Aussies good as their word

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

A couple of months ago Holden New Zealand said the new-look Commodore VX would be "only slightly more expensive" than the outgoing VT range. The carmaker has kept its word — the price of the facelifted model is up by only 1.2 per cent across the range.

"It delivers a clear message to the market that Holden is determined to continue to provide Commodore buyers with the best possible overall value for money and protect its pre-eminent position as New Zealand's best-selling car," says public affairs manager Allbert van Ham.

The 25-model VX range goes on sale next week. The entry-level V6 Executive sedan has a recommended retail price of $41,400, the wagon $42,400. The better-equipped Acclaim costs $45,300 for the V6 sedan and $46,800 for the wagon. The V6 S sedan is priced between $45,700 and $48,900, the Berlina between $49,900 and $53,500, the V8 SS at $59,900 and the top-range Calais between $59,500 and $65,300. There is an extensive list of options across the range.

The VX facelift is mild by new-model standards, but it is charged with maintaining the popularity of the car in Australia and New Zealand until the VY appears in 2003. This car is expected to include a new suspension set-up, new Australian-made V6 engines, new rear end, new interior design and so on.

Holden has made the VX a user-friendlier version of its predecessor, the VT, the best-selling passenger car in New Zealand in every month except one this year.

Improvements include individual styling changes to the grille and headlights, a safer structure around the car's B pillar (between the front and rear doors), a more refined drivetrain, more powerful engines with fuel benefits, sharper steering, better standard equipment package and less vibration, noise and harshness levels.

There are six new paint colours: quicksilver, shanghai red, dark chestnut, grey storm, red-hot and genesis blue. The interior has also been updated, with new seat trim fabrics and door trim inserts. The use of foam in the roof and floorpan and a noise-reflecting board in the rear parcel shelf helps make the car more refined.

The weak point of V6 and V8 Commodore models over the years has been the driveline, the clunk and subsequent vibration on take-up.

Holden says a changed propshaft with rubber-damped couplings considerably reduces vibrations and gives quieter and more refined acceleration. The differential has also been modified.

Under the bonnet, the 3.8-litre V6 engine has been reworked for marginally more oomph with the use of a more powerful computer control unit, offering 33 per cent more memory and 8 per cent more processing power. This in turn improves fuel economy and the spark control to each cylinder.

The V6 now develops 152kW at 5200 rmp and 305Nm at 3600 rpm. The 5.7-litre V8 engine has also received more power, delivering 225kW at 5200 rpm and 460Nm at 4400 rpm. So, too, has the supercharged V6, with 171kW at 5200 rpm and 375Nm at 3000 rpm.

Holden says changes to the front suspension improves overall handling and gives the VX Commodore better steering responses.

"The challenge was to take an extremely successful design and freshen it while retaining its huge appeal," Holden New Zealand managing director Graeme Coverdale said at the car's launch. "The solution was to retain as much of the original VT Commodore as possible and introduce graphic clues that make each model in the range more distinctive.

"In this way we've achieved the dual objectives of maintaining Commodore's design integrity and responding to customers' wishes for a more individually tailored model range."

Holden might have indeed listened to its customers, but it also paid attention to what its rivals — Ford Falcon AU II, Toyota Avalon, Nissan Maxima and Mitsubishi Magna — were offering.

The Commodore VT certainly fell behind all four as far as standard features were concerned and the VX makes up lost ground to the point where it now largely leads the way, except for the optional passenger-side airbag in the Executive model.

But ABS anti-lock braking is now standard across the Commodore range, as is a single CD. How far Holden has gone is illustrated in the top-end Commodore Calais, which beats the Falcon Ghia and Avalon Grande hands-down for standard equipment.

Front-end treatment to the grille, headlights and air intakes differentiates the models, as do restyled lights at the rear. The Executive, Acclaim, S and SS get a wider and deeper grille and polycarbonate headlights with a teardrop design, said to improve low and high-beam spread.

The Calais and Berlina have a full-width grille that flows into rectangular-style headlights. A colour-coded, full-width decor panel across the rear of the Calais and Berlina incorporates the tail-lights.

Holden and its safety expert, Laurie Sparke, have always put considerable emphasis on structural strength and Sparke's input in the VX extends to improved side-impact protection to lessen crash forces on the head, neck and chest. This includes using energy-absorbing foam in the doors and redesigned panels to cut injury to the chest and abdomen. Swedish carmaker Saab — a long-time safety leader now owned outright by Holden parent company General Motors — helped develop the Commodore's side airbags.