GM's seven-seater is fuel efficient,versatile, affordable, fun to drive
By Todd Gillis, The Chronicle Herald - With a force similar to a jet being launched off an aircraft carrier. The Incredible Hulk accelerated my son and I from zero to 65 km/hr in two seconds flat. The coaster then blasted us 160 feet in the air and soon after plummeted on into an upside down weightless 'zero-g' roll. That was just part of a two-minute, 16-second thrill ride which included speeds up to 108 km/hr through seven inversions and two subterranean trenches.
Ryan and I braved The Hulk six times back to back at Universal Studios and, oddly enough, I haven't had lower back pain since. Go figure.
Until recently, any mention of Orlando or Florida would ignite a flood of memories from a family trip there in 2010. Mention 'Orlando' to me today, however, and my thoughts would drift directly to GM's quasi-micro-van-wagon-crossover, the 2012 Chevrolet Orlando, which carted us through the Holiday Season.
While the seven-seater didn't really have much in common with The Hulk, I figured it could leave some 'green' in a wallet when it came to fuel efficiency and overall value for the dollar.
Based on the multi-award-winning Chevy Cruze's platform, the Orlando proved to be a versatile, fun-to-drive hauler through an extended 14-day test drive.
Those two weeks included many mall excursions, some family gift-delivery visits in the city, and one cold, windy, snowy trek to Cape Breton.
Inside the Orlando, I'll comment first on its nifty centre-stack audio head which flipped open with the press upward of a button to reveal a hidden storage compartment. It took only four days for me, okay, Davide (my nine year old) to find it, but we were rewarded upon discovery with USB and auxiliary inputs inside for media devices.
That stack bin was deep enough to store my iPhone and its cable, while one could also fit maybe a half dozen of those CD thingies in there if you chose to kick it old school.
Seated atop my firm and supportive driver's seat, visibility was okay and the front and sides once my eyes made their way around the thick, airbag-stuffed pillars.
The view out the rear was limited with the rear seatbacks in use; and with humans in those seats, well, I'll just say that the big side-view mirrors helped, a lot.
Those premium cloth front seats in our 1LT tester (it came in base LS, 1LT, 2LT and top-spec LTZ trim levels) had manual movement and each included height adjustment. Heated seats would've been a nice inclusion but they weren't available till the 2LT trim as an option and were standard on the LTZ.
I did like that my driver seat had a right armrest for when I drove incorrectly with one hand on the wheel.
I also appreciated the convex mirror on the ceiling which allowed me to spy on the kids seated in the second and/or third rows.
And I took a liking to the small button by the power window controls because, when pressed, it not only locked out the rear windows, it also activated the childproof door locks.
The Orlando's second-row seating offered great head and leg room for three kids or two large adults and maybe a marathon runner (aka skinny person) in the middle in a pinch. The seatbacks reclined back for extra room and comfort while feet found fathoms of wiggle space under the front seats.
I liked that there were deep bottle holders in the rear doors and pouches on the front seatbacks for the kids' books and garbage. The fold-down armrest supplied two more cup holders (small and medium sized).
The third row came in handy over the Holidays as it provided plenty of room for our kids while their grandparents found easy entry into and comfort aboard those second-row seats.
Access to the third row was an easy task for me and was even easier for my kids.
When I flipped one or both sections of the 60/40 second-row seats, they would automatically unlock from the bottom so I could effortlessly tumble them forward and open up a wide passageway to the third row.
That fold process was kid-friendly and was easily accomplished by Davide who folded the seat himself and effortlessly climbed aboard, as did Olivia. Head room was surprisingly abundant in the third row for me, but leg room was limited, as expected.
Both the second and third rows had stadium-style seating, so visibility for passengers towards the front and out the sides was excellent.
Cargo room behind the third-row seatback was pretty much non existent -- it was just a vertical load area with minimal depth. The floor back there was open to expose a handy storage compartment along with the vehicle tools and jack which were encased in a removable Styrofoam casing. The spare tire was caged up under the vehicle.
With the second- and third-row seatbacks folded perfectly flat, there was roughly six-feet of length up to the front seatbacks, and about 41.5 inches of width between the suspension wells.
The seats folded easily, while the headrests automatically flipped down when I pulled the handles to drop the seatbacks. The seatblets could be secured by anchors on the walls so they'd be out of the way when you had to load bigger cargo.
