2012 Chevrolet Orlando

by Dave Pankew

 


Let's do a quick recap of famous people, places and things that bear the name Orlando. There is Orlando Bloom, the hunky Hollywood star, then the not-so-hunky actor Tony Orlando, and there was even a 1992 chick-flick entitled, you guessed it, Orlando. Since the name originated in Spain, it should be no surprise that a town named Orlando is located there, which of course bears no resemblance to the Orlando in Florida. While the name doesn't really imply anything uniquely Canadian, the new 2012 Chevrolet Orlando does because you are looking at one Orlando that is only available in Canada.

The 2012 Chevrolet Orlando has been released in select worldwide markets under General Motors' global strategy. The Global Delta platform was designed to be a mass-appeal front-wheel-drive vehicle, and the masses find it appealing if you go by recent sales of the Cruze.

With the retro-styled Chevrolet HHR bowing out, the Orlando is slipping into that sector as an MPV featuring current styling and contemporary features. Oh, and it also adds a third row to accommodate two more family members for a total of seven. It sounded to us like GM was on the right track with this one, and then we heard that the base LS would start at $19,995... now that is progress!




When we headed over to the start of the launch at the luxurious Westin Prince hotel in Toronto, there were Orlandos lingering out front in all four trim levels and various colours. The Orlando's broad grille and prominent Chevy bow-tie have this kind of brash statement attached to them, as if to say "We're back," while the aggressive wheels-out, body-in stance appear both contemporary and rugged. The roofline is fairly low, and around back the Orlando's beefy C-pillar and over-sized tails appear decidedly upscale.

Brand Manager Paul Hewitt informed us on all of the basics about this super-functional vehicle, as well as what it's meant for the turn-around of a company that just emerged from an economic dungeon a few short years ago. His brief pointed to an impressive list of features, but price was at the top of our bullet points. Even with a few options, the base model LS quickly exceeds the next trim level up in price. The GM staff expect the $22,295 1LT trim to be the hottest seller off the dealer floor.

However, this was a road test, which would cover in the realm of 800 kilometres in and around the upper-class cottage country of Muskoka. We partnered up and headed out on our journey to leave the city behind in Chevy's new cruiser. Our route was outlined in a guide book, which left us feeling almost naked without navigation since it is only available as an option on the $29,735 top-line Orlando LTZ. Although our Orlando was equipped with OnStar (as every GM product is now), optional navigation was not fitted to any the LTZ Orlandos, so we had to kick it old school with the map and mileage checkpoints.

The weather did not cooperate with driving rain pounding our windshield for most of the journey, but at least it provided a test of how the Orlando performs in the wet. And it performed great in the rain with its sure-footed StabiliTrac traction, not once invoking ABS under braking. The steering is fairly direct with adequate feedback, and the handling was the same thanks to MacPherson struts and impressive chassis torsional stiffness. The ride itself was smooth, with no tense moments over the winding roads or wallowing in the occasional rough patches we encountered. We found road noise to be very livable, even slightly better than others in the class.

The dash of the Orlando is very current but utilitarian at the same time. GM interiors can sometimes try too hard to be hip and come off as unusual instead. Not so with the Orlando. It has an import flare to it and large intuitive controls. The stereo is integrated into the dash, even though audiophiles will always criticize OEM designs that prevent any future upgrades. But upon closer inspection, the radio not only has the functionality you want like Bluetooth, MP3 and USB playback, but it also has this bat-cave flip face function where you can stow your MP3 players and smart phones. With those items out of the way, not only are distractions avoided, but you don't have to fumble with your iPod anymore since it's controlled from the deck.

Beyond the funky system, the interior's fit and finish is impressive. An array of quality plastics is complemented by some brushed aluminum-look accents in addition to a dramatic piano black insert that stretches from door handle to door handle. The analog cluster is easy to read and lit in a gentle blue tone that compliments the centre-mounted cluster, which displays the radio setting along with temperature and time.

During the long trip, we decided to spend our restless moments in the second- and third-row seating. The theatre-style seating has progressively higher platforms, which means those in the back can stay involved in the conversation (and also be monitored with the flip-down child mirror). Each row was comfortable with ingress and egress past the 60-40 split second row into the 50/50 third row being a snap for a 5'10" adult. Slamming those two rows to the floor is easy and provides a whack of cargo space totaling 1,600 litres. The 5-door configuration was actually more functional than we expected as the big, wide-swinging doors provide more access to the third row than those with sliding doors, but admittedly are not as convenient to open in parking lots or tight spaces.


Under the Orlando's lid is a 2.4-litre Ecotec engine that basically gets the job done. At 174 horsepower and 171 pound-feet of torque, the direct injection four-cylinder is mated to either a 6-speed manual or optional $1,450 automatic (standard on the LTZ). While all of our testers were equipped with automatic transmissions, it was tough to say if the auto tranny helped or hurt the Orlando's performance. The engine made more noise than we expected, but didn't seem to go as fast as all that noise would imply. The transmission also held some gears for an extremely long time up steeper hills when we noted the tach was pinned at 5,500 rpm, almost as if it was scared what would happen if it shifted. Although there is a high-torque diesel overseas and a turbo rumoured to be on its way, the current Orlando can't be judged on performance merit ? it kind of defeats the purpose of this vehicle.

At the same time, the engine and transmission perform another task together very well, and that is exemplary fuel economy. With gas prices as high as they are, families can breathe a sigh of relief knowing the Orlando achieves 10.6 L/100km in the city and an impressive 6.9 L /100km on the highway, with even better economy when equipped with the manual transmission (10.1 & 6.7 L/100km). Since the gas fairy miraculously filled the 65L tank of our tester up while we slept in our 5-star beds, we weren't able to assess what kind of real-world mileage one can expect, but that needle never moved much and this is the best fuel efficiency for a non-hybrid seven-seater. Considering the Ecotec has a long lineage of successful mills, we expect it to keep running for a long while and the 5-year/160,000-km warranty definitely backs that.