Excellent. It would be great to have radar cruise control as well, very useful and saves the driver from constantly tapping + and – while on cruise control.
Zaccy16
All this technology thats going to mated to a old 6 speed auto and harsh unrefined v6 sidi
You’re forgetting the torquey smooth V8. And driving the current CapriceV, I would stop insinuating the tried and true 6speed isn’t good. It’s quite good. But I guess you’ve never driven one.
guest
The V8 is a great engine, suits the car well. Quiet, smooth and incredibly fast. It makes a nice sound too, something no V6 or four-cylinder will do.
Otherwise, the 3.6L SIDI is more than powerful enough for other situations – it can still easily get a Calais up over 200km/h quickly enough. Not that you need to do that here, but… One day we might have better motorways which can make use of this high speed performance and stability.
Zaccy16
it may be torquey and smooth but its also terrible on fuel, for your info i have driven a few commodores, my uncles 2012 omega sidi and it was hopeless, unintelligent auto, loud unrefined torque less engine, i have also friven my next door neighbours sv6 and was better than the omega but still unrefined and cheap, the 6 speed in the commodore doesn’t compare tot he fantastic zf in the falcon
Terrible on fuel? Compared to a noisy 4 cylinder maybe. We aren’t all hung up over the few extra dollars a week. If you want better economy, then the 3.0l SIDI is there for you. I guarantee you, it feels more sporty still then a little econo-box.
It’s funny with the Commodore, people don’t want compromise between a powerful torquey engine and amazing fuel economy, but when it comes to a smaller car, you’ll happily make that compromise.I agree the ZF 6-speed is better, but not by much.
Sumpguard
Notice Zaccy has driven his next door neighbour’s SV6, just like Flogmother has driven his neighbour’s KIA Optima, his neighbour’s Ferrari and his other neighbour’s Bugatti Veyron and ride on mower.
Two of my neighbours trust me enough to leave their house keys with us when they go away but won’t let me drive their cars.
I’m starting to see a pattern emerging here. I reckon Zaccy is Flogmonster’s kid ! Both living the same lie.
“Daddy wake me at 3.00am incase CA do the reveal early” …”I want to remain No 1 spammer”
Captain Nemo®™
I think you’re right Sumpy, Bungel has mentioned several times that he visits Geelong (Zuppy’s home town). But i think brothers not Father/Son both can’t spell for S**t both probably spent more time drawing VeeDud’s on their school books rather than paying attention to the teacher.
Golfmother
Slumguard and able seaman Nemo like two gossiping old ladies nosing into everyones blogs .
Now slum thinks he wants a holden .
Cannot wait till the next Kia story and nemo unleashes his venom on his knitting sister .
Zaccy16
these engines are noisier than the most 4cyl engines, specially the loud and unrefined 3.0 v6, it shows how far behind it is when a much lighter hatch back (golf) has 320 nm torques from its 2.0 diesel and the big v6 has only 290 nm! another example the 2.0 in the focus diesel, 340 nm!
Huh? Are you deranged Zaccy. Open your eyes. You’re comparing a revless TURBO-diesel to a NA petrol engine. That desperate to try and form a cohesive argument? Keep throwing things at the wall, you might get lucky and one will stick.
Ryan
You do realize that all Diesel engines have more torque than most petrol engines? A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing… Maybe you should do some research before you go posting comments
Zaccy16
der ryan! i do relise that, what i was trying to get at with my comment is that a small car like the golf or focus can have a engine that has lots of torque but the commodore can’t! the falcons l6 is a much much better engine than the torqueless sidi with its 395 nm of torque! 105 more than the commodore but more importantly the 4cy turbo ecoboost engine makes 353 nm of torque!
JoeR_AUS
I agree with you, I test drove a new International 3.0 Sidi and got back into my wifes Volvo MY01, with 2.4T engine and it was smoother and quieter and 320nm at 1800rpm. The disappoint was the Volvo had 210,000km on it….
