2009 Holden VE & WM specification changes
October 21, 2008 by Matt Brogan
All Holden VE & WM models (dubbed MY9.5) ordered from today will see a slight specification change with Berlina losing the optional V8 engine. It will now be offered, along with all Omega models, exclusively with a 175kW variant of the 3.6 litre Alloytec V6 coupled to a four-speed automatic. SV6, Calais, Calais-V, Statesman and Caprice models featuring the V6 will be afforded the 195kW version.
The Dual-Fuel variant of the Alloytec V6 engine will also receive some minor fuel economy improvements in the near future and V8 models pick up Active Fuel Management (or cylinder deactivation) – more on this in coming weeks.
A number of feature changes will also be introduced including a fixed (non-sliding) arm rest and open bin type door pocket (replaces hinged type) for Calais, Calais-V and Statesman. Additionally all instrument cluster needle illumination will be commonised to white.
Turn-by-turn Satellite Navigation will no longer be offered due to the low take-up rate but on the upside, Sportwagon models can now be optioned with a reversing camera across the range.
Print it: 
Tim, I think it’s just you. Plenty of folks like the VE’s flared look around the guards and the plastic wheel trims bit the dust about 4 months ago in favour of some (admittedly low effort, design-wise) alloys.
I’m not batting for the General in other areas, however. Decontenting is a bad idea and the standard engine and tranny combo doesn’t cut it on paper, nor in real life, apparently.
It’s sad that Holden hasn’t read the market in sufficient time.
Anything less than a v8 in a holden is not worth buying at all. CLimate change my ass…
can someone say “we have all been taken for a ride”..
Yours sincerely Al Gore…
lol
Marcos,
I know i speak for us all when i say, You are and Idi8t.
Richo, falcons use ‘monotube’ dampers.
Richo,
the only thing i have read about the falcons front suspension dipping refers to the V8 model.
The 6cyl models are rated as having a better front end than commodore though.
and your 51:49 weight distribution counts for what???
when the FG can handle better than the VE, its obvious that stat is on paper, and thats where it stays
Wheelnut,
i think you are either having a lend of us, or someone has had a lend of you to come out and list structual changes to the VE update.
as Golfie already said, thats big biccies for an update.
all holden needs to do is give it an asthetic upgrade and the sales will continue to plod along as they are.
Just ask Ford,
actually putting thought and design into a car, doesnt sell them. I just read the Fords engineers won 2 awards for automotive engineering excellence, yet consumers still wont recognise it.
it quite obvious though that their hopeless marketing staff arent excelling in their jobs though.
Again, moving the A pillar???
I doubt it
I was going off what I’ve heard from my mates at the factory.. I doubt they will make many major changes… However I suspect that all will be revealed around June next year
As for the changes outlined in this article it appears that all Holden are doing is offering certain cars be it Omega Berlina or SS with a range of features based on what they have found to be the most popular Engine/Transmission and Interior combinations with customers who bought that car up to now.
Which makes sense sure there are a few features which should be available across the entire range but why pay 50K for a V8 SS [for example] when the same engine etc is available in the Omega.. in a way it kind of ruins the image of exclusivity so Holden are just trying to restore some differentiation between the models make the basic models more basic and the luxury/spots models sportier
I mean I wouldn’t be surpised if they have dropped the Coloured Dash option in the SS as it wasn;t that popular
wheelnut,
i kenw you would say it was just what you heard.
no offence, but one must stop to evaluate what they have been told and cross it with a bit of common sense before passing it on.
i agree with your other thought in culling the V8 in lower models.
ford did that ages ago.
V8’s were in lower spec cars in the first place because we never used to have top of the range sports models (XR8’s and SS’s, HSV’s and FPV’s).
who wants a V8 if it doesnt look like a V8???
the public already answered that with their swing away from optioning a V8 in non sports models.
it does seem a bit weird to cull 5kw from the 6cyl though.
emissions targets the culprit perhaps??
they could at least have a 6sp auto as an option on lower spec.
ford gave buyers that option.
at least if its an option, those that care and may be turned away by a 4speeder, wont be
Andrew M – come on mate your smarter then this, please READ and UNDERSTAND my comments before replying. If you do that you will see that I actually said that the ford was a superior dynamic car thanks to its suspension tuning. I said that the VE has superior archetecture (which is fact) however the FG beats it for dynamic abilities due to a) the monotube dampers and b) the superior suspension tuning.
