VFII Commodore: last local Holden goes out with V8 bang, not a whimper
The latest (and last) Commodore offers 6.2 litres of V8 power for less than $45,000. You may never see that value again.
The VFII Commodore, the last homegrown Holden, is one for the true believers. The company’s epitaph: a big red car with a smokin’ V8 in it.
Depending on your point of view, this is either a predictably futile, bogan gesture, a single-finger salute from a moribund industry that should have been euthanased years ago, or the final, glorious denouement of the “Australian car” and a fitting tribute to Holden’s talented designers and engineers.
VFII is an update of the 2013 VF Commodore, itself an update of the 2006 VE, the last new-from-the-ground-up Commodore, launched when the company (with assistance from you-know-who) could still afford to design and engineer a “Billion Dollar Baby”, as the VE was billed.
The budget for VFII sedan, Sportwagon and ute would be a single-figure fraction of that.
There’s no change at all, for example, to the base 3.0-litre V6 Evoke; the 3.6-litre V6 SV6 gets the barest cosmetic touch-up: a nose job and new wheels.
Fleets buyers, once the mainstay of base-model six-cylinder Commodore (and Falcon) sales, have bailed out en masse over the past decade, so Evoke is in palliative care and may not even last until 2017.
The SV6 is the most popular Commodore, notably with user-chooser leaseholders and private buyers. It has been left to tick along for now.
The VFII isn’t a six-cylinder exercise. Holden is instead sending Commodore out as a serious muscle car with a call to the faithful that this will be their last chance to own not only the local hero, but also an affordable, high-performance V8.
When the Opel Insignia replaces VFII Commodore in 2017 (with a Commodore badge) it won’t have a V8 option. Holden says there is still a sports V8 somewhere in its future. But the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro coupe, the logical contender on position and price, isn’t heading our way any time soon because there’s no intention at present to offer it with right-hand drive. That’s a shame. If you’re an unreconstructed petrolhead (and please take that as a compliment), a Holden Camaro v Ford Mustang (which launches locally next month) decision, at around $60K, would be a nice one to have to make.
The Chevy Corvette would be even better, but if it shows up with the steering wheel on the right side it will carry a price tag deep into six figures.
Although it seems crazy that Holden would let its large and loyal V8 customer base drift away through lack of product, it may have no choice because there will simply be no affordably priced model on offer. So it’s understandable the company sees haymaking potential in the last Commodore V8.
As a percentage of Commodore sales, V8s have increased from about 15 per cent of VEs to 35 per cent today. In large part this is due to the fact that the sixes have fallen off a cliff, but in raw numbers it would still be about 800 per month, a substantial volume in our fractured market. Then there’s the ute, plus the HSV hot-rods.
Lifetime “Holden men”, speculators, collectors, muscle car nuts and people who simply recognise a fine performance car at a bargain price will be putting down deposits on VFII V8s, which could end up comprising 50 per cent or more of total Commodore sales by the time the last one rolls off the line at Elizabeth, South Australia, in late 2017.
Holden has been fitting GM’s 6.2-litre V8, which also goes into the Camaro and is otherwise known as the LS3 engine, to the left-hand drive VF Commodore it builds and exports to the US badged as the Chevy SS. It will continue the SS export program until it shuts the factory gates in 2017.
In Australia, HSV has had exclusive use of this engine, offering it with 340kW in its VFII-based 2016 GenF-2 Clubsport R8, Maloo R8 ute and Grange. Holden has replaced VE-VF’s 260-270kW 6.0-litre LS2 V8 with the LS3 engine in the VFII Commodore SS, SSV and top-of-the-performance-range SSV Redline sedan, ute and Sportwagon. It’s also going into the luxo Calais V sedan and Sportwagon. In VFII it’s tuned for 304kW.
The Commodore V8 sedan range now kicks off at $44,490 for the six-speed manual SS.
Just think about that for a moment: 304kW and 6.2 litres of naturally aspirated V8 power. In a Mercedes E-Class-sized package. For less than $45,000. Will there ever be such a beautiful set of numbers on a performance car deal ever again? Doubtful.
It’s even cheaper in the SS ute: $40,990. A six-speed automatic adds $2200; it’s standard in the SS Sportwagon, at $48,690.
Know of any one-tonners or big SUVs that give you this sort of bang for your buck and won’t end up wrapped around a tree at SS cornering speeds? None springs immediately to mind.
The SSV sedan/Sportwagon/ute costs $47,990/$52,190/$44,490 and the hero SSV Redline models are $53,990/$58,190/$50,490. The Calais V V8 sedan is $55,490; Sportwagon is $57,490.
The 6.2 is a wonderful engine, with an exuberant, free-spinning delivery that lets you relax and ride its truckload of torque, or push the pedal harder and tap its rampaging top end. Either way it’s never hard work. On a winding road you can just stick the manual into third, which will take you from 50km/h to go-to-jail speeds, leave it there and have fun.
Shorter final drive ratios for both transmissions amplify its performance and Holden, in a first for the company, has issued an official acceleration claim: 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds for the SSV Redline manual. BMW’s M5 does it in 4.2 seconds.
The 6.2 sounds like an atmo V8 should. There’s no nuclear-powered leaf blower turbo drone in this baby. Holden has instead given its last V8 a menacing snarl on start up, a mighty leonine roar under power and a guttural crackle and rumble on overrun, with a bi-modal exhaust that includes a unique reverberation tip, plus induction noise piped in from the engine bay. It’s not intrusive unless you push the loud button — but it sounds so good you usually do.
Fuel consumption is hideous. It’s rare that a car-maker launches a new model thirstier than its predecessor, but now the end is nigh for Commodore, Holden is done with all that planet-saving malarky. It now subscribes to the PJ O’Rourke view of fuel consumption: “We have to get rid of the stuff if we’re ever going to move on to anything better.”
A big, heavy performance car needs robust suspension, premium brakes and lots of tyre. Holden used to leave this side of things to HSV; in keeping with its determination to send Commodore off in style it has now equipped the SSV Redline with the hardware necessary to do justice to the engine. Its top-shelf FE3 sports suspension has been tweaked to improve ride compliance and rear-end grip, there’s a four-piston Brembo caliper on each 19-inch alloy wheel (and a 20-inch wheel option), shod with 245/40 front and 275/35 rear Bridgestones.
It’s a brilliant package. As a fast, composed, comfortable drive, the SSV Redline can hold its own with any big Euro V8. It’s engineered to be forgiving yet entertaining and responsive on the throttle, and like all Commodores has an ability to devour long distances and mangled bitumen matched only by the E-Class Benz.
Dislikes? Only the fact that Holden has a long, inglorious tradition of sending new Commodores out the door underdone, leaving customers to do the final quality audit. Hopefully not this time, on the last hurrah for the big red car.
Holden Commodore VFII SSV Redline: Sports sedan, wagon and ute
Engine: 6.2-litre V8 petrol
Outputs: 304kW at 6000rpm and 570Nm at 4400rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Average fuel consumption (sedan): 12.6 litres per 100km combined
Price: $53,990 (sedan)
On sale: Now
Rating: 4 out of 5
Verdict: Last of the Lion
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