First Drive: New Holden Epica Range

[JoeT]

First Drive: Holden Hits The Mainstream Medium

James Stanford
30 April 2007
www.goauto.com.au

GM Holden swaps Vectra for Epica in its quest to challenge Camry's mid-sized mantra.

GM Holden has taken on the mighty Toyota Camry with a new mid-sized sedan. In a dramatic realignment, Holden has dumped the European Opel-sourced Vectra and replaced it with the cheaper Epica sedan, which is produced by Daewoo in South Korea.

The Epica is the fourth Daewoo model to join the Holden range following Barina, Viva and Captiva, and has gone on sale in Australia with a base price of $25,990.

Instead of competing against the Honda Accord Euro and the upcoming Ford Mondeo, Holden is pitching its new player straight at Toyota owners – even referring to the car as its "Camry fighter".

The company also hopes the Epica will be able to lure some buyers of the Mazda6, Subaru Liberty and the similarly-priced Hyundai Sonata.

It says the Epica would also compete against the six-cylinder Toyota Aurion, but insists its research shows the car would not appeal to Commodore buyers.

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Review: Holden Epica CDX/CDXi

Mike Sinclair
2 May 2007
www.carpoint.com.au

Built as a world car and tweaked to take on the Camry Down Under, the Epica delivers plenty of equipment, but not so much bang, for your bucks.

What we liked
>> Interior space
>> Engine smoothness
>> Improved fit and finshes

Not so much
>> Engine lacks torque
>> No ESP -- even as an option
>> No 'tiptronic' function on auto

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 2.5/5.0

OVERVIEW

Forget about what you've read about this car being a Vectra replacement -- it aint! From day one Holden is making no bones about where it is aiming its new Epica. While the former midsizer had European pretensions, the new (relatively) cheap and (relatively) cheerful conventional medium segment sedan has one vehicle in its sights -- Toyota's Camry.

It is the Camry against which Holden has benchmarked the car in terms of dynamics and refinement. It's the Camry the Epica needs to match in terms of accommodation and engine performance and it's Camry that Holden says Epica beats in terms of fuel economy.

Indeed, the Lion's even offering a money-back guarantee on the Epica (with strings!) to try and tempt notoriously loyal Camry buyers into its new offering.

But while the two cars from archrival manufacturers both feature 'default' front-wheel drive platforms and suspension configurations, there's one big difference. The Holden is offered only with a six-cylinder engine. It's no powerhouse, however, and far from comparable with Toyota's V6 Camry, errr... Aurion.

In fact, with just 115kW/237Nm in its most powerful (2.5-litre) form, the Holden (nee Daewoo) six is 2kW shy of the Toyota's 2.4-litre four and barely ahead of the latest 2.2-litre four offered in the Astra SRi (110kW/210Nm). There's better news on the torque front -- the Epica is 19Nm up on the Camry -- but you get the idea

Holden is playing up the "refinement" of the engine configuration while at the same time going to great pains to point out the car matches or betters its main four-cylinder competition in terms of official ADR combined fuel economy stats.

Epica's official ADR fuel economy number is 8.2lt/100km for the 2.0-litre manual variant and 9.3lt/100km for the 2.5-litre automatic. This compares to 8.9 (manual) and 9.9lt/100km (auto) official figures for Toyota's 2.4-litre Camry.

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Review: New Holden Epica vs Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata & Kia Magentis
Holden Offers Money-Back Guarantee On Epica Range
Holden & Ford Change Tactics - Starting With Epica & Mondeo

[jbernie]

Looking at the picture of the read end, the red reflectors that sit jut above the exhaust look really odd in the photos above... not quite as bad in the photos in the article. Interesting design element, not sure if it is that appealing though.

Good to see they got the economy better than the Camry... and by more than .1 or something minute, there is a definate difference. Right now with the way gas prices are it might be enough to get some extra sales.

[FISH]

After viewing this car at the Brisbane Motor show, I for one, really think this car has a very good chance, at sucking sales from its major competitors.

I would recommend this car to anyone.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by JoeT

Is that box between the center vents a slot for the NAV screen?

The GM corporate radio is used in this car... so wouldn't any sort of NAV be in place of the corporate radio?

