Holden VF Commodore Redline Edition

The new Holden VF Commodore SS-V has been spotted in Melbourne.

Images of the new SS-V Commodore were uploaded to US blog site GM Inside News by Melbourne-based forum member RedHotMike over the weekend.

Despite the fact the car has been de-badged, Holden director of external communications Craig Cheetham confirmed to Drive it is the flagship SS-V model albeit one with a polarizing design pack that includes red decals on the bonnet, doors and boot-lid and red-rimmed grille and bumper finishes.

“It’s nothing more than an SS-V with a styling package that we’ve fitted for the purposes of evaluation,” he says.
Advertisement

However, the car may be the SS-V Redline model – not only because of the red styling kit, but also because it appears to be fitted with larger Brembo brakes and is fitted with a large rear spoiler – both of which are expected to be offered as standard on the flagship Redline. The large spoiler could be offered as an option on both SS and SS-V models.

Cheetham says people shouldn’t jump to conclusions that this is how the final SS-V product will look.

“There are bits on the car that may or may not make it to production,” he says. “The purpose of this kind of evaluation car is to show it to dealers and see what they think, and discuss internally what people’s opinions are, too.”

Cheetham says there are numerous other VF models on the road for the same purposes.

“There’s probably about a dozen cars that are being used by our engineers for testing and evaluation,” he says.

Engine details are still to be confirmed, but it is expected that the SS and SS-V models will retain the same 6.0-litre V8 engine with 270kW/530Nm for the six-speed manual model and 260kW/517Nm for the six-speed automatic. But performance gains are likely, with the VF model weighing about 40 kilograms less than the outgoing VE.

Other key changes to the new VF Commodore SS-V will include a more formal interior, less chrome-work and more black finishes, and there will be a bunch of new technologies offered on the top-tier models, including a colour touch-screen media system linked to a reversing camera, semi-automated parking and a heads-up display.

Stay tuned for more on the new Holden VF Commodore as it comes to hand.

Spotted: Holden's racey VF Commodore SS-V

Click to expand...