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By KARLA PINCOTT
1 October 2007
It can’t be easy to make a ute behave like a sedan. You have much less
weight over the back wheels to pin it to the road. But Holden has come
close with the new VE Ute, which has been engineered to mimic the ride
and handling characteristics of the Commodore sedan that continues to be
number one seller in Australia.
Special attention had to be given to things like recalibrating
the suspensions and tweaking the ESP to work properly with each
variant’s different combination of suspension, wheels and
payload, although some of those tubs will never see much working
duty.
The results are most noticeable in the sports suspension that
underpins the SV6, SS and SSV. But even the base model Omega is
reasonably well-behaved on the road, although the engineers have
obviously tuned it to work better with a load. After driving it
with an empty tray and then with 280 kg tossed in the back, we’d
almost vote for sandbags to be a standard feature.
That won’t be necessary of course, because the Omega is the
one that will mainly be the tradies’ workhorse and most of them
will carry at least a weighty toolbox. Which is not to say tradies
won’t head for the dressier variants of the new ute, but many of
them will throw their tools in a trailer and tow it behind rather
than risk scratching the (standard across the range) tray liner.
The styled-up end of the range will certainly look the goods
sitting outside any worksite, but it would look equally swish on
the beach or restaurant strip.
The utes are identical to the corresponding sedans from the
nose to the A-pillar, after which a steeply inclined, and somewhat
vision-blocking, rear pillar leads down to the tray. This business
end of the vehicle has been given a more streamlined appearance at
the rear with the help of hidden tailgate hinges, while wraparound
tail-light clusters visually shorten the overhang to give the ute
more dynamic proportions. But the tub itself has lost some
capacity as the VE is largely aimed the sporting market.
Extra bodykit and fruit is added as you climb the levels,
topping out at the SSV’s chiselled nose and quad exhaust tips.
You can get the vehicle in the usual colours, and some very
unusual new ones: a psychedically colour-shifting blue/purple,
radioactive mutant ninja turtle green and bilious metallic yellow.
The interiors follow the styling of the sedans, but the
designers have been at work to dress up the panel behind the
seats. Interior materials look and feel good, particularly the
cross-hatched texture on top of the dash. However, the smooth
section where the centre stack flows over it can be annoying when
the sun hits it. Another annoyance is that the air vents can’t
be angled up towards the roof, for those of us who like a bit of
cool air but don’t necessarily want it blowing right on us.
Apart from wind rush around the wing mirrors and A-pillars, the
cabins were quiet, with even gravel and dirt roads not intruding a
great deal.
On the road, every VE we drove felt tight, solid and confident
right from the start, helped occasionally by the ESP lending a
hand when enthusiasm overtook our abilities.
The SSV with sequential auto and the SS with six-speed manual
were an absolute hoot. But then you’d be surprised if they weren’t,
with all that healthy torque on tap and the engine happy to rev up
until the 6500 limit. Even though the SSV’s 19-inch alloys with
their low-profile rubber tended to undermine the finer end of the
handling, there was still heaps of grip and good linear response
to chew into sets of hilly curves. While the engine muscle meant
you could absolutely mince long straights and overtaking
opportunities.
But the SV6 was no slouch, and even though it’s only 30 kg
lighter in the engine bay, it sometimes felt slightly more nimble
heading into corners, where the V8 could be a touch nose-heavy.
If those three variants had any fault, it was that they made
the Omega seem a bit doughy by comparison. And it’s not, when
you set it apart from the others. Sure, the four-speed auto we
tested is not as much out-and-out joy as the sequential in the SS,
and the lower output V6 doesn’t have as much fire.
But there’s more than enough there to play with. And you can
have nearly as much fun, as long as you don’t forget to pack
that huge toolbox.
The complete Holden Ute range, with prices (excluding on-road
costs) is:
Omega V6: $30,990 (manual), $30,990 (automatic)
SV6 V6: $35,990 (manual), $36,990 (automatic)
SS V8: $39,990 (manual), $41,990 (automatic)
SS V V8: $44,990 (manual), $46,990 (automatic)
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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