Holden Omega Sportwagon 2008 Review

The Holden VE Commodore needs little introduction... Reams have been written about it since its launch in July 2006 and you'd need to have been living in a cave not to have read your fill. Since then, interest has been sustained by the inevitable derivatives, such as variously hopped-up, hotted-up HSV models, the Ute and more recently, the wagon.

Holden claims it spent $1bn engineering the VE and another $110 million on the Sportwagon, so it's fair to expect something a bit special. Happily the new five-door by-and-large delivers on the promise.

The wagon reflects a move away from the traditional long-wheelbase, load-hauling, working-class vehicle, to a more stylish, attractive and altogether more wieldy machine.

In the past, Aussie wagons have had longer wheelbases than their sedan parents, but with the VE, Holden has kept the 2915mm gap between the axles the same. The result is still a generously large car, but without a particularly massive load area down the back. Most importantly, the exterior lines of the car have taken an elegant and very distinctly European step into the 21st Century, with a graceful rear which is more reminiscent of Benz, BMW and Audi than it is of fishing rods, crates of beer and cartons of smokes.

The downside is that there isn't actually a huge amount of room in the cargo bay -- the sloping roof would make it too low for carting big dogs that like standing up, for example.

Holden claims there's space for 2000 litres of cargo with the back seat folded down. If you're buying a wagon for toting more inanimate objects (than large dogs!), there's a good selection of tie-down points and shopping hooks -- and beneath the floor, there's a full-sized spare wheel.

The lightest of all seven Sportwagon models, the Omega offers the top payload capacity -- 480kg. Perhaps as importantly, it can also tow a braked 2100kg.

As a vehicle, the Commodore Omega wagon is smooth, fast, quiet and comfortable; it's acceptably thirsty (11.8L/100km), blessed with supple and compliant suspension, good lights and what is possibly the best stability control system currently available on a mass market car, anywhere on the planet.

Probably thanks to a better fore-and-aft weight balance [Ed: or perhaps more time to tweak the calibration], the VE wagon's stability control, skid control and traction control systems are even better than those fitted to the sedan and VE Ute. Most drivers -- should they stray over the VE's generous grip levels -- will remain blissfully unaware as the clever electronics haul the hefty (1785kg) car back into line with where the steering's aimed.

It's all done imperceptibly, by invoking carefully calculated pinches of individual brakes and moderation of applied power to negate any sideways movement. But for the blinking information panel on the dashboard, the systems operate just about invisibly, chiming in early and often to arrest any slide almost before it begins.

If there's a downside, it's that drivers can unwittingly exceed the bounds of their skill, safety for prevailing conditions and commonsense -- and not even know that the car has just saved their lives. And remember, stability control can't grab the steering wheel and guide the car to safety -- all it can do is aim the car where it's pointed; if that's at a ditch or barrier, that's where it'll take you: straight to the scene of the collision.

Aside from the exceptional stability controil system, the basic E10-suitable 3.6-litre V6 Omega Sportwagon is well-equipped.

The quad-cam multi-valve engine has variable inlet cam-timing and a variable inlet manifold, twin knock-sensors with individual cylinder spark control; it delivers its 180kW of peak power at a heady 6000rpm and top torque of 330Nm at 2600rpm. Neither figure is especially impressive, but on the road the unladen car feels adequately powered. Stacking it with bodies and their luggage will almost certainly find the Omega is rather less than the 'alpha'.

Behind the engine is a smooth but ''past its use-by date' wide-gap four-speed auto transmission which lacks even rudimentary manual selection and offers too much slip between ratios to cover the steps between gears. When Ford offers an excellent five-speed in its FG range, this gearbox needs to be retired from Holden's armoury.

Sportwagon comes with six air-bags (side, curtain and two-stage fronts), a full set of power windows, cruise control, a reach-and-rake adjustable steering column, electric adjustment for the driver's seat (but only the base -- not the backrest), 16-inch alloy wheels, auto-on headlamps, a generous glovebox and a rudimentary onboard computer.

The engine has one-touch starting -- just flick the key to the Start position and release it -- and the starter will crank till the engine fires. Similarly, there are two detents to the indicator stalk -- the first gives three lane-changing flashes and then cancels, while the second operates in the normal way. Both features are standard on Mercedes-Benz and other up-market euro marques.

Much is made of the clever tailgate hinge that sees the rear door glide upwards in an arc that barely extends beyond the length of the vehicle itself -- 268mm, as opposed to the 488 needed by the Sportwagon's predecessor. In reality, this is geometry rather than advanced engineering, but it's nice that they bothered.

The vehicle also comes with rear parking sensors -- really nervous ones, that bleat increasingly frequently until the car is about a metre from an obstacle, when they wail without interruption. Given that this vehicle's aiming to call suburban driveways home, a reversing camera would have been a better inclusion, even at the cost of a couple of hundred dollars.

However, there are daggy details which risk spoiling what is otherwise a world-class package: while the key contains remote control buttons (meaning only one fob) it is physically too big and doesn't fold; the car features a clumsy two-stage locking system which might appeal in the crime-capitals of the world, but simply isn't necessary in 98 per cent of Australia; and the tailgate doesn't always shut properly. A flimsy fuel-filler flap at least offers a tethered fuel cap; the exterior mirrors are too small and the chunky A-pillars obscure too much of the forward view.

Like all VEs, the A-pillar is simply too thick and the handbrake lever's awkwardly shaped and poorly placed -- apparently the work of a stylist instead of an engineer or an ergonomics designer. On our test car, the trip-computer was painfully slow to recalculate range and consumption and unhelpfully, it suggests "Add Fuel" rather than giving an idea of range remaining. Finally, the dash execution -- on this most basic model at least -- is austere, bland and featureless to the point of being depressing.

Comfort for the driver and front passenger is good; seats are supportive and wide enough for probably the 98th percentile; there's generous leg, head and foot-room and at least adequate storage options. For the back seat there is similarly generous knee and foot space, although the flat back seat is so low (presumably to free up headspace under the curving roofline) that adults will soon complain of severely bent knees and hips.

Given that rear seats are often occupied by children -- especially likely in a big family vehicle like the Sportwagon -- the low seat and swept-up waistline means that the view from the back row is restricted. Get ready for the "are we there yets"...

Rear seat passengers get overhead grabrails -- but the front don't. The rear doors have good storage pockets that hold a drinks bottle, but the 60/40 split-fold rear seat doesn't offer a centre arm-rest or any heating or cooling controls other than some central vents, making the Omega a bit Spartan... Guess that's what the Berlina and SV6 are for, eh?

Holden has been allowed to do what Ford designers must have been begging to do -- build a modern lifestyle five-door wagon that's good-looking and versatile, rather than a ho-hum working class cross between a ute and a van. Only the omission of a reversing camera and that pre-millenium auto gearbox count against it.

In this match at least, it's Red Lion one, Blue Oval nil.