- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
6.2i, 8 cyl.
- Engine Power
304kW, 570Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 12.9L/100KM
- Manufacturer
RWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Holden Commodore VFII SS-V Redline first drive review
The final chapter in the Holden Commodore story is more than just the fastest and most powerful its 37-year history.
On face value, with 6.2-litres of V8 producing 304kW and 570Nm, it is just that - a fast and powerful full stop to what was once Australia's favourite car. But reading between the lines, the adoption of the bigger LS3 engine in performance variants reveals a cultural change within the company as it prepares to sign off building cars for Australians in Australia.
For more than a decade, since the arrival of the fully homegrown VE model, Holden has been consciously trying to maintain a family first focus on its conventional large sedan, concentrating heavily on improving fuel efficiency and overall refinement. And it did an exemplary job, slashing weight, reducing consumption and introducing new levels of technology and luxury never seen before in an Australian-made car.
But mums and dads have moved on, shifting to smaller hatchbacks, SUVs and even four-door utes as suburban runabouts.
Those that haven't been swayed into something else are died-in-the-wool muscle car enthusiasts that live by the motto that there is no replacement for displacement and want tyre-frying performance with a soundtrack to match. They might be old school traditionalists, but considering that V8 models have accounted for more than two thirds of Commodore sales over the last few years it is still a slice of the Australian public that Holden has a stranglehold on. And one that has become the focal point for the Commodore's local-flavoured farewell.
"We aimed this right at the heartland," Holden's engineering director, Andrew Holmes, told Drive during a preview at the company's Lang Lang proving ground recently.
"We wanted anyone who has ever owned a V8 Commodore to come back and get another one. Having said that, we didn't purposely go out to build a classic, as everyone else - customers and critics and the like - will judge whether it is a classic or not. But we wanted to wanted to cement the 37-years of heritage of building Commodore in Australia and celebrate its best attributes, which, in this day and age, is being a big, V8 sporty sedan."
Among the chorus of changes to the swansong Commodore, the LS3 engine is the main character. The Chevrolet-sourced 6.2-litre V8, which has been the exclusive domain of HSV models for the past seven years, has been dropped-in in place of the 6.0-litre L77 that produced 260kW/517Nm in automatic guise with cylinder on demand technology or 270kW and 530Nm (without Holden's AFM system) when hooked-up to the six-speed manual.
The LS3 increases power to 304kW at 6000 and torque increases to 570Nm across a wider band of revs with both transmission options, which, combined with its higher 6600rpm rev limit (600rpm higher than the 6.0-litre), Holden says slashes its ability to slingshot from 0-100km/h to 4.9 seconds with the manual gearbox and 5.0 seconds with the automatic.
More than that, Holden not only wanted to increase performance (at the expense of fuel consumption though as the LS3 increases its claimed average to 12.9L/100km) it consciously wanted the V8 to tug at the heartstrings with an emotional soundtrack. To do that, it has introduced a bi-modal exhaust that, when activated, bypasses part of the rear muffler for a straight-through escape path that unlocks the V8's natural note.
Not content at stopping there, it has amplified the sound even further with two clever - and yet simple - systems. The first is a sound tube that directly plumbs the intake acoustics into the firewall of the cabin on the driver's side. The other is a unique exhaust tip, designed by Holden engineer David Baillie (who sadly passed away 12 months ago from Leukemia), that simply has a hole within a section of the tailpipe - like a whistle - that is covered by a separate sleeve to reverberate the exhaust note back towards - rather than away from - the car. Dubbed the Baillie Tip, Holden has applied for a global patent for it, further showcasing the ingenuity of the local automotive industry.
Needless to say, the combination of more grunt and more noise is obvious when driving the VF Series II SS-V Redline. Where the 6.0-litre didn't really come alive until it was right in the meat of its mid-range, the LS3 feels fatter lower in the rev range and spins quicker all the way to its higher ceiling. At either end, it makes it more useable around town, more effortless at cruising speeds and faster and more engaging when driven enthusiastically.
And the sound? With the bi-modal exhaust inactive (which can be switched on and off through the menu system in the centre touch screen), the exhaust note is subdued, refined and quiet enough not to wake the neighbours while still emitting a traditional V8 burble. With it switched on, it opens it lungs; grumbling deeper at idle speeds, screaming louder under acceleration and then gargling, crackling and popping unburnt fuel when you back off the throttle. In every situation, it sounds like a 'real' V8 should.
If anything, the SS-V Redline doesn't feel like its got a lazy V8 in its nose anymore. And Holden doesn't want its customers to think that either, as part of the LS3's development concentrated on ensuring it could be used at its limits more often on a racetrack, which necessitated some other changes. Firstly, from a cooling aspect, the redesigned front bumper has a wider intake to feed more air into the engine bay and the vents on the trailing edge of the bonnet are there to allow hot air to escape easier.
The highly technical outer sections of the bumper also feature functional intakes that direct air flow through to the inside of the wheel arches to lower its wind resistance.
From the driver's seat, there's no changes to the cabin of the SS-V Redline, which already set the benchmark for Australian-made sedans in its presentation, ergonomics and connectivity. But there's a subtle change to the rear suspension that alters the way it drives with a longer but thinner anti-roll bar helping to improve its ride comfort, which also allowed for slightly stiffer spring rates to increase its road holding without compromising its ability to absorbs bumps too much.
The end result means the SS-V, which rides on staggered width 19-inch alloys, has impressive traction under acceleration and sharper overall dynamics. The steering is still a little slow and the front-end will push wide in heavy cornering, but the more instantaneous response from the engine means it can be easily balanced on the throttle, particularly with its ESP in its Sport setting which allows a degree of rear-end slip. At its most extreme, with the electronic safety nets disengaged on a race track, it can easily be provoked into lurid, and progressive, tail slides.
In essence, the final Aussie-made Holden Commodore has been focused on what it does best, particularly in SS-V Redline trim. It isn't trying to be a car for every man anymore, but rather a car for every red-blooded man, and one that genuinely tugs at the heart strings of Holden's faithful heartland.
It's a fitting farewell for a local legend that we will never see the likes of again.
Holden Commodore VF Series II SS-V Redline price and specifications
Price: $53,990 (plus on-road costs)
On-sale: Now
Engine: 6.2-litre V8 petrol
Power: 304kW at 6000rpm
Torque: 570Nm at 4400rpm
Transmission: 6-spd manual or automatic, RWD
Fuel Use: 12.9L/100km