Delivery Issue 68 OCT-NOV 2016

AUSTRALIA’S GUIDE TO UTES, VANS, LIGHT TRUCKS & PEOPLE MOVERS

www.deliverymagazine.com.au ISSUE 68 OCT/NOV 2016 RRP: $8.95

ISSUE 68 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2016 Delivery Magazine is an AfMA Strategic Alliance Partner

startrack sprinter fleet triton / ranger / amarok mega test

new isuzu n-series and vw crafter preview

w FEATURE

hile not quite the taskbuilding challenge of its namesake, the Great Wall team has a lot of burnt bridges to rebuild as it returns to the local market astride its new Steed LCV utility.

The brand has an Australian carpark totalling over 45,000, and at its peak had over 70 dealers and service centres. The emergence of a new importer has resulted in revisiting its original dealer group, and, having contacted previous customers and dealers about sticking with the brand, it now has 51 dealers back on board.

Great Wall Motors Australia general manager, Tony Carraturo, said discussions with customers had aftersales support at the top of the list of demands for the factory-backed subsidiary.

“We have listened and responded, the new Great Wall will be built on the foundation of outstanding customer support – our aim is to provide a new level of backing for owners and dealers,” he said.

The 4x4 dual-cab diesel will take the lion’s share, with 40 percent of sales – and, priced from a recommended retail $30,990, it wears a driveway launch price of $29,990. It is covered by a three-year/100,000 km warranty with three years of 24/7 free roadside assistance from the national dealer network of more than 50 dealers.

The base petrol model is propelled by a Euro V, fuel-injected, 2.4-litre, petrol engine producing 100 kW and 205 Nm, teamed with a five-speed manual, while the diesel models up the ratio count to six with the Euro V 2.0-litre common-rail turbodiesel.

It boasts 110 kW at 4000 rpm and 310 Nm of torque from 1800 through to 2800 rpm, as well as claiming an ADR fuel economy figure of 9.0 litres per 100 km, a 1010 kg payload for the tubliner-equipped tray, four tie-down points and a braked towing capacity of 2000 kg.

Measuring 5345 mm long, 1800 mm wide and 1760 mm tall, the Steed is 305 mm longer than its predecessor and 30 mm higher.

The facelifted ute sits on the same chassis as the outgoing Great Wall utes, with a new larger chrome grille and new headlights.

Again available in petrol 4x2 and diesel 4x4 models, but both powerplants have only a six-speed manual gearbox bolted to them, something unlikely to change until the all-new model arrives in three of four years.

Pricing for the 4x2 petrol model starts from $25,990 and it is predicted this model will take 30 percent of the 5000 annual sales for the Steed in Australia.

To kick it off, the re-launch of the breed is accompanied by driveway pricing of $24,990 for the remainder of this year.

Diesel buyers will account for a similar cut and pay an extra $2000 for the 4x2 – it too has a driveway deal that drops the price from $27,990 (plus on-roads) to $26,990 for 2016.

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SADDLE UP The maker claims the rear tub is 155 mm longer, but ground clearance sits at 171 mm across the range.

Great Wall claims the Steed is fit for the segment largely abandoned by the major brands – a well-equipped, cheap-as-chips value, one-tonne workhorse “built to work,” but, despite that, the standard features list is respectable. It sits on 16-inch alloy wheels (with a full-size steel spare) and has man-made Comfort-Tek ‘leather’ trim, a carpet floor, a tilt-only adjustable leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearshifter, power windows and heated exterior mirrors, heated front seats, climate control, cruise control with steering wheel-mounted controls, a six-speaker sound system with USB and Bluetooth, side steps and a sports bar.

The safety features list includes automatic headlights and wipers, an autodimming centre mirror, tyre-pressure monitoring system,

six airbags, Bosch electronic stability control, hill-start assistance, five lap-sash seat belts, rear parking sensors, but no standard reversing camera and no ANCAP rating as yet.

