Holden Omega Ute LPG 2009 Review

Holden VE Ute Omega dual-fuel

Road Test

Overall rating: 2.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.5/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 2.5/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

Holden has a long history of building utes. Where Ford has taken the unusual step (since the AU model 10 years ago) of adopting a hybrid construction for its Falcon light commercials, Holden has stuck with the tried-and-true method of deriving a monocoque-bodied goods-carrying vehicle from a passenger car base.

In the case of the latest VE Ute, the passenger car platform is actually that of the luxurious long-wheelbase WM limos. This provides the Ute with a long cargo-carrying tray and no significant loss of amenity in the cabin. It also -- in the case of the dual-fuel Omega on test here -- provides accommodation for the LPG tank behind the cabin.

The reason we're testing this vehicle here and now -- about a year and a half after its release -- is because Holden has just revised the V6 engine powering the Ute Omega to deliver better fuel consumption whether running LPG or petrol. That improvement in fuel economy comes at the expense of ultimate power, but with the Ute lightly loaded, you would never pick the difference.

We ran the Ute around 200km on LPG alone during the week we tested the car. Most of that distance was covered around town. It never threatened to run low on gas and we handed the car back to Holden with a full tank of petrol remaining. Given the (still) low cost of LPG, it's a very economical way to run a commercial vehicle.

With its longer wheelbase shared with Caprice/Statesman and the added weight of the LPG tank behind the cabin, there's not much prospect of the Ute being more sprightly than the Omega sedan. And yet, somehow, it appears to be.

Whether Holden has found more power from lower revs to offset the lower efficiency of an engine tuned to run on petrol and LPG alternately, the Ute just feels marginally --- but noticeably -- stronger in a straight line than its four-door sibling. That, of course, is without a payload of any significance.

The dual-fuel Ute will appeal to a very specific clientele, in our view.

Our one misgiving is the packaging issue. With the LPG tank perched directly behind the cabin and occupying the front section of the tray, the load area is compromised. Buyers will therefore find it harder to load large regular-shaped items in the vehicle without having the cargo sitting well aft and upsetting the weight distribution considerably.

That said, the 'step' is arguably a good mount for an aftermarket tool kit across the tray -- something which many pick-up owners would want anyway.

The same NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and refinement issues apply in the Ute as in the Omega sedan, but they're somehow more tolerable in what is fundamentally a commercial vehicle. You can also forgive the Ute for being harsh under the bonnet because it's otherwise a quiet car -- especially when compared to other commercials.

The firmer ride of the Ute, which should further work against the car, doesn't. Most buyers expect a ute to be hard-riding, but they also expect it to be a messy-handling thing. The Ute is the former, but not the latter. Steering is better than that of many passenger cars and, for a vehicle that's not essentially sporting in nature, it can muster high levels of grip and responsive but predictable cornering.

There are many smaller cars around that don't provide the same level of steering feedback that the Ute does and this communicative tiller is all the more surprising for the Ute being both stable at higher speeds and being such a long car (that Statesman wheelbase, remember).

Even more impressive again is the Ute's impressively tight turning circle. Long wheelbase or not, it's only about a metre wider in turning circle than typical light cars, such as its stablemate, the Barina.

Ultimately, the Omega may be a better compromise for many drivers than the SV6 Ute we tested previously (more here). Not everyone wants the extroverted styling of the SV6, but the Omega provides similar performance -- and with an all-round competence erring more on the side of load-lugging for the working week.