Holden embraces bio fuel

The Captiva 7 upgrade includes rear-park assist in the entry-level SX while the top-range LX picking up heated front seats and front parking sensors. Photo / Supplied

Holden has upgraded standard features in its Captiva range as well as improving the fuel efficiency of the SUV's three engine options by up to a claimed 10 per cent.

The carmaker says it recalibrated the three powertrains (two petrol and one diesel) and gave both petrol options flex-fuel capability, allowing them to run on E85 bio-fuel as well as unleaded.

E85 is made up of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol. Holden claims it can reduce C02 exhaust emissions by up to 40 per cent.

Holden executive director of sales and marketing, John Elsworth, said the mild updates would further boost sales of the Captiva range.

"We're constantly looking to improve our products whenever possible, responding to customer feedback and market changes to ensure our vehicles remain highly competitive and relevant to modern families," he said.

The upgrades come at no extra cost to the five-seat Captiva 5 and seven-seat Captiva 7 range. Most of them, however, go to the Captiva 7.

Two of the three seven-seaters get a longer list of standard features, with the entry-level SX getting rear-park assist and the top-range LX picking up heated front seats and front parking sensors.

The Captiva 5 gets no extra features as part of the 2012 update.

The biggest fuel savings come on the 3-litre V6, a 190kW/288Nm petrol unit shared with the Commodore range and offered on CX and LX versions of the Captiva 7.

It now consumes a claimed town-and-around figure of 10.1 litres/100km, down from 11.3 litres/100km, an improvement of better than 10 per cent for the SIDI (spark ignition, direct injection) engine.

The 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine offered on the Captiva 5 and the base SX version of the Captiva 7 now consumes a claimed 8.8 litres/100km in the Captiva 5 and 9.0 litres/100km in the Captiva 7. Previously, the 123kW/230Nm unit was good for consumption of 9.1 litres/100km in both models.

The Italian-built 2.2-litre turbo-diesel delivers 135kW/400Nm. Holden says revisions have improved fuel use in the SX 2WD Captiva 7 from 8.1 litres/100km to 7.6 litres/100km.

Claimed consumption in the 4WD CX and LX Captiva 7 variants is more modest - 8.1 litres/100km compared with a previous best of 8.3 litres/100km.

All Captivas except the entry-level 2.4-litre Captiva 5 come standard with a six-speed automatic transmission.