[recruiter]

On TV to-night 335i in final three with winner announced to-morrow. Does anyone know final result?

[moO moO nEL]

missed the show
what the other 2?

[nazca]

Other two were: Toyota Aurion & Holden Commodore VE

[NickG]

What Channel was that?
Can't believe the Aurion made it that far. It's a blown up Camry for heaven's sake! I'm surprised the Cayman and TT didn't make it a bit further too.

My prediction: 335 will be ousted on grounds of its runflats and a ride that is less than perfectly optimised for Aussie roads. Commodore will win, but Wheels will be heavily criticised by every other motoring journal and organisation around Australia for advancing a car that has the worst fuel economy in its class, and is already "past it" as far as the bulk of the buying public is concerned.

[recruiter]

They actually praised the runflats for safety reasons but it was a quick grab and the negative could have been edited out. The announcement last night was an enticement to watch Current Affair to-night.
The assessments were done on Holden's testing ground.

[NickG]

Originally Posted by recruiter

The assessments were done on Holden's testing ground.

....where unsurprisingly the Commodore felt truly at home!

[astra]

<-- directed towards you holden!

stupid holdens.. the commodore, you can see it coming a mile away that it will win... worst piece of design in modern history, all design cues stolen from other marques, not to mention from bmw... and they didn't even do a gooj job of stealing... the car looks like ****!!!

the commodore is

bmw ftw

and what was the other? oh, toyota pfft...

[Chris.G]

YEAH bias is always going to exist, especially since Wheels have pretty much included Holden vehicles in all there issues so far.

[nazca]

...and yes as guessed, the winner was...

Holden Commodore VE

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21106661-2,00.html

[Chris.G]

OMG that is no SUPRISE! Seriously i have a major feeling Holden is paying WHEELS a lot of money for this result. i don't see it any another way. Since when does a holden commodore beat a e92 335 or any other cars listed in the 21 car list. :mad:

[moO moO nEL]

I stopped buying Wheels many years ago.
Too many Holden & Ford articles.

[NickG]

Originally Posted by Chris.G

OMG that is no SUPRISE! Seriously i have a major feeling Holden is paying WHEELS a lot of money for this result. i don't see it any another way. Since when does a holden commodore beat a e92 335 or any other cars listed in the 21 car list. :mad:

All this coming from a guy with a Monaro avatar?
Although I query whether a car which only gives customers the choice of a large, fuel inefficient V6 or an even larger fuel inefficient V8 should have won, there's no doubt the current Commodore is very, very well optimised to our typically cr@p Australian roads and driving conditions. It's also a far better car in these conditions than many of the others on the 21 car list.

As a 335i coupe enthusiast and owner, I can definitely confirm that despite all the car's many attributes, its ride and body control over seriously demanding ( twisty, bumpy, patchworked) roads is actually very average. Way behind my old RX8 in this area for example. 335 is a wonderful car, but like most other cars it is hardly beyond criticism.

[Chris.G]

What Monaro avatar

[astra]

oh you finally changed your avatar, well done, a nicer pic now

[NickG]

Originally Posted by Chris.G

What Monaro avatar

ROFL!

[Chris.G]

I bought the wheels mag today and i read the review by Jonathan Hawley on the 335coupe. Jonathan said "judge's, rightly, tolerate fewer flaws in cars of this price" His conclusion was that 335 has poor ride quality and that the 325 is not "bang-for-your-buck" plus there are "some interior design and quality issues". He later states that these are the reasons that ended this car's COTY campaign. i am not against Holden winning the COTY award as NICK.G realised from my ex-avatar but i seriously don't think Holden should have won. I am a BMW enthusiest and always will be, and i am also currently looking to add another car to my soon to be ordered 335coupe (im waiting for m-sports kit). I am seriously considering a muscle car like a ss-v or HSV R8 or GTS. I went to the holden dealer and checked out the ss-v and was very dissapointed in quality of the car, and the fact that they put two piston callipers on the rear wheels and 1 piston on front is so logic defying. ITS A FREAKIN V8!!! Its like putting bicycle brakes on a motor cycle:mad: . So the ss-v is scrapped out of my books and ill soon be going to HSV dealer to check the R8 and GTS. i hope these might be better vehicles then the other commodores. i have a feeling that the R8 and GTS might have probably influenced the judges of coty to make Holden the coty winner.

However i am absolutely shocked that Toyota Aurion came 2nd. i really can't talk about this car(it depresses me, it looks so crap)i think the judges were very when they were finalising coty results.

