HOLDEN’S Series II Omega Ute shows just how far the Australian coupe-utility has progressed. It now combines five-star crash safety, an advanced direct injection V6 engine and an automatic transmission that would have done any German luxury car proud just a decade ago. But for all its standard equipment, the Omega will always be overshadowed by the overtly sporting Holden Ute models. It also continues to suffer from the greatest VE negative of poor driver vision.

Commodore Omega Ute
Released: September 2007
Ended: September 2010
Family Tree: Commodore uteTHE VE Omega Ute was launched in September 2006 with a 180 kW 3.6-litre V6 teamed with the same clunky old-four-speed automatic transmission experts were criticising in the 1990s. That engine, despite its on-paper promise, was coarse and offered only fair performance with average fuel economy. In September 2009, the direct-injection V6 engines arrived for the sedans but the Ute soldiered on with the (by then detuned to 175 kW) 3.6. Whatever appeal the chunky exterior styling offered was undermined by poor vision. The VE Omega Ute was a vehicle that was a long way short of achieving its potential.
Get the full story: Holden goes for style with its new VE Ute, which impresses, even in Omega guise
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