Captivians Fun Drive to Penang

Last weekend, thirteen owners of the Chevrolet Captiva, proudly christening themselves as Captivians, gathered at Penang island for a round of durians at the Bao Sheng Durian Farm near Balik Pulau. On the Saturday morning, nine Captivas, which included one each from Johor & Singapore, congregated at the Restoran Jejantas Sg Buloh and drove up to Penang in formation, swept by Daniel Khoo in his Porsche Cayman.

Coinciding with the event, Autoworld was able to secure a demo unit of the recently facelifted 2009 Captiva to join the outing. The convoy flagged off at 8:30am, as we trailed them to Pun Chun Restaurant in Bidor for breakfast. The group made a few rest stops along the way to Penang before arriving at the Batu Lanchang Wet Market for lunch.

Catching up with the group. Note revs ticking just above 2,000rpm.

First stop over at Ladang Bikam

Our test car. Courtesy of HICOM-Chevrolet.

Breakfast at Pun Chun Restaurant, Bidor

Souvenirs from the Tapah District Council.

Comparing the 2008 Captivas with our 2009 test car.

Some of the members have their say.

The customary group photo

The Captivas line up at Batu Lanchang wet market

Members endulging in Penang’s famous hawker food.

Visit to the famous Ghee Hiang…

… then Him Heang.

The fun really began in the evening, as we got moving almost instantly after our hotel check-in. We were joined by another quartet of cars belonging to Captivians of Penang, and headed to Bukit Genting, at the south of the island, for dinner. There was nothing much to shout about the food of the Thai restaurant. The real agenda for eating there was to enjoy the view of the sun setting into the Straits of Malacca. Unfortunately, and this is no fault of theirs, the organisers failed to anticipate the haze problem obscuring sunset.

VIP parking for Captivians at the hotel.

Checking into the hotel.

Captivians head to Bukit Genting

Going up Bukit Genting.

Squeezing 13 Captivas here proved tricky.

“Aiyo… How are we gonna come down later??”

Splendid view down the hill.

Bernama chancing upon us while doing coverage of the place.

It was a good thing that they didn’t though, as it gave us the chance to test the Captiva up Bukit Genting’s steep inclines. Although we were using 1st gear almost all the way up, the availability of 320Nm of torque at 2,000rpm meant that the Captiva was never really taxed by the climb. Going down was as much fun, as we had the Hill Descent Control system to check our descent. Although it sounded like things were breaking inside, the system worked like a dream – press the button on the dash, foot off the pedals, and just steer.

Steep slope of Bukit Genting represented little challenge for Captiva.

The next morning, we headed to the Bao Sheng Durian Farm. After passing by the End of the World restaurant at Teluk Bahang, we tested the Captiva’s handling along the twisty roads of Balik Pulau. Manual mode was useful here to keep the gears low for extra traction. The GPS that came with our Captiva also served a (probably unintended) use in helping me anticipate upcoming bends and corners like the radar screens you find in racing video/computer games.

GPS system proved useful to help anticipate upcoming corners.

At Bao Sheng, the group engorged themselves with some tasty examples of the ‘King of Fruits’ before being given a brief tour of the durian farm by the owner, who goes by the name of Chang. Besides giving us a tour of his farm, Chang also gave us a few tips in choosing the best durians from the sellers. He is an impressive entrepreneur, and the passion he has in his enterprise is most infectious. This guy is no ordinary durian seller. Have you seen a one with formal clothing and his own URL? (www.durian.com.my)

Members enjoying the feast.

“Let me teach you how to choose durian.”

After finishing with the durians, the group dispersed at Bao Sheng itself, as the cars went their separate ways. It was a great trip in more ways than one, as not only did we enjoy the Captivians’ company, we also got a chance to give the Captiva a full road test covering various conditions. Having returned the Captiva to HICOM this morning, we are now collecting our thoughts on the car and we look forward to bring you a test drive report soon. Stay tuned!