Anomalous Cargo: Holden's Calais and Evoke Sportwagons

In an Australian world where uncertainty about local car manufacturing reigns supreme, Holden stays true to one traditional element: the station wagon. Of the four manufacturers of recent years, Mitsubishi gave up after the final Magna, Toyota canned it with the change from Camry to Aurion and Ford said the Territory will have to do. Fondly regarded as either a rep-mobile or something to lug Mum, Dad and 2.5 kids about in something that wasn’t a SUV, the station wagon is seen as an anomaly. Overseas it’s called an Estate, Tourer, Sportbrake however Holden has gone with Sportwagon.

The Driven Heart
Holden’s alloy 3.0L V6 is the budget repmobile powerplant for the Evoke. It’s aimed at companies, a fleet purchase style and maybe, just maybe, an entrepreneurial private buyer. It’s not the torqueiest donk around, with 290 metres of Mr Newton’s finest at 2600rpm butting up against max power of 185kW at a high 6700rpm. It’s a lack noticeable off the line compared to the standard 3.6L, but will still get you, thanks to the smooth six speed auto with some smart ratio thinking, to illegal speeds reasonably quickly. It’s relatively unstressed, quiet even as it reaches its top revline, with the transmission mostly holding up. It’s hesitant under low throttle, unsure and has the vehicle stuttering somewhat until a reasonable right foot pressure measurement comes into play. Once in its stride the engine and gearbox work well together, minimally fussed, the lack of punch noticeable but not an issue. It’s rated, economy wise, at 8.6L/100K from the 71L tank but on a seven day test was closer to 11L (combined city and highway), with that lack of torque (and moved slightly higher up the rev range compared to VE) contributing to the extra usage. It will, however, run on unleaded from E85 to E10. The Calais V has the 6.0L V8 with 260kW @5600rpm and twists out 517Nm at 4400 rpm (auto, with the manual gaining 10kW and 13Nm) with the gear rations slightly different to the manual and virtually identical in the higher gears to the Evoke. The extra torque sees less stuttering, a more surefooted approach to acceleration and, naturally, a bigger shove in the back when the go pedal is asked to say yes.
The Office
It’s certainly a sweeter looking place inside the cabin for the driver and passenger with Holden’s much vaunted revamp providing better ergonomics but, more importantly, a better electronic architecture. The redesigned dash holds a eight inch touch screen infotainment setup (MyLink) with internet radio applications, available via smartphone connection and for those using Apple phones there’s a Siri EyesFree mode, reverse park camera standard across the range, Bluetooth phone connectivity with voice control, plus a new electric park brake and information shown in monochromatic glory for the driver (Evoke) with the Calais getting a colour screen; info is selected via a button and rotary dial on the indicator stalk. The plastics for the interior still have a touch of old school look and feel, particularly for the seat supports, the key barrel for the Evoke looks tacked on like an afterthought however the Calais V is push button started and the top of the dash console has an uneasy mix of rippled plastic and faux leather covering for the instrument binnacle. A colour coordinated touch is the cloth run as a swathe across from one side to the other, with a dark grey blending with the black plastic on the Evoke however the Calais gets a lighter colour swatch and doesn’t appear to be quite at home. The Evoke’s tiller is a solid, chunky yet comfortable piece with the Calais V sporting a slightly slimmer and leather clad version, complete with a flat curve on the bottom. The seats are comfortable enough, look fine with the black cloth or leather (apart from the same light colour material looking as if it will dirty earlier), there’s memory and heated seats for the V and having an auto box somehow makes it just that much easier to reach the pedals compared to the layout with a manual. The rear seats are a sixty/forty split fold and provide a mammoth cargo space, 895L or 2000L with seats down.
