version at $33,490.

After April 2017 the petrol-powered LS departs the building, so the only way you'll be able to acquire a five-seat Captiva will be in Active-spec (meaning no more six-speed manual petrol or LS diesel).

The Captiva seven seater is fundamentally the same car it was in 2006. A couple of years ago it endured yet another nose job to inject a bit of vitality, also coinciding with the reduction to a single bodystyle, the longer seven seat shell. 

The facelift brought another attempt at Holden's double-grille nose on the big SUV and it looks pretty good,. The headlights have a distinct whiff of VE Commodore about them, with a set of LED running lights to try and lift the appearance. Problem is, those LEDs look aftermarket.

The profile is largely unchanged as is the rear, where it looks narrow and tall, the tail-lights instantly dating it. It's not ugly, but it's not modern either and the update was a cheap job to get it over the line before its eventual replacement late in 2017, or early 2018.

Inside, it is, again, old. The centre stack was updated in 2014 to fit the new touchscreen and all the auxiliary controls were rearranged as a result. The dash looks like it's made of more parts than absolutely necessary and some of the plastics are very hard, and sometimes very thin.

The steering wheel dominates the front of the cabin - for some reason it's huge, almost Kia Rondo-sized (and boy is that big). The dash design is cramped, with small dials and an ancient LCD information screen. Again, nothing particularly wrong with it, but it never won any awards, and never will.

The Captiva five seat is a roomy machine with a big, wagon-size boot to get all your stuff in. Where the two optional rear seats would go is a pair of deep underfloor bins, particularly handy for storing valuables or smelly things like muddy boots.

Boot space ranges from 465 litres up to 930 litres with back seats folded. There are five cup holders on board - two up front, two in the centre rear armrest and one in the boot.

The front seats are flat and the seatbacks slightly overstuffed, so long journeys might not be a barrel of laughs. Hilariously, the keyless start gets you to twist a knob that replaces the ignition barrel. Still, it looks better than plugging the hole and sticking stop-start button somewhere.

Irritatingly, there's not much in the way of ambient lighting in the cabin and a number of switches go without illumination.

Bottom line is, this is not what you'd call a stylish cabin. The word utilitarian sprang to mind more than once.

Under the bonnet is a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine producing 123kW/230Nm. A six-speed automatic gets the power to the ground through just the front wheels. Notable, and unusual, is the fact that power and torque peaks arrive high in the rev range - 5800rpm and 4600rpm respectively.

Towing capacity is rated at 750kg unbraked and 1500kg braked.

Holden reckons you'll burn through 9.6L/100km in the Captiva auto on the combined cycle, which isn't far off given we averaged just over 11.0L/100km in our short time behind the wheel. Modestly, the Captiva only demands 91 RON fuel.

The Captiva carries six airbags, ABS, traction and stability controls, hill descent control, brake force distribution, active rollover protection, brake assist and three ISOFIX points in addition to the reversing camera and rear parking sensors. 

ANCAP awarded the Captiva a maximum five stars in December 2011.

As with all new Holdens, the Captiva owner benefits from a three year/100,00km warranty and lifetime capped-price servicing. Service visits are every nine months or 15,000km and until the fifth service are priced at $279. Once you get to that fifth visit, the price goes up to $339 until 120,000km when it jumps again to $567. All prices are available on Holden's website.

Roadside assist is along for the ride for the first twelve months and you can extend or upgrade the coverage for an extra cost.

The Captiva really feels its age from behind the wheel, so let's start with the good stuff. Body control is quite good at low to moderate speeds and it turns in with a surprising amount of enthusiasm, if not quality. The ride is firm without being harsh and it's pretty comfortable for city duties. A high driving position means you get a good view out and overall it's a pretty relaxed kind of thing. 

The rest of it, though, is where you do feel its advancing years. The steering feels reluctant and occasionally truculent unless you manhandle it, then you get the aforementioned turn-in, but it needs a lot of help to get it back to the centre. The go from the 2.4 is not really enough for a 1763kg (tare weight, kerb is likely over 1.8 tonnes) SUV, so it's a bit breathless, requiring patience at a T junction and lots of planning for overtaking. 

The six-speed automatic is fairly unobtrusive but waits a while before responding to a floored accelerator, and when it does kick down, there's a fair amount of racket from under the bonnet. When things get bumpy, the trade-off for the (relatively) good handling is a fair amount of thunk and clunk and bits of the interior rubbing against each other.

Tyre and wind noise are okay, but sub-par when compared with the rather newer competitors from Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota and, basically, it doesn't ride with same finesse as just about anything else in the class.