Holden Caprice LPG 2012 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $61,990
Options fitted (not included in above price): Electric sunroof $1990 and DVD entertainment pack $1290
Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: LPG
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 12.3
CO2 emissions (g/km): 198
Also consider: Ford G6 EcoLPI, Holden Commodore Berlina LPG

Holden's long-wheelbase Caprice is a lot of car for the money. In its Series II WM guise the large sedan continues to deliver sheet metal in spades, but also provides a level of comfort, safety and even driving enjoyment way beyond anything else comparable in the market. If there is one sticking point to owning a Caprice, it has been the running costs — until now.

By adopting the mono-fuel LPG system also offered in the short-wheelbase Commodore variants Holden has reduced the cost of Caprice ownership to the point where it's a genuinely viable family car in these straitened times. But the fact is this: the car-buying public has moved on and cars like the Caprice no longer fit the needs of private buyers. Those most likely to get behind the wheel of a Caprice now (and more so with the LPG option) are professional drivers who ferry passengers to the airport any time of the day or night. 

Private buyers are more likely to prefer the flexibility of an SUV, the badge cachet of a smaller prestige sedan from Europe or the reputed reliability of cars from Asia. In addition to the Caprice's packaging and lack of brand image, there are two aspects of the LPG model that will deter private buyers and user choosers. One is the relatively high fuel use (with the concomitant unknown of rising LPG prices). The other is the full-size spare tyre placement in the boot. That's it in a nutshell. In every other respect the LPG version of Holden's long-wheelbase luxury sedan is line-ball with the petrol variant — but cheaper to run.

Fuel consumption for the week the test vehicle was in our possession rose as high as 15.6L/100km — admittedly with very little open-road running. That's not as bad as it seems for a car that doesn't fit in a standard car park slot without poking out one end or the other. To achieve less than 17.0L/100km for the typical suburban commute in something so large, so heavy, approaching four-litre engine displacement and saddled with an LPG fuel delivery system — that scores a qualified thumbs-up from us.

The standard alloy spare with full-size tyre sits on the floor of the boot and occupies a substantial volume that would have otherwise been available for groceries, luggage, sports equipment or all the other paraphernalia of your life. At least, in the case of the Caprice, the car is so very large — and the boot along with the rest of the car — that there's still some considerable room available in and around the tyre. Like Ford, Holden offers the Caprice in LPG form with options to enhance boot space. The Caprice can be ordered with a steel wheel and full-size tyre, a space-saver or a tyre-repair kit. If luggage space is a consideration (and it probably would be for chauffeur-driven cars), the tyre-repair kit is the obvious choice. Without the full-size tyre the Caprice's boot looks huge. It measures 535 litres, according to Holden's specs, but it looks bigger still and certainly extends as far forward as larger front-drive sedans, although it lacks their depth.

As we reported from driving the single-fuel LPG-equipped Holdens back in February, the rapidity with which the Caprice starts — in contrast with Ford's EcoLPI system — is excellent. It starts as quickly as the petrol car and without the complex kludge the Ford system requires to prime itself first. And to drive, the Caprice on LPG feels much like the petrol version. It emits a throaty bass note that suits the Caprice's prestige status and it hauls quite well right across the rev range, although it seems to take a little while to achieve the last thousand revs on the tacho. That's borne out by the LPG engine's power and torque figures (180kW and 320Nm), both of which are 30 units less than the petrol counterpart's numbers. Of more significance, the LPG variant's peak power occurs at 6000rpm (700rpm less than for the petrol Caprice) and torque maxes out at 2000rpm, which is 800rpm lower than the petrol model's torque peak. So the Caprice goes hard enough with the single-fuel LPG system, but is ultimately more about torque than revs — and it does feel it at times, although clearly, few Caprice drivers will care about revving the engine to the redline.

The V6 engine drives through Holden's six-speed automatic, which is generally smooth and responsive. In contrast with the ZF six-speeder in Ford's Falcon range, there's really not much in it and it's close enough for the needs of most prospective Caprice buyers.