Holden’s spend on the Commodore hasn’t been all wise though; as I’ve previously noted, placing the USB/Aux connections in the centre console bin makes no ergonomic sense at all given that there’s space to use ahead of the gear lever in the rubberised (and tacky looking) storage section and electronically would make sense to have the ports closer to the main part of the system, although it is where HSV place a dial cluster. Also, the chrome surround for the gear lever has a tendency to reflect the sun directly into the drivers eyes.
Naturally there’s a full suite of electronic stuff to play with: the aforementioned Bluetooth and touchscreen with buttons at the bottom that can too easily be rested on by a wrist, dual zone climate control aircon, plenty of airbags, cruise, electric windows all round (oddly however, not auto up on the Evoke), bottom of door mounted exit lights and the reverse parking system that reads the painted lines and car spaces then guides you in but still relies on the pilot to control the throttle. There’s also remote start for the Calais.
The Sheetmetal)
Externally, the Sportwagon is identically curved to its VE predecessor from the A pillar rearwards. It’s forward that a visual difference is apparent; from the hawk eye headlight cluster above and framing the chin spoiler and re-profiled grille, to the Jaguar inspired fender vents and bonnet bulge. It has the effect of visually shortening the frontal look, handy with a vehicle just shy of five metres long (4919mm). The Calais has the addition of black chrome to the headlight inserts and LED DRLs (daytime running lights).
On The Road
The Evoke rides on 225/65 Bridgestone Turanza tyres wrapping 16 inch alloys and the Calais V is shod with 245/40/19s. The Calais has the firmer ride, not unexpectedly and a slightly heavier heft to the electrically assisted steering. Both tip into turns nicely, the Turanza tyres will scrabble for grip and squeal with protest on the Evoke but will provide front end grip and a touch of slip to the rear for the Calais; the traction control system is programmed for Aussie conditions, allowing some normal driving latitude before nanny mode cuts in.
There’s a distinct lack of wallowing over bumps, shopping centre entry bumps are dispatched with nary an afterthought and the lower profile rubber on the Calais transmits little in the way of noise and plenty in the way of what the road and car are doing. Steering is largely direct, there is a touch of vagueness on centre but the feel is of a communicative and well weighted setup. It shows some solid and sensible engineering, given the still too porky weight of the cars (including aluminuim bonnet) ranging from 1717kg to a whopping 1866kg for the Calais V.
The Wrap
Holden is Australian. It’s synonymous with our lifestyle, its cars have been developed for our conditions. Holden can also be, somewhat fairly, accused of hubris, in believing it was untouchable. Its big car line, the Commodore, is 35 years old, one of the country’s oldest continuing nameplates yet, at times, never seemed to advance hugely or be priced at a rate commensurate with its market share. It’s history now that Holden has undertaken a significant redevelopment of the aging VE platform and reduced prices in a possibly last ditch effort to stave off what many see as the inevitable. It’s worked, so far, with Commodore sales on a rise since the VF was released. The Evoke retails at $36990 + ORCs while the Calais V is down to $54990 + ORCs. In an environment where the Australian car industry is under threat yet we do make world class vehicles at a pretty decent price, these two stand out and moreso for the fact they’re wagons, a rarity in our overcrowded market and absolutely deserve a re-consideration for your drive.
http://www.holden.com.au/cars/commodore/sportwagon-range http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/viva-dengi-credit.html

