Holden Statesman V6 2006 review

Hermetically sealed from the grime, hustle and bustle of city streets, passengers and driver can be lulled into a peaceful ride with quality acoustics.

I had to almost beg three of my dinner companions to take a ride in my luxury vehicle after a night in Gouger St.

It lacked the thrill factor but my passengers soon relaxed into the plush seats and realised the pleasure and ease of conversing without competing with engine noise.

Explore the 2006 Holden Statesman range

• Holden Statesman V6 2006 review
• Holden Statesman 2006 review

This car is all grace, gentility and poise rather than noise, agility and pace.

While the V6 engine gives Statesman the muscle to reach high speeds, it seems almost inappropriate to head north of a diplomatic 60km/h.

To be honest, I wasn't inspired to head east into the foothills and see how well it performed on winding roads or how fast it took to reach 100km on the freeway.

Instead I was content to cruise and float through city traffic using the steering-wheel controls to crank up the radio – Cruise 1323, of course (to tap in to the Statesman demographic). There's plenty of room – Holden's specs show leg room for rear-seat passengers is an extraordinary 1.1m and 1.07m up front.

In terms of carbon footprints, this car has a larger shoe size than most.

While Statesman falls within the luxury category, this glorified Commodore has a relatively spartan price tag. But, I wonder, outside of fleet buyers in Canberra and for North Tce, just who would buy a Statesman? Perhaps the ageing elite or basketballers with special leg-room needs? But for a young(ish) female looking to impress or be impressed by excess – it's as long a stretch as its wheelbase.

And another thing – Henry Ford's famous quip "Any colour as long as it's black" may have been fine before cars contributed to global warming but black interior and paint doesn't work in an Australian summer. No matter how good the air conditioning is.