Chevrolet Captiva 2.2 VCDi LS (5 seat) 5dr Car Review - March 2012

117mph is the top speed that this car can reach, which is good for a four wheel drive. It is quite quick off the mark as it takes this car 9.9 seconds to travel from 0-62mph. The car’s power output is quite strong at 161 bhp, and the cars torque is powerful at 258 lb-ft.

In terms of refinement, the model experiences some body lean during bends and the steering lacks weight. Aside from this, the suspension is of a high quality, smoothing imperfections and bumps in the road, whilst road grip is secure. The engine also runs smoothly and this means noise infiltration within the cabin is kept to a minimum.

This car has very little equipment included under the lowest purchase price and that means buyers may be left disappointed or facing expensive additional bills to add features they want.

Standard features which are included in the price of the model include air conditioning, electric door mirrors, electric front windows and MP3 connectivity for the built-in stereo. Bluetooth connectivity is also a standard feature and allows drivers to embrace high levels of security by enabling them to use the hands-free capabilities of the phone whilst driving.

Additional extras such as a metallic paint finish for the exterior are available for an additional cost - in this case £410 - whilst other features, such as leather seating, are unfortunately not an option. This means the style of the car could be left a little lacking with limited options available for improvement.

The cars practicality is ideal as it can seat five occupants comfortably and has five-door access, which is convenient for rear passengers. The boot space is typical of a four wheel drive, as when the rear seats are up there is an average 465 litres of free space with a much more impressive 1,565 litres available when the rear seats are folded.

In terms of reliability, Chevrolet have provided a five year warranty with this model, which is a good advantage to drivers as often only three years is offered. The warranty is also applied up to the first 100,000 miles which is great considering 60,000 miles is the standard range for most warranties.

The cars security has also been well established and there are plenty of systems in place on this model. An alarm, central locking, driver airbags, passenger airbags and front side airbags are just a few examples of this extensive list and demonstrate how security levels were clearly a priority in this car's design process.

The Chevrolet Captiva 2.2 VCDi LS (5 seat) 5dr is available from £21,995. For a four-wheel drive this is a good price and its fuel economy is very good for a car of this type at 44.1 mpg on a combined cycle. Other running costs are fairly average with car falling under tax band H due to carbon emissions of 170 g/km whilst insurance premiums fall under price bracket 27.

It comfortably seats a family and provides generous boot space making it an enjoyable car to drive and travel in. As it was awarded five stars by NCAP, consumers are likely to benefit from this car's high levels of safety and reliability and that makes it a strong choice.