So yes your right in saying that the VE’s advantages are on paper only and don’t translate to reality, but don’t say it to me as if your the one who is pointing it out, because I was the one who very clearly stated all of that previously!
And yes Andrew M it would be a big deal to change the a-pillars, but i do know for a fact that holden where considering it, but your right in that it may have to wait for the “major” mid-cycle update which isn’t due till about 2011. At this point the commodore will essentially get totally new exterior styling.
on the auto thing, i’m sure if holden could do something about it right now they would, but they have to wait to the VF update mainly due to budget constraints. Thats the realities that GM lives in atm, they may know what they need to do to improve things, but things can’t just happen by snapping your fingers. Alot of engineering has to go into adopting new transmitions
I’m thinking DanMan didn’t have his cereal the day he wrote, He has the fuzzes.
Gentlemen, It’s called running changes. Ford did it across the BA/BF range, On minute you bought a Fairmont, Next minute a XR6 got a premium option that left the Fairmont in the dust, This happens all the time.
Buy a BF XR8 at over $50,000. Next month it comes in new at something like $5000 off!.
I tell you something, That old 4 speed is many things shit has come to mind. But on the side of fuel economy it has always been good. Now simple plan is to fit the 5 speed and instant fuel economy woohoo. But i don’t believe this to be the case. Why?, Base that on the Calais/SV6. They both get worse economy.
The old 4 box had shorter gears and it made use of them as god as anyone could.
One for the A pillar police. Holden never had the thicker A pillars in the VE. Then along came a 4 legged yank called Mooney. Cut cut cut. This architecture is as brilliant as anything you can think of dollar for dollar, But, There is so much that will never be seen because of this man. The flexibility of this platform is in-sain. And it will be wasted, Thanks in part to Mooney and GM.
Cadillac wanted to build a premium car off it, And GM said no can’t afford it.
Be nice if someone told GM once in a while they can’t afford anything there doing which is only wasting money since they don’t build shit.
VF. I was told August late October. And i was told the biggest changes will be in your eyes. So I’m guessing looks. But then they talk about new motors, DI V6 and 6 speed. And if holden doesn’t ad the 5 speed to the base models, There F wits.
The retention of the 4 speed auto has as much to do with suppliers contracts as much as anything else.
And I think the 5kw drop in power is a search for better economy AND lower emmissions – simple the VE doesn’t meet the emmission targets of many fleets these days, and it will only get worse, with these targets getting tighter.
A-pillar: Look for redesigned INTERIOR TRIM in this area, there will be no structural changes.
And if you want to blind spots, have a look at the Kluger. The A-pillar on those, combined with the (unecessarly large) truck sized mirrors, it’s a shocker!
The factory where thr 4 speed is built is closing so the 6 spd auto will be the base transmission in the facelift model.
We are all forgetting the economic times within which the VE was designed – there was wealth, prosperity and relatively affordable fuel. The whole ball game has changed economically and Ford had some lead time on this to get their product more suited for the market. They’ve leveraged off the Jag connection for buying power to get the ZF 6 spd, the original “control blade” IRS and a host of other detail design and technology cues.
The VE is still performing strongly in the market place and that’s why we’re not seeing too much of a substantial change in its appearance, content or technology. If we’re astute enough to know that Ford has a few surprises up its corporate and engineering sleeves, we gotta realise Holden knows this too and will put something out there to leap frog that – in an economically rationalised, marketing strategy lead way.
Watch this space because we will see a better, more economical, more competitive and 6spd transmissioned facelifted V car inside 9 months.
I hope you’re right regarding the better V car Sean. Things are pointing that way.
The one counterpoint I have to your statement is that every car on the road today was developed in a different economic and fuel price environment to that which we have today, including my little chugger.
