Enlightening is the New Embiggening

Bigger, faster, stronger. These were the hallmarks of the new car model; model after model after model. Is it climate change that has now seemingly put a stop to the old school mantra of progress, or, just the shrinking of wallets? Either way, Australia's supposed dinosaurs are still leading the way in efficiency. Yes, you read that right. 

In possibly the most redundant statement of all time, the release of a new version of whatever, is always heralded with the proclamation of "BEST EVER". 'They' have been saying it for years and it was easy to do so because progress was always measured in the same way. Shampoo usually has 50% more essential shinnervesance, and beauty cream reduces lines in 12% more self assessed participants. With respect to cars, it has always been the aforementioned size, speed and strength. 

With the impending arrival of the New VF Commodore, you can expect more of the same, with regard to proclamations of succession and progress, but the reworked car will be no larger than it's predecessor. In fact, through the use of aluminium and other modern engineering wizadry, it will shed the combined weight of my wife, a carton of Crown Lager and a decent family roast. (Call it 70kgs if you must).

So how does this relate to real life? Well if the Commodore were on The Biggest Loser, 70kgs would present  a total weight loss of 4%.... keeping the Commodore above the yellow line and excluding it from elimination..... . Okay, not the best example. Let's have a look at how it looks against some of the competition.

Currently the Holden Omega Sedan has an ADR rated fuel consumption of 8.9L/100kms. That puts it ahead of the Toyota Aurion and Honda Accord V6, but on par with the 2.0T Jaguar XJ ($68,990). 

"How can that be?" I hear you ask. The base model Commodore is as efficient as a Base model Jaguar? Surely not. It is because the Jaguar is getting a little on the porky side. At 1745kgs, it will soon be around 200kgs heavier than the VF Commodore, which is me, my wife and the aforementioned sundries, but exchanging the roast for a side of lamb.

Even BMW with their smaller previous generation 530i would be bested by Holden's soon to be be replaced base model when it comes to economy. Mercedes Benz E350 was also less efficient up until mid 2011 with the arrival of their Blue Efficiency variant which retailed for over $130,000. And of course the Euros all require either 95 or 98 RON. 

So what options are there, besides smelly diesels, that will cost you less than 6 figures? An option from the blue corner, of course. 

Right now, Ford have the Ecoboost Falcon that has a combined ADR figure of 8.1 L/100kms. That's better than the current E350 Blue Efficiency  model from Mercedes Benz, and, it can be had for less than $38kAUD. In fact it is even cheaper than it's Euro stable mate Taurus... er Mondeo, which incidentally also costs more to service and is smaller, and is poxy front wheel drive. 

The new VF Commodore is already being built and will be released in June. Key improvements will be in interior design and technology, efficiency through weight reduction, and, very competitive pricing. Hopefully people will forget their prejudices and see for themselves if Holden have honed in on the decreed preferences of the market. It will no doubt be, the best ever.

Self-Inflicted Nanny State

That's right: self-inflicted. The main vehicle in our family is a rather gorgeous and willing, Sizzle red Holden SV6 Sportwagon. It's got whizz bangs and geegaws up the whatsit. You can access all the iWizardry of my iPhone 4 via the illuminated thumb wheel on the multiadjustable steering wheel. The phone book in said phone is accessible through the touch screen on my centre console, as is recent call history. I can switch between iPod streaming, USB connection, HDD burned CDs, or if I'm feeling old skool, AM/ FM radio.


The engine management system ensures that fewer baby whales are killed by my right foot than ever before (can't say the same for Japan or South Korea), and, we are hardly struggling for grunt with 210+ KW pushing the rear wheels in appropriate directions with impressive enthusiasm.


There is also an arms length of sensors and design elements incorporated to give my family maximum safety (5 Stars says NCAP). Best of all, if I am suddenly confronted by Skippy leaping across the highway in the rain on a Sunday afternoon, all that electrickery (AKA Electronic Stability Control or ESC) will bring myself and my family to a halt in the fastest and safest way possible. Skippy hops away and we're all feeling warm and fuzzy.


Sounds great right? Well it is, but today I feel a little.... cheap. For the second time this week, I have driven the Sportwagon into the ESC safety net. They weren't massive incidents that I couldn't get out of and the intervention is as unobtrusive as one could hope for, but that is hardly the point.


I spend a lot of time in my piece of crap 10 year old Vectra with a now sagging head lining, manual winder windows and intermittent volume control, honing my car control skills during my daily commute. If I get it wrong in "Victoria" as she is known, things can go pear shaped quickly so I make every consideration about where to stick which boot and when to "spare the rod".


In the Sportwagon however, I seem to have gotten lazy, knowing that ESC will save my ass. It wasn't a conscious decision, but, now I am aware of it, and, I feel like a cheat!


Think about how that will play out in the general motoring public. Drivers will spend less time thinking about what their car is doing, instead, driving to the electronically imposed limit. It's a scary proposition, especially when it becomes the norm for a car to save you from yourself and car companies start getting sued for not taking over when you are trying to text your #bff.


It's not the end of the world. It's not too late. Turn off your OEM installed nanny goats and go do some donuts.

Brand Management

Has anyone noticed the fundamental problem with social media? It is pretty easy to cite examples and even easier to summarise. Some members of society are complete wankers! The general understanding is that social media provides an avenue for society to interact, yet just like reality TV, the society that you see is influenced by the environment in which they reside.

For example, I have been managing my own brand for the last few months, mainly to understand how the social media environment operates. I would like to apologise in advance to those of you from whom I have tried (rather shabbily) to hide the fact that I am @mikmakGMI, @misterquality and @beltedradial.

Most of you knew the two former were one in the same. @misterquality came around to address issues not perptaining to motor vehicles, but yours truly @beltedradial, came about in order to allow me to say "cock" every now and again when it was warranted, with out damaging the brands to which I was attached.

The penny dropped shortly after my watching Bob Lutz on @autoline After hours describing how an absence of brand clarity at Pontiac, resulted in the ultimate demise of the General Motors performance arm (despite its self inflicted atrophy in the preceding decade or two). Essentially they denied what they always should have been: passionate with grunt to spare.

That is not unlike my own [d]evolution upon becoming a moderator on GMInsidenews. I still love GMI. It provides a great service, and the Brand Management of that site has seen it go from strength to strength. More importantly, the GMI crew have discussed what type of environment we want, decided upon it and focussed therein to great success. But it is not me. I will still contribute there (if they'll still have me), but continuing to restrain myself is like sticking your finger in a dyke. Sure it sounds like fun, but eventually there will be more holes than you have fingers.

Then one of my favourite tweeters @millionsofmyles mentioned recently how he was going to start a blog. A personal blog.

Honesty; what a concept! Surprised I never thought of it because I spent too much time reading e-books about what I'm supposed to do. (dickhead!)

Which brings us to me (the other me). I will be giving @mikmakGMI an electronic bullet in the head in the next few weeks and taking over the account of @beltedradial as my primary personal account. It will be my honest personal feelings about everything. I will be posting all manner of analysis, critiquing and general noise about what ever I feel like commenting about (but mostly cars!).

@misterquality shall be maintained as I'm sure many of you don't give a rats ass about AILs arising from your annual mangerial reviews.

So allow me to introduce myself. My name is Michael McWilliams. I am a conceptual analyst and technical communicator, a dad, husband, car nut and aussie.

I've also been around the track a few times making me feel (and look) like a belted radial.

Please feel free to post eulogy suggestions for mikmakGMI (note: must be <140>

MORAL OF THE STORY: be honest or your brand will die a slow and boring death.