Bigger bangers

Holden has seriously reworked its big V8s, the Statesman and the Caprice, and has added another, even more highly specified model, the Grange. ALASTAIR SLOANE reports on the new generation of …

Holden and its performance arm HSV are doing something that even the German carmakers are moving away from in New Zealand - putting reflective safety triangle and first-aid kits in its executive saloons.

Time was when almost every Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz came with a shiny red triangle in the hoot. Now they don't bother, unless buyers ask for the safety devices.

Unlike most of Europe, there is no law in New Zealand requiring triangles to he used as a warning that a car ahead has broken down. There is no law about first-aid kits, either. It's just an item mostly the Germans and Swedes - Volvo and Saab - have included as part of the service.

Holden and HSV aren't waving any new safety flags, apart from saying that the executive carriages set new crash standards. Holden calls its stretched models the Statesman and Caprice. HSV calls its limousine the Grange, after the Penfolds wine, one of Australia's most prized labels.

The names Statesman and Caprice are not new, both having appeared on the New Zealand market over the years. But the Grange is new, and demand for them on both sides of the Tasman will he watched closely.

All three models are built on the platform of the VT Commodore station wagon, which is significantly larger than the sedan.

They are powered by either the carry-over supercharged V6 engine or the new Generation III V8 engine built by Chevrolet in the United States and based on the venerable "350 block," the most popular and enduring American engine of all time.

Despite the obvious American styling influences, Holden says it wanted the new saloons to have a degree of "Australianness," which Holden describes as "long-distance touring, engine power, ruggedness, versatility and ease of service."

It wants the Statesman - the entry-level executive - to continue to appeal to younger buyers and cites its research in which 30 per cent of Statesman buyers were under 45 compared with 17 per cent for Ford executive express, the Fairlane.

Over the years the Statesman models have been perceived to be smaller than the Fairlane. Not any more. The new Statesman is 100mm longer and has a huge interior, a deliberate styling cue taken from American models.

It is also equipped with a similarly vast engine, in this case the 5.7-litre V8, the biggest executive-class engine on the market outside the V12 SL600 Mercedes-Benz.

General Motors in the United States spent nearly $US2 billion ($3.7 billion) developing the Generation III power plant, an updated version of its long-time V8 . It replaces the Australian-built range which has powered various Holdens for some years.

In the Statesman and Caprice it has been tuned to produce 220kW, 23 per cent more power than the outgoing motor. It also produces significantly more torque - 446Nm, up 11.5 per cent over its predecessor. But in the HSV flagship range the same V8 has been reworked again to deliver 250kW and 473Nm.

The versatility of this engine is well-known. It first appeared with a capacity of 5.7 litres in 1997 under the bonnet of the Chevrolet Camaro. An even more powerful version went into the Corvette.

But Holden settled for the Camaro power plant because its output fell into the carmaker's plans; so did its reduced weight, improved fuel economy and overall efficiency - things like "demand fuel," a system which maintains constant pressure in the fuel lines and prevents heated fuel from recirculating to the tank. This in turn reduces fuel vapour and aids efficiency.

The Statesman comes with all sorts of interior goodies, including air-conditioning that adjusts the temperature between driver and passenger.

The better-equipped Caprice comes with leather this and that, heated exterior mirrors to clear morning dew and a multi-mode stereo that allows rear passengers to listen to music of their choice.

"The styling, performance and appeal of the new long-wheelbase executives provides us with the opportunity to target a wider group of buyers, including those who would otherwise have aspired to European and Japanese prestige marques," said the Holden marketing manager for large cars., Megan Stooke.

The HSV Grange goes a step or two further, capitalising on the high-performance HSV badge with an executive saloon that has been reworked to offer more than the Statesman and Caprice.

No word on price yet, but the standard V8 Statesman is expected to come in below $70, 000. The Grange will be considerably more expensive.