Any demand for additional body styles for the Steed light commercial range will be met in 2017, but the likelihood of an automatic isn’t promising; the brand also acknowledged that and the absence of an ANCAP rating limits fleet company appeal.

Great Wall Australia chief marketing officer, Tim Smith, said “hose-out” single and dual-cab models beneath the top-spec SE and single-cab/chassis models were likely for an appearance early in 2017.

“We’re not far away from bringing in a single-cab and cab/chassis, single-cab in tub or tray, cab/chassis without the tray, we’ll play it by ear on demands, it could be the price leader but we haven’t confirmed pricing yet,” he said.

“The model outside is the SE, we’re looking at an S model base-spec, that will be similar timing but in the dual-cab as well,” he said.

The updated Steed was driven in the 4x4 form and it is a more handsome beast, sporting a new snout with a big grille and large headlights.

The cabin is more pleasant than previous offerings from its home market, although carpet flooring will need some rubber floor mats; the artificial leather is serviceable and there are some nice soft plastics, but it’s not cabin-wide.

The test vehicles were also equipped with a reversing camera, which is sadly being paired with sat/nav in a $1000 option pack.

The tilt-only leather-wrapped steering wheel has phone, cruise, audio and trip computer controls, but its primary purpose is marred by power steering that is too eager; steering effort in the Bunnings carpark is minimal but not so great anywhere else.

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The high-set driver’s seat exacerbates the problem of tilt-only steering adjustment not delivering an ideal driving position, but there’s enough headroom to live with it.

The back seat is a little upright in the backrest, but my 191 cm frame could just sit behind my own driving position.

Will the Great Wall Steed ride up the sales charts?

Stuart Martin puts his feet in the stirrups DELIVERY

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Seat comfort and cabin noise are reasonable, but where it trips over is in the muscle department – 110 kW and 310 Nm is well down on the rest of the segment, with even the Isuzu D-Max (one of the longer-serving models) delivering 130 kW and 380 Nm. Nissan’s singleturbo Navara low-spec model boasts 120 kW and 403 Nm, Mitsubishi’s Triton delivers 133 kW and 430 Nm. The Steed claims 8.6 litres per 100 km and sat not far from that figure during the highway and country road launch drive, but there was little suburban or hard work done in that time. The six-speed manual gearbox is a pleasant unit, with a clean and quick shift action, and it will need to be to cope with only 310 Nm of torque.

The trays were initially laden, albeit only with a couple of solid bales of lucerne hay, 20 kg of dog food and a large boxed “care package” all for the local Salvos, so we were in no danger of exceeding the 1010 kg payload. The small load didn’t calm the lively rear end over smaller bumps, but its demeanour wasn’t out of character for a leaf-sprung live axle rear end. Overall, the double wishbone front and leaf-sprung rear ride isn’t too harsh, and if you push the Steed into a gallop in corners it’s not going to give Ford or Mazda any cause for review.

The Great Wall ute has made some progress, but, price aside, it’s still got some way to go before it is going to have a serious impact on the segment.

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Great Wall returns to the Australian market with a new importer and closer links to the Chinese manufacturer as Haval aims to create a stronger dealer disitrbution network.

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olden has resumed hostilities in the light commercial utility war with the re-arming of its Colorado combatant.

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As “Australia’s brand” loses its passenger-carbased utility by the end of next year, it is likely that the ute as it is currently known in the Holden stable will fall by the wayside, as the company persists with calling its new Colorado a “truck” or “pickup” during the launch of the 2017 version.

For the American-based companies it’s common comment to refer to what we know as a ute by describing it under the generic term of “truck” something that Ford has also adopted in its vocabulary and advertising.

Whatever it's called, the new Colorado has arrived with largely unchanged pricing (most have fallen but several have risen by less than $1000) accompanied by a features list upgrade and a facelift.

The Holden rep in the segment has sold on price in its previous incarnation as its road manners and drivability wasn’t up to that of its opposition, but the Thai-built load-lugger of South American descent has – with ample Australian input – undergone important and overdue engineering changes to catch it back up with the segment leaders.

