2015 Holden VFII Calais V Sportwagon Review – The Power And The Glory
The skinny: Call it the strangest of bedfellows – the Holden Calais V Sportwagon mixes a 6.2-litre V8 and bi-modal exhaust with wagon practicality, comfort suspension and luxurious specification.
Priced from $57,490 plus on-road costs, the Calais V Sportwagon is the shared pinnacle of a VF Series II range that itself is the peak of Commodore’s 37-year career.
We say shared because you can, in Sportwagon bodystyle, choose this luxury Calais or a Commodore SS V Redline, that, for similar money (from $58,190), trades some premium features (power passenger seat, heated front seats) for sports suspension and bigger brakes and tyres.
Vehicle Style: Large wagon
Price: $57,490 (plus on-roads)
Engine/trans: 304kW/570Nm 6.2-litre V8 petrol | 6sp automatic
Fuel Economy claimed: 12.9 l/100km | tested: 14.3 l/100km
OVERVIEW
The VF Series II range is a big-block outgoing-bang for the Commodore as it heads towards the end of local production. The iconic nameplate will then live on in some other locally tuned, but fully imported model that will lack a V8 option.
Holden has previously needed to conform to the government’s Green Car Innovation Fund that used taxpayer money (what Holden called co-investment) to make the Commodore lighter and more efficient. However, engineers can now give V8 buyers more of what they want – power, not economy.