Calais beats merc & bmw in road test

[lexoto]

Just read the road test of the Holden calais v merc v bmw in wheels magazine and the Holden beats the german cars.
The calais cost about $60,000 while the german cars cost $150,000.
Pretty impressive...........

[wayno]

Haven't seen the new Wheels yet. Thanks for the heads up. The SS-V seems to be the 'hero' car of the new range, but a lot of tests I've read so far have expressed a leaning towards the Calais V or whatever it's called.

[brchi17]

Bfw

[jager]

Just read the road test of the Holden calais v merc v bmw in wheels magazine and the Holden beats the german cars.
The calais cost about $60,000 while the german cars cost $150,000.
Pretty impressive...........

I recall reading a Wheels magazine from 15 years ago where they said the same thing. I'm sure they recycle the same articles just by changing the prices and the dates.

[05shan]

Good to see, new SS looks great, but i'm leaning towards the Calais in my old age.

[lexoto]

You think it could be a cash for comments situation?

[vr-x3500]

Be interesting to see whether the Germans would rate the Calais in front of their own product ;).

[lukey73]

Be interesting to see whether the Germans would rate the Calais in front of their own product ;).

The biggest failing BMW have at the moment is by using runfalt tyres, they upset the handling of there cars. I have bought a couple of BMW's lately and have asked to get normal tyres fitted on delivery, the dealer understands why.

[brchi17]

I can't see anyone who was genuinely going to spend 150k on a car choosing the Holden, but a lot of people who can't afford a 150k car settling, quite happily on a Calais

[wayno]

The biggest failing BMW have at the moment is that most of the boots of their cars look like they have been made to fit a taxi add on them.
Hideous! Especially the 7 series.

[Designer]

The secret behind the success of the VE is the platform. The body stucture is super stiff. The section through the sill for example of the body side outer , is actually stiffer than a 5 series BMW and double the size of a VT. Stiff chassis equals a greater chance to set the car up dynamically. The front suspension is also very similar to BMW now.

The VE is geared up to sell globally. It is, in many ways, world class. The investment in the platform is massive, and it will rely on exports to help get returns on the investment.

The bottom line is that everyone who gets a VE will get themselves a majorly improved package over VZ....

[vr-x3500]

With the development cost of that of the VE you'd want to hope it would be better than it's predecessor.

[brchi17]

The secret behind the success of the VE is the platform. The body stucture is super stiff. The section through the sill for example of the body side outer , is actually stiffer than a 5 series BMW and double the size of a VT. Stiff chassis equals a greater chance to set the car up dynamically. The front suspension is also very similar to BMW now.

The VE is geared up to sell globally. It is, in many ways, world class. The investment in the platform is massive, and it will rely on exports to help get returns on the investment.

The bottom line is that everyone who gets a VE will get themselves a majorly improved package over VZ....

so what you're saying that is Holden have simply built their own copy of a BMW :p LOL !!!!:D

[Graeme]

Want a German media opinion ??

Why not stick some Opel badges on a left hooker version of a Calais V and send it off to the Fatherland - after all, that's pretty much where the Commodore came from 28 years ago !

[Mux]

brchi17, you are spot on. I'm not referring to everyone, but i have found alot of people who buy expensive european cars do so and then they feel like they are better than everyone because of whatever badge their cars posess.
I don't think Holden will be stealing high end customers of BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes simply because it's a Holden. I do however believe alot of people who just scrape into these expensive european cars will have a much harder look at these awesome new holdens.

You could get yourself a 2.1 litre X-type Jaguar brand new for about 60,000, or instead go for the more feature packed, and all round cheaper car, in servicing, parts and a whole lot more. I bloody know what i'd be buying, Holden have finally hit the nail on the head i really do believe it.

The reason i think it's such a good car is because it seems to have taken design ideas from much more expensive luxury european cars, i have noticed alot of similarities, some people may even say copying. All i can say is even if it was copied, that's hardly a bad thing. Like Jeremy Clarkson once said it's like saying you look too much like Brad Pitt!

[Nick Short]

"Beats" them how? If it was on price it would be a walkover. But the BMW and Merc won't be $150,000 in Germany. Import a Calais to Germany and the price differential won't be so great! Wheels does have a fixation with Falcons and Commodores etc, and perhaps has a vested interest in promoting the Australian car market. When the British car industry was so dire, with British Leyland prodcuing the worst range of badly built cars outside Eastern Europe, the press went from blindly and patriotically supportive to realistically critical, and the car industry died. So support is necessary, but it shouldn't blind to reality. To suggest that Holden have somehow put their finger on something overlooked by those amateurs at BMW and Mercedes, and created a better car is ridiculous!

