First Drive: 2008 Holden Epica CDX/CDXi Petrol & CDTi Diesel - The Camry Fighters!

[poncho1982]

Originally Posted by CamaroCrazy

You want that? I don't think it has the goods to compete in the US. The exterior is derivative of other cars on the market and the interior is what GM is getting away from. Looks like it should have been the last gen Malibu. Where would this fit in the GM US lineup?

Didn't say I WANT it, I said I'd DRIVE it.

Toyota sure sells a crapload of Camry's, and this looks much better than that.

It could fit in as a small Buick.

Or perhaps GM should bring Daewoo back to the US as a brand and sell it as what it is.

[Slick_Holden]

I'd drive one with a diesel and 6 speed auto, Especially over a Camry waste of time.
They got a good selling point here Holden, They really need to sell it hard.
For once, DeadWoo looks like they got something better then the old crap they fog off to people.

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by poncho1982

I'd drive that.

Nice car.

I bet we'd get a nice "it won't meet US specs" as the reason it's not here.

It was here and didn't sell worth very well. Potential buyers thought it felt cheap and underpowered.

[starlightmica]

Originally Posted by benroethig

It was here and didn't sell worth very well. Potential buyers thought it felt cheap and underpowered.

1st generation: Daewoo Leganza


2nd generation: Suzuki Verona/Chevrolet Epica (Canada)

[jzEllis]

YAWN, don't want one don't care...if this keeps up, i won't even check to see what new threads are on GMI.

[dindak]

The next Impala?

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by dindak

The next Impala?

Its smaller than the Malibu. Maybe if they wanted a new corsa, but the replacement is going to be epiII anyway.

[Rick_VT]

That nice black interior will be great in summer, why couldnt Holden add some lighter colours to it, they seem obsessed with dark coloured dashes, i hope they been looking at some of the new interiors in NA cause the VE interior could do with some upgrades, i thought it was great when it came out but looks to be starting to date a bit now, surely it cant be hard to get some lighter colours in there

[eaton53]

This looks like the spawn of an old Malibu and an old Saturn. Meh.

[Kennyboy]

The interior is already outdated. compare to the Honda Accord or Camry, this interior doesn't do it for me.

[Dr Terry]

Hi Guys.

I'm still confused by the badging.

The petrol models are CDX & CDXi, if the Diesel models use the same badges, why does the rear shot clearly show a CDTi badge.

Wouldn't it be more logical to call them CDX & CDXi (petrol) & CDT & CDTi (Diesel).

Dr Terry.

[BBDOS CV8]

I had a ride in my in-laws car the other day after a family funeral. Inside, it looks and feels like a small Commy. The back seat for me with 5'10" people in the front was very comfortable with legroom to spare (I'm just shy of six foot). It was quiet and smooth and handled and rode quite acceptably with a very quiet assurance. Tons better than the last Camry I was in. The year old velour was still straight and nice - at least as good as the velour in my workmate's similar age LPG Falcon.

This car's done 17,000km and nothing has stopped working, fallen off and it's been back to the dealer only for scheduled services @ less than $200 a pop. It's averaging better than 9L/100km in light urban running. No rattles, squeaks, funny noises or running. It's so quiet idling in drive you'd swear it wasn't running. It reminded me of an EJ auto wagon I used to drive - not quick to wind up but effortless and smooth once there. Much smoother shifts, though. I couldn't pick what gear it was in.

Diesel for <$30k, with virtualy everything in it? Holden won't be able to keep them on lots. That's going to be their biggest problem, getting more than 500/month to sell.

[King Riffle]

Originally Posted by mikmak

It's a Suzuki Verona that has done some hard time in the gym in South Korea..with an Aussie coach

Little mixed up. As previously mentioned, it was originally the Daewoo Leganza. The car has been manufactured by Daewoo since they were still an independant car manufacturer. The engine, an inline six, was designed by Porsche. The car was assembled in South Korea.

Then for some unknown reason Suzuki rebadged it as the Verona (this was after GM bought Daewoo, while GM still owned a portion of Suzuki). They also rebadged the Daewoo Nubira as the Forenza.

Now it's sold virtually all over the world as the Epica.


Looks okay imo. Nothing special. The only brand this could fit in is Chevrolet, but they already have the Malibu.

[mikmak]

Yep, it's in all the markets that it should be in. I wouldn't expect this to do anything in NA, though an engineering assessment, at least, should be undertaken between the CDTi donk and the Malibu.

[MonaroSS]

I think the Epica could look a lot better just with some minor tweaking...