Road Test: Holden Calais V

Review by Peter Maniatis - 23/May/2007

For nearly 20 years, the local Calais moniker has delivered Holden a solid seller in the large luxury car market, keeping at bay most other local contenders – most notably Ford's Fairmont Ghia and the Mitsubishi Verada of the past.

The term “luxury” has often been hotly debated when linked to Australian made vehicles, but in this latest incarnation Holden has come close to resetting the benchmark of what a local car manufacturer can produce to represent the idea of 'prestige' in a large car in this country.

Throw any other form of European badge on the Calais V and most pundits would pay the local dealer twice as much as the current sticker price. Sit inside and take this little baby for a drive and you will feel guilty paying the Holden dealer what their currently asking for. It's smooth, suave, and the standard features list reads like that of a top tier German car with a DVD player, proximity parking sensors and dual zone climate control.

My comments may sound a little bias, but the new Calais certainly steps up as a genuine contender for luxury, performance, styling and ingenuity as compared to its European equivalents. "Mind you most of its new styling have obvious European origins," you may say. And that's quite right, but when you match the qualities of this vehicle with its price tag – and take away badge snobbery – you can slot two top end Calais Vs in the garage for an equivalent European of this size and power.

The “European Holden” has arrived and it's a very promising car, but with large car sales in the doldrums you have to ask yourself if the large Australian car is going to be extinct in another decade. If the local car clans decide to keep building cars like the Calais V though, I reckon they'll be around for donkeys years.

Drive: 4/5

In a word... magnificent. The Calais V feels and drives like a far more expensive European import: it's smooth, refined and very responsive, yet quiet enough to allow conversation between passengers without road, wind, or driveline noise completely drowning everything out.

The ambiance inside the car is tinged with sophistication and it's hard not be impressed with what Holden has done with the new VE model Calais, and it's no wonder the Americans are clamouring to get their hands on this new model (see the Pontiac G8).

Even though the Calais is a large family-sized car, its nimbleness and handling feels as though you are behind the wheel of a smaller 3 Series or an Audi A4, which is a credit to the lads at Holden who have tuned the suspension and chassis to offer such a dynamic feel. It sits very flat on the road and doesn't wallow through corners either, but the 18-inch wheels and firm suspension can sometimes reduce ride quality (especially on poor quality roads). Like all good luxury cars however, it's got a pliant ride that ensures driver and passengers will not be wantonly jostled around.

It feels solid on the road with the steering being easy to manipulate and quite light, but very responsive and stable, and this helps with parking the car too, as you don't have to wrench the steering wheel with brute force to get a response.

Whether you opt for the V6 engine or the V8, the car pulls away from the traffic lights cleanly and smoothly, and though the V6 is not a bad engine and more economical than the V8, there's something to be said for an 8-cylinder luxury car. The Calais V feels awesomely strong with the new LS2 6.0-litre engine rumbling away beneath its large engine hood and even though you don't always use the full 270kW of power, it's nice to know it's there.

Both Calais V types come with automatic transmissions that are a big step up from the auto-boxes that were used in Holdens of the past. The 5-speed auto that comes with the V6 seems to be in the right gear for every situation when slotted into drive, though the tiptronic feature isn't as good as the Falcon's.

The 6-speed automatic that comes with the more expensive V8 Calais V isn't as good as the 5-speeder, but it comes close. And realistically, the huge levels of power from the 16-valve V8 engine mean that the gearbox doesn't need to shift as often to provide ample acceleration, but it does well and the tiptronic mode works much better than the V6's 5-speed version, which will impress the performance die-hards out there.

Both V6 and V8 versions of this vehicle come standard with 245/45 R18 tyres, which offer a good combination between ride and handling. There's enough absorbency in these semi-sports tyres to help deal with second rate roads, but they're also wide enough so as to provide the car with lots of grip through corners if you ever feel the need to gas it.