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Holden managing director, Mark Bernhard, is confident the Colorado is able to compete with the segment leaders.

“I’ve driven it back to back with the key competitors and walked away knowing we have a top notch truck – it is more refined, more premium, it has loads of tech and looks great too.

“I believe the Colorado is undoubtedly the most compelling overall package in the segment – in terms of off-road ability, technology, safety and refinement, combined with price, servicing costs and on-going customer support.

“There is no better truck on the market. The exterior has been given a new look, more cohesive and aggressive than the outgoing vehicle and more in line with the North American Colorado.

HOLDEN'S BRIGHT HOPE

LDEN’S

Can the latest Colorado claim a high ranking...

Stuart Martin does the maths A new grille and headlights, aided by LED daytime running lamps, give the new LCV a bolder front end reminiscent of the Chevrolet Silverado, and more in the style of its main rival, Ford’s Ranger,” Mr. Bernhard added.

The dashboard and centre stack have also been revamped, again taking much from its Chevrolet sibling, with updated touchscreen-controlled infotainment and a cleaner layout, with higher-quality materials and plastics in use.

Top of the additions to the safety features list is the inclusion of forward collision and lane departure warning systems on the two top-spec models, with the LTZ and Z71 also getting tyre pressure monitoring, an auto-dimming centre mirror, rain-sensing wipers and front parking sensors, teamed with the rear sensors and reversing camera standard range-wide.

The new model also has two ISOFIX child seat fixtures, as well as three child seat anchor points, and claims of improved roof crush crash performance, all of which has warranted a five-star ANCAP rating for the updated model.

The drivetrain is largely unchanged in terms of outputs – the 2.8-litre Duramax turbodiesel, common-rail, direct-injection four-cylinder produces 147 kW and 440 Nm (between 1600 and 2800 rpm) when teamed with the six-speed manual – a 500 Nm twist is unleashed but only between 2000 and 2200 rpm when the six-speed auto option box is ticked.

The automatic model benefits from the inclusion of a centrifugal pendulum absorber torque converter, which counters undesirable vibrations, and, according to Holden, a revised transmission calibration for improved drivability and better fuel economy.

The fuel economy figures range from 7.9 to 8.7 litres per 100 km, reductions of around 0.2 of a litre per 100 km.

Holden also said the cab/chassis models would be supplied with wiring for the installation of cameras and rear sensors.

The manual gearbox models are also updated with a change to the final drive ratio from 3.73 to 4.1:1, which Holden said improves launch performance and drivability, particularly when towing 750 kg of unbraked load or 3500 kg with trailer brakes.

Also standard across the range is stability control, seven airbags, hill start and descent control, trailer sway control and seven airbags – front, side, curtain and a driver’s knee airbag.

Payloads range from 1000 kg for the manual Z71 to 1477 kg for the 4x2 single-cab/chassis LS model; that represents a drop of 13 kg for the LS and an improvement of 176 kg for the Z71.

On sale in September, the range starts from $29,490 for the single-cab/chassis LS 4x2, which includes lifetime capped-price servicing, and the option of a six-speed auto adds $2200 to the bottom line.

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FEATURE The crew-cab is priced from $34,490 or $35,990 for the “pickup” body style, while the 4x4 ups the pricing ante by a sizeable jump to $37,490 for a single-cab/ chassis, $40,990 for the space-cab/chassis or $44,990 for the crew-cab.

That entry-level variant comes with 16-inch steel wheels, power windows and mirrors, manual air conditioning, remote window operation, cruise control, a sixspeed manual, front disc and rear drum brakes, a helical limited slip differential, vinyl flooring, LED daytime running lights and two 12-volt outlets.

The MyLink infotainment system in the entry-level model uses a seven-inch touchscreen and runs Apple and Android integration (Holden is claiming a first for the light commercial ute market), as well as digital radio reception and USB input through its six-speaker system, with steering-wheel-mounted controls that are carryover from the outgoing model.