[56 Starchief]

Originally Posted by genjy

Is that box between the center vents a slot for the NAV screen?

The GM corporate radio is used in this car... so wouldn't any sort of NAV be in place of the corporate radio?

its prob storage, like GMNA products have that dash-top storage

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by genjy

Is that box between the center vents a slot for the NAV screen?

The GM corporate radio is used in this car... so wouldn't any sort of NAV be in place of the corporate radio?

Yup. Even if I was never going to use it I'd order NAV on the Epica, as the dash looks so much better with it. Oh I so hope this car does really well!

[mikmak]

Saw the ad on TV tonight. Its racing through millions of champagne glasses. "Effortlessly powerful" was used which I think is a bit of a furphy as it is nice to drive but hardly powerful. They mentioned "medium size" about five times. Its good to see they are actually attempting to market this one (as opposed to Vectras effort).

[Ssom]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Yup. Even if I was never going to use it I'd order NAV on the Epica, as the dash looks so much better with it. Oh I so hope this car does really well!

I'm 98% sure the Epica doesn't offer NAV as an option in Aus/NZ, though, I suppose you could rip off the cover, put a Navman in there and have a bracket made up....

[AndrewGS]

That car looks quite good actually.

[FISH]

http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring...ick-review.htm


Quick Drive: Holden Epica
By Feann Torr - 1/May/2007

Holden’s new mid sized car, the Epica, has the arduous task of going head to head with popular models like the Mazda6 and Toyota Camry. It’ll be a tough job as the mid sized car market doesn’t show any signs of growing like the ebullient small car market, which means that sales will have to be poached from its rivals.

But Holden is confident that it's new Epica model is innovative enough to attract current mid sized car buyers, and as we discovered during at car’s launch the new Holden has a number things going for it, one of which is price. Starting at $25,990 the new model undercuts many of its rivals, including its two major rivals: the Mazda6 starts at $28,285, and the Toyota Camry pricing begins at $28,000.

Two engines types are offered: a 2.0-litre and a 2.5-litre engine, and two levels of trims, the entry-level CDX, and the premium CDXi.

Power windows, cruise control, and four airbags are standard on all models, and as the photos indicate you wouldn't know it was made in Korea unless it was pointed out. The reason for the contemporary styling is two-fold. Mike Simcoe, the man behind the VT Commodore and the 21st century Monaro, had the final say on the design and according to the Australian car maker he established a recognisable Holden 'DNA' for the Epica.

The second reason for the new look is that the car had to be a global vehicle. That is, it was designed with specific markets in mind - namely Europe and North America.

We spent a day driving the new Epica models during the launch, and our first impressions are positive. It's a practical, roomy, and well-equipped vehicle powered by a pair of very smooth engines, and the American and European influences give the car an interesting character.

And then there's the...


Continued Here: http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring...ick-review.htm

[mikmak]

^^^ I like their attempt at clarity:
"If you have had the Epica for more than 30 days, or travelled more than 1500km, the deal's off. And any modifications - such as nitrous oxide injection - will also void the money back deal."

I don't inderstand why they call it a controversy. It has clauses to ensure that ppl don't ust turn up and have a car for free for 1500kms. Technically You could still bypass the clause by swapping your epica once a month.

[jonboy78]

What a difference to the Epica we had here in Canada! That one actually looks modern

[HEVguy]

Kudos to Holden/GM for being flexible with their global products to meet local market needs in the land of Auz. Otherwise, it is too bad Vectra is being replaced, as I really like those cars, however, assuming Holden knows what's best for their market, I'll trust them. I just hope all the technical offerings are up to par.

[Chaz_23]

It's the Saturn L-series resurrected with Corolla taillights. Nice...

[CobaltSScrazy]

Originally Posted by Chaz_23

It's the Saturn L-series resurrected with Corolla taillights. Nice...

and a heckuva nicer interior and powerplant, but lets hope it fairs MUCH better. Malibu 08 is a MUCH nicer vehicle. Its interesting the vehicle is said to be designed for NA but isn't sold in the USA...

CobaltSScrazy

(at least not as a chevy, which it should be sold as...)