Holden Commodore Omega LPG 2012 Review

Big fuel bills are no longer a reason to give up on Australian large cars. With the introduction of the Holden Commodore LPG, Ford and Holden now both have big locally-made family machines that cost less to run than small petrol cars.

Both only cost $500 more than regular petrol versions (as long as you’re a private buyer and qualify for the federal governments $2000 LPG grant) and you should win it back within a year. 

LPG is also relatively clean when it comes to CO2, which should enable eco-friendly fleets to get on board. Government fleets, which have been increasingly buying imported cars, including diesel Hyundai i30s, now have a patriotic eco-friendly  

Option

The Holden LPG option is available across all three Commodore body styles, the sedan, ute and wagon. It’s also available for the stretched Caprice.

For 20 years Holden has dabbled with duel fuel Petrol/LPG options, but has now decided to follow Fords step and offer a proper focused LPG-only version. This allowed Holden engineers to tune the engine to run better on LPG.

The LPG tank, which used to sit in the boot, is now located behind the rear axle, only slightly raising the boot floor of the sedan, trimming the cargo area by 10 litres to 486 litres. The wagon and ute cargo areas stay the same.

One negative is that the LPG tank means there is no space below for a spare tyre.
You can carry a pump-up kit and keep your boot-space or give some of it up and fit a spare in the boot or ute tray.

VALUE

The true value of the LPG Commodore is always going to depend on fuel prices  good luck predicting them - but is going to be a great value proposition for some time to come. While the LPG tax regime is changing, with less government assistance, the good gas has traditionally been around half the price of petrol per litre.  Given the LPG Commodore doesn’t use all that much more LPG than the regular car uses petrol, it is going to make for a great set of numbers.

Going by the claimed average consumption figures (which aren’t perfect but act as a guide), and average fuel prices in Melbourne earlier this week, the fuel cost to run an LPG Commodore for a year (20,000km) would work out to $1723.

That’s $409 cheaper than the fuel bill for a small petrol car (an automatic Mazda3 Neo), neck and neck with a super lean large diesel car like the Skoda Superb and almost $600 cheaper than a regular petrol Commodore.

Real world figures may vary, but there’s no doubt LPG makes big cars cheap to run.
Like the rest of the Commodore range, the LPG versions are very good value when you consider what you get for the money.

TECHNOLOGY

The Commodore LPG doesn’t use the most advanced LPG technology on the market. While Ford opted for the more complicated liquid injection LPG which allows for better performance, Holden decided to go with the vapour injection method.

It selected the previous generation 3.6-litre quad-cam V6, made in Melbourne, for the LPG option and fitted a new fuel rail, injectors, harder valves and valve seats, special pistons, modified heads and a unique manifold. It runs a higher compression ration too.
Holden will only make the LPG option available with a six-speed automatic transmission. The LPG 3.6 produces 180kW of power, which is 30kW down on the petrol engine of the same size, and 320Nm of torque, which is 30Nm off.

For reference, the LPG Falcon is good for 198kW and 409Nm. The Holden LPG does better when compared to the 3.0-litre V6 petrol fleet special Commodore, which makes 190kW and 290Nm.

The LPG car’s average fuel consumption for 100km is 11.8L/100km, which doesn’t sound great until you remember how much cheaper LPG is.
Its average CO2 figure of 189g/km is the best in its class.

DESIGN

Australians have had plenty of time to get used to the current Commodore shape given it has been around since 2006. There have been some changes under the skin, but the exterior design was thankfully bold enough that the car still looks good today.

The interior, which looked dated from the day the VE was introduced, was upgraded last year to gear the Commodore range a more modern and upmarket look although it is still plain in the cheaper models.

There are no visual clues that a Commodore is LPG powered apart from some badges and the red LPG stickers on the number plate.

SAFETY

As is the case with the regular Commodore, the LPG version gets a five star ANCAP crash test safety rating. It also comes with a full suite of six airbags, front, side and curtains, has Electronic Stability Control (ESC), traction control, anti-skid brakes and seatbelt reminders.

DRIVING

Holden boss Mike Devereux admits he’s never filled a car with LPG. He's not alone. Many people don’t like having to screw in the nozzle and especially dislike the psshht sound when the left over gas is vented out to the atmosphere when the tank is full.

There's no doubt Holden, and Ford, face a battle to get ordinary Australians to consider LPG as a proper option rather than something confined to cheapskates and taxi operators.

All they have to do is get them into the driving seat. Fords LPG is more complex delivers better performance, but the Holden LPG option is perfectly good.

It goes a bit better than the 3.0-litre petrol Omega, but is not as quick as the 3.6-litre petrol, which is a real slingshot these days.

The sound is slightly different as it goes through one exhaust and the last generation cylinder head makes slightly coarser noises, but really, you would be hard-pressed to notice.

There is plenty of low down pull and enough power when you want to get stuck in. The overall drive experience is exactly what you expect from a Commodore. That means it handles well, it cruises nicely and is perfectly suited to Australian conditions.

Having to run without a spare wheel, or having one take up a section of the boot is not ideal, but I reckon its worth it.

VERDICT

It has all the benefits of a large car with the running costs of a small car. Just like Ford, Holden is making an LPG car that is too good to ignore. Even better, theyre both made right here in Australia.

Commodore Omega LPG

Price: $42,490 (not including $2000 private customer rebate) 
Warranty: 3 years/ 100,000km
Service Intervals: 15,000km or 9 months
Safety Equipment: six airbags, ABS, EBD, EBA, TC.
Crash rating: 5 stars
Engine: 180kW/320Nm 3.6-litre V6 LPG
Body: 4-door, 5 seats (ute, wagon and long wheelbase Caprice available)
Dimensions: 4903mm (L); 1899mm (W); 1471mm (H); 1471mm (WB) 2915mm 
Weight: 1730kg
Transmission: Six-speed automatic; rearwheel-drive
Economy: 11.8l/100km; 189g/km CO2