[NickG]

Originally Posted by Chris.G

I bought the wheels mag today and i read the review by Jonathan Hawley on the 335coupe. Jonathan said "judge's, rightly, tolerate fewer flaws in cars of this price" His conclusion was that 335 has poor ride quality and that the 325 is not "bang-for-your-buck" plus there are "some interior design and quality issues". He later states that these are the reasons that ended this car's COTY campaign. i am not against Holden winning the COTY award as NICK.G realised from my ex-avatar but i seriously don't think Holden should have won. I am a BMW enthusiest and always will be, and i am also currently looking to add another car to my soon to be ordered 335coupe (im waiting for m-sports kit). I am seriously considering a muscle car like a ss-v or HSV R8 or GTS. I went to the holden dealer and checked out the ss-v and was very dissapointed in quality of the car, and the fact that they put two piston callipers on the rear wheels and 1 piston on front is so logic defying. ITS A FREAKIN V8!!! Its like putting bicycle brakes on a motor cycle:mad: . So the ss-v is scrapped out of my books and ill soon be going to HSV dealer to check the R8 and GTS. i hope these might be better vehicles then the other commodores. i have a feeling that the R8 and GTS might have probably influenced the judges of coty to make Holden the coty winner.

However i am absolutely shocked that Toyota Aurion came 2nd. i really can't talk about this car(it depresses me, it looks so crap)i think the judges were very when they were finalising coty results.

Chris I hope you won't find this an offensive question, but I seem to recall reading from these forums somewhere you're less than 23 years old. Where do you get the cash to blow $200,000 + on cars at your age?

[Chris.G]

Nick its kind of a personal question you've asked. i can say that my family and i run a chain of shops. I manage most the shops and also do all the buying for the shops, so in kind i am rewarded by my parents. i tend not to answer these kinds of questions but i have made an exception tonight. I really want to stay away from these kinds of posts because younger ppl get flamed most of the time.

Just to clear this up, the HSV that i MIGHT be getting is going to be My fathers joy ride more then mine. i have been brought up in a way that what is family's is for the whole family. My parents believe that there is no such thing as my car or my money between family members. We are very european in our culture so family is a very close unit. i believe in working hard to earn your wants, so i work hard to benefit my family so i can be benefited by them.

[NickG]

Good for you Chris. For sure, no one should make you feel bad about being successful at a young age.

Still curious as to why you'd be looking at Commodores though (even highly modified ones like HSV's) when a few posts above you reckon it shouldn't have beaten any of the 21 cars on Wheels' COTY list?

I'm with you on the SS-V though. At one stage I was seriously thinking about one as a family car to replace my wife's ancient Saab. After reading all the hype I was expecting to see a huge stride in quality, epecially interior quality, which was the major letdown of the previous generation Commodore. In the showroom it seemed to me the improvements in this area were little more than incremental. The thing is still full of crud plastic, and the design is pretty tasteless too. In this respect it is still very much like GM USA products.

The major improvements are therefore steering, ride, handling and external design, which IMHO does look a lot classier than any preceding generation. Holden are to be congratulated for making a Commodore which is much better driving. But how relevant this car -with its 6 litre V8 and excessive weight - is to modern Australian family needs, I'm not sure.

[Chris.G]

i still don't like the commodores Nick and i really do believe it shouldn't have beaten most european cars in the 21 car list(i might have exaggerated a bit in saying it shouldn't have beaten all 21 cars) Commodores have improved in design and HANDLING etc but as you even said yourself the quality issues are still obvious.

I do however have a soft spot for the HSV's. In the a couple of posts above i said that these HSV models might have been a big boost for the judges in COTY to make Holden a clear winner, they are definate value for money performance wise,"bang-for-your-buck" as they say in wheels.

Oh BTW i agree with you about the V8's and it most likely not being the needs of most families here but there are plenty of households that have enthusiests that love v8 gurgelers. My father and i do, my neigbours do, so i think it depends on what families want. Ive seen plenty of the new VE SS's around the roads then the omega's. So i do think its quite relevant in Australia due to the fact its HOLDEN and most Australian households love there AUSSIE muscle. Nick you even went to a Holden dealer to check out the new ss-v

[astra]

aussie muscle, bahh... old school american ftw

[aem]

What's more sad about this COTY is the fact that people get jealous over it.

You guys are glorifying Holden by making this thread....