If you've driven a modern Australian large car in the last few years, you'll know how suited they are to our local roads, and the Calais V doesn't disappoint. Sometimes it feels a bit firm, but it always goes about business with a calm, relaxed, and ultimately luxury manner. It's an enjoyable car to drive at all speeds and even in dense traffic and cruising slowly, with a quality feel through coming through the steering wheel that almost indescribable: Holden seems to have engineered a certain on-road 'feel' that just makes you want to drive the car.

Engine: 4/5

The V6 or the V8, that's the question...

Let me be up front with my opinion here: V8 all the way. For most pundits the V6 will be more that satisfactory – it provides great power, offers great fuel economy, is smooth in operation matched by a more than adequate 5-speed automatic. It uses a claimed 11.6 litres of fuel per 100km travelled, which isn't great but looks very thrifty up against the V8s 14.3L/100km. Gulp.

Both models get twin exhaust outlets - a single pair for the V6 and a double pair for the V8 - and this gives the Calais V a sporty look no matter which engine you choose, which is wise design choice by Holden. No one gets left out.

For mine though, as I drove both the V6 and the V8 models, the Calais V with its purposeful stance, performance styling, luxury interior and a rear end that looks V8 Supercar-ish, the whole package cries out for the torque, grunt and note of a dirty great big V8 engine. It just seems like a natural pairing.

With the V8 under the bonnet, the Calais V's picture of style, purposefulness and road presence is complete. The V6 provides good power levels - up to 195 kilowatts - and with the 5-speed auto is responsive to your right foot, but after driving the V8 it sounded too light - shall I say tinny? - and didn't give you the right rumble through the seat of your pant as you planted the foot.

The new V8 6.0-litre motor litre provides the Calais V with all the power, torque, and acoustic intensity to re-assure the driver that they are not only driving a lovely luxury car in the Calais V, but that their alter ego will never be questioned at the traffic lights, cruising down the freeway and especially when cruising through corner country.

Holden's large 6.0-litre V8 may be thirsty, but it's got an impressive wallop that pushes you into your leather seat with force.

Exterior: 4/5

It's amazing to think where Australian motor vehicle styling has journeyed over the last decade, and one could argue that Holden has led the way in recent times. Holden has never been shy in making its cars more and more aggressive and purposeful in their stance and appearance than most other local car makers, and this has paid off for them handsomely at the cash register during that time.

Perhaps it is a sign of our society that we want our cars to define our own confidence and stature in society? Perhaps we just want to be cool, but personally I can't get enough of the new Calais V, which is definitely one of the best looking cars in the new VE Commodore range.

The car we drove had proud styling with more than few European design facets, and sitting on large 18-inch alloy wheels added another level of visual intrigue.

Even so, when I first looked at the new Calais V, I was a little unsure whether the styling was too aggressive for the market segment it was positioned within – but that was only a momentary lapse of reason on my behalf. I absolutely love the 18-inch wheels on it, and they could easily be upgraded to 19- or 20-inch rims to really fill out the wheel arches.

The suspension settings allow the car to sit very nicely on the road; not too low that it scrape the bumpers on the driveway or random speed humps, but low enough to give the vehicle a very purposeful stance.

The biggy for me, and this has got to do with the whole VE range of cars from a styling point of view is this: front on the car looks like a V8 Bathurst Supercar from 1980. So much so that it looks out of place for a family sedan. Where the SS V looks great because it's a one-eyed sports model, this one sometimes doesn't always work.

Front on it looks like Peter Brock's 1980 Bathurst winning VB Commodore – WITH FLARES.

The flared guards on the VE seem out of proportion to me on a front of view but look absolutely in place at all other angles of the car. Go figure – maybe it is similar to one of those BMW 7 Series phenomena – where the styling will take a few years to get used to, is initially written off as outrageously ugly, and then two years later everyone will be doing it.

From any other angle apart from dead on straight the car looks absolutely amazing, a modern interpretation of Australian car design that mixes European elements with a strong Australian flair. It's totally stylish and very, shall I say it, sexy. But perhaps I'm getting too emotional here...

