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

[SlickHolden]

What about SV6?
I rekon that the series two will almost certainly have it as an option.

If Avis give me the right calais i can almost comment on the SV6 lucky they share so much

[motorsportnerd]

MSN you state that the AT-X had optitron instruments but this is not correct, the base model does not have optitrion instruments, this is a pretty bad gaffe.

In which case Wheels magazine made a pretty bad gaffe. I can certainly tell you the instruments start blackened and light up in the exact way described by Wheels in their November 2006 issue.

[motorsportnerd]

What about SV6?
I rekon that the series two will almost certainly have it as an option.

I hope it does, with the Omega getting the five-speed auto. We're also hearing rumours of direct injection for the Alloytech engine. And a turbo-diesel engine mentioned in anothe thread. No doubt VE has a lot of development room left in it.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Optitron is a Toyota Standard these days - It's foolish to think even the Base Aurion would not have them.

I'd be interested to see how well a Turbo-Diesel Commodore takes off - no doubt Fleets who look after country areas would love them because it would mean they could go further distances inland where perhaps only Diesel is available. but the General public? The fuel crisis would have to deepen much further (And looks as though it just might) before people like my father - who truly believes Diesel is the realm of 4WD's and Trucks only - would even consider it.

No doubt VE II or even VF(?) will be the ones to look for advancement wise. although VE is rumoured to only be lasting 6 years or so......so perhaps even the $1 Billion baby is a stopgap measure?

[motorsportnerd]

MSN you state that the AT-X had optitron instruments but this is not correct, the base model does not have optitrion instruments, this is a pretty bad gaffe.

Wheels Magazine was right. Here's the proof direct from Toyota's website.
Download the specification summary in pdf form from here: http://aurion.toyota.com.au/toyota/v...3_1392,00.html.
Go to AT-X standard features and look under "Instruments and Controls" - you'll see "Optitron Combi-meter" clearly listed as standard equipment.

[fpv_gtho]

I'd be interested to see how well a Turbo-Diesel Commodore takes off - no doubt Fleets who look after country areas would love them because it would mean they could go further distances inland where perhaps only Diesel is available. but the General public? The fuel crisis would have to deepen much further (And looks as though it just might) before people like my father - who truly believes Diesel is the realm of 4WD's and Trucks only - would even consider it.

The benefits of diesel may not even be truly felt, such as the off idle hit of torque. Remember how many issues the V6 VN's had for wheelspin? Expect the same out of a diesel making around 500nm at around 2000rpm. The TC and other electronics will most likely retard everything so theres some driveability, leaving the 1200rpm cruising to the higher gears. Still, i guess thats not all that bad. You could probably accelerate quite easily in 3rd from around 1000rpm with such a large engine.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

such a large capacity engine is almost designed for diesel usage, I agree. It's just when diesel is just as/almost more expensive as Petrol in this country the benefits of increased fuel economy are offset by the increased purchase price of both the vehicle and it's sustenance.

Ah well. Whats wrong with hyperefficient petrol engines?

[Wolfentime]

Hmm..i did read in Wheels magazine that the Base Model AT-X did not have Optitrion instuments, this was the october issue. But just scanning the Toytoa website it states that the AT-X model does have optitron intruments. I think the Toyota website is probably right and i withdraw that statement before.

[SlickHolden]

The benefits of diesel may not even be truly felt, such as the off idle hit of torque. Remember how many issues the V6 VN's had for wheelspin? Expect the same out of a diesel making around 500nm at around 2000rpm. The TC and other electronics will most likely retard everything so theres some driveability, leaving the 1200rpm cruising to the higher gears. Still, i guess thats not all that bad. You could probably accelerate quite easily in 3rd from around 1000rpm with such a large engine.

They inserted a Bellmouth behind the thorttle body too cut wheel spin in after series 1 models too VP. Many a VN S2 VP onwards owners removed them. They say the VN had 90% of it's torque off idle.

[2ndclasscitizen]

I saw an Aurion on the road the other day, and I just thought "God damn those Camry's are ugly." Didn't even notice it was an Aurion until it went past and I saw the Aurion display plate (it was near Canberra Toyota.) That can't be good.

[charged]

have to agree, the base models look fairly mundane. The sporty ones look alright though IMO

[SlickHolden]

I didnt mind the camry after first look That was some time ago but.

