When driving the Holden One-Tonner Cross 6 one gets to enjoy the feeling of a spacious cab which features very comfortable bucket seats, power steering, auto transmission and low wind noise. This brings back memories of the HZ One Tonner of the late 1970s. Although the VZ Cross 6 is not at all like the HZ, except in name.

The Next Car team took to the road in the One Tonner Cross 6 in a mix of city and country driving that covered 1,329 kilometres. And for good measure, we went off-road for a brief test of its climbing ability. One drive covered a circular trip from Sydney and out to Dubbo, then up to Coonabarabran and down to Newcastle. During this latter part of the trip, the truck was fully loaded with household items. This load demonstrated that, indeed, the One-Tonner is a good thing!

This truck comes with the 175kW 3.6 litre Alloytech V6 engine coupled with a 4 speed automatic transmission. There is no manual transmission available. The Cross Trac all wheel drive system is the same as the system used in the Crewman Cross 6 & Cross 8 utility. This is a constant system and, as such, has no low range transfer case. A steel and timber tray was fitted with plenty of tie down rails. It is a great body option which avoids rattles (which come as standard on some body options). There was also room to fit purpose built storage bins front and rear of the back wheels. The cargo carrying capacity is a bit over one tonne at 1016 kilogrammes and the Cross 6 One Tonner makes short work of it. This is a very tough vehicle. An ideal vehicle for any tradesperson requiring a go anywhere capability with ground clearance of 164mm fully loaded or 235 mm empty.

Holden One-Tonner Cross 6
Location: Mt Sugarloaf NSW

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The Cross 6 One Tonner wasn't completely confident on wet, slippery unformed road surfaces but I suspect that this was largely due to the standard road bias tyres fitted. Fitment of an all terrain type of tyre would be a definite advantage. On wet slippery bitumen surfaces only one word describes the all wheel drive system ..... brilliant! But the all wheel drive system does have some inherent problems that are common to any AWD vehicle, such as higher fuel consumption and higher tyre wear. Fuel consumption was not tested by the Next Car team, although it is quoted by Holden as 14.4 litres per 100 kms. However, I suspect the 5 speed automatic transmission from the Commodore SV6 would produce better fuel consumption, particularly on long highway trips, but it wasn't offered as an option. The fuel tank capacity is 64 litres.