Pro346
The sv6 is great on fuel and goes extremely well…..top end power not much difference when compared to a stock ls1
lee
here we go again!!!
Captain Nemo®™
Well lucky they didn’t decide to go with a clunk-o-rama DSG like VeeDud use.
Darryl
Good that at least GM is one company that has stuck with the torque converter auto in all their cars
lee
Seriously you should drive one. quoting these journos is like commenting on a wine review.. But then again its just u !!!!
Noddy_of_Toyland
Self parking at least makes some sense in a large car like this or SUVs, people who can’t park a Golf or Focus should hand their licenses in.
Zaccy16
nice alloys! but the car is still much too big! it needs to be medium sized to compete
Tom
That’s funny, I was under the impression that the Commodore outsells every single mid sized car.
Zaccy trying to find any angle to put down the local made hero.
Sumpguard
…and remain No1. The tears will flow the day he drops to number 2 and his dad Flogmonger will have to pick him up again.
Kampfer
Have you look at the Mondeo, Camry and new Mazda6. They not much smaller than the Commodore if not bigger…
Darryl
The next Mondeo/Fusion is bigger still. When it eventually gets here. Hurry up Ford, you are behind the 8 ball, as per normal.
JoeR_AUS
agree again, closer to VS to VT size would be better.
It will be interesting when they compare the Mazda 6 as it is 29mm shorter than a VE and bigger than a Falcon.
So Journalist does this make the VF a mid size car?
Matt
Why is there still a damn aerial?!?!?!
Crazy n00b
That aerial is higher up and has 360deg view and provides better reception than in glass aerials which are lower and gets blocked by the metal pillars in some direction. Better reception is good to have in the country.
Shak
In a country as vast and sparely populated as ours, and considering many Commodores still make interstate trips, having an aerial that can basically pick up signal anywhere is useful. Even if it looks silly, you will notice that like the VE it is removable, but this time it sits on a shark fin, which likley means it will work just fine in cities.
Devil’s Advocate
Because Holden are actually thinking about people who live in the GAFA.
Steve2013
So it is true, you can polish a turd!
Nick
You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter.
Seriously, though massive improvement. It’s a pity the commodore never lived up to its potential of which the VF is indicative.
MW
it was proven on Mythbusters that you can polish a turd, just takes a lot of effort
DAVIDZ
No folding back seat, FAIL
No bench 3 seater Ute, FAIL
No powertrain improvements, FAIL
Far too expensive, FAIL
But still better than say a i45 orphan
Shak
1. Agreed
2. Why?
3. They have been, we just dont know them yet
4. Also dont know yet.
Henry Toussaint
Whats with the i45 bit?
Darryl
If you want orphan try Holden Piazza
Sydlocal
Wow, déjà vu.
Someone has been busy cutting and pasting from the other VF articles….
Golfschwein
My fears have been allayed.
MisterZed
lol, the only photos they’ve shown us are of the top of the line Calais V. Hmm, wonder why.
Tom
Maybe because that’s the way they’ve always done it? You’re such a wet blanket mate.
The car doesn’t go on sale until may, why give all your eggs away?
Allay 62
More on the commdore and hopefully everything works after a few thousand km,
Sydlocal
It will be interesting to see considering the teething problems they had with the first VEs when it came to the electrics. I hope they get it right this time.
Golfmother
Yer the chinese imput gave them big headaches last time round , very messy .
Sumpguard
A veedud Fanboi talking about reliability in other brands. LOL !
Golfmother
No problems with the 3 i have had .
Force-15
But how long have you kept them for? I remember you saying once that you only leased them for three-year periods.
Golfmother
Three to four , like most business or fleet cars which take more hammering than mummys school run car in a short period of time .
Sumpguard
Your mummy’s school run?
guest
See nothing I have not seen before from around as the guy says nothing too see here looks like so many others out there ………………………….
Guest
I can see the insurance premiums going through the roof for VF owners. I mean seriously they can’t get the basics right, what hope is there that it can park itself successfully!
Ted
Nice looking car, and hopefully you sell well ..