[motorsportnerd]

The comparison between these cars that many have been waiting for has been published. Wheels magazine has finally published a comparison of the four Aussie sedans, using the sporty six cylinder variants.
This comparison will probably please the hard-core RWD enthusiasts and those who have criticised previous comparisons which tended to give the win to the Aurion.
Without further ado, Wheel's finishing order is: 1. SV6 4 stars. 2. XR6 4 stars. 3. ZR6 3 1/2 stars 4. Mits 380VRX 3 stars.
Note, all cars were automatics. The SV6 gets the five-speed auto, not the Omega's four-speed and the XR6 had the optional six-speed auto fitted.
The focus of the article was almost entirely on dynamics. The engine/trans in the Falcon lifts it close to the SV6, but its not as good dynamically (though better than the other two). Aurion's engine rated best, with smooth creamy refinement and performance best but trans second to Falcon. Dynamically let down by too light steering, too much understeer and narrow tyres. 380 better dynamically than Aurion but let down by old fashioned interior design/poor ergonomics/poor refinement.
Wheels magazine has obviously decided that that for buyers of six clyinder cars (or least for readers of its magazine), dynamics outweigh all else. They brushed over the Commodore's weak link - its drivetrain - "The drivetrain is the Commodore's weakest link, but its five-speedos better behaved than recent examples of the six-speed auto we've driven." That's the sum total of criticism for the Commdore's drivetrain.
Alternatively, the Aurion's greatest strength is its drivetrain is given more space for praise than the Commodore's drivetrain is criticised. However, its not enough to make up for its dynamic deficiencies over the SV6.
The article probably gives 50-60 percent of its content over to dynamic performance, a reasonable amount over to performance, a small amount of space to how the engine/trans delivers and brushes over with short comments other important areas such as safety, ergonomics, seating, fuel economy (a win to Aurion, but not as impressive as it could've been with only 11.6L/100km average).
Given the focus of the article on dynamics, its no surprise they gave the nod to the Commodore. After all, in SV6 form, its engine/trans is better than adequate, if still behind Falcon/Aurion.
And whereas the Falcon's engine/trans combo lifts it close to the Commodore, it doesn't help the Aurion. Interestingly, the comments about the dated interior design and ergonomics don't hurt the Falcon in the way that they hurt the 380.
The Aurion's strengths in performance, economy, engine, ergonomics, refinement and quality - as mentioned albiet briefly in the article - aren't enough to keep it from third. And the poor old 380 is given the most honest rating - here the ergonomic, refinement and interior design deficiencies are enough to relegate it to last.
Its an honest article. The magazine makes no bones about the fact that it place the dynamic abilities of cars in this class as the most important criteria.
One thing the magazine does make clear - torque steer isn't an issue on either of the front wheel drive cars. And the Aurion's dynamics may be let down more by the narrow 215/55 R17 tyres.
Final conclusion: "The Aurion's not the game changer Toyota would have you believe, but it's a competant sedan up to about 6/10ths and you can see a lot of buyers being tempted by its overall package". There you go - dynamics outweighs the overall package in the tester's eyes.

So, there you have it. Previous comparisons have highlighted the Aurion's overall package (particularly the drivetrain) and given it the gong over the others. Were they wrong? Did Toyota pay Drive, for example, to say good things? Well, no. Wheels is very positive about the Aurion's overall package too. And did Holden pay Wheels to say nice things about the VE? I'd say no - since Wheels has come to basically the same conclusions as previous comparisons.
The difference is the criteria by which the cars are judged. Wheels (and I assume Motor will do the same) place more importance on dynamics. Even in the recent comparo between the VE Omega and the Falcon XT dynamics were the over-riding criteria and the Omega's drivetrain weaknesses regarded as of insufficient concern when the dynamics were so good.
Other reports (including my own report on the base cars above) place as much weighting on other aspects of a car's capabilities. And it becomes harder to overlook the Aurion when taking an overall picture into account.

So, as someone who personally judged the Aurion as better than the VE, do I think Wheels got it wrong? And Drive got it right? Well they both got the correct result when compared to the criteria that the testers used (as did I get the right result based on the criteria I used). And should dynamics be placed as most important in this catagory? Well, that probably depends on the audience the writer is aiming at. So, yes it should. Equally, there's no reason why an more overall criteria to judge a winner shouldn't be used.
The ultimate conclusion of course is a cop out. The real winner of the war between the four Aussie built sedans, and between the FWD & RWD layouts, is none of the cars and neither of the drivetrain layouts - its the people who buy and drive them. Because these are all very, very good cars.

[fpv_gtho]

Too bad i guess that these cars are the target of fleets now.

[charged]

They certainly gave the Magna a bit of a kicking, and also think the overall test was very much based on dynamics. Im going to follow the LS1.com edict of.... if its faster it must be better, so its Toyota Aurion for the win