Toyota Aurion vs Holden VE Commodore Fuel Consumption
September 5, 2006 by Alborz Fallah
In this day and age, its still okay for car companies to be releasing V6s with a fuel economy of around 12/100km. Why is it okay? Mainly because consumers are still game to pay good money for big V6/V8s. Nonetheless, the V6 market is set for a change with Toyota releasingthe all new Toyota Aurion this November.
Toyota claims that the new Aurion will produce an enormous 200kW in power whilst having a 9.9L/100km fuel rating. If this is the case, it will put it infront of the Holden Commodore AND the Ford Falcon by leaps and bounds.
Given the 200kW, the Toyota Aurion V6 will be the most powerful naturally aspirated locally-built 6 cylinder vehicle in Australia. If that wasn’t enough, Toyota’s figures are achieved using regular unleaded petrol, since the figure climbs to 204kW with premium unleaded petrol. Still using just 9.9litres/100km.
Toyota really likes to compare the Aurion with its main competitor, the Holden VE Commodore. Toyota is quick to point out that the recently launched VE Commodore uses over 9% more fuel without achieving the power output of the Aurion.
So how will the Aurion V6 achieve these seemingly contradictory figures?
Its become a fashion statement these days for any car manufacturer that has anything todo with Formula one to use their links to sell their every day cars. Toyota is no different. Toyota claims that the Aurion will boast an F1 inspired, technologically advanced 3.5L quad cam V6 with Dual VVT-i, which elevates power output whilst optimising fuel efficiency.
Also the 6-speed automatic transmission that allows the big V6 to use its power reserves more wisely. And not only that, this 6-speed, sequential-style automatic transmission will be the offered across the entire range. In the past, these transmissions have only been offered in performance or luxury variants of Big Aussie 6s.
Aurion V6 promises to be a true home grown success story having been designed and engineered for Australia’s unique conditions. Build quality will be another standout feature with Aurion V6 being assembled at Toyota’s state of the art Altona plant in Melbourne. Aurion’s unique combination of performance and fuel economy is set to make new standard for the Big Aussie 6 market.
Personally, I have this before, the Toyota Avalon comes to mind. Nonetheless, the Aurion should be a very interesting car. What still amazes me is how many car manufacturers are still hedging their bets on family cars and not concentrating enough on the small/medium segment. Then again, Toyota already leads the medium car segment with the Corolla so the Aurion is simply to take market away from the Commodore.
Tags: Holden VE Commodore, Toyota Aurion
Test drove an Aurion last Thursday and was very impressed. After 450 minutes of hard driving, the Aurion returned 10.6L/100km economy. A more normal usage of the car would yield around 8L/100km or better. The best car I have ever driven. Kills the competition and I have driven them all recently.
I drove an Aurion V6 last weekend, I took it back to Avis the next day & asked to have a VE Commodore instead. Why?
The Aurion had a foot brake.
Couldn’t find reverse gear easily (zigzag shift pattern).
Front wheel drive torque was annoying.
Drivers door mirror was curved & made the images seem slightly distorted.
The Aurion didn’t have an Auto-Start ignition.
The Aurion was harder to park, seemed to have a larger turning circle.
The Aurion A-Pillar seem to get in the way even though it is smaller than the VE.
The VE was just a much better drivers car, with all the SAAB features built-in like high strength roof, fuel tank in front of the back wheels, super quiet wipers, & ESP I just felt at home driving it. The Steering is so good, so precise, it makes driving or parking a real pleasure.
Recent testing by Wheels magazine has the Aurion returning fule consumption on test of over 10L/PH and very similar to the Mitsu 380 and VE Commodore on the same test. Not quite what Toyota have been spin-doctoring and this fact was duly noted in the Wheels article.
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Its funny that, wheels discrediting the Aurion, LOL! Everyone I have heard from that owns an Aurion has backed up Toyotas claims, under normal driving it gets under 10L
Everyone drives differently but these 9.9L/100km figures are obtained from a standardized testing procedure. If someone criticizes the Aurion because in their driving experinece they achieved 10L/100km instead, you could drive the Commodore the same way and achieve more than 12L/100km, say, 13L/100km. It is a tendency for people with a cognitive bias for a car brand to be strict on the opponent but slack on whatever they have an emotional connection to.
Aurion is fuel efficient but there are more fuel efficient cars out there, such as the Accord Euro, which achieves 9.4L/100km. The Holden Epica coming out can get about 8.2L/100km with a manual. Of course all these are medium-sized cars and they don’t have the power that the Aurion has.
Although these are all good cars i’m sure , i personally don’t agree with all the hype about fuel economy. I feel
that if you like a car enough you will buy it no matter what , a few dollars here or there is not really that important to me and we are talking only a few dollars difference .It would do manufacturers better to concentrate on what a car can do or can’t rather than talk about miniscule differences in running costs.Perhaps safety concerns where the occupants of a vehicle are concerned would be a better argument.
Toyota aurion is more better than the Holden VE Commodore because it is much powerful than Holden VE Commodore
Toyota is the best car and much better than ford and holden
It’s strange that the 9.9l/100km consumption of the Aurion is exactly the same as the Camry, 1.1 liters and two cylinders less.
I tried the Camry before but can only manage 13l/100km despite a light foot. There was a bit of traffic and the car only ran 1620km when I rented it, but I still expected better.
The VE is imperfect despite satisfying driver desires better than the Aurion, but the latter does everything else better. It’s quicker, more efficient and will certainly last much longer. I wouldn’t believe any $1B rubbish if it can only come up with a primitive 4-speed auto in the base model.
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Yep not to mention they claim all this testing, which contributed to that $1 billion price tag… yet we see 3 major recalls on two things (fuel pump + battery drainage) that should have been picked up.
Whats highway fuel economy like in the ve V6 or & V8?
Suppost to have better aerodynamics?
Has anyone got one on injected LPG?
Tony
I have just done 3500 KM in a new [4000k's] Hertz Aurion from Cairns to Mt Isa and back including trips to Canninton and Cloncurry.
The car returned an average of 7.6 ltrs per 100 KM and was set to cruise at around 8 k’s over the prevailing legal limit at any time [except for 60 and 80 zones].
I was pretty happy with this!
The fact of the matter is, Toyota has a proven reputation for building their cars well and making them so they last. The Camry and Aurion only add to it by being cars made to suit local conditions and desires, sure it may be Front-Drive which might upset dynamics and perhaps in true Toyota style might be more a car of purpose than fun but what would you rather live with every day is the real question and just who can you trust? We have had 4 Toyota’s thus far and all have gone virtually without fault. Toyota also is a very powerful brand especially in this day and age and have more integrated access to resources. If they decide to adventually turn the Aurion into a Rear-Drive machine the Americans will have a lot of trouble selling here then.
Rented 2 cars from Avis at Cairns this past week and drove about the same distance in each, filling up at the same servo just before returning them. Car 1: brand new Astra with 35 km on the clock. Car 2: Aurion with 600 km on the clock. Identical fuel consumption, 8L/100 km. Says it all for me.
Rented 2 cars from Avis in Darwin this past week and drove about the same distance in each, filling up at the same servo just before returning them. Car 1: brand new Toyo Corolla with 35 km on the clock. Car 2: FG FALCON with 600 km on the clock. Identical fuel consumption, 8L/100 km. Says it all for me.