Current VE commodore pics

[HSE2]

Originally Posted by stevz

Ha Ha, top stuff..

While reading through some of this tripe, I was thinking that if the VE had a Ford badge on it there wouldn't be a single negative comment about it.
People are just looking for the slightest thing to pick on the VE, simply because of the badge it wears and no other reason.

I am not so sure about that. There were plenty with the AU and even some with the BA especially with regards to the interior. BF FPV got some initial concern regarding the front lip treatment based on some of the launch photos. Genuine people do react to what they see. We probably react too quickly but that’s the point of forums. Its just conversation.

While I am sure some people are saying they don't like just on spec, there are some shots of the VE that just don't look right. In the metal it might be ok and it will be far from offensive but and I have said this well before the car was released, flared wheel arches are a dangerous design concept to pull off. There is a right way and a wrong way to integrate back into the body. On some models Holden look to have had mixed successes while the car is viewed in isolation. Personally it’s a stupid concept that appears to have taken on life under the guise of being aggressive merely for the fact that someone says so and yes some Ford products look to be heading the same way. Someone says wheel arch flares are aggressive so therefore they become aggressive. If you take Audi as an example it’s not the flare that makes them appear aggressive it’s all the detail that surrounds that area. They don’t try to be overtly fussy with the kit, they have the lower stance and the big wheel package. Trying to mix traditional Aussie "look at me" kits with Euro design can come up looking eschew. If you draw a line across the SS front bar it’s like the bottom half was inspired by a completely different design team and grafted into the rest of the car. If you are trying to pull off a low aggressive stance you don’t want height in any frontal opening and that’s what they have done.

When you see the SSV in action shots directly front on, the guard treatment appears to make the car look narrow and tall and frankly given the excellent side profile, hugely disappointing. It’s nearly as though Holden was so intent on not being confrontational they simply ran out of inspiration.

If I were a Holden person I would still be saying the same thing but it wouldn't stop me from buying it and that’s the important thing to understand. As it’s a new car I know it will be vastly better then what I have and the interior alone nearly worth the effort by itself. It’s just a better looking setting and that disregards the question on quality as I am assuming it can't be worse then the current and very dated VZ effort. The problem is that it isn't an inspired design like we are seeing from certain sector of the market. Like the entire package and ignoring the side profile again there doesn't seem to be much forward thinking inspiration at play. "It’s been done" or we have "see it before", a very common theme to the package. It’s as though this design was signed off half a decade ago with no room to move. The orange hero colour, saw that in 2002.

With the exception of the HSV E series cars I haven't seen anything that makes me want to rush down to the Holden dealership and place an order based solely on appearance. My drive invitation arrived today and as in the past I will certainly be driving the performance versions to see just how well Holden have gone. I won’t try to hide my disappointment with it but that is far from outright condemnation. It’s a pleasant enough design, just not what I was expecting.

[Full Spectrum]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Hopefully the PSI bar
:

For those do gooders thinking that everyone is one eyed, we bagged (and contiinue to until they are rusted out) AU's; so dont jump so fast.

/waits for an AU owner to take it personally

If something looks like crap, then we should be able to say it without someone sooking about being "one eyed". There are plenty of good looking holdens out there. But the VE does not live up to its hype, and price tag.

Atleast the AU was differet, made people think, VE blends in with the rest.

And Visa verser;).

The AU was easy to get on for all because the biggest mistake that was made was it was blended in with the Torus look, And that car was rejected here faster then a George bush joke.

[Teggy]

Originally Posted by HLC

oh, and the handbrake design is quite cool!

Saab thought that too when they released the same design on the 9-3 a few years ago!

[YOOT]

Ok well - i was unmoved by the release a few weeks ago. The car is just more of the same thing, boring styling (not ugly just ordinary), the Calais looked tops on the press photos, but in the rain and real lighting, just looks horrid. Maybe these pictures don't do it justice, but it alllooks wrong.

