Overview
LIGHTNING may strike twice for Holden, because the Captiva 5 is following in the successful footsteps of the Cruze small car in offering Australian compact SUV buyers a hard-to-ignore value-for-money proposition.
But is a sharp sticker price and lots of standard features enough in a segment choc-a-block full of competitors as diverse as the Mitsubishi Outlander and Volkswagen Tiguan?
And should the Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester be worried?
Model release dates: December 2009 - February 2011
Previous model
DERIVED from the previous generation Isuzu-designed Holden Rodeo one-tonne truck, the Frontera two-door wagon was the company’s half-hearted attempt to cash in on the booming compact SUV craze that began in the mid 1990s.
But the light truck chassis combined with a hard ride and heavy steering made for an un-sporty drive, while the 96kW/195Nm 2.2-litre Ecotec four-cylinder engine/five-speed manual gearbox combination struggled to push the Frontera Hardtop along.
At least a 151kW/290Nm 3.2L V6 petrol unit aided the four-door wagon version.
Sales stiffed, not surprisingly.
At least this second-generation Frontera was more reliable than the risible earlier edition released in 1995.