Holden Rodeo 2006 Review

7-day Test

Holden's Rodeo ute has been around an awfully long time and in many guises -- trayback, pick-up, crew-cab  petrol, diesel, two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, manual and automatic, and in varying trim levels from building site to city suite. And in a sign of the automotive age in which we now live, this GMH-badged, Japanese-sourced light truck is actually built in Thailand.

For now, we'll examine the range-topping 4x4 crewcab and its more utilitarian 4x2 cousin, fitted with Holden's 'made-in-Melbourne' new 3.6-litre Alloytec V6 engine and five-speed manual gearboxes.

Repeatedly refreshed over the years, the latest Rodeo iteration has a bigger cab: 42mm more legroom, 36mm more headroom and 40mm (up to 200mm) in the seat-slide.

But that comes at the price of a shorter load-bed -- so short that even a kid's dirtbike travels diagonally. Short it may be, but it's also surprisingly deep. We didn't try, but you might still get a cubic metre of mulch in there.

Suspension spring rates were always going to be a compromise between passenger comfort and load-bearing capacity. The five seats and small load bed give a clue to the end result -- it's comfort that gets the nod, and the up-spec LT version, with its deep velour seats, carpet and well-balanced controls should be an easy place to spend a long journey. Except that the driver's seat is offset to the left of both the steering wheel and pedals, so that in a relatively short time, backache creeps in. Or you can sit to the right side of the wide, flat seat.

Offset controls are often the unavoidable result of converting a car designed to be left-side steer to right-side steer -- components under the dashboard or floor, or behind the scuttle, are positioned to facilitate a driver on the left side of the vehicle, but when those controls are moved to the other side of the cabin, many components cannot be readily relocated. However, the Holden Rodeo-Isuzu KB is Japanese -- it was designed to be right-hand drive.

Besides that, the overly high left footrest that forces the knee to bend more than is comfortable, is a minor inconvenience.

In operation, the drivetrain differs considerably between the 4x4 and 4x2 versions -- the all-wheel drive gets equally-spaced ratios that make for effortless pull-off and relaxed cruising, but the low-range option is really low range. On our favourite steep, rutted, gnarly marble-strewn downhill, first gear in low range was too low -- we needed second or third gear to run against compression and keep moving.

The push-button  selection 2H, 4H or 4L sometimes needed a little help to engage -- 2H to 4H can be selected on the fly, 4L requires you stop first, but a flashing icon would indicate that the selection wasn't instantaneous and rocking the car back and forth would see it clicking in or out. However, it certainly beats wandering around the front of the truck, manually engaging grubby locking hubs.

In contrast, the ratios in the 4x2 have larger gaps, but the 3.6 litre V6's broad spread of power overcomes them.

The new V6 adds 10kW (up to 157kW) and a generous 33Nm (up to 313Nm), but the engine's torque curve is flattened for use in the Rodeo from its more normal passenger-car guise.

Getting back up our steep rutted descent was, of course, not a problem in 4H -- and in 4L, the Rodeo could accelerate right up to fifth gear. That said, most impressive was the manner that both LX and LT also made it up in two-wheel drive, the limited slip diff restricting slippage to being barely noticeable. When the road is dry, only a few 2WD vehicles -- even with traction control -- can usually manage the ascent. Getting an unladen ute up it without lots of clutch-slip and dust is rare.

Despite it's commercial roots, the Rodeo now offers very good comfort -- not only for the front row, but also in the three seats in the rear -- leg, head, hip and shoulder room is very good and happily the rear seat-back isn't dead vertical -- in fact, rear seat comfort is probably better than in the Commodore/Ute-based Crewman, depending upon your shape.

Yet with so much thought and development, there are some anomalies beyond the offset driver's seat -- for example, there's a tow-bracket at the front of the vehicle, but not at the rear. A thin metal stamping it may be, but at least the front of the Rodeo can be hooked up -- to pull or be pulled -- but there is no such facility at the rear. Perhaps you're supposed to order the optional tow-pack.

The add-on step-up rear bumper-bar on the LT rules out dropping the tailgate beyond the horizontal, but on the LX, the retaining struts can be disconnected to drop the tailgate to the vertical. However, the LT does get a lockable tailgate -- which is a bit redundant unless a canopy is fitted.

Inside the tray, there are four small tie-down points -- screwed to the sheet-metal as they are, even slight tension causes the tray's inner lining to flex when invited to hold up a 60kg kid's motorcycle. Serious users will require something more substantial.

Rodeo's features include keyless entry, superb instrumentation, quality sound systems, a generous cabin, plenty of storage bins, excellent headlamps and twin airbags.

A really neat touch are indicator-repeaters built into the LT's side-mirrors -- expect to see these become a standard feature soon.

The mid-spec 4x2 LX manual retails for $29,990, while the up-spec 4x4 LT manual  with air-bags asks $41,990; both will work hard and last for years, retaining a good resale value -- which is hardly surprising, given its rugged good looks and rock-solid build quality.