It too sits on 18-inch wheels but of a different design, as well as getting a “sail plane” sports bar and side rails with Z71 markings, leather trim, heated seats, a modelspecific tonneau cover, black trim pieces on the exterior, roof rails and a model-specific front end with an integrated nudge bar, although it loses the heated mirrors of the LTZ.

Stepping up to the LT adds 17-inch alloys, carpet floor coverings, front fog lamps and side steps; it is available in 4x2 crew-cab from $38,990 or $46,990 for the 4x4 model.

The brand has focused on refining its LCV package, with upgraded engine insulation and relocated balance shafts, as well as updated body mounts, thicker side window glass and upgraded exterior seals.

The penultimate model is the LTZ, which is offered in 4x2 crew-cab guise from $42,490, space-cab 4x4 from $48,990 and the 4x4 crew-cab starts from $50,490 – Holden said the $500 drop in price is accompanied by $1800 worth of extra gear. It steps up in wheel size to 18 inches, as well as getting the larger eight-inch MyLink touchscreen that carries the built-in sat/nav as standard and runs a premium audio system of seven speakers.

Single-zone climate control, heating for the exterior mirrors, an alloy sports bar, soft tonneau cover, power adjustment for the driver’s seat, remote start (an auto only function unsurprisingly), chrome trim additions for the door handles and mirror caps are also on the LTZ list.

Colorado’s flagship remains the Z71 model, available only in crew-cab 4x4 guise, starts from $54,990 as per the outgoing model.

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The suspension changes include a larger front stabiliser bar, altered front and rear spring rates, and upgraded dampers with the aim of better ride and body control unladen and under load.

It sits on new Bridgestone tyres (with claims of better wet weather grip and ride comfort) as well as a faster steering rack with fewer turns lock to lock, and features electric power steering calibration involving the team responsible for the VF Commodore’s helm.

The Colorado has taken a large stride forwards into contention for serious sales success and critical acclaim, presenting road manners, ability and comfort that put it among the best of the segment.

Whereas once it sold largely on outlay, the Colorado now represents a value-for-money package with more than price on its side.

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olden wants to be in the news for reasons other than the closure of local manufacturing, and its new-look Colorado will go some way to achieving that.

While many – the author included – lament the loss of load-lugging versions of the Holden Commodore, as well as the utes that are closer to sports cars with big boots, the new-look LCV has taken giant strides from its less than laudable beginnings.

Again striking out on its own after a short-lived reconciliation with Isuzu, who shacked up with Mazda in a deal that didn’t help GM, Holden has brought the Colorado forward to a point of competitiveness, although perhaps that same point should have been reached two years ago.

But now that the Colorado range has made up some ground on the segment leaders, it is worthy of consideration on more grounds than just being price-competitive.

On first approach in the car park, it looks even better in the metal than it did in the first-release pictures – bolder of snout and more like a truck than its predecessor, it is yet another example of what a beefy ute (I’m not calling it a truck) should look like. Let’s hope Isuzu rubs off on Mazda in this respect too for the next generation BT-50.

Largely unaltered at the rear, apart from some tricky tonneau cover attachment changes (but no standard tub liner) for the tray, the new headlights (sadly still halogen) and straighter horizontal treatment of the dual-grille give it a sharper snout that works.

The cabin has been cleaned up too, getting more definition in the structure that is covered in nicer-quality materials; the touchscreen is a decent size and the centre stack is well laid out and self-explanatory.

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Satellite navigation that – in the top models at least – is embedded is a welcome inclusion, as is the smartphone integration that is simple to implement and use; Apple CarPlay and Android Auto also offer the option of sat/nav through the phone, although that will eat into data allocations.

COOL COLORADO

Holden hits a higher ranking with the latest Colorado Words by Stuart Martin

Top-spec models get powered seat adjustment, although the cushion can’t be tilted for more leg support, and the steering wheel (leather-wrapped range wide) is sadly still tilt-only for adjustment.

