The 2012 Chevrolet Captiva - Review

The 2012 Chevrolet Captiva will soon make it’s way into India and replace the now aging current Captiva, to give GM India enough ammo to take on the likes of the To

yota Fortuner and the to-be-launched Mahindra W201 World SUV. Stylistically, the 2012 Captiva now ha

rkens to General Motors latest d

esign language, one of boldness and in-yer-face styling.

As with the Beat and the Cruze, the 2012 C

aptiva gets an aggressive split grille up front that makes all the difference. The headlamps get a little flaring and the bumper too gets a redesign for the Captiva to look mean enough to fit straight into GM’s bold new world. Mitsubishi Outlanderish, any

one? Coming to the insides, the dual cockpit approach of the Beat and the Cruze makes it way into the Captiva too with GM giving the SUV’s dashboard a radical new look. But, the dull grey and black seats mak

e it look dowdy and uninspiring. Brown or all black may have been a better bet. Perhaps GM India will give the seats a touch up before the Indian launch. Seating is expected to remain flexible with up to 7 Indian adults managing to squeeze in. Coming to the heart of the matter, the engine, it remains unclear whether GM India will choose to retain the existing 2 Liter Diesel engine that the current Captiva shares with stablemate, the Chevrolet Cruze, or whether the 2012 Captiva may get the brand new 2.2 Liter CRDI Diesel that produces 163 Bhp of shove and 350 Nm of torque.

While there is a higher tune version of the same engine producing 184 Bhp-400 Nm, we’re leaning on the lower powered diesel mill to make it to India on efficiency concerns, if at all GM India decide to plonk the new engine under the 2012 Captiva’s hood. If you really feel the need for it, you always have after market remap options or diesel tuning boxes, like that of Pete’s to go to for your torque rush.

Along with the new 2.2 liter engine, transmission options too could change with a six speed manual box debuting alongside the six speeder automatic. The 2012 Captiva SUV will hit Indian roads in 2011 most probably in the second half. GM India is expected to the new 2012 Captiva SUV pretty competitively at a small premium of INR 50,000 to 1 Lakh over the existing version as they have the likes of the mighty Fortuner which continues to outsell the Captiva many times over each month.