| ReviewsOnline |
| Car review - Holden VT Berlina V6 Series 2 |
| By Julian Edgar (From AutoSpeed) Consider for the moment the specifications: McPherson strut front and semi-trailing arm rear suspension, electro-hydraulic controlled 4 speed auto trans, pushrod all-iron V6, and 2.788 metre wheelbase. Does that sound late-Nineties... or early-Eighties? However, one over-riding fact emerges when you drive a VT Commodore for a week - the end product is far, far better than the mechanical spec sheet would indicate. On test was a Berlina sedan, equipped not with the gun 220kW V8 but with the 147kW 3.8 litre V6. Like all Commodores, the Berlina comes stacked with a high level of equipment - not only do you gain climate control, single CD AM/FM stereo, electric driver's seat adjustment and electric windows and mirrors, but there's also four - count 'em - airbags, a superb trip computer, ABS and cruise control. And if that lot's not enough, Holden's option list extends for pages. The VT is a b-i-g car - 4.884 metres long and 1.842 metres wide. In fact the wagon version is as large in every dimension as a long wheelbase limo of yesteryear like a BMW 750iL. But, unlike many big cars, the VT is very well packaged - there is sprawling interior room in every direction. With the driver's seat fully back, most drivers can't even touch the pedals! In fact, the car is so large that we wonder if all of this space is really necessary. But whether we think that the space is needed or not doesn't matter much: buyers have been flocking to the VT, with more than 300,000 now on the road. Holden doesn't quote a mass for the Berlina V6, but based on other trim levels, it is about 1.6 tonnes. The first driving impression is of the unexpectedly direct and quick steering response available from the variable ratio power rack and pinion system. The car turns-in so quickly at normal speeds that it is easy to slightly 'cut' the corner - this happened to each of our test drivers before they had a chance to accustom themselves to the speed of response. The car is not darty and over-sensitive; it's just that a little time is needed to adapt to it. Certainly, we found the steering better in the Berlina than the Calais-only Variatronic system previously sampled, and far better than the Mitsubishi Magna's vague and delayed initial steering movement. However, the Berlina's bulky four spoke wheel is unattractive and also isn't terribly pleasing to the hands. The ride is quite firm, being well-controlled in most situations but occasionally transmitting some sharp bumps through to the cabin - anyone expecting a boulevard-soft ride will be disappointed. The combination of the taut suspension and eager steering makes the car quite wieldy and nimble; it belies its size when being swung through corners. Central to the handling outcome is the slipperiness of the road and the weight of your right foot; the instant torque response of the V6 (304Nm at 3600 rpm) coupled with the basic suspension specification and lack of traction control makes this a car where wet roads need to be treated with caution. Even in the wet, the car is fine up to a certain point; beyond that, things get ragged fast. The Berlina does not have an LSD as standard (though it is an option) and this allows the inside wheel to spin away excess torque relatively harmlessly - with an LSD, wet road power oversteer would be ever-present. Relatively slim and tall 205/65 tyres, a slick wet bitumen surface, ham-footed throttle use and something unexpected cropping up - a sharp hump mid-way through a corner, for example - and the VT can assume a missile-like life of its own as the rear attempts to snap past the front. That's a worse-case handling scenario - but on real roads and with real drivers they do exist! In the dry, the handling is much more predictable and progressive, the transition to power oversteer being almost benign in its advent. In any case, the Berlina does not set out to be a sports car or even a sports sedan - that's a role covered by many others in the Holden family. But given the car's family-safe focus, we'd like to see traction control standard on all VTs, not just the Acclaim, SS and Calais. The auto trans works well with the engine, providing strong and invigorating response. Add the torque multiplication of the trans converter to the already massive low-rpm torque of the engine, and the car is absolutely neck-snapping off the line. Above 4000 rpm the engine starts to sound unpleasantly threshy; above 5000 rpm performance is all-but over. To anyone used to pedalling a revvy modern twin-cam with a 7500 rpm redline, this may sound like condemnation of the highest order. But - while of course it would be nice if the V6 did rev sweetly - just as it is, the engine is extraordinarily effective in normal family-style driving. You want to punch a hole through the traffic? - fine. You want to quickly speed-up for a late lane-change? - done. You want to squirt past someone doing 80 km/h in a 100 zone? - no problems. And the real eye-opener was that over 1000km of highway, city and suburban work, the test Commodore recorded an average fuel consumption of 11.8 litres/100km. That's unarguably superb in a 1600kg car with strong performance. Like the engine, the trans is no-frills but mostly very effective. The four speed is pretty dumb - there's no learning of drivers' styles and no down-changing for engine braking when descending a hill on trailing throttle. There's a lock-up clutch (sometimes able to felt engaging with a dull 'ker-lunk'), quick kick-down response and smooth up-changes. The selector lever can be moved between D and 3 without any detent, allowing easy flicking between the two. This is made more inviting by the Berlina's dashboard display of gearlever position. Inside, the cabin is a comfortable place to be. The seats are soft but supportive, the dash gauges legible and the controls all easy to use. Particularly worth mentioning is the climate control, a system that works better than any other climate control we can think of it. Full heat or full cold are a single button-press away, the display can be set permanently to read outside temp (good for amusing the kids in very cold or hot conditions), and the fan speed can be tapped up or down (rather than 0-1-2-3-0 being available only in sequence). All the dash buttons are oversized - some consider them awkwardly so - but their size makes them easy to use and find. However, the column stalks need refining. Both are poorly finished, to the extent that there are sharp edges present on the right-hand stalk and the cruise control buttons - mounted on the end of this stalk - are fiddly and feel cheap. The triple LCD display trip computer is excellent, incorporating an adjustable speed monitor and displaying a useful range of data. Brakes in the Berlina are of course four wheel disc, aided by Bosch ABS. They work very well, the standard pads providing very good feel and quite low pedal pressures. The anti-lock system is excellent - there is none of the feeling gained with some systems that the 'un-lock' is unnecessarily longer than the 'lock' phase. The brake-swerve-recover behaviour of the big car is exemplary. The sound system is hopeless. In fact, it is a long time since we have heard what pretends to be a premium CD sound system that's so bad. The bass - what there is of it - is muddy and indistinct, while treble is simply non-existent. The bass and treble can be set separately for CD and radio reception, but this subtlety is a point totally lost on the speaker system, which would feel happier at home in a '70s HQ hooked up to a Ferris AM pushbutton radio. Also, a number of times the single CD player had difficulty tracking a scratched CD that worked without problems in other machines. But once again - and it's a deliberately recurring theme in this test - as a system for a family (complete with icecream-wielding miniature commandoes) it's probably fine. With the Commodore what you see, feel and hear on your first test drive is what you get. Look at the acreage inside, jump into the boot to explore the vast cavern, feel the punch of the grunty V6 and the quiet and smooth progress. Listen to the dreadful sound system. Revel in the equipment level and passive safety features. Marvel at the incredibly cheap AUD$39,800 sticker price, then make your decision. If it's positive, you certainly won't be alone. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| --------------------------------
Fast Facts (info) -------------------------------- Home Holden wallpapers Commodore information Useful car-related info Wheels COTY winners -------------------------------- New Holden car reviews Used Holden car reviews -------------------------------- Forum Guestbook Contact Technical difficulties? -------------------------------- |
| _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |