When Bob Lutz read a Car and Driver article praising the Holden Commodore but lamenting that it couldn’t be bought in the United States, he had a brainchild. After driving a Commodore personally, he had determination. And after years of cutting through GM corporate culture he had his car: the 2004 Pontiac GTO. It was acclaimed, but it was a sales failure. He didn’t stop there, and turned the VE Commodore four-door into the Pontiac G8. It sold better, but it appeared just before Pontiac was killed off. Whether you have or haven’t been a fan of the imported Holdens, you can’t deny why GM chose to bring them in: the GTO, for all of the bitching about it’s looks, could and did bring one hell of a fight to the Ford Mustang and LS1-powered Camaros and the G8 was the return salvo in the four-door late-model-muscle war that GM stirred up with the B-body Impala SS and that Mopar had been running with the Charger and 300C. Both could haul ass and handle, something that American cars were still taking flak for in the international viewpoint. Of all of the things that Australia has given us, only die-hard fans of Aussie actresses might be more grateful than gearheads.
The latest and sadly, last shot from Holden is the Chevrolet SS sedan. Based on the Commodore VF SS, the SS sedan comes in one form (fully loaded) and with only three options: a full-size spare tire instead of an inflator kit, a sunroof, and if you know a magical wizard and have a bit of luck on your side, a six-speed manual transmission. New, these cars were pushing towards $50,000 and that is mostly due to the exchange rate between Australia and the States. In Australia a similar car would be sold new at about $41,000 or so, which puts it closer to our test car: a 5,000 mile old 2014…basically, a new car to a reasonable BangShifter…that had been traded in with a Chevy Cruze after the owner realized that paying $1,000 a month for two cars made no financial sense. Since time is ticking on the chance to see one of these on a lot anywhere anytime soon due to the winding down of Australian auto manufacturing, we felt like we had to give the SS a shot. If there was any wear or tear on the Phantom Black beauty we located, we couldn’t find it. After making sure I was an upstanding citizen and professional instead of someone who knows damn well what the word “hoon” means and could play the part, J.T. at Campbell Chevrolet in Bowling Green, Kentucky brought out the key and let me take it for a quick tour of the area. Here’s our impressions:
Exterior: One of the most common complaints we’ve heard about any of the Holden-imported cars is “they don’t look exciting” or “it doesn’t look enough like a muscle car”, and in the case of the Chevrolet SS, the complaints seem to be the loudest, even over the GTO’s detractors, with many claiming that it could be lost in a sea of late-model Impalas. For those who think so: look elsewhere then, because the Holdens do just fine on their own. OK, we will note that it is not the most “look at me” car out there, but sometimes that works to an advantage. The VF-based SS is not a bad-looking car. In fact, we’d call it nicely restrained, perfect for a sleeper. The shape is handsome, there isn’t any heavy adornment, and if it weren’t for the noises coming out of the twin pipes out back, most people wouldn’t give this a second look. Sometimes, anonymity is your friend, especially with a car as potent as this. Black suits the SS nicely, but there are colors…REAL colors!…in addition to black, silver and white, like “Perfect Blue Metallic”, “Regal Peacock Green Metallic”, “Alchemy Purple” and a no question Holden paint name, “Some Like It Hot Red Metallic”. Standard 19″ forged-aluminum wheels on Bridgestone summer tires fit nicely without looking blingy.
Interior: In the last ten years, GM has fought to improve their interiors from the plastic-craptastic stuff of the mid-2000s. While improvements can be seen in the domestic-built stuff, Holden has been ahead of the game and the SS shows it nicely. I can’t think of a better interior that I’ve personally experienced in a car, and I’m willing to risk saying that it’s at least on-par, if not better, than what is in a C7 Corvette…it’s that good. The driver’s seat has more travel room than a semi-tractor’s. It was all the way back when I sat in the car, and I honestly couldn’t reach the pedals or wheel without straining my six-foot-three frame. The seats are well bolstered, and for the quick drive I got to take, I was highly impressed. If there are faults, only a long-distance drive will bring up issues. The automatic shifter is solid, materials are nice to the touch, and like any other late-model car, ergonomics aren’t an issue. The heads-up display, similar to the Camaro and Corvette’s, does a great job of keeping eyes up on the road. It can display anything from the tach to a G-meter, all the way up to turn-by-turn directions on the windscreen. Rear seat room is beyond ample, and four good-sized adults will fit in nicely. The trunk is cavernous, even when comparing it to our 300C’s trunk – It’s more like an older Cadillac than a Chevy. We could count how many bodies it could fit. Our only complaint with the interior is color: there is only one available, and that’s black with red stitching. Hope you like it. As always, we could take or leave the remainder of the electronic gizmos that the SS is filled with, minus the Bose sound system. It kicks hard, and even for non-audiophiles, is a nice touch.