[lexoto]

Those bmw's look crap.
And the run flat tyres and the idrive are crap too.

[vr-x3500]

Personally I'd much prefer one of these in my garage than a VE. I know the look of them isn't to everyones taste but IMO they look better and with a top speed (once de-restricted) of over 300 km/h what more could you want except for a cheaper price so i could afford one ;)

http://www.ozcarsightings.com/updates/EITOB062/Exo tics%20in%20the%20Outback%20(188).jpg

Be sure to have a look around the website to, there are some great pics on there. http://www.ozcarsightings.com

Thanks to the person who owns the website for allowing me to like his site. :2thumbsup:

[Leigh]

Wheel's always relates everything back to "value-for-money", so not surprising really!

Designer,

I hope they put some strength into those chassis rails through the sills...I've taken many cars bush, but only flattened the chassis rails in one...the VT! Built for stiffness and not strength those sills were!

[monarocveightz]

Congrats to Holden, but i don't think it was exactly a fair test (probably because Wheels might be biased to Aussie cars), and i can't see a $60,000 to be better than a $150,000 car either (yet again not many like the run flats and I-drive in BMW) I think it need's to be tested in may be America or England to get a more fair test.

If i had the money i would love a Merc but i wouldn't so i would go for a Calais (still wouldn't have the money for that either

Great job Holden and i hope they do well selling overseas

Can't wait to see Fords answer to the VE.

[vr-x3500]

Thanks to the person who owns the website for allowing me to like his site. :2thumbsup:

Sorry that was meant to read LINK his site :o

[Dingo]

Wheels does have a fixation with Falcons and Commodores
s/Wheels/Australians in general/

[Designer]

With the development cost of that of the VE you'd want to hope it would be better than it's predecessor.

A chassis to compete in the global market ain't cheap...The only way Holden will survive as a brand is to export their product.

[Designer]

so what you're saying that is Holden have simply built their own copy of a BMW :p LOL !!!!:D

Not really...The Commodore size and packaging dimensions don't really align it against any BMW..size wise it's a 5.5 Series BMW...
A lot of BMW "things" were used as benchmarks for the new Commodore.

The fact that you laugh at the notion of Holden copying BMW, is not surprising,...but the stark reality is, the Commodore had to get a lot better, very quickly or else Holden will not survive.

Badge culture and badge bias is still with us, but it's getting better. There are those who can see the benifits already made by Holden for making a car that is world class in many respects....but you will always have the "haters" that will turn a blind eye to any advancements made by Aussie car companies...but that's ok:rolleyes:
{I just wish we could lose that 4 speed auto...:D}

IMO ,Powertrains and drivetrains is the one area where we just dont match BMW

[lexoto]

Yeah that 4 speed auto is a bit dissapointing.
Most cars like that have 6 speed auto's.

[Designer]

Yeah that 4 speed auto is a bit dissapointing.
Most cars like that have 6 speed auto's.

Calais, Calais V, SS, and SSV all have six speed auto...it's the Base omega and Berlina that get the clunker....

[monarocveightz]

I think the Commodore seems more like a Audi than a BMW to me ,the rear lights look similar to Audi, same with the flat bottom steering wheel,

[wayno]

The Berlina gets the clunker? That seems a bit rich for what is supposed to be a higher range car.

[brchi17]

The Berlina gets the clunker? That seems a bit rich for what is supposed to be a higher range car.

Not anymore I'm afraid mate & I suspect that someone/s in the marketing dept. hopes that more people don't realise it either. Pretty poor in more book. Why spend many years developing a name plate as a semi-prestige name, only to downgrade it later on in life...:rolleyes: ???

The equivalent to the old Belina in the VE line up appears to be the Calais, but don't get it confused with the old Calais as this new one is not the top of the range like it used to be, it's now called a Calais V....:rolleyes:

[lexoto]

The berlina is not that cheap so deseves a 6 speed,in fact all the models deserve it as well.
Hopefully this model is a reliable car in years to come and things like paint fade doesn't happen as in previous commodores...........

[Nick Short]

Just to reiterate, I'm not one of the "haters"! I think the car is good but I'm immune to hype, that's all. I'm still curious how it costs $1,000,000,000+ to build a new Commodore though.

[Designer]

Just to reiterate, I'm not one of the "haters"! I think the car is good but I'm immune to hype, that's all. I'm still curious how it costs $1,000,000,000+ to build a new Commodore though.

Curious? There's no secrets at all.
1 billion has been invested in the new commodore simply because it's a completely new global platform.
This is relatively cheap actually...if you look at other manufacturers costs.

When you take into account the ammount of cars that will be developed using this platform, both here domestically and for overseas markets, the apparent large invest will make more sense.