WTF !!! VE Wheels Car Of The Year !!!!

[csv8]

HOLDEN'S billion-dollar baby, the VE Commodore, has been named the Wheels Car of the Year for 2006.

The Australian-made car was judged top in a field of 21 vehicles, drawing special praise for its body strength, aerodynamics, handling and its electronic driver aids.

"Every model in the VE range shares the same excellent key core attributes. These provided the foundation for Holden's victory," Wheels editor Ged Bulmer said as he announced the winner in Melbourne tonight.

"There is no such thing as the perfect car – but the Holden VE Commodore's strengths significantly outweigh any weaknesses, putting it ahead of its rivals."

This year, Wheels' team of nine judges tested 50 variants of the 21 new vehicles short-listed for the award which was established in 1962.

Each car was put through six days of rigorous testing and trails.

"Eight models from the Holden VE Commodore range were tested and it's not easy for such an extended line-up to win the coveted trophy," Mr Bulmer said.

The 21 nominees for the award also included the Holden Captiva and the WM Statesman / Caprice.

The other nominees were the Alfa Romeo 159, BMW 3 Series Coupe, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Santa Fe, Mazda CX-7, Mitsubishi Colt and Outlander, Toyota Camry, Rav4 and Aurion, Audi Q7 and TT, Mercedes Benz S-Class, Porsche Cayman, Volkswagen Passat and the Volvo C70.

The VE Commodore was designed in Australia at a cost of $1.2 billion, and unveiled in July last year.

[MAGPIE]

WTF is the problem _

[DJM83]

"Holden means a great deal to Wheels" To resite a famous qoute

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by TE50 056

"Holden means a great deal to Wheels" To resite a famous qoute

yeah I guess ford must have threatened to remove advertising if the terry or the ba falcon didn't win in 02 and 04 either

[HOON69]

Originally Posted by TE50 056

"Holden means a great deal to Wheels" To resite a famous qoute

DITTO
whats new really ay :P

[Kenaz]

No surprises there. Every all new Commodore has taken out the award.

[ClevlndStemer]

Well done Holden.

[csv8]

Whats the problem ?? FORD need to get their act together, ASAP !!!!!!

[5speedeb]

Originally Posted by csv8

Whats the problem ?? FORD need to get their act together, ASAP !!!!!!

why is that

they won it two years in a row iirc or was that a different award

[Focused]

thats crap. the bf2 falcon is better.

[drcook]

Originally Posted by marco351

thats crap. the bf2 falcon is better.

an excellent educated reply. the bf2 didnt win the award, because its not in the competition. because its NOT A NEW CAR!.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by csv8

Whats the problem ?? FORD need to get their act together, ASAP !!!!!!

Yeah i know they NEVER release new cars do they!

Every time Holden does something everyone says ford are slow and hopeless. and vice versa.

[red_hotxr6]

Originally Posted by csv8

Whats the problem ?? FORD need to get their act together, ASAP !!!!!!

They have they just cant beat the officials.........and you would think with all the recall this loser of a new car has had that it doesnt stink like the petrol price rise does.........GO THE FORDS A SUPERIOR ANY DAY....HOLDENS ARE CHEATS

[Coalminer]

I'd say that going by Falcons' success in COTY it's next due for a win in 2041 :

As a new member to this site and a proud owner of a Ford model T i'm disappointed at the level of criticism towards a car that is obviously a superior product. If the VE wins world car of the year later this year i can only imagine the "bad blood" on this site then.

Be glad Holden won and not some rice burner. I guarantee that the Orion designers have had they're bar raised and this can only be good for Australian made 4 door sedan fans both blue and red.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Coalminer

As a new member to this site and a proud owner of a Ford model T i'm disappointed at the level of criticism towards a car that is obviously a superior product. If the VE wins world car of the year later this year i can only imagine the "bad blood" on this site then.

If it was such a superior product, not 1 Falcon, Toyota, mitsubishi, BMW, Merc, would ever be sold again in Australia. Dont get caught up in the 'Best car in the world' 'trillion dollar R&D' hype from adverstising. Holden have the best marketing division of any compnay in Aust I am sure. I have driven it, passengered in it and is as good as a BF. Problem is thats there trump card. Imagine what Ford are bringing out next time round!

If this model car beats what comes out of Europe, on the worlds judging stage, I will tattoo 'Holdens are fully sik bro' on my forehead. It shouldnt have in COTY but wheels mag will support aussie grown first which is wrong.....but understandable



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[Wally]

Originally Posted by Coalminer

..... If the VE wins world car of the year later this year i can only imagine the "bad blood" on this site then.