Tyred Out Yet?

They’re the four pieces of rubber that are the most important part of your car as they are the only part of the vehicle that touches the road. Tyres, a criminally underrated part of your chosen chariot, are also responsible for confusion and angst. There’s numbers on the side and people hear about different…things about compounds. Here’s the skinny on what they’re all about.

The numbers: On the sidewall of a tyre will be information about the tyre, with the simplest being something looking like this: “225/60/17”. Tyres are, naturally, wrapped around wheels. The wheels will have a diameter and in a metric age are still listed by inches. Smaller cars will generally have wheel diameters of 14 to 16 inches, medium cars generally up to 17 whilst large cars can be up to 19 as standard and certain cars can be fitted with up to 22 inch diameter wheels. The tyres then will have that info and will be showing the diameter as the last number. The other two work hand in hand, with the biggest number being the width across the tread of the tyre in millimetres (225) and the sidewall height or profile, from the rim of the wheel to the tread, expressed as a percentage of the tread width. This means that our 225/60 tyres will have a sidewall being equalling 60 percent of the width of the tread.

Tossed into that set of numbers could be something like this: 225/60VR/17. For over 40 years, tyres have been constructed in a radial design (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_tire) and have speed rating applied to them for certain intended purposes. A V rating permits that tyre to be run up to 240km/h with the R denoting a Radial construction. Although Australia, for example has a maximum permitted road speed of 110 km/h, there are places where a car can be travelling above that limit, such as a race track plus, in a world market, other countries have higher permissable speeds.

Rolling diameter: this is nothing more complicated than how to mix and match tyre and wheel sizes to give, effectively, the same size circle. Let’s use 205/65/15 tyres for a mid 1990s Commodore. The OVERALL diameter is about 647mm. The driver decides to fit some 19 inch diameter wheels; if they were to fit the same PROFILE (65) tyres the overall diameter would be well over 700mm. This is both currently illegal and in real and serious danger of the rubber fouling the inside of the wheel arches plus can give a false reading to the speedometer. Therefore a LOWER profile tyre needs to be used. By using 35 profile tyres (height is 35% of the width of the tyre) the overall diameter is brought back to 647mm. Of note is how a profile can affect the perceived ride of a car; a higher profile tyre will have more sidewall “give” than a lower; think of a well padded cushion versus a slim one of the same material. The tyre and wheel increase can also be known as “plus one/two etc”.

Compounds: rubber can be soft, it can be hard and anywhere in between. Followers of motorsport will be aware of hard/soft/medium compounds being bandied around as easy as we talk about the weather and really, that’s pretty much all this means. Soft tyre compounds will give more grip overall however may wear quicker due to the extra grip, whereas hard compound may not grip quite so well, will last longer and may not give a softer ride. However, there’s a little bit more to it such as where the tyres will be used as weather conditions on a ongoing basis.

Tyre pressures: these can be read as PSI (pounds per square inch) or kilopascals. Most companies use PSI and it’s and indication of how much pressure is required to stop excessive wear of the tyre balanced against the expected load the tyres will carry (car, passengers and cargo). This information for each car can be found on a placard attached to the car and also on the tyre sidewall. It’s important to have correctly pressure tyres to stop wear either on the centre of the tyre (over inflated) or on the edges (underinflated) plus ride quality and handling can be severely affected

Run flat/spacesaver tyres: run flats are intended to give some measure of sidewall support should the tyre have deflated past its normal recommended pressure for any reason and will allow the vehicle to be driven, to a point, where the tyre can be replaced. Comfort levels are not included as part of the design. Space savers are becoming more and more common, partly to save weight but primarily to, as the name implies, save space, generally in the boot of the car. They are NOT intended to be used for anything other than to temporarily replace a normal tyre and are an emergency item.

Brands: there are heaps to choose from, such as Bridgestone, Dunlop, Kumho, Firestone, just to name a few; the actual construction quality will be of a higher standard in the better known brands and independent testing tends to show better overall grip and performance levels.

Tread patterns: there’s a couple of terms, such as asymmetric and directional, that catch people. Most “normal” tyres are symmetrical, in that the tread looks the same on the left and right of the tyre and are generally for everyday use. Asymmetrical tyres, generally for performance applications, will have an unbalanced look, for example with an unbroken groove or two one one side and a broken up tread pattern on the other. Directional tyres are akin to an arrowhead patter, with grooves leading from the outside to the centre at an angle and intended to give maximum water dispersion.

Any reputable tyre fitment centre such as Bob Jane’s or Jax can assist in explaining these in more detail. The humble tyre, more important than you think. http://credit-n.ru/zaymi-na-kartu-blog-single.html

A two door car with a huge boot: it's goodbye to the ute.

News released on the 27th October comes as a bitter blow for those that like their two door cars with a huge boot; Holden has decided, along with Ford, that the humble yet much loved ute will cease to be from 2016. To blame are a number of factors but chief amongst them appears to be our free trade agreement with Thailand, where the majority of our traybacked vehicles are sourced from.