That’s why the Aussie makers’ lack of foresight and slow reaction times are lamentable.
Golfschwein – your right about everyone having developed cars in the same times, but the thing is that even toyota are struggling with their large cars, the euro’s too.
It’s not like VW for example suddenly decided that the market was changing so they should build a smaller car called the golf, they where already doing that! It’s just that the changing times drew alot of people out of a larger class of car into a smaller class of car. It’s not that the golf has changed to suit the new environment we live in, it’s just that that segment of car has become more popular.
The funny thing is that over the years I’ve noticed what was once a small car has gradually gotten bigger to the point where a Corolla Civic or Barina is almost as wide/tall as a Commodore yet stuck with a similar sized engine as the original
If this trend continues the small cars will become heavier and end up with worse fuel efficiency than a commodore as its too much weight for the 1.4 or 1.8 litre engine to deal with.
Wheelnut, yes & no.
Sure cars have grown, ofeten to the point where they are stretching the boundaries of thier class, but usually increases in engine capacities and outputs accompany that.
EG Corolla,
1985, 1.3 L, less than 80kw, 920kg
2008, 1.8 L, 100kw, 1220kg
- My haven’t the little suckers grown!
hope your right sean…if you’ve driven the 5-speed box,it dead set feels alot slower than the 4 speed.love the way the box changes gears though,its almost as if the engine “cuts out”for a millisecond while it changes(no shift shock).bring on direct injection,and the 6 speed auto…oh and cut 200kgs out of it too….
Jeykl & Hyde,
Both (?) of you are half right.
Look out for:
Reduced capacity (3.2L?), Direct injection and 6 speed autos.
All in the name of getting Omega/Berlina under emmission limits & back onto the fleet lists.
kinda’ indicates how holden see the Berlina too: Realy only as the upper spec fleet car.
I disagree that Australian manufacturers are slow to respond.
The Golf and Corolla have been around for generations because their primary markets have always favoured small cars – that’s why they exist. Australian manufacturers develop and build what their primary markets want as well. Holden and Ford would be crackers – suicidal in fact – to have invested in developing a small car for the Australian market. Holden tried the downsizing with the original Commodore in what was also difficult economic times and suffered in the market as a result.
I’m not being arrogant, nor am I defending either Holden or Ford. They are giving us what we want in a segment of the market that is shrinking. But what do we want them to do – abandon the segment? Make economically unsound decisions now that may threaten long term viability?
Holden has a small car strategy in place that will make sense to us in the fullness of time. When Daewoo shut up shop in Australia and we then saw the small cars return as Holdens, we were morally outraged. The XC Barina did not sell well at all, the Vectra was dead in the water and the Astra Classic was propping up AH sales. In comes a cheaper Kalos based Barina which has consistently sold better than the XC Barina. The Viva initially sold well but is struggling a bit now after three years on the market with no freshening up or significant marketing. The Astra has one of the widest ranges available of any passenger car on the market (4 body styles, 5 engines, 4 transmissions, sports model, luxo model etc) and sits well behind the Mazda3 in sales.
Next year we will begin to see the strategy fall into place. The new Delta based Daewoo/Chev small car will hit the market and in about 18 months, we will see a new Barina probably also coming from Korea but based on Corsa platforms.
Responding to change is not and cannot be immediate. In the US where the buyers have demanded truck like vehicles that have pillaged the earths resources, manufacturers are cutting production and even mothballing plants. And what happens as a result of this immediate response to the market demand? They are hit with massive payouts to workers which then cripple the development of other core programs.
History tells us that this market shift should have been predicted and the makers should be swift in their response. Well, they have been!!!!!!
Just because we’re not getting a six speed diesel Commodore on the forecourts tomorrow doesn’t mean that Holden isn’t pulling out all the stops to get it to us. Same with Ford. Territory sales are flatlining – the vehicle has been on the market for more than 4 years without any significant update in appearance, equipment or technology. Ford hasn’t left the Territory on the shelf to gather dust. They haven’t had the resources to put behind it to facelift/update it every two years like Toyota has.