The rear liftgate opening was noticeably wide at about 40 inches and high at 29 inches. The Orlando's low load floor plus that opening made the cargo-area load process a simple task.
The Orlando's fuel-efficient 2.4-litre Ecotec engine provided ample oomph on and off the highway in a variety of driving conditions we experienced. The cold, windy highway trek to Cape Breton showed off its surprising ride and handling prowess. Loaded down as we were, the Orlando felt planted and didn't exhibit any of the body roll one would expect in a ride that seated seven.
Its steering delivered good feedback while the four-wheel disc brakes brought a passenger-heavy Orlando down from speed with ease. Crosswinds weren't much of an issue, but some road and wind noise did creep into the cabin.
Rides over rough surfaces, like the one snow-covered mountain road I took a short drive on while on the island, were nicely softened by its suspension. Its front-wheel-drive and winter tires handled the snow and ice without concern from this driver.
Off the line, the Orlando was rated at 100 km/hr in 10.4 seconds. We experienced, and appreciated, the rated 80-to-120-km/h pass move in seven seconds on our highway drives.
Its six-speed automatic transmission (with manual mode) felt smooth and refined.
On the whole, we had a minivan for eight years and praised it for its ability to do the things my young family of five needed it to do -- namely, haul all of us, our big dog, and a lot of stuff wherever we needed to go with lots of V6 power at the ready.
The Orlando was not a minivan.
But it did a lot of things that I liked, one of which was its ability to carry seven people without me (the driver) having felt like I was at the wheel of a, well, big, petro-guzzling minivan.
We made do with the lack of cargo space when loaded down with humans, and we also made do with the limited trips to the gas station.
No, it wasn't anything that in any way resembled The Incredible Hulk coaster on the road, nor was it intended to be, but it should help GM maintain its re-acquired world's #1 manufacturer status.
More standards - Other standard features on our tester included: two big console cup holders; a small bin with sliding cover; illuminated glove box and vanity mirrors; one-touch auto up/down driver and passenger windows (one-touch auto down rear windows); flip-down cubby on lower dash to left of steering column; tilt/telescope steering column, and a driver information centre (showed the compass, two trip odometers, instantaneous and average fuel economy, fuel range, average speed, and a digital speedometer), engine block heater, and heated mirrors.
There were options - Our tester had $2,780 in options which included its six-speed automatic transmission ($1,450); 16-inch aluminum wheels ($510); and the Vehicle Interface Package ($820) which added Bluetooth, USB port, XM satellite radio, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls.
Ryan and I braved The Hulk six times back to back at Universal Studios and, oddly enough, I haven't had lower back pain since. Go figure.
Until recently, any mention of Orlando or Florida would ignite a flood of memories from a family trip there in 2010. Mention 'Orlando' to me today, however, and my thoughts would drift directly to GM's quasi-micro-van-wagon-crossover, the 2012 Chevrolet Orlando, which carted us through the Holiday Season.
While the seven-seater didn't really have much in common with The Hulk, I figured it could leave some 'green' in a wallet when it came to fuel efficiency and overall value for the dollar.
Based on the multi-award-winning Chevy Cruze's platform, the Orlando proved to be a versatile, fun-to-drive hauler through an extended 14-day test drive.
Those two weeks included many mall excursions, some family gift-delivery visits in the city, and one cold, windy, snowy trek to Cape Breton.
Inside the Orlando, I'll comment first on its nifty centre-stack audio head which flipped open with the press upward of a button to reveal a hidden storage compartment. It took only four days for me, okay, Davide (my nine year old) to find it, but we were rewarded upon discovery with USB and auxiliary inputs inside for media devices.
That stack bin was deep enough to store my iPhone and its cable, while one could also fit maybe a half dozen of those CD thingies in there if you chose to kick it old school.
Seated atop my firm and supportive driver's seat, visibility was okay and the front and sides once my eyes made their way around the thick, airbag-stuffed pillars.
The view out the rear was limited with the rear seatbacks in use; and with humans in those seats, well, I'll just say that the big side-view mirrors helped, a lot.
Those premium cloth front seats in our 1LT tester (it came in base LS, 1LT, 2LT and top-spec LTZ trim levels) had manual movement and each included height adjustment. Heated seats would've been a nice inclusion but they weren't available till the 2LT trim as an option and were standard on the LTZ.
I did like that my driver seat had a right armrest for when I drove incorrectly with one hand on the wheel.
