ZB Calais Tourer - brief road test, a personal view

[Sir Les]

A lot has been said about the new ZB Commodore, mainly by people who have never sat in one, let alone driven one. Is it as bad as some say? I decided to take one for a test drive to find out.

My normal daily is a 2014 VF1 Calais V sedan (with 3.6L V6) which has done 42,000 km. It's going well (touch wood). On a recent trip from Adelaide to Melbourne and back my best fuel consumption was 6.8 l/100km, which I thought was excellent for such a big, heavy car. After discussions with SWMBO, it was decided that IF we were to replace the VF, a Calais V Tourer with the 3.6 litre V6 and AWD would be the go. My local dealer didn't have a Calais V Tourer demo for a test drive, only a Calais Tourer, but since the running gear is the same we said ok. I drove it for about 40 minutes on sealed suburban Adelaide roads with speed limits from 50 - 80 km/h. Here's my initial impressions:

Likes
Plenty of interior space for passengers and especially cargo / comfortable seats / easy 1-touch folding rear seats (20/40/20) / motorised boot door / clever removable cargo cover / light steering / bags of engine power / smooth 9-speed auto gearbox / good comfortable ride / great road holding and cornering thanks to AWD / minimal tyre noise compared to VF (ContiSports cf Bridgestone Turanza) / looks better in the metal than in photos, especially in Abalone White / convex wing mirrors on both sides (much better field of view for driver).

Dislikes
Harsh and loud exhaust noise when accelerating hard / v. sensitive throttle pedal (although I suppose you'd get used to this) / all black interior very funereal looking / rev counter and speedo dials in Calais are small and hard to read quickly (no HUD) / console storage and glovebox smaller than in VF / buttons in front of gear lever hard to see and reach / satnav colours and graphics inferior to VF / whole interior and dashboard rather plain compared to more stylish VF Calais V.

The ZB Tourer comes with auto stop/start and power fold wing mirrors as standard, but neither seemed to be working on the demo I drove. Perhaps they were turned off.

Would I buy the Calais Tourer? I think it's basically a good, safe and flexible family car, but after being used to all the extras in my Calais V, probably not.

The Calais V Tourer has lots of additional 'fruit' over the Calais, such as HUD, panoramic sunroof, sports seats, LED matrix adaptive headlights, adaptive cruise control, all-speed autonomous emergency braking, flexride system, larger digital dash display, paddle shifters, sports steering wheel, ventilated front seats, driver's massage and memory seat, 360° camera, etc., etc. All these make for a more pleasant in-car driving experience, and in my opinion, worth the extra cost. But oh dear, that all-black interior and harsh exhaust note...

 

[Holden17]

A lot has been said about the new ZB Commodore, mainly by people who have never sat in one, let alone driven one. Is it as bad as some say? I decided to take one for a test drive to find out.

My normal daily is a 2014 VF1 Calais V sedan (with 3.6L V6) which has done 42,000 km. It's going well (touch wood). On a recent trip from Adelaide to Melbourne and back my best fuel consumption was 6.8 l/100km, which I thought was excellent for such a big, heavy car. After discussions with SWMBO, it was decided that IF we were to replace the VF, a Calais V Tourer with the 3.6 litre V6 and AWD would be the go. My local dealer didn't have a Calais V Tourer demo for a test drive, only a Calais Tourer, but since the running gear is the same we said ok. I drove it for about 40 minutes on sealed suburban Adelaide roads with speed limits from 50 - 80 km/h. Here's my initial impressions:

Likes
Plenty of interior space for passengers and especially cargo / comfortable seats / easy 1-touch folding rear seats (20/40/20) / motorised boot door / clever removable cargo cover / light steering / bags of engine power / smooth 9-speed auto gearbox / good comfortable ride / great road holding and cornering thanks to AWD / minimal tyre noise compared to VF (ContiSports cf Bridgestone Turanza) / looks better in the metal than in photos, especially in Abalone White / convex wing mirrors on both sides (much better field of view for driver).

Dislikes
Harsh and loud exhaust noise when accelerating hard / v. sensitive throttle pedal (although I suppose you'd get used to this) / all black interior very funereal looking / rev counter and speedo dials in Calais are small and hard to read quickly (no HUD) / console storage and glovebox smaller than in VF / buttons in front of gear lever hard to see and reach / satnav colours and graphics inferior to VF / whole interior and dashboard rather plain compared to more stylish VF Calais V.

The ZB Tourer comes with auto stop/start and power fold wing mirrors as standard, but neither seemed to be working on the demo I drove. Perhaps they were turned off.

Would I buy the Calais Tourer? I think it's basically a good, safe and flexible family car, but after being used to all the extras in my Calais V, probably not.

The Calais V Tourer has lots of additional 'fruit' over the Calais, such as HUD, panoramic sunroof, sports seats, LED matrix adaptive headlights, adaptive cruise control, all-speed autonomous emergency braking, flexride system, larger digital dash display, paddle shifters, sports steering wheel, ventilated front seats, driver's massage and memory seat, 360° camera, etc., etc. All these make for a more pleasant in-car driving experience, and in my opinion, worth the extra cost. But oh dear, that all-black interior and harsh exhaust note...