Ford committed to the FG Falcon and Territory because that’s what the market was demanding. Holden developed the VE and WM because its what the market was demanding and at the time made global sense for them. We won’t be suffering with a yestertech VE for much longer as the car must compete on an international level – don’t forget it is only the home market that gets the 4 speed/175kW engine – because that is what the market will pay for until the costs of the more sophisticated technology have been amortised sufficiently for it to be applied further down the food chain.
Basically what I’m saying is we have the cars we demand of manufacturers with the $$ we are prepared to pay for them. The reason the Corolla is now 87 Camry sized is because we didn’t buy enough squidgy little Corollas in the markets that liked big cars. Toyota’s current Yaris is bigger than the Corolla of the 80s and as a threshold car, the Yaris is just where the market wants it to be. If it wasn’t, Toyota would sell us its Aygo or iQ or any number of its other, smaller brand offerings. Toyota seems to be more nimble than Holden and Ford because it already has access to existing hardware found in other markets.
When HOlden and FOrd bring in their offerings from abroad, we turn up our noses at them because they’re not what we want from those two brands. Remember when everyone was demanding Ford bring the new Mondeo to Australia? Well, its just languishing out there in the market compared with other mid-size offerings. The Fiesta is another great little car that we’re not buying enough of. The Focus and Astra are the matinee performers whereas the Corolla and 3 are the real performers. (By the way….where’s the whinging and carry on about the Corolla only having a four speed auto? must be on another forum)
We get what we demand and now that we’re demanding more of our large cars, we will get it.
Just not yesterday, and just not tomorrow.
Hi I am thinking of buying a 60th annaversary ve omega or a SV6. Do this years VE’s have the same problems as the earlier models or have they been fixed.
Thanks.
Richo,
My apologies because when you said this…….
QUOTE……..
“most of the motoring press say it (VE) has a better front end, in terms of steering directness and grip, then even the FG.”
I thought you meant the VE has a better front end in terms of steering directness and grip then even the FG.
i just dont know how to interpret that any other way, Sorry…..
hang on your latest quote says
QUOTE…….
“the ford was a superior dynamic car thanks to its suspension tuning. the FG beats it (VE) for dynamic abilities”
talk about a contradiction, no wonder im confused
Slick,
to say the commodore efficiency has always been good with the 4sp auto isnt quite right.
it would prob be fair to say it “used” to be good with the 4sp auto.
that to me suggests the 4sp auto isnt totally to blame for the lower milage. sure another ratio will help, but I’d reckon the change in motor is more the culprit.
sure it will cost holden more to give it a standard 6 speeder, but why dont they do what ford did and at least give it as an option on the entire range including the base runners??
Bret, yes engine capacities in the smaller cars have risen over the years, but the weight of small cars are around 3/4 the weight of a large car, yet the engine size is still around half the capacity.
I still find Wheelnuts comment relevant.
I also find small car efficiency not really worth it. make a big sacrifice to save what?? 2L/100k if that…..
interesting read in the RACQ Mag.
they compared a diesel i30 to a petrol i30,
they compared a Hybrid Civic to a petrol Civic and
they compared an LPG falcon to a petrol falcon.
they totalled up the cost of owning each for 5 years including servicing, depreciation, insurance, fuel costs etc etc,
and they found the only worth while alternative fuel to be the LPG.
Andrew M – i said that the VE has superior steering then the FG, absolutely, but that doesn’t mean that its better dynamically then the FG. The FG is more composed, better ride control, is more predictable, doesn’t have rear axle tramp under heavy breaking (which the VE does) and also has more lateral grip. It is a superior car to punt down a country road, it just happens that the steering on the VE is slightly better, but the rest of the handling package is better then the VE.
So theres no contradiction at all there mate, and i think you know that. If your gonna suggest that because a car has better steering then another car then it automatically makes it dyanmically superior then your having a laugh and you know it. There is so much more to a cars dynamics then just the steering directness.
