2004 Holden Calais Reviews

It's a model that genuinely can be considered as an alternative to some European cars for the luxury buyer who wants sporty handling, safety, luxury equipment, comfort and impressive road performance.And you'd be going to find a Euro with 190kW of engine power, a true five-seat cabin and a 465-litre boot at a price tag south of the Calais V6's $52,660.Holden added the Calais badge to its Commodore line-up 20 years ago in the days of the VK.The Calais is the answer for Commodore buyers who want more luxury and technology items than the Berlina. It's the most luxurious version of the Commodore range before stepping into the long-wheelbase, and more costly, Statesman and Caprice.Although there is a city called Calais in General Motors' home in the US, it's a sure bet Holden in Australia was hoping the name carried the image of Calais in France – something European-exotic built into the trusty Aussie Commodore.This latest VZ Calais more than ever can claim to live up to that image, thanks to the sophistication and equipment levels now incorporated.A 5.7-litre V8 Calais is offered as an option at $57,360. Sure, you get 235kW of lusty power but it comes only with the old four-speed automatic transmission.Almost $5000 less is the Calais with the new Alloytec all-aluminium V6 engine from the family of GM Global V6 engines. Out with the aged 3.8-litre pushrod V6, the new Alloytec has double overhead camshafts controlling the four valves per cylinder. Torque on the Alloytec 190 is meaty, too – 340Nm at 3200rpm and Holden says 90 per cent of that torque is on hand over a wide rev range from just 1570rpm through to 5870rpm.VZ Commodores feature an auto-start function: there's no need to hold the key while the engine cranks to life: just turn it to the start position and instantly let it go.And – this is the good bit – on the Calais, the Alloytec 190 is matched to a new five-speed automatic transmission, which has steering wheel paddle shifts called Active Select. It's the first such transmission on an Australian-made car.The driver can opt for normal automatic mode or use the fingertip shift to command the transmission to go up and down the gears. The new five-speed automatic allows for a greater spread of ratios, with fourth being a direct drive. Fifth is an overdrive on a fairly long-legged final drive diff ratio. It means a fuel-frugal 1900rpm when cruising at 110km/h.The automatic transmission uses Performance Algorithm Liftfoot to respond to driver requests on driving style and holding gears during some deceleration and cornering. It also minimises "hunting" between gears.Calais, in its previous VY Series II, was turned into a sports-luxury car by having a slightly lowered, sporty suspension setup. This concept is continued in the VZ, which has firmer spring rates than the standard Commodore and Acclaim – and which, like them, benefits from front-end suspension redesigns to make steering sharper. But now Calais has other driver aids that are normally seen only in more expensive imported luxury cars.It has electronic stability program (ESP), again offered for the first time on an Australian-made sedan (although there are similar aids on Ford Territory and Holden's Adventra AWD wagons). ESP uses sensors and electronics to correct the car's path through brake application to individual wheels and by engine torque intervention.It's designed to help save the car from sliding off the road or into the path of an oncoming vehicle on corners.Allied to this is corner brake control to help keep the car stable during heavy braking on curves and corners.ABS is there, of course, but helped by electronic brake assist to shorten braking distances. And all the VZ Commodore range has improved brakes.Traction control is built into these devices, too. Get one driving wheel on dirt or an otherwise loose surface and it won't spin ridiculously.Traction control and other driver aids are now possible on the Holden thanks to electronic throttle systems on the new Alloytec engine.Outside, Calais is distinct with its chrome flash over the top of a grille which is now deeper and more aggressive, to remind of the car's sporty role.It has optic-fibre parking lamps, projector headlamps and chrome-ringed front fog lamps. Wide-faced spoke alloy wheels are 17in diameter and carry 225/50 tyres.Inside, Calais now has leather trim as standard. It has gloss piano black instrument panel and console and a new centre panel.Calais certainly makes it as a luxury car, too: it has rear parking sensors, cruise control, power windows, six-stack dash CD, Blaupunkt stereo with 10 speakers and 260 watts, dual-zone climate control, eight-way power adjustable front seats (with three lots of memory settings for the driver's side), height-adjustable rear head restraints and courtesy lamps on all four doors. It has twin front and front-side airbags.The 4876mm-long, 1642kg Calais V6 has pretty smart performance when the taps to the 190 engine are opened.And the handling is that sweet combination of poise, grip, little body roll yet without too much crashing from the tyres and suspension. It can tow up to 2100kg and runs on normal unleaded petrol. For sports-luxury car buyers who want their money to stay mainly in Australia, who seek value and want practicality of a five-seat sedan yet with the latest driver-aid technology, the Holden Calais beckons.

