When Holden New Zealand announced it was introducing a diesel powertrain for its capital-sized cruiser, there were murmurs of surprise from most and a mutterance of “finally!” from me.
I’ve always maintained that the best big car is a diesel-powered one and so was keen to get behind the wheel of the new oil burning Commodore.
In my experience – a diesel engine makes life at a fuel bowser bearable and it improves the handling of bigger cars especially, with that weighty engine block helping keep the driving wheels on the deck and assisting when it comes to slashing through corners at a spirited pace.
Since the official Holden fuel figures had been ticked off as being attainable on the launch programme – oh sorry, 3.4 litres per 100km I believe was the real world winning figure, Holden claims a 5.6 litre per 100km factory one – I was ready to give the Commodore a good run for its money during the working week and maybe a little recreational run at the weekend, without being too much of a Nana.
The oil burner powering the ZB Commodore is a teeny tiny two-litre turbo-diesel, but it packs some serious pulling power over the two-litre petrol engines of the LT, RS and Calais entry level models.
You get 400Nm of torque from the turbo diesel, which is listed – almost as an afterthought – as an option on the LT only. Personally, I’d be pitching the petrol engine as the option, because the diesel makes the car so much better to drive. And there’s ‘naff all difference – 3k premium for the diesel – in price.
The diesel Commodore proves my point in regards handling; it’s confidence inspiring, well balanced and can be driven for hours, days even, with each corner being something to tame or something to relish.
And it’s quiet. Breathtakingly quiet. Lately I have been driving a lot of hybrid electrics, which are typically silent except for the creaks and squeaks which are not that inspiring to listen to.
The diesel Commodore gives you the occasional hint that there are four cylinders doing the suck, squeeze, blow thing, but I’d rather hear whispers of that than, ‘’oh my aching bones” exhibited by, well, pretty much every hybrid driven so far.
And yes, I know, Road User Charges…
There is some speculation that the Gummint may be looking at taxing hybrid electrics eventually and quite frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised.
For now, hybrids win out over diesels in taxation stakes, but the drive experience of the not-Aussie-anymore-build-a-bridge diesel Commodore far outstrips the whirr whirr creak of a don’t-forget-to-plug-me-in-tonight hybrid.  
And besides which, the diesel Commodore IS targeted specifically at the fleet sector and the fleet sector buyers are intelligent enough to know that a 50,000km per annum mileage count will give you the return on investment of RUCs.
And I’d put vital parts of my anatomy on the line to say that once your drivers have had a little play in the ZB Commodore diesel, they’ll be pretty darned happy with their new chariot.