The “coupe utility” was born right here in Australia; the well worn story has it that Ford designer Lew Bandt developed the vehicle in response to a request to Ford Oz HQ, asking for a vehicle that could take the wife to church on Sunday and the pigs to market on a Monday. This was in 1934, well before any American based designs and ahead of Holden, which released its own ute in 1951, on the 48-215 chassis. The ute has been a staple part of the Aussie carscape ever since, in two and four form and in two or four wheel drive configuration. Both Ford and Holden tried the high rise look, to limited but cultish success, but it’s been a slow decline for the ute.

As one in five new vehicles sold in Australia are sourced from Thailand, with under one in ten vehicles delivered sourced from an Australian manufacturer, the numbers simply no longer stack up for Holden and Ford (Toyota and Mitsubishi never built a ute but Chrysler did) and with the mooted change to a front wheel drive large car for both, there’s no plans for a ute. As it stands, the Holden Commodore ute is down by a frightening 31 percent in year to date figures whilst the VF sedan and wagon are up by 15 percent with the irony being the ute is effectively based on the wagon design….Since the beginning of the year there’s been over 100, 000 Thailand sourced 4WD utes compared to 4100 Holden and 3500 Ford utes.

The situation Australia faces can be said to be dire when it comes to local manufacturing; the Button car plan is seen as the root cause now for the decline of our car industry and with manufacturers outside of Australia utilising a zero percent tariff costbase in Thailand, there’s been no real protection for Ford and Holden. Come 2016 it will be a sad goodbye to our two door car with a huge boot, the ute. http://credit-n.ru/kreditnye-karty.html

Bumpy Trax: Holden's new baby SUV

Holden’s had a shot before at a small SUV; last time around it was the Suzuki Ignis based Cruze (yes there was a Cruze before the Cruze…confused?). This time around they’ve ‘roided up the Korean sourced Barina and called it Trax. I back to back the entry level LS and top spec LTZ.

The Driven Heart
Anyone that’s driven the Holden Cruze (the new one, not the old one) with the original 1.8L petrol engine will be instantly familiar with the heart of the Trax. It never received good reviews and won’t here. It’s underpowered, undertorqued and should be six feet under. There’s just 103kW at 6300rpm and 175 torques at 3800 rpm. With the option of manual and auto for the LS and auto only in the LTZ (auto supplied), the slow revver just fails to deliver pizzaz, pop and pow. The automatic transmission is fitted with six ratios which, at least, use what’s available (60kmh equals 2000rpm….) and the driver has the choice of allowing the ‘box to do its own thing or manually changing via the oddly sited switch (ala Malibu) on the top right hand side of the lever. There’s no real advantage to using the manual shift (slow, ergonomically awkward) nor does it make any sense (unless to NOT encourage people to use it) to place the manual selector switch where it is. Left to its own devices, the transmission offers an odd mix of short/sharp or hold and delay changes. One would hope that the 1.4iTi and 1.6iTi plants plus the diesels available overseas will make their way into the range, sooner rather than later. It’s coarse, thrashy, unrefined, even the 1.8L in the Camira sounded smoother.

The Sheetmetal
As you’d expect there’s a strong family resemblance to big brother Captiva. The haunches are bulbous and rounded, the proportional profile is not unlike the Captiva (moreso 7 than 5) whilst the front end, signed off by the international consortium as using the Australian nose design, which in its own right has a resemblance to the Malibu, is a shocker. Is it pretty? Hell no. The headlight cluster design is myopic, bland (black trim in the LTZ would have helped differentiate) whilst the actual nose is blunt, bluff and upright with the chin of the bumper given more depth than what looks nice, plus scrapes easily on the road coming off a driveway kerb. The rear is better integrated and the saving grace along with a sensible looking window line plus the LS gets full black plastic as opposed to the LTZ’s alloy insert. Overall look reminds me of the Suzuki SX4 or the original Cruze.

