2001 VX II Berlina Wagon

3.8litre, 6 cylinder, 4 speed auto.

Purchased new from R&B Smith Holden, Geelong - Oct2001.
Replaced Subaru Liberty Wagon

Berlina spec has a few obvious differences to SS :

• Soft suspension and big 65 series tyres. The ride is certainly a lot more comfortable when driving along a straight road, but the handling is pretty ordinary when you fang it around a corner
• Dash has the 3 window trip computer. Not really much there of use except for the instantaneous fuel consumption which makes for interesting reading
• Climate control aircon seems to work fairly well
• Traction control on the V6 doesnt have accelerator pedal feedback like in the V8 
• Front seats on the Berlina dont have the big wings on the sides like in the SS
• Height adjustment for front seat belts
• Lots of extra lights around the cabin eg in the roof mounted grab handles for rear seats, in footwell for front passenger

When the VX series II was released, there was big marketing hype about how the cruise control stalk had been redesigned to make it better compared to the stalk as used for the last few models.

I have to say that the cruise stalk on the VX II is much harder to use than the old style. On the old style stalk you could drive it easily with your finger tips without having to take your hand off the steering wheel. It comprised only of buttons. The new stalk however requires you to twist the stalk to set / accel / decel and this cannot be done without taking your hand off the wheel. Certainly I will agree that the new stalk looks a lot nicer, but it is definitely not as easy to use.