Outputs are unchanged, but the auto – driven more extensively at the launch – makes a solid contribution to improved drivability.

It was the preferred transmission in the outgoing model and it remains so now, with the upgrades to the auto and its torque converter lock-up making the Colorado actually drive like something that can muster an approaching 500 Nm of torque.

The throttle still needs a solid prod to get things underway, but its less tardy and is not too sharp for off-road use either, an activity that seems to be a focus for Holden with the new model.

There’s less rev-flaring, and even though the peak is from 2000 to 2200 rpm the Colorado makes better use of it.

A brief stint in the manual, which is now sporting a new final drive ratio, demonstrated what the altered driveline can do to lessen a torque hole.

It was sampled in a towing test involving a couple of tonnes worth of small tractor and equipment, but deliberately minimal revs (which would have had the old car coughing to a halt) when getting underway didn’t deter the new model from the task.

A quicker steering rack also helped when slotting the trailer through the mini manoeuvring course, and the steering showed good weight and feel when driving on the road.

Sensibly, Holden had both laden and unladen vehicles to sample, although all tested on the road loop were automatics.

Around 200 kg of weight was added to the rear of several dual-cabs, including the LTZ and a top spec Z71, the smaller load took the edge off the sharp response over some harsher bumps, but the unladen vehicle was far from the worst in the segment for ride quality.

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FEATURE The LT dual-cab’s tray was loaded with 500 kg in the tray, as well as ending up with four occupants, still well short of the maximum payload for the cargo bay. It was enough to demonstrate the tweaked suspension was more than up to carrying a load without dragging its tail, while still delivering a reasonable ride quality and remaining civilised in the corners.

Ride quality is firm but not to the point of discomfort – a little less so under load – but the body control is good and it has lost much of the judder that normally afflicts a body on ladder frame chassis. It’s not completely gone, but the Colorado now feels more planted and can be driven swiftly with confidence, a faith further enhanced by the aforementioned steering.

Even a short motorkhana course along a twisting grasscovered (at the start, at least) path in and around witches hats was sampled and helped demonstrate the improved steering and handling facets of the vehicle, although unlikely to be repeated in a genuine motorsport theatre.

Cabin comfort and space remain as per the old model – more than enough for four adults – but the ambient noise and harshness that could invade the old model has been noticeably reduced.

Thicker glass and body mount changes (among other alterations) work well to reduce noise and vibration.

While still conscious of engine and road noise, it is much improved over the outgoing Colorado and well within the parameters of the vehicles worth considering in the segment.

The feel of the interior quality has risen measurably as well, even down to a layer of felt in the bottom of the door pockets to reduce the noise of keys or coins within.

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Stitched trim panels on the dashboard, better plastics and a more solid feel to the switchgear inspire more confidence than the outgoing car.

The driver gets a clear instrument panel, with digital speed readout on the comprehensive trip computer, as well as touchscreen, and the smartphone integration systems are a welcome inclusion in the low-spec models and lift the overall feel of the centre stack.

The range of cab/chassis and accessories has been substantially expanded, with the largest choice yet – much of what the brand is offering to customise the Colorado has an off-road bent.

Work-related extras largely carried over from the previous model, including both alloy and steel cab/chassis trays, ladder racks, tub mats and liners and weather shields, are among the myriad extras on offer.

Complaints in the cabin are few – the inclusion of an extra USB port, as well as a 220-volt domestic plug (something present in Ranger and HiLux) and a 12-volt outlet in the rear tray (Ranger and Amarok) would be worthwhile.

Reach steering adjustment – something the Triton has in its arsenal along with a sharp price tag and a more versatile 4WD system – and standard tub liner (or even a load bay mat) and tow bar would have all been inclusions worth serious consideration, but the updated Holden’s value proposition remains one of its strengths.

It’s just now backed by road manners, refinement progress and looks worthy of it making any potential buyer’s top-fiveto-drive list.