Interior: 4.5/5

All the luxury appointments are present on the Calais V, from leather interior (you can smell the success!) to the sophisticated design of the new dash, the cloth headlining to the climate control and large colour LCD screen in the centre stack. The overall design of the interior is an improvement over the previous VT-based Commodore and Calais models and even the choice of colours gives the interior a prestige feel: two-tone black (upper) and beige (lower) accented with decent quality aluminium strips.

The seats are very comfy and with electronic adjustment you never need strain yourself adjusting your comfort levels or view of the road, and when you rest your arm on the door handles there's leather inserts here as well, which give the car a soothing level of tactility.

The instrumentation and dashboard materials are unmistakably European and are of a higher quality than previous Holden large cars, and the sound system is more than adequate to listen to your favourite CDs. Having said that, I love the upgraded Bose system. I've tried to like the Blaupunkt stereos for many generations of Holden but I'm over trying – give me the Bose any day! It gets 11 speakers and has a 6-stacker CD system.

The space inside the Calais V is more than adequate to fill with five burly Aussies – but they may need to throw their computer cases (or slabs of beer) in the boot though. Rear seat leg room is great, but it's just for the legs, not for laptop PCs. I suppose you could look at the Statesman or Caprice if you want your passengers to carry their computers on board. The boot is well sized too, so you'll rarely find yourself cursing your vehicle choice when going on an interstate trip with the family or loading up with golf bags.

Another of the car's gadgets that I thought was pragmatically implemented was the zoned rear and front parking assist systems. Small sensors in the front and rear bumpers of the car relay how far away you are from another car, or a wall, or any solid object, which are represented both in the graphical representation on the high quality front panel LCD, and in audio beeps. It gives you a more confident sense of where you are in relation to your surroundings or where you are going to hit the car as you maneuvered tight city multi-level car spaces. It's very intuitive and enhances the sense of luxury appointments the Calais V has to offer.

Almost everything in the car is electric - except the handbrake, that's still manually operated - including mirrors and windows, plus there's a range of audio and trip computer controls on the leather steering wheel that make life easier when you want to listen to something different, or see how far you've travelled or how much fuel you've used.

Holden's luxury charge is also packed with practical safety features, such as ABS, ESP, active front head restraints (which are supposed to reduce whiplash injuries), plus six airbags including side curtain airbags. Like the electronic stability programme or ESP (which can switched off) there is a lot of electronic gadgetry inside the Calais V with the central display offering help and menu functions to navigate your way around. But like most new electronic toys these days, it takes a little time to familiarise yourself with what the car can do and how to customise things for the way you like them. It's just one of the joys of ownership.

The Calais V has an internal luxury that can match the smell and touch of it's European competitors and made this would-be market segment purchaser happy to say that yes, I could be caught dead in this Calais and not have to pay three times as much for a Beemer or Merc equivalent in order to feel that I was successful. One of the more impressive features that is often a cost option on German luxury cars is the inclusion of the DVD screen for the rear seat passengers. I think the whole idea of feeling proud about what you drive has been successfully executed in the new 'V' badged Calais models, and the interior treatment is one of the best examples of this.

Overall: 4.5/5

The Calais V redefines the local luxury car segment in Australia. I am absolutely stoked that Australian design and ingenuity can produce a vehicle like this and I would go so far to say that you would be throwing your money away if you hadn't considered or test driven a Calais V before some of its more pricey European rivals, such as the BMW 5 series.

Fully packed with ingenuity (although often 'borrowed' from its rivals) and thorough Australian design and testing, the Holden Calais V absolutely steps up to the mark as a genuine European challenger. Driving the car is highly rewarding and it feels very smooth in both the V6 and V8 models, and if fuel economy isn't high on your new-car wish list then check out the V8 model because it's an exhilarating drive, and feels far more sophisticated than its pushrod construction would lead you to believe.

With smooth 5- and 6-speed automatic gearboxes that finally bring the new Holden large car in the 21st century, good levels of safety, and a huge amount of standard equipment - and throw in the upgraded Bose stereo system - and the Calais V is a lay down royal flush.