ALERT: for Holden's just-announced pricing and spec details on new VE click here
No Holden-badged Commodore gets more attention than the performance flagship -- the so-called hero car. In the outgoing VY/VZ range it was the SS and more recently the SS-Z.
In the case of the VE range it's the SS V.
Sitting above the SS, which effectively replaces the outgoing VZ SV8, the SS V is the the sportiest Commodore you’ll be able to buy. At least until the HSV crew buys into the VE action.
One of just four new Holden models revealed today (the others the Calais V and the WM Statesman and Caprice long-wheelbase cars), the SS V will undoubtedly be the car most likely to appear on the fornt page of newspapers tomorrow.
The extra consonant is borrowed by Holden from Cadillac’s performance models. The Yank premium brand uses the V to distinguish its high performance variants from their milder siblings. In Cadillac terms it signifies different suspension tune, more power and upgraded brake packages and more.
Holden boss Denny Mooney summarised the new V Series moniker as "highlighting our top-of-the-range offereings."
Does that mean the SS V and the range-topping Calais V (see more here), get more mumbo and better running gear than their ‘donor’ models? We could tell you but then we’d have to kill you…
Seriously, Holden’s staged release of the VE and the story underneath its all-new lines means right now we can’t tell you a lot more than you can deduce from the photos hereabout. Even if we did know…
We can debunk the rumour the SS V will get extra horsepower – that’s simply not the case. Just one V8 will be offered across Holden’s VE range -- rated at 270kW, the engine is a development of the 6.0-litre powerplant just recently introduce into the VZ range. Need more? Talk to HSV.
In the case of the SS V, the V8 will be matched to a choice of two six-speed transmissions – a revised manual and the all-new Cadillac-sourced GM developed 6L80E auto.
They're 19-inch wheels the SS V is rolling on and though the side-on images here do not show the ‘heavy-duty’ calipers and larger brake rotors picked up on some spy shots, the SS V will offer a brake upgrade as an option So too, 20-inch wheels
The SS V sports high-spec Xenon headlamps (as does the Calais V). We wouldn’t expect the SS to be so-equipped.
Performance junkies will love the AMG and M-style quad pipe exhausts.
Inside the sports VE’s ‘office’ features large areas of colour-coding and a prominent centre ‘stack’.
Climate control air looks like part of the package and the large central information display looks likely to be sat-nav compatible. Note too the extra electronic dash-top gauges… Gone are the old ‘hot EH-style’ ancillary gauges of the old Commodore and Monaro.
Look closely and you’ll see the thick-rimmed steering wheel gets Audi-style rotary selectors as well as convention push/rocker switches.
A key design change to the interior likely to be seen across the entire VE range is the centre console location of the window and electronic mirror controls. There appears to be a Saab-style handbrake/grab handle integrated into the console as well. Should make it all the easier for left-hand drive versions.
Keep an eye on Wheelsmag.com.au and CarPoint in the coming days for more updates on the whole of the new VE Commodore range…
And don’t forget the August issue of Wheels (on sale July 26) which features the full and exclusive behind-the-scenes story on the development of the VE Commodore.
To visit NineMSN’s exclusive webcast of the VE unveiling click here.