Chevrolet Orlando
Some cars are about passion. Ferraris, Lambos and the ilk. This Chevy Orlando is about Brainless, Rugby and Chevrolet. Actually mostly it is about getting to those things, and practicality. Theatre seating. Stowability. 7 Seats. Hidden Cubbies.
It isn’t exactly about performance. Nor should it be. This two ton alternative to a minivan gets a respectable 4 cylinder 1800 issuing 104kW with 176Nm. That is good for a 12 second 0-100 and a combined fuel consumption of 7.2 claimed. In actual use, expect city driving to be a bit higher with this kind of versatility. As you can see this isn’t going to be an alternative to a twinturbo supercharged black Ministerial 4x4 sans the blue flashing lights. This is an alternative to the estate car of yore and the 4x4 of absurdity. That for me is the point.
You get that seating height beloved of the housewife’s ego driven school-run requirements without the absurd silliness of the same. To make it even more clever, they have added a clever facet. What they call theatre style seating. 3 Rows, with each row staggered progressively upwards. So row 2 is on a platform 41mm higher than the front row on a subframe. The third row gets to be positioned behind the C pillar where the floorplan itself rises substantially, in turn slightly elevated. So those at the back get to see out the front. The third row of course disappears easily giving you a substantial five seater plus huge boot space. One caveat is that the 2nd row seatbacks recline. If sat a little too upright, the goods cover doesn’t properly hide things in the “boot.” In crime ridden SA this could be a problem unless you are aware of it. Many other makers with similar predicaments have got secondary smaller “coverlets” to close that gap. So the third row disappears, the second row outer seats can tumble and fold and you have quite a bit of removal van available. For some reason their PR have announced that from 2013(!) the front passenger seat will be able to fold into a driver workspace.
As is want in this category of people mover, there are plenty of cup holders, lots of cubbies and little compartments. The cleverest of these, and the most unique is the one behind the radio facia! Flip it up and there is enough room to stow your iPod out of sight, and it is the iPod connectivity point location (Included in the LT spec as tested), so no tell-tale wires trailing about the car, thwarting would be thieves from identifying you as a target. Completely unique and ingenious, it has a bondesque kind of flair to it. Steering wheel audio controls, rear park distance sensors, aircon, RDS, ISOFIX and the lot are all there, Bluetooth is missing, but on the LT spec you get a wheel upgrade, some leather covering on odds and ends, anti-dazzle rear mirrors, climate control and rain sensing windscreen wipers.
A 3 year service plan and 5 year warranty is included./p>