Driving: For the sake of being up-front, I’ve driven both flavors of GTO (5.7 and 6.0) rather violently. They were balanced, everything you would want out of a performance car and were tire-killing riots. That was ten years ago, but in this instance, I wasn’t going to beat on the car…mostly because my wife’s truck gets serviced there and I’d like to be able to return for future business. That being said, we got to take a nice run around the local area and up Interstate 65 to get an idea of what it is capable of. Around town, the car is surefooted, solid and sedate, with only the exhaust note of the 6.2L LS3 giving away the punchline. The electric steering system is actually pretty good, providing a good amount of feel. The automatics get a 3.27 rear axle ratio, which is plenty to get the car up and going (manual transmission cars get a 3.70 rear). Light throttle tip-in gets the car moving without a sudden downshift and panic acceleration, which is nice if you’re just cruising around not causing trouble. The all-around four-piston Brembo brakes are a dream, barely needing any input to stop the sedan. With MPG floating around the mid-20s in sane driving mode, it’s very comparable to our Chrysler.
If you do want to cause trouble, however, the SS certainly has your back. Slap the shifter over to Sport mode, and take command of the paddle shifters and the SS suddenly wants to play. 415 horsepower and 415 foot-pounds of torque suddenly come to life and unlike a lot of the manu-matics we’ve played with before (hello, AutoStick, looking right at you!) the paddles work when you say so, not when the system agrees with you. Anything past quarter-throttle acceleration is simply for your enjoyment and the pipes play a raspy, snotty bark that just gets better as the tach climbs higher. We weren’t able to really romp on it in the Monday morning traffic, but heavier-than-normal prodding suggested that booting the pedal would result in either a hook-and-book situation from the summer tires, or a sideways-and-smoking show for the lesser cars around if you go completely out of your head. We like it, either way. The SS feels lighter than it’s size shows, and the good Holden/Camaro bits that the SS has work together to create a very nice driving experience. On the highway at 75, the ride is nice but a touch firm, nothing that can’t be overlooked given how balanced the car is between work and play.
Would we have a Chevrolet SS? Sure, if we could find a nice used example for a good price or one of the manual-transmission cars. They’re solid, very capable, and will do well in just about any setting that doesn’t involve off-roading. Though, we wonder if a Caprice PPV would be a better choice price-wise, and we certainly wish that the Maloo had made the crossing to the U.S. as well. Australia, thank you for sharing the VF with us. It is an awesome piece.
they are a nice thing…we’ve had them for pool cars at work ( not SS’s but plain jane models, still very good). Bear in mind that half the cabs getting around Australia at the moment, most of the cop cars and any number of corporate fleet / govt cars are these and earlier VE’s – I nearly bought a VE a while ago , ex cab, knocked the guy down from 3 and a 1/2 to 3 grand (AUD). You can only keep a cab on the road around 6 years so there will be plenty around in a few years… you guys should be able to import some bargains around that time!
We could, if there wasn’t that stupid-ass 25 year import rule. But that applies to a lot of the rolling stock you guys have over there.
Seriously, I hate that 25-year law.
I want a 1KZ-T and 5-speed to drop into my Hilux stateside, but we don’t get cool engines like those.
I have a general distaste for most of what General Motors does, I think mostly due to the Neanderthal-Bros that drive around in lifted bro-dozer Silverados, but even I’d be willing to put that distaste aside for an SS. These things are the essential under-the-radar muscle car here in the US, and a great way to have a fun car that doesn’t stand out.
“I have a general distaste for most of what General Motors does” What a dumb comment. Even if you like the SS, what does bashing GM have to do with anything? Like GM should be happy that you, a lifelong GM hater, likes their car, like GM gives a fuck about your approval of their badass car?
Contain yourself. That was embarrassing.
I’m a lifelong Ford guy and even I like that car. I looked at a 2015 “Some like it Hot Red” 6spd at the Dallas auto show and it was sweet. With a little work thats probably a 12 sec car. I’d rather have that than a SHO Taurus.
It’s rated at 12.9 factory.
Ford Australia have their own sedan to rival the Commodore, the Ford Falcon. Google Ford FGX Falcon XR8. It’s RWD, 4 doors, Supercharged 5L V8.
I remember a just a few yrs back, the Aussie Caprice PPV were showing up on the showroom floors. For around $32K, you could get a nice 9C3. But Chevy didn’t like that! So you end up with a $45K car that puts out just another 50hp and a lot more fluff.
Anyone looking at the police spec version Caprice. They have been around at least three years. And, departments will be rotating them to auction in the near future. How hard would it be make up some of the power difference and a set of wheels?
The equivalent of the SS in Holden’s line up is the Commodore SS-V Redline which doesn’t have MRC, only heated seats and still has L76 (until the VF II update for 2016) . It costs $55K give or take in Australia. MRC and LS3 (and LSA !!!) Are found in the HSV range which starts in the high 60K’s and tops out at $96K. The SS would cost $60K to $65K in Australia. Don’t confuse the Chevy SS for Commodore SS which is the base V8 trim and is basically the same as the G8 Base but with V8 (hence why it has the same features as Commodore SV6). Commodore line up goes Evoke, SV6, SS, Calais, SS-V, Calais-V, SS-V Redline.
My SS-V Redline doesn’t have heated seats?