Holden VZ Commodore SV6 Review
On a recent trip to Queensland I was fortunate enough to be provided with a Holden VZ Commodore SV6 – a little better than the standard Commodore or Falcon I normally get so I thought why not do a CarHQ review on it. A lot has been said about the Holden VZ Commodore and its chassis and suspension set-up and the Holden VZ Commodore SV6 builds on this existing stability and cornering. Looking more aggressive than the standard Commodore with its front and rear spoilers as part of the Sports Pack and the flared wheel arches this provides a good driving experience and makes you feel a little special – when you consider my own bias to the blue oval this is exceptionally high praise and I may be cast out of Ford heaven for it!!!!!
With a considerable amount of time spent on the open road – and excellent roads as well (thankyou Queensland Government) – this was going to be a good test of the comfort and driveability of the vehicle. My colleague and I were exceptionally comfortable on the trip with plenty of room to stretch out. One thing I have to say about the new VZ though is the height of the front door covering – I was and have never been able to comfortably rest my arm on the door sill and this is a negative for me – call me fussy but cruising around it’s nice to be able rest your arm comfortably.
The dash is well laid out and the controls easy to understand and familiar – I don’t think there has been much of a change on the steering wheel from the VN Commodores I have previously driven. This is not a criticism as it is nice to hop in a car and know where it all is – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Vision is good with wide side mirrors and a well placed rear vision mirror. The console is relatively easy to navigate although we did have some trouble finding the power socket for the sat nav.
Acceleration was a little disappointing although the engine has a great sound when revving. At the lights it has enough go to leave other cars behind but moving from 80 – 110 km, as we did on numerous occasions to get past road trains and other vehicles, was quite slow with a noticeable lag in the automatic gearbox getting the signal to shift down and providing the necessary power you need. I found that even when I used Active Select this was still a considerable lag. Compared with other semi-auto gear boxes I have experienced this was much more auto than manual.
Cornering was very good particularly when the sat nav led us astray a couple of times and some quick U-turns were required. A lot has been said about the refinements made to the vehicle and I would have to agree that the car goes where you want it to go with minimal fuss and complaint. The turning circle is comparable with that of my Ford and enough to get you around most normal sized streets. The steering responds well to driver input and also provided good feedback as to road conditions. On dirt or bitumen the car drove well and it was nice having a little more clearance between the car and the road than I do in my normal vehicle.
For the family
Space within the car is good with it easily able to accommodate a family of four or five and their associated accessories. Access in and out of the car is excellent although as I noted above I did have a problem with the front door panelling which was too high and uncomfortable. The front seats supported us well and the back seats offered decent room and comfort although we did not test over a long distance.
Continuing on with the interior overall I could find little to fault with the finish being of a high quality and well organised. The colour scheme worked well and the controls for the windows and mirrors were also well placed and easy to use. One issue which struck me and the same applies to the Fords is that there seemed to be only one power socket inside the cab. Maybe not a problem all of the time but those of us who have packed the car with the family including the sat nav, mobile phone chargers and the portable DVD players that’s a lot of ‘toys’ that will need a fair bit of access to power over the course of a decent trip.
Looking at the boot it offers plenty of space – we were able to fit in two very large cases a banner and assorted backpacks in the boot. Access to it was good with the boot opening at bumper level. There was also a bit more room in the boot overall than I had experienced with the Ford. One downside – although I may just not have looked hard enough – was that it did not seem obvious as to how you could fold the rear seats down to offer more carrying space. While we couldn’t do the golf club test nor the shopping test I remain confident that you could fit three of the former in the boot and the weekly shopping for a family of four with space to spare.
Costs
Vehicle price is one thing and the SV6 as provided to us retails for just under $40,000 but for us at CarHQ we want to look at the ongoing running costs of the vehicle. All the figures we found quoted 11.6 litres per 110km combined city highway driving. Our trip was more open roads and country towns than city driving and we averaged 9.7 litres per 100kms. Based on these figures and with a petrol price of around 150 cents per litre you are looking at $14.55 per 100kms. Not too bad for the cars we have tested to date.
Servicing intervals are 15,000kms or 12 months and there would seem to be little other maintenance required for the vehicle outside of the usual oil, water and tyre pressure checks. Insurance for this vehicle on a Rating 1 driver housed in Melbourne is around $800 to $900 per annum.
Specs
- 3.6 litre Alloytec V6 engine
- 5-speed automatic transmission with Active Select
- Seats 5
- Fuel consumption (reported) 11.6 litres/100km. As tested 9.7 litres/100km
- Max Power: 190kW @ 6500rpm
- Max Torque: 340Nm @ 3200rpm
Overall
A decent Australian built family car that looks more aggressive than your standard VZ. Handling is somewhat improved and on par with the Ford XR6’s that I have driven although the car for me let me down on the acceleration which seemed to be more gearbox related than engine. If you’re looking for extreme performance then you may want to seek out an SS although the SV6 matches the SS for looks as far as I am concerned. Three out of five stars.
Category: Reviews
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