If you want a five speed automatic transmission, you have to have the 190.Calais V6 sells for $52,660 putting it among some class competition from Europe – albeit not quite the same size or engine capacity but with plenty of prestige.But Holden has turned up the features wick giving Calais some choice goodies such as leather upholstery as standard equipment, park distance control and a set of sexy looking spoke alloy wheels.It's a tempting package that stands out against other VZ Commodore models. Has good engine performance spoiled by exhaust note that sounds the same as old 3.8 Ecotec engine.Impressive fuel economy for a big, heavy car, average can get into the 10s without much trouble.Five speed automatic transmission captures engine torque well, flicks between ratios quickly, contributes to fuel economy.Active Select gear selection buttons on steering wheel are superfluous.Transmission is similar to previous BMW five speeder.Still a degree of vibration from the drivetrain at highway speeds.Induction noise intrusive under heavy throttle applications.Engine has good mid range and top end response. More was expected lower down. Could have been due to drive-by-wire throttle operation on all new VZs.Has impressive dynamics for family four door sedan. Steers and rides better than ever. Fun element in sporty feel to Calais and other models. Steering improvements and wider tyres contribute to solid on road feel.Interior pretty much the same as previous model with minor tweaks and some extra flash stuff. Still looks good, easy to use, Calais is features rich.Couldn't work out how to get natural outside air through climate control system unless "conditioned."Exterior styling possibly too similar to previous model. Looks good, more imposing front treatment, same at the sides and rear.Like the electronic safety controls, particularly ESP, (Electronic Stability Program) that individually brakes each wheel to counteract skidding.Has latest generation Bosch ABS and an improved traction control that doesn't kick back through the accelerator like before.Sound system in Calias impresses. Electric controls to many functions. Boot release is by keyfob only.New, attractive colours lift car's appeal.

IT'S easy to be cynical about Australia's biggest-selling car. The life cycle of models is inherently swift and in between there is at least one facelift.They come along with monotonous regularity. So when a new model arrives it is easy to adopt a deadpan reaction.Not this time.Holden's VZ Commodore is essentially an upgrade from the VYII of last year and the VY a year before that. But, boy, what an upgrade! Look at the VZ and you may well wonder what all the fuss is about. Drive it and you probably will be totally consumed by the leap in quality, refinement and safety.The jump is so big the VZ may as well have come straight out of Germany.The difference starts at the heart of the car, a 3.6-litre all-aluminium 60-degree V6 being badged as Alloytec, that comes out of its global engine plant in Port Melbourne.They already have been delivered to partner GM in the US in the last few months to be included in its Buick range.The worm has turned as the engine it replaces and which has served the Commodore line-up since 1988, the 3.8-litre Ecotec job, came from Buick. This new engine with continuously variable cam phasing has a bigger brain than the old Ecotec. For starters, the micro engine control unit with 32-bit capacity can calculate more than 7000 variables whereas the Ecotec was capable of 1350.The bottom line is the inclusion of the Alloytec is the catalyst engineers needed in order to adopt new transmissions and add a host of electronic safety systems that were once off-limits.Cable linkages have disappeared with electronic throttle controls giving the new Commodores drive-by-wire feel.These Commodores are a totally different driving experience. Once clanging and banging and huffing and puffing, the four-speed auto has been revised for the current line-up and communicates better with the new engine, is quicker and softer.EC Cubing hardware has helped give it a better brain to cope with the interpretations of what the engine is doing.On the Executive you can knock it back to third and it responds instantly and smoothly. It doesn't take a deep breath and lunge back a cog as it did during its less-than-happy marriage with the 3.8-litre Ecotec.Although the funny thing is that the refinement has quelled any feeling of the added power of the VZ which has sprung from 152kW to 175kW.You don't get that same kickback through the throttle, the eradication of the cable link for electronic control has given the Commodore an A-plus in road manners.For the Calais, leather is now standard, and the 190kW naturally aspirated engine is silky smooth compared with the 171kW supercharged six in VYII configuration. It also gains the 5-speed automatic, a breakthrough for Holden transmissions.It incorporates an Active Select button near the gear shifter which, once activated, enables the driver to use the steering wheel-mounted paddles (left-hand-side for downshifting, right for upchanging).Holden could have gone for the tipshift function on the gear shifter like the sequential sports shift on the BA Falcon, however, they thought paddles gave a better image of performance. The V6 Calais also benefits from ESP (Electronic Stability Program), an active safety mechanism that is standard. It is not available on V8-optioned Holdens.ESP essentially is a crash avoidance system where brakes are applied to wheels individually and engine torque is controlled to help put a wayward car back on track.This system has been calibrated to operate at a high threshold and cannot be turned off. Engineers are of the opinion that if this were the case there would be no point in having it in the first place. Steering on the base cars seems light and more lively off-centre.While the Commodore has grown more power and torque the move to electronics has somewhat numbed the feeling of extra grunt. Ultimately this expression of quality is a good thing but, then again, many Commodore lovers will miss the feeling of rawness.