Review: New Holden Epica vs Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata & Kia Magentis

[JoeT]

Big In The Middle

Joshua Dowling
18 May 2007
www.smh.com.au

If you're not happy with your new Epica, Holden will give you a refund - providing you buy another similarly priced car. Joshua Dowling looks at the options and tests the $30,000-something mid-sized sedans.

As their name suggests, medium cars tend to be middle-of-the-road when it comes to excitement. They're the cars we have to have, instead of the ones we lust after.

But there is obviously some appeal. Sales of mid-sized cars have increased 81 per cent in the past six years and sales of large cars have decreased 46 per cent in the same period.

The rising price of petrol isn't the only reason for the change in buyer preferences (most mid-sized sedans have four-cylinder power). They are affordable, well-equipped and relatively roomy. Medium-sized cars are slightly smaller than a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon but they're by no means cramped. And, in our increasingly congested cities, they're easier to park than big Aussie sedans.

The market has been buoyed by a raft of new models such as the Mazda6, Honda Accord Euro and, of course, the Toyota Camry, which has been the biggest seller in its class for the past 13 years in a row - that's a longer dominance than the Commodore has had over the Falcon.

With that in mind it's big news when a new player arrives on the medium-car scene - especially when that player is Holden.

Holden has been weak in medium-car sales; its European-built Vectra was generally well regarded but it was overpriced and buyers stayed away in droves.

Holden's answer to this dilemma is the Korean-built Epica. But is it good enough to challenge the longstanding players - Toyota and Honda - and its Korean peers, Hyundai and Kia? To find out, we gathered the $30,000-something mid-sized sedans - the cheap seats in the medium-car class - and put the Epica to the test.

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First Drive: New Holden Epica Range
Only Two Customers Return Holden Epica For Money-Back Guarantee

New Holden Epica (above) with Toyota Camry & Honda Accord (below) Hyundai Sonata & Kia Magentis (bottom)

[kenman923]

I assume the Kia Magentis is the Austrailian version of the Optima.

[aball]

As much as I don't like Drive's work, I think is going to be a pretty common outcome for the Epica. The words "nice" and "average" comes to mind.

[dav305z]

Any chance of getting the new Malibu or the Aura down to Australia for a better price than what the Vectra went for (the dollar is cheaper than the Euro)?

If not, Australia is gonna have to wait until Epsilon II to play with the big boys.

It's kind of sad that after all these years, GM still lacks a global midsize sedan that can go toe-to-toe with Camry and Accord.

[mr_bots]

That Epica is a sharp looking car, but it is begging for a modern platform and competent powertrains. Imagine if they could have put that sheetmetal on the Epsilon platform with an HF/Alloytec engine. I don't care how smooth that straight six is, it struggles to move the car and gets bad gas mileage. I'd rather have power and fuel economy than smoothness.

[asim]

Wow. Have you guys noticed that all of those vehicles are sold in North America besides one. That one is the Epica. Does this say something about GM leveraging global resources? Does this say something like GM should bring the Epica over here? I think it says a lot.

[bryce miller]

i like the ne epica its sporty and conservative at the same time

[Stormin]

Originally Posted by dav305z

Any chance of getting the new Malibu or the Aura down to Australia for a better price than what the Vectra went for (the dollar is cheaper than the Euro)?

Any chance they come in RHD?

[redimpss5]

Snore..who needs the little car, plus I think this is a repost!

[TKR]

While not being the favourite in the group I don't think the Epica came out as the POS that some here were indicating.
I don't believe that Holden think this vehicle will steal the Camry's crown but at least they should sell a reasonable number and probably make a decent profit. I'm sure GM-DAT are working on how to put a HF V6 under the bonnet and maybe the 2.4 Ecotec?

[Ssom]

Originally Posted by TKR

I'm sure GM-DAT are working on how to put a HF V6 under the bonnet and maybe the 2.4 Ecotec?

The 2.4 Ecotec would be a welcome addition, but the HF V6 would be an expensive mistake for GM-DAT. Who in gods name wants a 175 Kw V6 Epica when they can get a Commodore?

[TKR]

Originally Posted by Ssom

The 2.4 Ecotec would be a welcome addition, but the HF V6 would be an expensive mistake for GM-DAT. Who in gods name wants a 175 Kw V6 Epica when they can get a Commodore?

Remember there is a 2.8l version available. I'm sure this could be tuned for the economy and power as required by the market. It may be too expensive in the segment but a DI version of the 2.8l with a auto would be great.
Then just fit the 2.2l ecotec (with DI) for the 'base' vehicle.

[TKR]

Originally Posted by redimpss5

Snore..who needs the little car, plus I think this is a repost!

Someone in the market for a medium sedan?

[Butz]

Originally Posted by Stormin

Any chance they come in RHD?

I'm pretty sure they can be easily built in RHD, after all they are built on Epsilon which supports both RHD and LHD.

[FordFan]

Anyone who thinks the Epica is even worth looking at needs to get checked.

It's that horrible.