Holden Calais V 2014 Review

Holden’s Calais V is a polished, accomplished and attractive car that has road manners that ensure it never feels its true size. With space for all the family, and substantial V8 power, it’s a compelling option if you can escape the clutches of the SUV brigade...

Holden launched the VF-Series Commodore and Calais range with the promise it was producing a new sort of Aussie large car – one that was more refined, smarter and better to drive than before.

Since that launch, the world has manifestly changed for the company and Commodore. That doesn’t alter the fact that in the main, the top-spec standard wheelbase VF, the 6.0-litre V8-powered Calais V, hits its mark…

Better finished inside – and with more standard equipment than ever before – the VF range is arguably at its best in this sporty yet prestige iteration.

Although the cabin lacks panache compared to its European, and even US-built counterparts, it’s well finished and welcoming. Materials used appear of higher quality and there’s been a definite improvement in cabin quality.

There’s big comfortable leather buckets up front and, in Commodore tradition, room to stretch out in the rear, even if you and your driver are considerable taller than this 170cm writer.

Under the handsome skin, well proven muscular mechanicals deliver a bang-for-buck ratio that is hard to match anywhere else in the world. When the big Aussie sixes and V8s shuffle off (both Commodore and Falcon) the auto world will be a poorer place. You have to spend six figures to get this sort of lazy performance in a European car.

The 6.0-litre V8 is quite cutting edge but is rated at 260kW/517Nm and never feels like its stressed providing those numbers. The GM six-speed auto is one of the most improved aspects of the VF range. Although there are European-sourced automatic transmissions that are better, there is not a lot to fault the native box in the Calais V.

Nit pickers will lament the fact that only US-based SS (nee Commodore) buyers get to play with steering wheel mounted paddle-shifts. Frankly, within a couple of days of driving the Calais V, I’d not be using them anyway.

Our Calais V arrived just before the start of the Christmas break and was pressed into ‘family and friends’ duties for an extended period.

Yours truly usually tries to manoeuvre himself into a big crossover this time of year – it’s been a while since a sedan played family truckster at Chez Sinclair for the long break. In this sense, we were doing what Holden hoped many buyers of the VF range would do – eschew the now almost de rigeuer SUV and reunite with a ‘three-box’ traditional large car.

It gave me an ideal opportunity to contrast my partner’s rear-drive petrol-powered Ford Territory Titanium. If not a direct competitor for the Calais V on the surface, the Ford is a car that very definitely competes for user-chooser dollars, especially if there’s a buy-Australian requirement.

Perhaps even more importantly it allowed my Territory-driving significant other to see whether she’d be prepared to make the move back to a sedan. The news wasn’t good for fans of four-doors.

Chief criticisms were vision and sight lines. Now fair enough any sedan is not going to deliver the high, wide and handsome views that are SUV's stock in trade, but that wasn’t her first complaint. Without any prompting from yours truly the Commodore’s huge A-pillars came in for a caning.

In her own words, she felt like she was constantly have to “look around” the A-pillar, and that in some corners on the winding Forest-Apollo Bay Road, it “hid oncoming traffic” from her. Hmmm, where have we heard this before?

Better news on most other fronts. She called the drivetrain and suspension smooth but responsive. Steering was categorised as a touch on the heavy side compared to the Territory. But the Calais V got top marks for its intuitive sat nav system and tech integration. Bluetooth phone and audio were quick and easy to pair.

The Calais V’s capacity to swallow gear was also a surprise – even when compared to the bigger SUV. Sometimes we all forget just how much the boot on a big sedan can hold – although the disclaimer that you need to plan your packing needs to be added.

An early morning squirt with number two son onboard on some favourite Otway roads confirmed just how polished Holden’s engineers have made the Calais V. If fast’s your bag you’ll probably lean towards the SS V, but the balance and ride of the luxury variant is impressive.

On the flipside, barely exercising the V8 on the heavily policed roads to and from Victoria’s Surf Coast showed how frugal an eight-cylinder Holden can be. I checked my figures (and notes) twice but the number kept coming up the same:9.7L/100km. That’s pretty impressive...

We’re hopeful there will be at least one more locally built Calais hitting Holden dealership floors before the plug is pulled on Elizabeth. For the time being (and just in case), I’ll write it just the same: they’ve saved the best for last…

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