Holden Commodore SV6 2006 review

The six-speed manual also took some getting used to, not only for me, but others who had searched for its uncertain ratios, all too often slipping into second when trying to go into fourth, or, worse, finding fourth when wanting second for a corner.

One competent driver found it all too easy to stall when changing from second to third gear, despite his extensive driving experience.

But once you get used to the gearbox, it's a different story. This quintessential Australian car is enormously satisfying to drive. The SV6 accelerates effortlessly, despite its 1592kg.

Being used to driving a battered little Toyota Corolla, the Commodore was an entirely new experience.

The plan was to take the SV6 on a typical Australian road trip: down the Hume Highway to the Snowy Mountains, then cross country to Bega on the south coast and north back to Sydney. The other plan, to take the surfboard, was foiled by the fact that the car was way too wide for soft racks.

The only solution was to park the board in the passenger seat, a decision which, rather soon into the trip, we realised was totally unacceptable. (It's not very romantic speaking to your partner via the rear vision mirror; try it.) After much discussion, it was decided to ship the board back to Sydney from Cooma, easily organised for $50.

That said, the car certainly had more room for all our regular gear. Had we been mountain bikers for instance, we could have fitted two bikes in the 465-litre boot with no problem.

As it was, the boot was taken up with our luggage, plus a stereo and boxes of CDs and movies — with room to spare.

We arrived at our destination near Thredbo about 1am and left the car atLake Novotel Crackenback for theweekend.

After finishing the hardest two-day overnight trek on offer through the Kosciuszko Alpine Walk program — 16km a day — it was a relief to collapse back into the SV6, adjust the lumbar support on the driver's seat and take off for Bega.

The SV6 cornered well on its 17-inch alloy wheels, just as well as my co-driver's curiosity at how it did this at high speed had me clutching the sides of the passenger seat at times.

It's a smooth runner, too. There was no bouncing and rolling as we cruised through the green hills around Tilba and purred through the quiet, pre-holiday season streets of Narooma, Broulee and Hyams Beach on Jervis Bay.

Another feature that took time to get used to was putting the car in reverse. It was easy to misjudge the clutch at first and over-rev the car before the gear kicked in. With a car as heavy as this, it was quite disconcerting at first and we both managed to stall it at times.

But again, once we were used to it and had our gear-changing technique down pat, we just loved driving the SV6 for its power and smoothness.

The four-spoke leather-wrapped steering wheel is in keeping with the car's sporty design, and its remote stereo controls were sheer luxury when it came time to adjust the volume or change channels.

Back in Sydney, the SV6 became a comfortable commuter car for a few weeks. While it still felt it was taking up too much room, it was surprisingly easy to park and manoeuvre in narrow city streets.

The Commodore SV6 is a car for anyone who wants to show off, drive a sporty, yet safe, vehicle and take the family along for the ride at the same time. Its interior could easily swallow two adults, three kids, dogs, bikes and luggage in one gulp.

But do leave the surfboard at home!