Mick Dunn
Focus Titanium can park itself can it not? We’ll see if the list price of the base VF comes in lower.
That aside – I think this is a stand out for a locally made car. It’s about time it had this level of technology incorporated. Current fashion aside, the sportwagon variants of the VF are going to be an excellent choice as a family car.
Darryl
Auto only licences – how soon before we have can’t park licences?
Gardeners-r-us
Hate to own one after the warranty ends …will be a very expensive car to fix ….that tht good looking either :s
Sam
It’s funny how anyone that tries to bag this car is unable to put together a sentence that makes much sense. It will not be expensive to fix, Commodores never are.
Rob
Tom, you are spot on. Nothing but negative, uneducated comments by most on here. Truth is, this VF looks awesome, has a seriously classy interior and is full of world class technological features, all combined with a super powerful and impressive 6ltr V8 which performs outstandingly on Australian roads and costs 1/3rd the price of the equivalent Euro. Holden is on a winner here, no doubt whatsoever, the overall VF Calais V package is impossible to beat for value, size and driving enjoyment. I cant wait to drive one. We are so lucky to have access to these awesome cars at such a reasonable price, well done Holden, my 32 year love affair with this iconic brand looks set to continue…
Sumpguard
Nice post Rob.
Surely though you expected Flogmother, EggZacctly and DAVIDZzZzZ to bag it out. They can’t scrape enough IQ together between them to make double digits (or a brain big enough to feed a micro-organism) so their bagging of every single aspect of what is essentially a motor vehicle Holden can be quite proud of is to be expected.
We’ve worked out that Flogmother is EggZacctly’s dad as they both drive the entire neighbourhood’s cars but I’m not sure where DavdZzZz fits in. Maybe he is Zaccy’s other personality (or one of many) and helps him steal the neighbour’s cars?
Zaccy has bagged out , the interior ,the engines, the styling, the transmissions ,the aerial ,the brand, the Korean influence, the Malibu influence, the Daewoo influence, the guy who did the reveal and every thing else he could think to bag out. Yet this is the same moron that thinks that because his LED TV was “assembled in Malaysia” that the panel was manufactured there.
Holden have done a good job considering they wouldn’t have had a massive budget to work with. I look forward to hearing how it drives but so far so good.
Zaccy16
I didn’t mention anything about the aerial sumpy, and I am no relation to golf mother or David, they just both have a similar opinion to me
Golfmother
Time to ditch the Kia slumguard , wobbly handling , i can see you in the crummerdore .
I am waiting to hear about the 200 kilo’s they were going to shave off this fat mother , no mention of how much the diet took off , after all economy is on everyones lips .
Force-15
What do you mean “no mention of how much the diet took off”? I’ve read elsewhere (Drive if you must know) that ~50kg has been dropped. That’s not bad considering the amount of new gizmos added but considering that this wears a non-European badge you won’t think it’s good enough. Oh, and FYI, the drag coefficient’s been dropped from 0.33 to <0.30.
Golfmother
Last year there was talk of 200 kg coming out , if VAG can take 100kg out of the mk7 golf then 50kg is pathetic , economy !
Sumpguard
VAG took 200 kg out of the quality!
Golfmother
Sumguard so you have already sat in the mk7 , driven it of course , the bar has been raised , back to the drawing board for Kia .
Chris Buckley
You’re right Rob, The VF Does look awesome. . Something I honestly couldn’t say for the VE. Elements of it were nice but on the whole, not great at all. That 3.0L Engine needs an overhaul. They should have gone with a smaller force inducted unit. The 2.0L Turbo would be ideal. I hope they’ve revised that dreadful A-Pillar too.
MW
Yeh the self parking, blind spot warning, reverse traffic warning, etc is good, but its also a little sad that some people need help doing these things. One issue with blind spot warnings is they are all put in the side mirror and a lot of drivers that need that warning won’t even see it as they just go across to the next lane without looking anywhere.
Liking the HUD, the less time with eyes off the road the better
