The Chevrolet Captiva now gets a automatic gearbox…but does that make the perfect urban SUV? AutoCar (March ’09) takes a quick peep…

Seven seats, compact dimensions and a strong diesel engine gave the Captiva unmatched practicality against its petrol rivals. The only thing missing was an auto ‘box but a year on since its launch, the Chevy SUV gets a five-speed automatic transmission to give it an added dose of convenience, especially for city use. Also thrown in is an all-wheel-drive system with Hill Descent Control and ESP, all of which has pushed the weight up by 90kg. Plus the ‘winter’ mode, which limits torque to the wheels to minimize loss of traction on iced roads, is a pointless feature as well.

However the auto ‘box does a good job, especially in traffic. Gearshifts are smooth and the gearbox always seems to select the right gear for the situation. This ‘box also overcomes some of this 148bhp, 2.0-litre common-rail diesel’s inherent turbo-lag and smoothens out the power delivery.

If there is one grouse, says AutoCar (March ’09), it’s the sluggish kickdown; the ‘box hesitates before shifting down and can make tightly timed overtaking manoeuvres quite tricky. However, the auto ‘box hasn’t seriously blunted the Captiva’s performance. It can still cross 180kph and reaches 100kph in 12 seconds. Fuel economy though is penalized and the Captiva returned 7.8kpl to the manual’s 9.5kpl in the city cycle.

The rest of the car is almost the same. The interiors are well-equipped and the seats get progressively more comfortable as you move from the rear to the front. There’s lots of kit too like powered seats, climate control, parking sensors and that nifty compass/air con info/trip computer display.

Four wheel drive sadly hasn’t changed the Captiva’s dynamics significantly says AutoCar (March ’09). It still has the same mushy and benign handling and while it’s not a sloppy car to drive, it’s not sporty either.

So should you buy the Captiva auto? It depends on how important clutchless driving is to you signs off AutoCar (March ’09), so you might want to thing about this one before spending the extra cash.