.

Won't happen. The top ten overall from a field of 28 are:

Audi Q7
Audi TT
Citroen C4 Picasso
Citroen C6
Fiat Grande Punto
Jaguar XK
Lexus LS 460
Mercedes CL
MINI
Suzuki SX4 / Fiat Sedici

Although they are still in the race for the design section.

[VQST80]

Its the way holden have to keep aiming.

Like mooney said..".We designed, engineered and manufactured this range to meet world class standards and to be able to compete against some of the most expensive and most carefully crafted cars around the world."

Think we finally showed GM Headquarters that we are capable of such high quality product.

Great work GMH OZ!

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by VQST80

Its the way holden have to keep aiming.

Like mooney said..".We designed, engineered and manufactured this range to meet world class standards and to be able to compete against some of the most expensive and most carefully crafted cars around the world."

Think we finally showed GM Headquarters that we are capable of such high quality product.

Great work GMH OZ!

Didnt HSV wanna take their fight to 'world' aswell, thats right they did and got : by the mighty Audi RS4 any many more including FPV out of the 3 finalist i think the beamer should have won

[Polyal]

Yeap, the VE is better than a 3 series coupe...sure....lets just ignore the fact that fuel consumption is equal, if not worse than before, that there is no great improvement on the VZ, and that the only new thing to the series is the MRC, and what percentage of the total sales will include that?!

I look forward to reading how the fudge they came up with that, perhaps it will be my last wheels purchase.

[Quasi]

Originally Posted by Polyal

I look forward to reading how the fudge they came up with that, perhaps it will be my last wheels purchase.

Must have been the optional combination remote cigarette lighter and BBQ starter, or Rick Kelly signature series push bar that did it

[OED666]

Originally Posted by Quasi

Must have been the optional combination remote cigarette lighter and BBQ starter, or Rick Kelly signature series push bar that did it

Love the Rick Kelly comment..

I thought wheels mag were in bed with Holden anyway..

The VE may have some better features then the BF, but surely there is another car thats better than the VE... Standard ones are ugly, (HSV's look pretty good).

There is no way i would prefer a VE over a BF, or ED anyday.

[blackahcdx]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Yeap, the VE is better than a 3 series coupe...sure....lets just ignore the fact that fuel consumption is equal, if not worse than before, that there is no great improvement on the VZ, and that the only new thing to the series is the MRC, and what percentage of the total sales will include that?!

I look forward to reading how the fudge they came up with that, perhaps it will be my last wheels purchase.

Thats why Wheels mag is the only true COTY award.

It's not about car against car. So it doesn't matter if the VE is "better" than the BMW.

Its all about car against the criteria, not against other competing cars

[Falc'man]

Just ask the guys at work (who have many probs with their VE's) if it deserves it. No doubt VE has many pluses. But one important factor for owners/users is that their car doesn't spend too much time in the service department.

Will Wheels regret this like they regretted awarding VN? Only time will tell.

[Pedro]

[QUOTE=Falc'manWill Wheels regret this like they regretted awarding VN?[/QUOTE]

And what about the Camira?

[MethodX]

Hey the VN was better than the EA.

Especially in series 1 form

[MITCHAY]

Good on them. The VE is a nice car.

[Phoon Hoon]

Well done, VE. Finally caught up with the BA of 2002. This proves it.

[FPV GT]

Originally Posted by Phoon Hoon

Well done, VE. Finally caught up with the BA of 2002. This proves it.

Thats Gold

[FPV8U]

Originally Posted by Phoon Hoon

Well done, VE. Finally caught up with the BA of 2002. This proves it.

You took the words out of my mouth :evil3:

Seriously though, well done to Holden they have obviously made a good car pity they didn't quite nail the look :

This gives Ford something to chase though which is only good for us.

[charles_wif_xf]

Originally Posted by Phoon Hoon

Well done, VE. Finally caught up with the BA of 2002. This proves it.

Spot on Phoonman

Originally Posted by Mick K.

VB, VN, VT, VE - every time there has been a major revamp of the Commodore it has won the COTY award. Very predictable.

What was interesting is that the most of the drive footage was showing V8 VEs - no wonder - that alloytech V6 is a shocker. Noisy, harsh, no low down torque and max power right at the redline.

MK

I have driven a Cadillac CTS with the very same engine and it isn't a bad unit. Wonder why the local variants are so schisse?