They are making some very big claims, here. I hope for there sake that the styling will also be tidied up, since it needs it, badly.. The current one has the sort of ambience of a funeral car..
If their claims are correct, it will be quite a sensational car to drive. And, I wonder, will they give it a individual, specific interior? That would be something special, and a really nice touch, I think.
With the smaller Fairmont Ghia already so good, I think whatever they do, it will have to be damn good to out-do the Fairmont Ghia.
Edit: Ah, so it will have an all-new exterior design, and interior.. And the prototypes so its seems, that were cheekily disguised versions with the old body style, must be to confuse everyone.. ;)
VQ
03-01-2003, 01:37 AM
yeah but THAT is where all the Fairlane sales go chris, unlike holden there statesman's are stlish cars and people are proud to own them compared to the Fairlane owners. Besisdes the new Stato will beat it!!
Avro707C
03-01-2003, 01:59 AM
We don't know, yet, since we've not seen the new Fairlane, yet.
If it looks the same as the current one, I'll have no praise for it, regardless of the other changes they make. The current one is a very ugly car, one of the worst, in fact.
I do think that with J Mays being Ford's head of design, and, given the fact that he hates the existing Fairlane, I doubt he will sign off on anything that looks remotely similar.
About the new Statesman, though, I hope it will be better than the VY Commodore. The VY Commodore was such a disappointment, especially considering how Ford spoilt us with nice new engines, excellent suspension, and in general, very appealing cars.
One of the things the Statesman and Caprice models need is a more competent suspension design, and much smoother engines. In the sort of price range that they are selling at, their are lots of other very well designed and very refined cars on offer, that you could choose too. Holden must not forget this. In general, I like the current Statesman/Caprice, though, I do prefer the Caprice. They are a better deal than the not so nice Calais, and, maybe a worthwhile alternative to a Monaro CV8, but, only if you can live with lower resale value than the Monaro's current stratospheric resale value.
VQ
03-02-2003, 10:50 PM
The Monaro is a sports car basically isn't it? or a luxury sports? well ne way Holden i think isn't going for Prestige more aggressive, luxury like the Alfa GTA's and stuff not like where the Fairmonts and Fairlanes are going really. Ne way thats how I view it.
Holden did relese a new engine ne way on the Series 2 VT, the LS1 altho it may have problems but that because of the Canada plant (if it was built here then it would be perfect)
blackice111288
03-03-2003, 12:17 PM
yeah well you cant deny the facts- ford still sucks. If i lived in autralia, i'd take a holden commodore over a =[ ford mustang=[ or the falcon you guys get. have you seen tha new chrysler pacifica? thats a nice luxury suv i wouldnt mind tkaing and puttin a set of 22" chorme spinners on there. yall have seen tha spinning rims right? its just one thing us negros like doing to our trucks.
VQ
03-15-2003, 05:07 PM
Well the rear ed is BA falcon with the license plate int he bumper.. kinda like wat they did with the VQ (but that actully looked good) This just looks worse because the fairlane had itz look to appeal to Funeal companies and stuff. Ne wayt he New Stato will still wipe the floor clean with it!
blackice111288
03-16-2003, 02:54 PM
Stato... whats that? i wanna see. im curious about nu cars.
VQ
03-17-2003, 09:18 PM
Well itz the nickname for the Statesman and u can see the current onat www.holden.com.au under luxury cars.
Looks like they are using different leather now! No more ruched leather any more. (Good).
But, Holden's leather trim, was pretty good, always, in the fact that it was dry, not shiny and, not slippery (unlike the woeful, and very slippery stuff Lexus used, for a while.)
Caprices mirrors are handy, too, since they have the auto-dimming feature. So, they dim any bright dazzling lights, like for instance, a large truck or four-wheel-drive SUV following from behind, with high beam lights on, for instance.
The rear passengers have their own climate control settings, too, as well as illuminated vanity mirrors, andother neat little touches.. And you've probably noticed the vast amount of space in the rear compartment. It's one example of where travelling in the rear seats is definately more desirable, than being in the front seats.
And when you put your key in the ignition, it automatically puts the climate control, stereo, seats, and other settings back to your desired positions/settings.
The stereo system too, has some nifty tricks, as well, since the front and rear passengers can listen to different radio stations, or CD's, to the front passengers, and even have different volume levels set! The rear passengers just use the stereo headsets. :)
Holden's flagship is a worthy car, and, not a bad deal for the price.
Vette Boss
03-18-2003, 11:02 PM
It has a Buick kind of look to it. American Buick's leave little to be desired though, they are all fwd V6s now. :( Not that V6s are bad, but even the top-notch Park Avenue only offers a fwd V6. That car you posted would probably sell well here.
Avro707C
03-19-2003, 12:49 AM
It is however a bit of a stretch for Holden to boast about those engines in the Statesman/Caprice, however.
Both V6's are horrible (thrashy, loud, coarse, and uncultivated), and are not befitting of such a car. And the V8 well, it's better, but, I'd still prefer to see a nice 32 valve V8, with variable cam timing, of around 5.0 litres, in the front of that car, along with at least a 5 speed automatic transmission, though, a 6 speed automatic would be better. (ZF6HP26 is the one to go for, avoid the Aisin one).
I also wouldn't mind seeing a 12 cylinder engine, of around 5.5 or so litres in the Caprice. The character of the large V12 engines would be better suited to the Caprice, than a 8 cylinder, or 6 cylinder, for instance.
Interesting to note how much better the interior of the Statesman/Caprice looks, compared to the similar one, that was in the Commodore. The lighter colours help greatly, but, it has a higher quality look and feel.
What I've showed you, the Caprice, in the US, would probably sell for around USD$49,000. Not cheap, I suppose, but, it's not too bad, for the price.
It's certainly easy to be impressed with some of its more unique features like the 4 temperature zones, and the sound system where front and rear passengers can listen to different things.
Many of those features are not exclusive, or new, but, not usually found on lesser cars, and, indeed, not usually found on some of the moderately more expensive ones, either.
VQ
03-25-2003, 10:41 PM
Yeah the V6 isn't a very good engine but itz being repleaced with a much better v6 engine that will beat the Falcons 4.0 litre in not just size, but feul efficeincy, power and smoothness in some models. THe V8 isn't a bad engine it doesn't need to have high tech stuff to be a quiet engine and stuff because itz still more fuel effiencient then the Falcon 8!!! All Fords are fuel guzzelers I mean who'd want that? But the Caprice is good as a cruiser and ffor the reasons u mentioned I want a VQ as it has the same stuff albeit not as advanced of course but, I can afford it as my first car and I'm going to be put off it Chris.