- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.2i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
108kW, 203Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 8.2L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Extra Vectra
It's impressively refined and packaged but expensive alongside its predecessor. Compared to its European rivals, however, Holden's Vectra CD hatch is a bargain.
Pigeonhole: Premium medium.
Philosophy: Add cachet to brand with a European designed and built medium-size car.
Trivia: The new Vectra was the last car Holden boss Peter Hanenberger oversaw before he left Opel of Germany to join Holden.
Who's buying it: Not as many as the last one. Holden has modest sales expectations of the new Vectra as medium-car sales are at a 10-year low.
Why you'd buy it: European styling, refinement and packaging. You like Holdens but don't want or need the larger Commodore. The Vectra is a bargain compared with its European rivals.
Why you wouldn't: The Vectra is expensive compared with a similarly equipped Commodore.
Standard equipment: Air-conditioning, CD player, remote central locking. Most bases are covered.
Safety: Dual airbags, anti-lock brakes and traction control. All five seats have lap-sash belts and head restraints. Strong body structure. It is yet to be independently crash tested, but should perform well.
Cabin: As with all the latest designs from Europe, the Vectra has a dashboard which sweeps across the cabin as opposed to ones which are angled towards the driver. More trivia: the new Vectra is the first modern European-sourced car in Australia to have its indicator stalk mounted on the right of the steering wheel. But its three-flash minimum takes a bit of getting used to.
Seating: Excellent. Good support, great comfort front and rear.
Engine: The 2.2-litre four-cylinder may not be the most powerful in its class, but it moves along nicely and efficiently.
Transmission: Five-speed manual had a precise feel, the five-speed auto was smooth. I prefer manual transmissions, but the Vectra's auto is excellent.
Steering: Well-weighted, responsive feel. Turning circle 11 metres. Average.
Ride: Supple even over the sharpest bumps and thumps.
Handling: Better than most front-drive Europeans in this class. Holden tuned the suspension locally, and the results show.
Fuel: On test we returned 11 litres per 100 kilometres in the manual and 12 in the auto. This is not much more frugal than a Holden Commodore V6.
Brakes: Four-wheel discs with ABS have a strong, positive feel. The auto version felt like it pulled up a little better because the gearbox slows the car by shifting down a gear.
Build: Three of the four Vectras we drove on the media launch had minor niggles, but nevertheless ones that we hadn't encountered on other premium products. The interior light came on when we hit a pothole and another car had more wind noise than normal from the driver's window. Another's handbrake had a sporadic creak when engaging. Nothing the first service couldn't handle.
Warranty: Three years/100,000 kilometres.
Audio: Above-average sound from the Blaupunkt AM-FM CD player. Memo Holden: why does the Commodore's Blaupunkt system lack the Vectra's volume and quality?
Cost: There are five models in the Vectra range, available in sedan and hatch. Prices stretch from $34,990 for the CD sedan manual to $52,180 for the V6-powered CD-X hatch. Be sure to haggle as the price has jumped 27 percent compared with the old model.
Verdict: The new Holden Vectra is worthy of premium status and adds some gloss to the Holden image. But convincing Australians to pay more for a car with a smaller engine than the Commodore could prove challenging.
Prices correct at publication date.