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The Age

Saturday March 1, 2008

The Drive Team

Holden has kept its concept car away from prying media ahead of yesterday's preview but has been willing to share details of the latest Commodore variant, the Sportwagon.

Built on the Commodore's short-wheelbase platform, the wagon comes in seven trim levels, from the $37,790 Omega to the $60,290 Calais.

Ford fans will have plenty to drool over, too, as this will be the first chance to check out the new range of almost completely revised Falcons.

The new FG model draws heavily on the European styling influences already seen on the Mondeo but at the same time remains distinctly a Falcon.

It will be the first time in decades that there will be no Futura, Fairmont or Ghia in the range following a decision to offer buyers a choice between two clear streams of Falcon models.

On one side will be the up-market G series, offering lashings of luxury over the Falcon's responsive all-independent chassis. While there will be no V8 in the G series models, they will get the best of both worlds, with the torquey turbo-six offering more thrust than the V8 as well as the smoothness of a six.

On the other side will be the sporty Falcons, starting with the XR6 with the base 195 kW motor and then the 270 kW XR6 Turbo. The range-topping XR8 will have a 290 kW 5.4-litre bent-eight nestled under its notorious bonnet bulge.

Ford Performance Vehicle Falcons sport the mean-looking "black eye" treatment around the headlamps and there's the new F6X FPV version of the already hard-charging Territory Turbo.

And Toyota fans can check out the performance version of the HiLux that's been given the TRD treatment, boasting a 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine that produces maximum torque of 376 Nm at 3800 rpm courtesy of an Eaton M90 supercharger and intercooler. It will be in showrooms in April.

HOLDEN VE SPORTWAGON

Perhaps recognising its family focus, Holden's wagon line-up makes stability control, side curtain airbags, alloy wheels and reversing sensors standard features across all models.

The wagon versions cost about $1000 more than their sedan equivalents, except for the $37,790 Omega, which comes at a $3000 premium. However, it does get six, not four, airbags compared with the Omega sedan.

The Berlina is priced from $41,290, the SV6 from $42,290, the SS from $46,290 for the six-speed manual and the SS V from $53,790 for the six-speed manual. A six-speed auto adds $2000 to the cost of the SS and SS V. The Calais V6 is priced from $46,790 with the five-speed auto, the Calais V V6 from $55,290 with a five-speed auto and the Calais V V8 from $60,290 with the six-speed auto.

© 2008 The Age

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