To summaries just to make sure you cannot possibly miss-understand me
steering in the VE is better then the FG
ride control, composure, grip, brakes, and basically everything else about the dynamic experience with the possible exception of power down/drive out of slow corners, the FG is better then the VE
Therefore, the FG is dynamically superior in all aspects other then steering, which supports what i was saying before 100%.
Geezus Andrew, i can’t even PRAISE the FG falcon without you bloody jumping down my throat! lol
Ok,
lets go back to square 1.
you said the VE has better handling and thats the point i am disputing.
in the cone test which asseses steering directness and turn in etc, the FG came out on top.
then i went on to say you may be right as far as the XR8 V SS models go as i have read reports that the XR8 tends to dip a bit on turn in due to the extra weight.
this doesnt affect the 6cyl models.
the 6cyl models have been proven to be superior in steering directness.
i havent seen a cone/manouver test on the V8 models, but from reading reviews, the SS would prob come out on top.
now ill have to try and remember where i saw the test. perhaps it was on drive because i also remember seeing the video to acompany the review
Richo and andy dont waste your breath lads both cars have limited life spans and won’t last the journey
yeah but my main point Andrew is that the archetecture of the VE is superior then the FG, but the FG is better due to a) its monotube dampers and b) superior tuning.
That point remains. Also maybe the FG gets through the cones better, i don’t know, but everything i have read says the VE “feels” better in the steering. As we all know the car that “feels” the best isn’t necessarily the fastest. Perfect example is how the current STI is actually quicker round a race track then an EVO X, even though the EVO X feels a million times better.
gee andrew m,your mindset..richo is spot on with this stuff.holdens shocks are rubbish,1/2 the early ones have been replaced under warrenty,ditto the front sway bar bushes…have you driven a 50k ve…clunk,clunk,clunk.but please be fair,if you’ve got a fg and love it,great,but the ve’s steering is great,alot better than vz.the weight distribution makes the car handle great,the esp works great,the suspension if easily adjusted,front and rear,and now those expensive bridgestones wear flat as..oh,and front brake wear is outstanding(can’t say that about ANY big ford).my fearless predictions for vf.well how about hinged door pockets,glovebox light,centre console light,radiator cowling cover(all the stuff gm’s taken out of the early models),to make the next models look good…
Richo,
i think we have both arrived at the same route, except one of us took the country road, and the other the coast road.
Everything is only as good as its weakest link.
whats the point of having a more balanced chassis, if you arent going give it the suspension it deserves??
and on the flip side, whats the point of great suspension if its not on the ultimate platform.
the reviews i have read place the 6cyl Falcon range as the better steerer, but its the V8 models where the Commodore is rated as the better steerer.
the commodore obviously deals with the extra weight of a V8 up front better due to having a lesser over hang and hence keeping the weight back further.
for ford to tune a chassis that was designed some 15 years ago and have it more than competitive with a newly designed one is a fair effort i reckon.
and on a side note,
its not just the monotube dampers that have made the BF-FG transition better, its also the new steering rack and pivot front suspension taken front the territory.
Hey Manly, talk about fuel ecocnomy, the 6.0 litre V8 Calais V went from Melbourne to Sydney on one tank. Not bad for a car that when you put your foot down it will pass anything insight. 270 kw and fuel economy like a Camry, you can’t beat that. And as for the ugly XT, Ford just wait till Holden takes a step for them to follow. Holden took out alloys for the Omega, Ford did the same with the XT. Holden took out the Sportwagon, Ford will NOW do the same and take out a version of the FG. Yeah Ford really knows how to call its new model the FG GT, fancy putting that on your plates, everyone will think that your a FAGGET.
And hey THE SALESMEN, what dealership do you work for, “JOES ROCKETS” that sells 2 cars a month, obviously you dont work for someone big, because if you did you will know that V6’s are still selling. And you think that Toyota will get Holden and Fords share of the market, what with its 4 cylinder Camry thats louder than a 6litre SS. Or with its electric car the Prius, which looks like a bar of soap on wheels and costs just as much as an SS. Or maybe with its ‘very safe’ Yaris, which is designed by someone smoking pot, its the ugliest thing out there. Dream On.