Since the demise of Ford's Fairlane, the Caprice stands alone as a local design built here with rear-seat comfort in mind. For all that, it's impressively adept in corners. The steering is communicative and the car offers the right amount of turn-in for a car of its disposition. While it's not a sports sedan — and was not specifically designed to be — it provides rock-solid grip, considering the combination of weight and the power the Caprice can muster.

And it's a similar situation with braking. The Caprice can brake hard and pull up swiftly, for all its weight. Part of the explanation for the big Holden's dynamic ability is due to its firmer damper settings, which sharpen up the ride slightly, but Holden has struck a nice balance by virtue of the Caprice's longer wheelbase and weight distribution. In both ride and handling terms there are no significant vices.

As mentioned before, the Caprice is a lot of sheet metal to pack into a conventional car park, but it's helped by parking sensors front and rear, plus a reversing camera, as standard. And as a consequence of its rear-drive configuration, it will turn tightly enough for some fairly twisted and convoluted side streets and laneways, such as those in and around the Carsales HQ hinterland.

Although the Caprice's packaging strengths are principally focused on the back seat, it's worth noting that the driver's position is generally good. However the usual grievances apply. A pillars obscure the field of vision to the front, the exterior mirrors are small, the window switches are located in the centre console rather than on the door armrests and the steering wheel is large in diameter, but still obscures the view of the instruments if not adjusted precisely. In defence of the Caprice's ergonomics, the seat is well shaped and comfy, but doesn't sag in corners. Controls are in easy reach and mostly intuitive to use. Pairing an iPhone with Holden's iQ system was simplicity itself and we offer kudos too for the alerts issued by the system whenever the vehicle was in the proximity of a school zone, railway crossing or traffic camera.

Holden dropped the price of the Caprice from the introduction of the Series II WM models (when the Statesman name was pensioned off), but that barely excuses the ambience, which is that of a workhorse, it seems to us. Where other upmarket models would have switchgear and dials scattered everywhere, the Caprice's dash looks a little bare. The iQ system, integrating numerous functions, has liberated a fair amount of dash space, but the upshot is the Caprice looks spartan inside. There's little to leaven that appearance either. Conventional analogue instruments were easily read in white on black, but they didn't lend much panache to the interior. Nor did the other fixtures and fittings. The colour was uniformly grey, there was a bit of chrome applied to the instrument bezels and a coordinating-rather-than-contrasting splash of metallic-look grey appliqué. At least that was glossy, other plastic decorative trim was typically a satin finish in a dull silver or grey. One thing that can be said about the interior, it's restful.

In the back it's no different, but at least the rear-seat passengers had the optional DVD entertainment system to help take their minds of the drab look. And there's no doubt that the Caprice's rear seat is accommodating. Even the tallest of passengers will be able to stretch out, and there's plenty of headroom too.

Despite the remarks about the basic looks of the Caprice inside, there's no doubt that Holden has got its act together with build quality. Nothing looked loose or flimsy and doors and the boot opened easily and closed gently, but with a feeling of real solidity. On the open road the Caprice was not as quiet as cars that were, in a number of cases, significantly cheaper. Wind noise and driveline rumble were both present on the freeway, but the tyres were fairly quiet, even on coarser road surfaces out in the country. And for the purpose the Caprice is intended, it's quiet enough on freeways.

Certainly chauffeurs won't mind the subdued noise from the engine. They will have their own reasons for choosing the Caprice over anything else of comparable price; rear-seat legroom for one, low running costs and the ubiquity of Holden service departments are others. But are chauffeurs the only people who should buy the Caprice? It's politically incorrect in the modern age, but the Caprice makes a lot of sense if its sheer bulk is less a hurdle, more an asset. Well built and dynamically adept, the Caprice is a commendable family car — with the bonus of being cost-effective to run on LPG.

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