Toyota Aurion AT-X and Holden Commodore VE Omega Road Tested by MSN

[motorsportnerd]

Over the last two weekend I have had the chance to do some serious miles in base model versions of the two brand new six-cylinder Australian built cars that have been introduced in the last few months.
I don’t bother going to a dealer and driving a few kilometers with a salesman sitting beside me extolling the virtues of the car and running down the opposition. Instead, I outlay my own money and hire the car for a day or two and go drive it over a varied route.
The first weekend I hired a Toyota Aurion AT-X from Hertz for a day (had other plans for rest of weekend, but still did a reasonable distance in one day). The next weekend I hired a Holden Commodore VE Omega from Avis for the weekend – sharing the driving on this occasion with Cyco. Sauc3 was also along for the ride. So what follows are my thoughts on the two cars. I’ll review them separately, then draw some conclusions. Also, since I’ve driven both the Mitsubishi 380 and Ford Falcon BA (BF upgrades would be unlikely to change my opinion much) I’ll draw some overall conclusions on the four locally made Australian six-clyinder cars.
So, first up, in order of when I drove them, the Aurion.
And a quick warning - this is a long report, but I felt that necessary to do justice to both of these important new releases.