Test drove new Holden Commodore SSV
08-20-2006, 04:33 PM
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Test drove new Holden Commodore SSV
Yesterday went with a friend to go test driving for new cars. He's always been a Ford man actually, he had a Falcon for 4 years and is one of those Ford guys who are anti-Holden fellas that wear around those blue FPV jackets... well he actually has the Ford Typhoon on his to-buy list at the end of the year but since the new Commodore came out a couple of weeks ago I somehow convinced him/dragged him along to the Holden Expo in Artarmon... we had actually gone to the Ford dealership on Pacific highway just before actually and test drove the xr5 turbo (not even worth a mention, let alone a write up).... so we were in the area I decided to have a geezer at the new range of Holdens
First of all the new holden range looks fantastic. The SV6 to the SSV's look great, very much revamped its look. Squarer...meaner, with a much more touring car look to it. Some say (well my mate was saying) that the front looks a lot like the falcon... but you can say what you want. The two SS's that were there, the new SSV-series and the normal SS. The SSV is priced at $51k with leather interior, 19 inch wheels, better sound system .... c.f. the SS which is priced at $44k with the exact same engine. But damn, for some reason it felt like you' were sitting in two different cars with the leather interior.... but thats my opinion.
I love the aggressive look of the SS range, the the huge spoiler at the back and the quad exhausts are hot! I had a read of what the new falcon's next year are going to be like, but they're really not going to change the look of them at all.... but damn, they better pick up they're game, cos these things are gonig to take over the town.
So we went for a drive, they only had the automatics in, with tip tronic. I hadn't driven a tip tronic for a long while but really...there's not much to it, don't even need to lift off the accelerator to shift...wow is the pick up on these things amazing. 270kw 6.0L engines...far out do they take off. They really pin you to the seat, and surprisingly the tiptronic is amazingly smooth....I mean you literally can't even tell that you've changed gears but for the sound. wow... and the sound of the V8 is amazing.
Its hard to describe but you guys should have a drive of one of these baby's... for that price, i think its definately valule.... FPV vs SSv--- I'd prolly go the SSV.
The dealer said that the new SS's are aimed at competing with whole new market now---including BMW, Audi....
But I think you'll be seeing a lot of these gems around town...only a two week waiting period too!
First of all the new holden range looks fantastic. The SV6 to the SSV's look great, very much revamped its look. Squarer...meaner, with a much more touring car look to it. Some say (well my mate was saying) that the front looks a lot like the falcon... but you can say what you want. The two SS's that were there, the new SSV-series and the normal SS. The SSV is priced at $51k with leather interior, 19 inch wheels, better sound system .... c.f. the SS which is priced at $44k with the exact same engine. But damn, for some reason it felt like you' were sitting in two different cars with the leather interior.... but thats my opinion.
I love the aggressive look of the SS range, the the huge spoiler at the back and the quad exhausts are hot! I had a read of what the new falcon's next year are going to be like, but they're really not going to change the look of them at all.... but damn, they better pick up they're game, cos these things are gonig to take over the town.
So we went for a drive, they only had the automatics in, with tip tronic. I hadn't driven a tip tronic for a long while but really...there's not much to it, don't even need to lift off the accelerator to shift...wow is the pick up on these things amazing. 270kw 6.0L engines...far out do they take off. They really pin you to the seat, and surprisingly the tiptronic is amazingly smooth....I mean you literally can't even tell that you've changed gears but for the sound. wow... and the sound of the V8 is amazing.
Its hard to describe but you guys should have a drive of one of these baby's... for that price, i think its definately valule.... FPV vs SSv--- I'd prolly go the SSV.
The dealer said that the new SS's are aimed at competing with whole new market now---including BMW, Audi....
But I think you'll be seeing a lot of these gems around town...only a two week waiting period too!
08-20-2006, 06:15 PM
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So watch out for these on the road boys and girls.... I wouldn't be taking these big boys on in a hurry, except if u'r Aus or stupid....or both 
And even my Ford mate had to admit it was a damn nice car....
And even my Ford mate had to admit it was a damn nice car....
how was the cornering?
08-20-2006, 06:20 PM
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how thirsty are they?
ive never been a large car fan, especially when its a large car with a large engine. a small car with a largish engine say 6cylinder is bearable, but when ur gettng 20l/100km, then thats gotta sting
ive never been a large car fan, especially when its a large car with a large engine. a small car with a largish engine say 6cylinder is bearable, but when ur gettng 20l/100km, then thats gotta sting
08-20-2006, 06:28 PM
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The guy coudln't tell me how thirsty they were...I actually asked him and he said, he had no idea cos they had just come in...and all the info that he got was on the brochure....
Cornering was good...the 19s helped it stick well I think.felt like a big car, but not as heavy as the Falcon XR8 that I drove earlier....
Cornering was good...the 19s helped it stick well I think.felt like a big car, but not as heavy as the Falcon XR8 that I drove earlier....
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08-21-2006, 01:18 AM
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and 5.36 secods 0-100km/h times for the manual - eeek!
Keep in mind that was a 'press release' car. Somehow the press release cars have always been a fair bit quicker than the 'real' cars when they get to test them again.
From the look of it the SS will have a hard time braking into 5s, but I would expect very low/flat 6s. Either way, it'll a quick car ... not sure if it's quicker than the superceeded cars though (in particualar in manual form).
The guy coudln't tell me how thirsty they were.
Depends how you drive it. It'll be anywhere between 10 and 20L, but if you're spending most of the time in the city then it'll be more like 15/16 per 100km. ie. not much different from the current models.
Keep in mind that was a 'press release' car. Somehow the press release cars have always been a fair bit quicker than the 'real' cars when they get to test them again.
From the look of it the SS will have a hard time braking into 5s, but I would expect very low/flat 6s. Either way, it'll a quick car ... not sure if it's quicker than the superceeded cars though (in particualar in manual form).
The guy coudln't tell me how thirsty they were.
Depends how you drive it. It'll be anywhere between 10 and 20L, but if you're spending most of the time in the city then it'll be more like 15/16 per 100km. ie. not much different from the current models.
08-21-2006, 03:01 AM
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Interestingly - on more than one occasion i've had people think the new Commodore looks like a Falcon. Although I can't see it... there must be something.
I shot the HSV VE GTS in melbourne a month or so ago at the HSV factory and it looks quite different to the base VE Commodore. Although I think it's a lot less aggressive looking than the VZ HSV.
I didn't get to drive it (thats your job
) as they would'nt even let the thing out of the inner regions of the factory. But apparently it's fast 
Tell you what though... i'd be looking forward to/expecting to see a HSV variant with the LS7 engine, thats found in the U.S Z06 Corvette! Now THAT will be something fast!
I kept bugging them - "Will there be an LS7 in a HSV!? Will there be an LS7?!!!! Come on telll meeeeeee!!"
I shot the HSV VE GTS in melbourne a month or so ago at the HSV factory and it looks quite different to the base VE Commodore. Although I think it's a lot less aggressive looking than the VZ HSV.
I didn't get to drive it (thats your job
) as they would'nt even let the thing out of the inner regions of the factory. But apparently it's fast Tell you what though... i'd be looking forward to/expecting to see a HSV variant with the LS7 engine, thats found in the U.S Z06 Corvette! Now THAT will be something fast!
I kept bugging them - "Will there be an LS7 in a HSV!? Will there be an LS7?!!!! Come on telll meeeeeee!!"