1. The boot, just not the right shape compared to the front.
2. Those flared guards look absolutely rediculous.
3. The dashboard looks out of place on the rest of the interior (maybe because the floors and seats are dirty)
4. That handbrake looks pretty aweful when its up, not so bad down.
5. What the hell is that bus sized steering wheel doing? Buttons look cheap and fiddly, something out of a Daewoo?
6. Seat trim, 1990s Commodore?
7. Wheels and brakes, well, not much going on there, might be bigger but just look carry over to me.
8. Plastic backingon chairs, just like Fairmont Ghia... um no thanks.

I'mnot interested in this type of car anyway, but I am in the market for a Outback 3.0R which is dangerously close in price (probably cheaper) than the new Calais, and it I'd have to say its Chalk and Cheese. Outback looks liek its worth $60K, the VE looks like its worth $35K with a big colour screen. Wow, not. :

[LeadFoot81]

Its actually not that bad a looking car, a touch bland if you ask me, especially considering its a calais. Why have Holden gone with the bizarre-o (tm) Magna style steering wheel? And thanks for riping off the BA's frontal treatment and instrument cluster. The wheel arches are very 'oh my god' and not in a good way. Not on a non sports model.
BF2 should keep the VE honest, and Orion will crush it.

[Full Spectrum]

Ive never seen a magna steering wheel like that?.

Yoot what possessed you to compare to cars that are of a different world, the outback and a Calais?.

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by Shockwave XR8

The flared guards might suit an HSV and SS, but that photo looks WRONG.

I agree, those guards unbalance the overall design.
They make the car look like a home made sports sedan.
I can see plenty of those guards being scraped on concrete pillars in shopping centre car parks.

[Scruba]

Originally Posted by niko

here it looks like a liberty

I'd even say it looks like a Lexus.

[spoonage]

Spotted this 'thing' on Canberra Avenue this morning

[Polyal]

Altezza's are cool....... : :togo:

[Dazza XLT]

On the back of a truck already? Didn't take long

[xr8_forever]

Originally Posted by xr8_forever

The rims on that Calais look horrid :

Looks quite different from the Calais they unveiled a few weeks ago. (Which looks hot!!!)

I'm guessing it is only a Calais, not a Calais V????

I'll reserve judgement until I see them on the road.

Saw an Omega and a Calais last night in North Melbourne and Carlton.

They looked quite good actually.

Looks quite high (jacked up), but maybe coz my mates car is so low....

[EA2BA]

Those pics that spoolman took are actually of the export model for South Africa, it would have has the Chevy badges on it.

I was just looking over one in the car park, the seats are all leather very nice, dash is still plastic bit of a shame.

The 6.0 V8 actually sits about the same in the engine bay as the V6, it just has shorter drive train components due to sitting futher into the firewall.

Sorry people no pics.

[Bobman]

Originally Posted by EA2BA

I hear it doesnt handle too well, feels heavy on the road.

Sounds like a BA in all honesty. It's a shame that our cars are getting heavier and heavier without looking into better materials but these days its cost versus quality.

I'd say the VE will still sell well & it's good that there's still competition there with Ford & Holden otherwise we'd be like Britain or something, their industry went down the gurggler in the 80s.

Looking forward to Orion

[Full Spectrum]

Drive is still sitting in the car, And is in need of a cold spoon:P
They thinks it's great.
We had the holden blimp going over today here, My brother lives near Calder raceway and called me around, We herd a hot V8 doing laps Sounded ****en great, The blimp was sitting over Calder for some time what was it watching doing laps

[S3SR]

i saw what looked like the BA intake pipe could be wrong
always hated how holden put the aircon vents on the door trims, glove box is pretty cool with the shelf.. the interior looks useless like previous models though some pics dont do it justice..
looking forward to seeing an upspec model at holden dealer here in tville

[The G6ET Spot]

Originally Posted by EFFalcon

thats a 380 in the background yeah??
the VE looks almost the same lol

You took the words off me EF. Amasing how similar the lines of both cars are when the two are together.And the crap they come out with that it's a whole new design. But I'll give credit where credits due and it's not due for that car. It just looks all wrong.

[ThoR_]

what a peice of ****.

[Full Spectrum]

Another mature contribution to the forum.

[David See]

YES, and because HE says it is a piece of ****, that means it just MUST be.

[David See]

Is that colour Kashmir, btw?? lol

[Full Spectrum]

Not sure about the colour?.