Overview
The 2015 Holden Trax is a very interesting proposition. It competes in the increasingly popular compact SUV segment. Holden has found it challenging to keep their SUV offerings competitive, except on price. The 2015 Trax looks to be one of Holden’s better SUV offerings. With local engineers involved in improving the driving experience and an updated infotainment system, have Holden done enough to compete with the best in the category?
Ride and Handling
The Trax is a surprisingly enjoyable car to drive. The naturally aspirated 1.8L engine and 6-speed automatic transmission do a good job moving the car around. Acceleration is a highlight, first gear comes and goes very quickly as the car takes off from a standing start and it moves through the ensuing gears smoothly.
The breaks do a good job of bringing the car to a halt, however, the pedal feel was not as good as it could be.
Holden has invested considerable time and effort into locally-tuning the Trax to ensure it is well suited to the condition of Australian roads. The majority of this work focussed on the car’s suspension.
Holden claim comfort on rougher road surfaces and long drives were high priorities when undertaking the local damper tuning. These claims were put to the test on the mixed selection of country road surfaces between Shepparton, in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, and Balranald, part of the Riverina district in New South Wales. It’s pleasing to report Holden’s efforts in this area have paid off. The Trax, with its 18” wheels, did an admirable job absorbing the lumps and bumps on the dreadful section of the Murray Valley Highway that links Shepparton and Echuca.
The front and rear struts along with the rear axle mounting bushes were tuned to reduce interior noise on course chip roads that are a far too common feature of local country roads. Holden’s time here has also been well spent. The Trax proved to be a reasonably quiet car over a variety of surfaces at a variety of speeds.
On slightly, smoother country road surfaces the Trax is an enjoyable drive. The updated Electric Power Steering system, also tuned by Holden engineers, provides a quality steering feel. It provides a strong connection with the tyres and the feedback is good.
Where the Trax really shines is in the city. The Trax feels at home driving through the Melbourne CBD. The ride the Trax provides is extremely comfortable and quiet at speeds under 80 km an hour. The compact size of the car along with the standard reversing camera and rear sensors make parking a breeze. It’s a zippy car in traffic and is very well suited to city driving.
After approximately 900km of combined city and country driving, the Trax returned a respectable fuel consumption figure of 8.2L per 100 km.
Interior Comfort and Practicality
The interior of the Trax is surprisingly spacious, headroom and rear legroom, in particular, are exceptional provided the front passengers don’t stretch much over 190cm. The Trax is a five seat car, however, three people in the back wouldn’t be overly comfortable. It makes more sense as a four seater. The generous rear seat legroom does come at the expense of cargo space. The 356L boot is shallow and will struggle to carry the luggage of four passengers.
Storage in the cabin is good, there are a number of storage areas, especially up front. There’s a dual glovebox and a centre dash storage compartment. There is also a very clever storage tray under front passenger seat.
Seat comfort is something of a mixed bag. The seating position is excellent for this type of car and gives a commanding view of the road. Unfortunately, the base of the seat is very narrow and for those of us who are slightly larger than the norm it can be a challenge to get comfortable. It’s disappointing that the front passenger misses out on a centre armrest.
The cabin is littered with hard plastics that scratch and mark easily. This car had just passed 7,000 km before this test and already interior wear and tear was becoming an issue.
The sportec trim on the seats looks impressive, but it feels cheap and is in no way comparable to the genuine or artificial leather found in other cars in the class. The leather on the steering wheel is also a disappointment. The leather is rock hard and doesn’t feel as good as some of the basic plastic steering wheels found in its competitors.
There are some other nice touches, such as the rain-sensing wiper and automatic headlights. The heated front seats also add to driving enjoyment during a cold Victorian winter.
Technology and Safety
The 2015 LTZ Trax is fitted with Holden’s MyLink 7’ touchscreen infotainment system. The system does work well and is extremely easy to use. It was quick to pair with a variety of smartphones and streaming music and making calls are simple processes. The Siri eyes free voice control and phone book integration also worked without issue.
The BringGo navigation app, which needs to be purchased from the App Store, is nowhere near as intuitive or effective as the standard Google maps system available on most smartphones.
The piano black MyLink unit did look slightly out of place when surrounded by matte grey and black plastics on the dash. The matte finished unit used in the Colorado Ute would have looked more at home.
There are USB and auxiliary inputs in front of the passenger. There is also a very handy 240v three-pin power point for electrical appliances. This makes charging laptops, portable DVD players and gaming devices a simple task.
The 5-star ANCAP (Australian New Car Assessment Program) rated Trax offers an impressive level of standard safety features, which include, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Traction Control System (TCS) and 6 airbags (driver, front passenger, front side and curtain).
The Trax contains Three-point seatbelts in all five seating positions and is equipped with ISOFIX points at two rear outboard seating positions.
Value and Ownership
At the current pricing of $27,990 the Trax does lose ground against its rivals. The Mazda CX-3 and the Kia Sportage provide strong competition for the Trax at this price point. The LS Trax is a much better value if potential buyers can live without the Sportec trim, fog lights and 18’ wheels.
As with all Holden models, Trax benefits from Holden’s lifetime capped price service program. The first four services cost a very reasonable $229. Costs do climb with the kilometres and some of the major service intervals are expensive.
The Trax comes with a Holden’s 3 year/100,000 km warranty. This warranty looks light on when compared to the 5 and 7-year coverage provided by Hyundai and Kia.
Verdict
The 2015 Trax LTZ is a quality offering from Holden in the very competitive compact SUV segment. It’s easily one of their better SUV offerings. The investment in local tuning by Holden engineers has improved the ride and handling characteristics of the car. On test, it proved to be an enjoyable car to drive. It does make more sense as a city car with the occasional country trip. Unfortunately, the overall package is let down by the poor choice of interior materials.
Prospective buyers should take the time to compare the Trax with the Mazda CX-3 and Kia Sportage. Also worth a test drive is the Hyundai ix35, which is currently in run out, meaning the deals are sharp and it comes with an extra two years warranty.
Let’s start a Car Conversation, what are your thoughts on the Trax? Do you think it’s properly priced? Is the package enough to be competitive in the small SUV segment?
