By Alex Breingan
Time for another road test for Holden and this time I’ve got my hands on a Calais V6 V. Previously I’d spent a week behind the wheel of the V8 V Redline which was a sensational car, so I admit to a slight sense of not disappointment as such but a sort of 'funny feeling' when I stood waiting for the keys last week. I know it’s not at all rational that I should have such a feeling as a V8 is a luxury that with rising fuel prices becomes ever more luxurious and irrational, but when you compare the Redline with similarly spec’d European models it represents ludicrous value for money!
So the 3.6 litre V6, an engine that I once heard described as ‘thrifty’ in a radio commercial for a Holden dealer must surely be the ‘real’ option for the executive who requires a luxury (leather seats and chrome trim in all the appropriate places) ride without looking like a fat cat who at the fuel pump laughs in the style of an evil genius?
Slightly bizarrely I think, my first task in possession of the Calais V was to head to the DIY store to pick up some trellis. The car’s not designed for such mundane tasks and I didn’t feel the part as I had done in the Colorado last year, but squeeze the trellis in I did and it rode in style back home.
Where this car really comes in to its own and saw my worries evaporate is on the Northern Motorway on the commute. It eats up the road (I don’t know if it’s just in my mind) but maybe not quite as hungrily as the SV6 does with the same engine but sportier suspension in near silent splendour and I don’t mind admitting I feel good about it.
There’s the instant fuel reading common with the V8 that tells you exactly how much your journey is going to cost and I find again it goads me in to attempting to beat my record for every 100kms travelled and become the thriftiest driver on the roads (yes, in a V6 luxury sedan and not a Hybrid)
I’ve driven quite a few cars this year and I am enjoying the leather encased luxury of the V6 V Calais more than I thought I would over the sportier SV6 and my kids are especially enjoying the DVD player in the back with remote headphones that make for a quite amusing journey just hearing laughter or very loud commentary while they watch ‘Despicable Me’ on DVD.
Other spec includes heated mirrors, electric seats, the big fat sports car steering wheel that is just lovely to hold and the touch screen centre console in the Series 2 that’s got ipod control and sat nav to name just 2 of the coolest. Which do I prefer thought of the V8 and the V6?
The V8 has AFM that turns off 4 of the cylinders when they’re not needed so economy wise there’s not a great deal in it really when you’re spending $70,000 or more on a car. My conscience days V6, the devil in me says V8!
Alex Breingan hosts The Design and Build Show alongside Hamish Dodd, Sundays from 6am on RadioLIVE.