The Office

Straight up, what greets the driver’s view gives no doubt as to the vehicle’s roots; the dash display is an almost cut and paste from the Barina, with the same motorcycle style look plus a couple of tweaks to the colour. The centre dash console is clean, simple, well designed and comes complete with a seven inch touchscreen entertainment and MyLink system, complete with the Pandora, TuneIn and Stitcher and more apps accessible via a compatible smartphone, once they’ve been downloaded into the phone though. The USB port is hidden inside a small storage locker just in front of the passenger seat and there’s a centrally mounted spot high up in the centre of the dash for, presumably, sunglasses. Just to the sides of the screen are two holes where one would expect aircon vents would go, circled in brushed aluminuim plastic while the centre console doesn’t have a raised storage section but does have a power point (and FOUR drinks holders!!!!), only suitable for an overseas (non Australian)plug. If it’s not suitable for us, why bother fitting it?
It’s spacious enough inside, with room for four comfortably and plenty of head/shoulder room in the front while the rear seat squabs fold out and up to provide a flat load space with the uprights folded. The seats themselves are comfortable enough but aren’t outstanding either, lacking support to the thighs and around the thorax and the print is a simple square motif spread throughout the fabric in the LT while the LTZ gets the faux leather look and heating as well. Boot space is decent for the size of the vehicle and the load height is just about spot on. The actual dash structure mimics the Malibu with the double flying buttress design and doesn’t look all that bad, terminating in retro style airvents either side but the plastic itself is that old style hard crocodile print style. An interesting side point is the headlight switch, which on Auto, in the LS and LTZ, has a set of driving lights activated and based in the cluster as they’re not in the bottom corners of the bumper in the LS but you do get the normal bumper mounted lights in the LTZ. Simple yet smart. There is a reverse camera as standard but for navigation you need to download an app….huh?

On The Road
Quick steering, a supple ride, a lack of road noise, a lack of crash thump from speed humps add up to be the surprise part of the Trax. It’s fingertip light in the steering, not requiring too much effort at all plus the ratio is fast, with what feels like a half turn lock to lock. It’s a lovely, smooth ride and the suspension is a delight, isolating speedbumps and helped, somewhat, from the Continental tyres at 205/70/16 in size (LS with 215/55/18s on the LTZ and five spoke alloys), with the sidewall height adding a measure of smoothness and, I suspect, the grip when punched hard into tight turns with a minimum of squealing. Although, ostensibly, a SUV, the LS is front drive only with no 4WD mechanism at all, not that it could with such a deep front dam anyway. Acceleration is leisurely, as mentioned, with the gear change slurry on the up shift whilst coming down a hill and under brakes, it will downshift and hold the gear which does aid in braking, to a point. Under full welly, the motorbike look speedo shows numbers changing marginally quicker than what it feels via seat of the pants, oddly enough, but with the aforementioned cacophony from up front dulling the aural experience the overall presentation is, as they say, meh. There’s a compass thrown in, for good measure, on the LTZ but in the simple old style LCD font only. It’s a strange mix, with a feeling of something good and something a bit confused.

The Wrap
If history is any guide, the Trax won’t sell well, based on looks; having said that, the old phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” may have something to do with it. Ford and Mitsubishi found out the hard way that a physically average looking car hurts sales. For me, the Trax’s biggest issue is the front end and primarily the headlight cluster; it’s just ugly and simply does nothing, in my eyes, to help present the car to those that want a decent overall package. Sure, it’ll be bought by those that want a point to point carriage, much like those that think a certain small car from Japan is the bastion of high tech. The tight handling and above expectations ride will mean nothing to those willing to overlook the “take no prisoners” bluffness of the front end with its Clarence the Cross Eyed Lion headlights and the archaic performance of the 1.8L. Priced at (depending on where you live) around the $27K mark including ORCs for the LS manual and near nigh $30K for the auto with premium paint, with the LTZ over $32K, it needs a sharper set of numbers to be a serious temptation, considering the better Captiva 5 and 7 offers at the time of writing, with the 5 at $25K driveaway and the SX 7 at $28600 driveaway as well.
To find out more: http://www.holden.com.au/cars/trax http://credit-n.ru/about.html