Holden Epica CDXi 2007 review

Around town and over rough potholed roads the well-damped car provides a comfortable and sure-footed ride on the CDXi's 17-inch wheels.

Holden looks set to continue its Korean car invasion. Despite concerns that the Daewoo-sourced Barina, Viva and now Epica would not live up to quality standards, the cars are all selling well in their classes.

And it seems customers are not so concerned about the country of origin.

Explore the 2007 Holden Epica range

• Holden Epica CDX 2007 review
• Holden Epica 2007 review
• Holden Epica CDXi 2007 review

New GM Holden boss Chris Gubbey also doesn't seem concerned.

He said that for future vehicles; they would look more at the product "appropriate for the market” rather than worrying about where the vehicle is from.

So the Korean-made Epica, which replaced the European Vectra, is likely to be around for some time.

It is currently selling fifth in the medium car segment sandwiched between Jetta and Passat and behind Camry, Mazda6, Accord Euro and Liberty.

That's not bad for a car that was launched in May.

Clearly, the pleasant looks, keen pricing, high equipment levels and, let's face it, Holden badging help.

It also doesn't hurt that Holden is offering a money-back guarantee if you are not happy with the car. Yet it pays to read the fine-print on the offer that runs to the end of the year.

Customers have 30 days to make their decision or rattle up 1500km, and must provide proof of purchase of another new (not used) car of equal or greater value than the Epica. Difficult to see many people qualifying.

CARSguide had the Epica CDXi with optional leather upholstery ($2000) over a week and found it a pleasant family car.

There were a few points of concern, but nothing that would warrant taking up Holden's money-back guarantee offer.

For $30,990, the top-spec car has a few creature comforts, with climate control, six-disc changer, and cruise and audio controls on the steering wheel.

The interior looks quite classy at first until you start playing with the switchgear which feels a bit cheap. There is also lots of hard plastic trim, but it is well built with no rattles or squeaks.

It will seat five adults with a 60/40 split fold rear seat opening up to a 480-litre boot, which is 55 litres less than the Camry.

The seats feel a little strange like someone is pushing you in the back, but they are comfortable for reasonable hauls and the cabin is very quiet with hardly any road or wind noise.

But don't expect great vehicle driving dynamics. It doesn't pretend to be a driver's car and it isn't. The steering feels vague and numb with little road feedback to the driver.

It also feels a bit heavy at low speed and too strongly weighted to the centre wanting to spring back in your hands after cornering manoeuvres.

Turning into a corner the nose gets heavy with a preponderance to understeer. This is not a bad thing as most vehicles have understeer dialled in, but the lack of steering feedback will cause aggressive drivers some concern.

Around town and over rough potholed roads the well-damped car provides a comfortable and sure-footed ride on the CDXi's 17-inch wheels.

The Epica comes in two straight-six configurations of 1993cc and 2492cc.

Even the 2.5-litre engine lacks oomph, so the 2-litre must be weak.

In the CDXi, the engine seems to rev without a lot of go.

It is married to a five-speed Japanese Aisin automatic, which shifts smoothly, but which can be a little slow to respond to increased throttle.

While it is a bit jumpy off idle, there is no spring in the acceleration and roll-on passing manoeuvres will require some forethought.

However, customers will forgive its lack of verve since it pays dividends in economy.

Holden claims the manual drinks 8.2 litres of fuel every 100km, while the automatic variants use 9.3litres/100km. My time with the auto gave no reason to dispute this. These figures compare favourably with Camry's four-cylinder figures of 8.9litres/100km for the manual and 9.9litres/100km for the auto.

Stopping power is good, but the spongy brake pedal lacked feedback or progression and required a fair amount of effort.

Families will respond well to the safety aspects of the CDXi which has six airbags, ABS and at least gets traction control, if not stability control.

Accessories include Bluetooth kit, rear parking sensors and 18-inch wheels.