MOM'S TAXI TEST - CHEV ORLANDO 1.8LT:
I wasn't sure if I liked Chevrolet's first ever MPV when first I saw the Orlando. It looked boxy and not, to be honest, terribly attractive. But after loading up a couple of children, an outsized housekeeper, and heaps of luggage for a road trip along the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, I changed my mind.
This seven-seat people-carrier is so versatile that the kids swopped the seating arrangement twice. Down went the back seats, out were spread the duvet and pillows. The bulkiest luggage was dispatched to the middle row of seats and the floor behind the front seats. Then after a pit stop, up went the seats, and upright seating was the order of the day for a further stage. And so on and so forth.
The comfort up front was great, the suspension, road noise (none at all) and comfort factor fantastic, and the roadholding, particularly on some of the rutted route near the end of our journey, first class. My one gripe was that visibility through the rear windows wasn't the greatest, what with all the various head rests etc.
When parking , I realised it was longer than it felt - but certainly not enough to make life tricky or bring the girl out in a gentle sheen of perspiration. Because the Orlando is imbued with features such as rear parking sensors, which every woman really ought to have. Oh, and cruise control, which was perfect on that stretch of the coastline where speedsters are nabbed on a daily basis.
And actually, its appearance grew on me. Look, it's not going to blow your socks off if you're a sports-car lover, for instance, or into sleek, sophisticated super-quick foreign numbers. But for practicality, versatility, functionality, comfort, and good solid engineering, you can't go wrong with this beefy front-wheel-driven 1.8-litre family wagon.
Another huge point in its favour is affordability. It's a school runner that won't leave you whimpering in penury (R299 420 for the up-specced LT and from R258 220 for the LS).
The LT has a plethora of standard features such as auto lights and wipers, 18” alloy rims, leather trim, traction control, antilock braking with electronic brake-force distribution and an electronic stability programme.
The cabin, incidentally, is like no Chev I've driven before. The Corvette-inspired dual cockpit provides the centerpiece of the interior, while slick panelling flows through the spacious cabin “in a wave-like manner”, to quote the media release.
The Orlando has the same four-cylinder 1800cc engine that drives the Chevy Cruze. It' also fairly controlled in its fuel habits, and a combined cycle should see it consume about 7.2 litres per 100km. I found it noticeably thirstier on my daily gridlock grind into the office and back after the weekend, and on checking the figures provided by the manufacturer, confirmed that an urban cycle averages out at about 9.4 litres per 100km.
With its half a dozen airbags (and half a dozen quality speakers), high strength steel body structure, and all of the other safety features, the Orlando is definitely recommended as a family car. Great for long journeys, but not too shabby in the city either.