Holden Commodore Omega 2011 Review

It's been a while since I've driven a stripped down version of Australia's biggest selling car (for the 15th year in a row). So it was good to get behind the wheel of a Holden Commodore again. During the NSW double demerits season it's also a great way to blend in with the traffic.

After living with the Omega for a fortnight or so you begin to appreciate the little things introduced on the Series II model. The chrome flash along the lower side window moulding, more chrome in the headlight bezels, chrome trim around the grille and the chrome eyebrow above the rear number plate are all designed to take the basic out of this base model.

The interior fabrics have had a well deserved freshen up, with what feels like hard-wearing, quality materials.

Some colleagues (and customers) complain about the dreary grey, but I like it. It's functional, hides the dirt and isn't too bright. But I do wish Holden would ditch the light grey roof lining and window pillar scalps. I prefer black; it looks classier and is less in your face.

The usual pros and cons still exist: the thick windscreen pillars can block visibility (especially the view of pedestrians), the side mirrors are too small by modern standards, and the back seat doesn't split fold.

Holden has also softened the suspension tune. It handles well and is better over speed bumps, but you can really feel the weight of the car now. The effort to trim millilitres from the fuel rating label means we now have ghastly low friction (read: low grip) tyres.

And so it was that when negotiating a regular turn in the city-- at normal speeds-- the front end ran wide as the front tyres had completely lost grip.

Worse still, the grip was so poor that the car's stability control system failed to detect it – and therefore didn't intervene. Luckily there were no parked cars where the Commodore wanted to head.

I'd happily show Holden engineers the same corner to repeat the test – if they can organise the rain. But I suspect they already know there is a trade-off for chasing tiny fuel economy improvements. (Note: the Ford Falcon's tyres also have sub-standard wet weather grip).

I averaged 12 to 14 litres per 100km in a mix of city and highway driving, which is nowhere near as promising as the fuel rating label.

But I don't how much E85, if any, was left swilling in the tank, and whether or not Holden fills its press cars with E10, regular unleaded or premium. So it's hardly a scientific test. (E85 and E10 burns much faster than full strength fuel).

All I know is that despite the ability of car makers to achieve impressive numbers in a lab test for the fuel rating label, the changes rarely translate to genuine savings in the real world.

The only option fitted to the test car was a rear camera. It should be standard.

What should be deleted is the rattle in the steering column; it sounded like someone left a spanner in there.

It should also be noted that I marked the Commodore Omega hard on price because it's our policy to rank vehicles according to RRP. Unfortunately, the Omega's RRP is close to $40,000 – even though you can get a better equipped SV6 for $36,990 drive-away. No-one has ever paid full price for an Omega. If anyone has, I'd like to meet you.

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