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Holden?s new Commodore


And it signals that Holden and Ford's new battle ground will be at the bowser.

GM-Holden yesterday fired a salvo across Ford's bows by launching what it describes as the most fuel-efficient Australian-built six cylinder car available.

It has unveiled two new hi-tech six-cylinder engines for the Commodore range just a week after Ford said it would build a four-cylinder Falcon.

GM-Holden chairman, Mark Reuss, said Holden was going to ‘out-engineer’ its rivals with cutting-edge technology. "Dropping cylinders would be the last resort," he said.

The new direct-injection 3.0-litre and 3.6-litre V6 engines will hit showrooms next month in the face-lifted Commodore and Statesman range. Not only is Australia's best-selling family sedan now cheaper to run, it emits less harmful greenhouse gases, Reuss said.

"We've been listening to what the customer wants," he said. "We've invested in changing what matters most to motorists, increasing fuel efficiency, improving refinement and developing performance."

The new petrol engines will be joined by a more economical LPG Commodore engine. Reuss said the new 3.0-litre Commodore was so efficient, families could drive from Melbourne to Sydney, a distance of 870km, on one tank of fuel.

"We know because we've done it," Reuss said. "The car we drove actually got 7.5l/100km in actual real-world driving, that's right in there with our four cylinder entries in the smaller car market."

Owners will also be able to save $325 in annual fuel costs too, he said.

Reuss said the Commodore's direct-injection technology was a big step forward for the local car industry and Australian manufacturing and was applauded by the Industry Minister, Senator Kim Carr.

"We are defining our own future, creating our own luck," Reuss said. "It places a more refined Commodore amongst four cylinder competitors while delivering the space and flexibility which Australian car buyers clearly want."

Both V6s adopt what Holden calls spark ignition direct injection, to deliver up to 13 per cent better economy and up to 14 per cent lower CO2 emissions, combined with a new six-speed automatic transmission.

The new Omega 3.0-litre gets 9.3 litres/100km, more than 13 per cent better than the existing model's 10.7 litres/100km. This engine also produces 600kg less CO2 emissions than the existing engine. Apart from lower fuel consumption, power is up.

The 3.0-litre develops 190kW, up from 175kW of the previous engine, while the 3.6-litre develops 210kW, up from 195kW.

Holden's popular dual-fuel LPG range will retain the 3.6-litre AlloyTec V6 but it has been reworked for better economy and lower CO2 emissions.

Apart from powering local Commodores, GM-Holden plans to export the engines to several other GM plants globally, including Mexico where it is expected to go into a new Cadillac off-roader.

New Holden Global V6 direct-injection engines
3.0 and 3.6-litre double overhead cam alloy V6.
Uses 91RON ULP, Euro IV+ emissions rating
Power:
3.0 - 190kW @ 6700rpm
3.6 - 210kW @ 6400rpm
Torque:
3.0 - 290Nm @ 2900rpm
3.6 - 350Nm @ 2900rpm
Fuel economy (l/100km)/emissions:
9.3/221g/km - 10.3/245g/km.
Between 9 and 13 per cent fuel consumption improvement, 9-14 per cent emissions improvement.

Superceded V6
3.6-litre double overhead cam, variable inlet camshaft, 24-valve alloy V6 (High Feature in top-spec models).
Power:
175kW @ 6500rpm
HF 195kW @ 6500rpm
Torque:
325Nm @ 2400rpm
HF 340Nm @ 2600rpm (ECE, Nm)
Fuel economy (l/100km)/emissions:
10.6/252g/km -11.6/274g/km

 

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