Faults:

Front speaker casing rattles when sound system is on at a reasonable volume.

Carpet trims not properly fitted and coming out at plastic seam in back footwell. As well as excess carpet bubble behind the accelerator and brake pedal.

General Comments:

Purchased from the dealer as a "Police Spec" Holden SV6 VE 2007. But local law enforcement had ordered too much, sending them back to Holden. Had only done 50km.

Features added include sump guard, covert button (deactivates all interior and exterior lighting), speed trap button?, extra battery, bigger disc brakes, reverse sensors and police horn.

The billion dollar baby has finally paid off. The all new VE is what Holden proclaims it to be!

The handling is perfect in all bends and tight situations. With the added ESP it keeps you in control. Even letting you have fun on the road, taking the tight bends. Compared to other ESP cars I have driven, this is the best; it's so discrete yet strong.

The performance is at its best. Compared to previous models I've driven of the S SV6, this is the best. The power is there when needed; a slip of the sports mode button and you're off.

Comes best in effect in overtaking or simply off for a joy ride. Have even taken on an older Holden HSV, and the SV6 was off!

The interior design and sound system is at its peak! Even for non leather seats it's terrific!

Safety is the main priority these days, and the SV6 sustains a high level of safety with the whole airbag package.

Overall the Holden VE SV6 is an affordable family performance sedan. The spacious and safe cabin is awesome for the kids! The power and steering behind the car is magnificent.

The car is good on gas, but as with all Holdens, the economy varies on how you drive.

Faults:

- A/C stopped working

- Pieces of interior trim fell off

General Comments:

I had high expectations when we recently hired a new VE Omega for 14 days; the car that Holden and Wheels magazine claim can match it with the best from Europe. Unfortunately, the car has been majorly overrated by these motoring ‘experts’, and is let down a very ordinary drive line that is way off the pace being set by the Toyota Aurion, and even the BA Falcon.

The V6 power plant is a crock; it lacks low down torque and is way too harsh and noisy for a supposedly modern engine. Perhaps this is why even GMH no longer use this motor in their American built cars. The pathetic 4 speed auto is also a sad joke, with poor ratios, shift pattern and a tendency to spend most of the time hunting through the gears. The car also lacked a manual shift or tiptronic mode, which was disappointing. The drive line of my 1988 Nissan Skyline GTS, with the legendary RB 30 embarrasses the Commodore with its incredible smoothness and refinement. In fact this 20 year old Aussie built Skyline would still outpoint this car in nearly every respect, aside from interior room and secondary crash protection.

The steering is also too light and vague, and provides the driver little in the way of direct feedback. The ride was also floaty and the handling was no better than average - Certainly not on a par with a BMW 5 –series as claimed by Wheels magazine!

The quality and finish of the interior plastics are a joke, with large variations in dash panel gaps, and loose fitting pieces of trim and bonnet release that felt like it was going to break off at any stage. A couple of pieces of the centre console trim actually fell off while we had the car, which does not say much for its long term reliability considering the car only had 20,000 k’s on the clock.

At one stage the A/C also stopped working, raising further doubts about this cars long term reliability and build quality.

The steering wheel mounted controls and trip computer display were difficult to use and poorly thought out, and there was no manual boot release or even a locking fuel cap.

About the only things that impressed me about the car was the amount of interior leg room and the excellent brakes. However, the car falls way short of the new Toyota Aurion, with its silky smooth V6 and Lexus like 6 speed auto, along with Japanese levels of build quality and finish. Even the Ford Falcon, with the optional 6 speed auto would be a better bet then this very disappointing car.