Thanks for the comprehensive review mate...have you checked out today’s Wheels comparison of the VXR with the Skoda, the Stinger & the Jag??
It basically concludes that the VXR has excellent systems (Auto, AWD etc) that don’t talk to each other properly...as if Aussies pushed for a V6 for our market so they threw one in without a lot of fore-thought nor testing.
The VXR did come out well on top with all the fruit which is obviously what you are after with the CalaisV. I certainly like the Tourer concept also.
So yeah, they said it’s the integration of the V6 that’s missed the mark but otherwise a very decent vehicle.
So read up & keep us posted if you would... cheers!

 

[VS 5.0]

@Sir Les , your experience reminds me of this, moreso the text content than the video - https://www.caradvice.com.au/625975/2018-holden-calais-v-tourer-review/

 

[Sir Les]

@Holden17 and @VS 5.0 : Thanks for your comments. I read the reviews you mentioned and came away rather confused. I think motoring journalists like to put their own slant on things, and may be hyper-critical over certain issues the average buyer doesn't even think about. For example, a journalist on a closed track will explore handling to the limit and complain about 'eventual understeer', whereas mum or dad with 2 kids in the back will never reach those limits or even want to. For the record, I didn't find any low speed understeer going around corners or roundabouts as mentioned in one review; in fact, it was quite the opposite, with assistance from the AWD meaning you can change direction almost as easily as just thinking about it. And there were no rattles, creaks or squeaks in the car I drove.

I'm pretty sure the average potential Commodore buyer is less interested in flat-out acceleration and top speed than space, comfort, safety and price. If Holden can address the issues of exhaust noise, interior drabness, extended warranty and perhaps drop the price a bit for the Tourer Calais V Mk2 whenever it comes out, I think they'd be on a winner.

 

[Reaper]

Compared to any of the previous V6 puss buckets the ZB is probably not a bad evolution. That said, there is still no getting past the FWD or FWD based AWD origins. Anybody coming from a V8 engined Commodore (and nearly half the sales were V8's in the last few years) is going to be disappointed. May as well get a Camry. The new ones look quite good and won't have the depreciation of a goat spreading leprosy.

 

[harrop.senator]

I'd rather a Camry but I myself love them lol

 

[figjam]

No personal experience, but something that I could not understand with the specs, according to a 'professional' road test, was that the panoramic sunroof on the Calais V Tourer was standard and could not be deleted.
Just the thing for a nice summers day drive out to Ooodnagalarby.

 

[Sir Les]

No personal experience, but something that I could not understand with the specs, according to a 'professional' road test, was that the panoramic sunroof on the Calais V Tourer was standard and could not be deleted.
Just the thing for a nice summers day drive out to Ooodnagalarby.

That's correct, the panoramic sunroof is standard on the Calais V Tourer. I don't mind that, but what is a worry is that the interior shade is translucent, rather than completely opaque as it is on the VFs. It remains to be seen how effective it is in blocking heat transfer into the car interior on 40°C days. Maybe it's not something they have to worry about in Germany and the rest of Europe, but it sure is relevant here.

 

[VT&VX]

some stick-on contact vinyl might help with that or mask and paint it. ($15 bucks)

 

[Holden17]

@Holden17 and @VS 5.0 : Thanks for your comments. I read the reviews you mentioned and came away rather confused. I think motoring journalists like to put their own slant on things, and may be hyper-critical over certain issues the average buyer doesn't even think about. For example, a journalist on a closed track will explore handling to the limit and complain about 'eventual understeer', whereas mum or dad with 2 kids in the back will never reach those limits or even want to. For the record, I didn't find any low speed understeer going around corners or roundabouts as mentioned in one review; in fact, it was quite the opposite, with assistance from the AWD meaning you can change direction almost as easily as just thinking about it. And there were no rattles, creaks or squeaks in the car I drove.

I'm pretty sure the average potential Commodore buyer is less interested in flat-out acceleration and top speed than space, comfort, safety and price. If Holden can address the issues of exhaust noise, interior drabness, extended warranty and perhaps drop the price a bit for the Tourer Calais V Mk2 whenever it comes out, I think they'd be on a winner.

I totally agree with your sentiments here mate, but also understand why many on here would not. I’m not a track person and will never be pushing my LS3 wagon to any limits into corners etc. I love it for what it is, what it does as an interstate holiday cruiser & for its potential....it’s more about the sentimental value of having one of the last Aussie build Holden wagons.

True, if I took a ZB CalaisV Tourer for a test drive I doubt I would find anything deficient in its handling/performance because I have no interest in pushing it to the limit. I would be more interested in it’s features/inclusions and it sounds like it well & truly comes up trumps there..
so yeah, I would not criticise anyone buying one of these.