I also appreciated the convex mirror on the ceiling which allowed me to spy on the kids seated in the second and/or third rows.
And I took a liking to the small button by the power window controls because, when pressed, it not only locked out the rear windows, it also activated the childproof door locks.
The Orlando's second-row seating offered great head and leg room for three kids or two large adults and maybe a marathon runner (aka skinny person) in the middle in a pinch. The seatbacks reclined back for extra room and comfort while feet found fathoms of wiggle space under the front seats.
I liked that there were deep bottle holders in the rear doors and pouches on the front seatbacks for the kids' books and garbage. The fold-down armrest supplied two more cup holders (small and medium sized).
The third row came in handy over the Holidays as it provided plenty of room for our kids while their grandparents found easy entry into and comfort aboard those second-row seats.
Access to the third row was an easy task for me and was even easier for my kids.
When I flipped one or both sections of the 60/40 second-row seats, they would automatically unlock from the bottom so I could effortlessly tumble them forward and open up a wide passageway to the third row.
That fold process was kid-friendly and was easily accomplished by Davide who folded the seat himself and effortlessly climbed aboard, as did Olivia. Head room was surprisingly abundant in the third row for me, but leg room was limited, as expected.
Both the second and third rows had stadium-style seating, so visibility for passengers towards the front and out the sides was excellent.
Cargo room behind the third-row seatback was pretty much non existent -- it was just a vertical load area with minimal depth. The floor back there was open to expose a handy storage compartment along with the vehicle tools and jack which were encased in a removable Styrofoam casing. The spare tire was caged up under the vehicle.
With the second- and third-row seatbacks folded perfectly flat, there was roughly six-feet of length up to the front seatbacks, and about 41.5 inches of width between the suspension wells.
The seats folded easily, while the headrests automatically flipped down when I pulled the handles to drop the seatbacks. The seatblets could be secured by anchors on the walls so they'd be out of the way when you had to load bigger cargo.
The rear liftgate opening was noticeably wide at about 40 inches and high at 29 inches. The Orlando's low load floor plus that opening made the cargo-area load process a simple task.
The Orlando's fuel-efficient 2.4-litre Ecotec engine provided ample oomph on and off the highway in a variety of driving conditions we experienced. The cold, windy highway trek to Cape Breton showed off its surprising ride and handling prowess. Loaded down as we were, the Orlando felt planted and didn't exhibit any of the body roll one would expect in a ride that seated seven.
Its steering delivered good feedback while the four-wheel disc brakes brought a passenger-heavy Orlando down from speed with ease. Crosswinds weren't much of an issue, but some road and wind noise did creep into the cabin.
Rides over rough surfaces, like the one snow-covered mountain road I took a short drive on while on the island, were nicely softened by its suspension. Its front-wheel-drive and winter tires handled the snow and ice without concern from this driver.
Off the line, the Orlando was rated at 100 km/hr in 10.4 seconds. We experienced, and appreciated, the rated 80-to-120-km/h pass move in seven seconds on our highway drives.
Its six-speed automatic transmission (with manual mode) felt smooth and refined.
On the whole, we had a minivan for eight years and praised it for its ability to do the things my young family of five needed it to do -- namely, haul all of us, our big dog, and a lot of stuff wherever we needed to go with lots of V6 power at the ready.
The Orlando was not a minivan.
But it did a lot of things that I liked, one of which was its ability to carry seven people without me (the driver) having felt like I was at the wheel of a, well, big, petro-guzzling minivan.
We made do with the lack of cargo space when loaded down with humans, and we also made do with the limited trips to the gas station.
No, it wasn't anything that in any way resembled The Incredible Hulk coaster on the road, nor was it intended to be, but it should help GM maintain its re-acquired world's #1 manufacturer status.
More standards - Other standard features on our tester included: two big console cup holders; a small bin with sliding cover; illuminated glove box and vanity mirrors; one-touch auto up/down driver and passenger windows (one-touch auto down rear windows); flip-down cubby on lower dash to left of steering column; tilt/telescope steering column, and a driver information centre (showed the compass, two trip odometers, instantaneous and average fuel economy, fuel range, average speed, and a digital speedometer), engine block heater, and heated mirrors.
There were options - Our tester had $2,780 in options which included its six-speed automatic transmission ($1,450); 16-inch aluminum wheels ($510); and the Vehicle Interface Package ($820) which added Bluetooth, USB port, XM satellite radio, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls.
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