Holden has upped the safety ante in
light commercial vehicles with the model year 10 Commodore ute not
only gaining new 3.6 litre SIDI V6 engine but also six airbags as
standard across the range. Side impact and curtain airbags make the
ute Australia's first light commercial to offer six airbags.
The
entire Commodore and WM range, including the ute, also get a steering
column shroud energy absorber that helps to reduce driver knee
injuries, and a passenger seat belt reminder. Holden is hoping the
new ute will achieve five star ANCAP safety rating when it is tested
later this month.
The new safety features join existing
equipment including Electronic Stability Control which incorporates
ABS brakes, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, Electronic Brake
Assist and traction control.
“The combination of front, side and
curtain airbags, together with ESC as standard across the range is
unmatched in the light commercial segment,” said Holden spokesman,
Ian Butler. “Holden believes that occupant safety
is just as important in the LCV market as is it in the family sedan
market,” he said. “Safety features are not something
that should be limited to vehicle types or models and should be
standard on all our vehicles, including those in the light commercial
market.”
The announcement on the safety upgrade
follows the announcement that Holden's entire range of locally
manufactured passenger cars has been awarded the maximum five star
Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating for the first
time. The model year 10 Holden Commodore and
Statesman range, including utes, go on sale later this month. Like
higher specified Commodore range, the ute gets the new 3.6 litre V6
SIDI engine and six speed manual transmission or optional new six
speed automatic transmission.
Holden claim economy of 10.2 litres/100
km from the manual ute and 10.1 litres/100 km from the automatic.
This is down from 11.4 litres/100 km and 11.6 litres/100 km from the
current model utes that run the Alloytec 3.6 litre high-output V6
and a five speed auto transmission or six speed manual. The new ute comes with Holden's new
Spark Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI) global 3.6 litre V6 engine
hooked up to either a six speed manual transmission or the new six
speed automatic.
Local development of the engine started
in 2007 with engine, calibration and vehicle durability testing
taking place over a 30 month time span. More than 1.1 million test
kilometres and almost 11,000 engine dynameter hours were clocked up.
The 3.6 SIDI V6 produces 210 kW of power at 6400 rpm and 350 Nm of
torque at 2900 rpm. The current Alloytec engine produced 195 kW at
6500 rpm and 340 Nm of torque at 2600 rpm.
Holden is the first local manufacturer
to introduce direct-injection technology. Multi-point injectors
provide direct injection into the combustion chambers, replacing the
conventional port-injected engines that inject fuel into the intake
port upstream of the intake valve. This allows a higher compression
ratio which improves efficiency and performance. Less fuel is used to
produce equivalent power. Holden did not release performance figures
but the Omega sedan and ute is around about .5 of second faster to
100 km/h and is believed to be around 7.7 seconds. This improvement
is largely due to the new six speed auto transmission.
Significant weight gains were produced
by using an all-aluminium block and cylinder head in the 3.0 litre
SIDI engine, which includes the exhaust manifold integrated into the
cylinder head – a first for Holden. The 3.6 litre SIDI engine as
used in the ute has the same features as the 3.0 litre engine, but
retains the Alloytec cast iron external manifold. This engine is also
being used by Cadillac CTS and SRX and twice been named in Wards Ten
Best Engines.
The transmission gear changes from
second to sixth gears and completed with a clutch-to-clutch action
where an `on-coming' clutch is engaged and an `off-going' clutch is
released to achieve the ratio change. The SIDI V6 engine is turned to idle at
550 rpm, compared to 600 rpm in the current Alloytec V6, reducing
fuel usage at idle. The leaner and meaner Commodores benefit from a
raft of other fuel-saving measures.
-
A new high efficiency alternator
is now smaller and lighter and helps improve fuel economy by
reducing generator load.
-
Regulated Voltage Control allows
greater use of the battery as it monitors the state of charge,
allowing power to be drawn from the battery rather than the
alternator under some conditions.
-
GM Holden has introduced lower
rolling resistance tyres from Bridgestone as standard on Model Year
10 with 16 and 17 inch wheels – Omega, Berlina and Calais sedan
and Sportwagon models and Statesman.
-
When decelerating or coasting
downhill, fuel supply to the engine is cut off sequentially to each
cylinder. Fuel is seamlessly reinstated when needed. (This was
introduced with VE Commodore).
-
A turbine damper allows the engine
to operate in low rpm, high-torque range where it is most efficient
without exceeding noise, vibration and harshness standards.
The combined effect of the improvements
results in fuel economy savings between seven and 13 per cent across
the VE Commodore and WM V6 SIDI range. CO2 emissions have also
improved between seven and 12 per cent. GM Holden claim annual fuel
savings of $325 for an Omega owner traveling 20,000 kilometres a
year. In general Commodore pricing remains the same apart from Omega
and Berlina models that receive a $700 increase on rrp. Omega ute is
also up by $700, but now has six airbags as standard.
FIRST DRIVE
Holden conducted a comprehensive test
drive program at the launch of the new Commodore and Commodore ute
out of Melbourne late last week. We had the opportunity to drive the
new SIDI V6 ute between Yea and Mansfield. Our test car was fitted
with the six speed manual transmission. The road between Yea and
Mansfield is primarily flat with a number of undulating hills. As an
economy run we put the manual into sixth gear as soon as possible and
used the downhill coasting technology to get the best fuel economy.
The result: When we drove into Mansfield we were showing 7.8
litres/100 kms. That's 36 miles to the gallon in the old money. For
normal urban running expect to get closer to Holden's claimed 10.1
or 10.2 litres/100 km depending on transmission, but it's interesting
that the automatic transmission is marginally more economical than
the manual. While we did not get to drive an automatic ute variant,
we did drive an Calais sportwagon with the 3.6 litre SIDI engine
hooked up to a six speed automatic. We found it an excellent mating.
The engine has a genuine `note' under full throttle, compared to the
current Alloytec engine which is fairly asthmatic, and the six speed
transmission gets the best out of the engine
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