Holden Thinks V Big
Newcastle Herald
Saturday December 20, 1997
WHEN a company like Holden goes for the cheque book the rest of the automotive world takes cover.
Holden went for the cheque book a few years ago and it was a signal that something big was happening at Fisherman's Bend.
That `something big' was the new VT model Commodore, released a few weeks ago to much praise from the motoring public.
Holden, it seemed, had learned from the mistakes of past Commodores and learned from its rivals and come up with a car capable of taking on the best of them.
The newcomer was bigger, heavier, more powerful, more sophisticated in its underpinnings and more luxurious, even in the base models.
It was, it seemed, a car which could do no wrong, a car destined for greatness.
Certainly it put the wind up its main opponent, Ford, which has seen fit to just batten down the hatches and ride out the storm, at least until its all-new Falcon sees the light of day sometime in 1998.
The Commodore has dominated the sales lists for the past two months (October and November) and the December sales figures are a mere formality for the Holden steamroller.
In the past few weeks we have had the opportunity to drive two examples of the new VT.
The first was a Berlina V6 sedan, the second a Berlina V8 wagon, both with four-speed automatic transmissions.
We had asked to sample the range and had asked for an Executive sedan, however, last-minute complications with the Holden press fleet meant only the Berlina sedan could be made available to us.
Not that the $39,800 Berlina sedan and $45,700 wagon are exactly the bread and butter of the new Commodore range compared to the around-$30,000 Executive but they did give us a feel for the new Commodore.
The most noticeable thing about the car is its road feel. It is bigger (the sedan is almost 4.9 metres long, the wagon a shade over 5.0 metres), heavier (weight for the sedan is 1550kg-plus, 1600-plus for the wagon) and thirstier. Power increases mean the V6 engine just manages to keep pace with Commodore's gain in bulk while the V8, up about 14kW on the VS model, is still fun.
The road feel is enhanced by fully independent suspension across the range through the use of MacPherson struts up front and semi-trailing arms down the back, giving the car (particularly the wagon) a good feel, ironing-out the VS's tendency to nervousness at the upper limits of the handling envelope.
Commodore, already an enjoyable drive in the superseded VS guise, is now a very smooth, very forgiving car.
It is helped in its progress by power-assisted, variable ratio rack and pinion steering which adds to the very smooth feel of the car.
However, there is no disguising the fact that it is a big, bulky car (it is 1842mm wide) and uses up a lot of road.
Inside, our Berlinas were nothing short of luxurious with features not even included on the more upmarket, recently superseded, VS Calais.
An excellent audio system with in-dash CD player, a well-designed instrument and dashboard layout and very comfortable seats made for an excellent cruising machine.
I found the semi-manual, semi-electric seat adjustment amusing (why not have one or the other?) and the multi-function trip computer frustrating (even using the owners' manual I still had trouble figuring it out).
Why not just fit a trip computer with backward and forward scroll buttons so the driver gets all the information in simple, logical progression?
The climate control air conditioning was fun (all those little diagrams and an outside temperature readout) and very efficient and, generally, the whole instrument package makes the VS dash look like something from the dark ages.
Despite their similarities, the configurations of our two test cars made them very different to drive.
The V6 auto sedan seemed slow (in relative terms, that is) to wind up but once wound up to a respectable highway speed it wanted to stay there all day.
The V8 wagon, by comparison, was more urgent (as 179kW as opposed to 147kW can be) but stymied a little by its sheer bulk.
There is simply no arguing with the fact that 1700kg (the weight of a wagon fitted with the optional V8) is a heck of a heavy thing to lug around, no matter how good the engine doing the lugging.
And while it is doing all that lugging, the fuel economy suffers and the best we could manage from the cars was 12.3 litres/100km and 14.5 litres/100km from the V6 and V8 respectively.
Those contemplating a wagon, incidentally, should note that the rear end is huge with a seat-down cargo space of 2683 litres.
While the new Commodores are everything Holden promised they would be (bigger, better built, more comfortable and luxurious and with more safety features) there is no escaping the fact that they are heavier, thirstier and slower
SPECIFICATIONS
?sk,4 Make and model: Holden Commodore Berlina sedan and wagon (wagon specs in brackets).?sk
Price: $39,800 ($45,700) (does not include statutory government charges, dealer delivery fees or optional extras)
?sk,3 Dimensions: Length, 4844mm (5042mm); width, 1842mm (1847mm); height, 1450mm (1545mm); wheelbase, 2788mm (2938mm); track (front/rear), 1569mm/1587mm; kerb weight, V6 sedan from 1551kg (V8 wagon from 1702kg).?sk
Engine: Fuel-injected, 3.8 litre overhead valve V6 producing 147kW @ 5200rpm and 304Nm @ 3600rpm (fuel-injected, 5.0 litre, overhead valve V8 producing 179kW @ 4800rpm and 400Nm @ 3600rpm).
Transmission: Four-speed auto.
Chassis: Front engine, rear-wheel drive, disc brakes front and rear with ABS, variable-speed power-assisted steering.
Suspension: Front, MacPherson struts, coil springs, shock absorber and stabiliser bar; rear, independent.
Fuel tank capacity: 75 litres.
Fuel economy: 12.3 litres/100km (14.5 litres/100km)
Like: Comfort, refreshing styling, V8 engine.
Dislike: Extra bulk, poor fuel economy.
Verdict: VT is better than the superceded VS Commodore but not simply because it is bigger. It is a good cruising machine and the lazy V8 engine is excellent. The V6, however, now needs more power. .
© 1997 Newcastle Herald