The Star: August 30, 2018

6
Motoring
Price – Holden Commodore RS-V liftback, $65,990
Dimensions – Length, 5004mm; width, 1871mm; height, 1525mm
Configuration – V6, four-wheel-drive, 3649cc, 235kW, 381Nm, nine-speed automatic.
Performance – 0-100km/h, 7.8sec
Fuel usage – 8.9l/100km
By Ross Kiddie
The Australian V8 Supercar
championship is one of my favourite
motorsport viewing events.
It’s even better when Kiwi drivers are
in the hunt for the title, but I guess it’s
always been the epitome of the classic Ford
v Holden battles. Sure, there are other
marques within the series, but for Ford and
Holden over the years it has always been a
matter of a win on Sunday, sell on Monday
scenario.
Of course, it’s all changed now that
Holden and Ford are not manufacturing
in Australia, and from next year Ford will
ditch its Falcon body shell in favour of
Mustang.
Holden, though, will still use the
Commodore skin and as we are seeing in
the series this year, it’s the ZB look, the
new Commodore which is selling down
under sourced from Europe.
The new model lands in two body
styles, liftback and what GM-Holden call
a Tourer, which is effectively
a wagon-type bodyshell.
This evaluation
focuses on the rangetopping
model in
the range, a Calaisspecced
Tourer.
The new
Commodore lands
here with three
engine variations,
there’s a 2-litre petrol
and 2-litre diesel, both
driving through the
front wheels. In traditional
Commodore form there’s also a
3.6-litre V6, its driveline line flows power
to all four wheels. Regular readers will
recall my liftback RS-V evaluation in April,
I was impressed then with the smooth
operating manner of the big engine and
its pairing to a nine-speed automatic, and
I would rate it as being one of the nicest
engines I have had the good fortune to
drive in recent times.
tHE NEW
Holden
Commodore
Rs-V liftback
In Calais form it shares the same
driveline, and nothing has changed, I
particularly like the power plant, and
although there is as little bit of gruff howl
at high revolutions it is an honest engine
all through the rev band and never falters,
and with the endless supply of gearing
there is never a point where the engine
doesn’t seem to work at its optimum point.
Holden claims 235kWand 381Nm
from the big quad camshaft
unit, they are strong outputs
and ones which give the
big Tourer a healthy
turn of speed – a 7.5sec
standstill to 100km/h
time can be expected.
All of these figures
add up to reasonably
impressive ability and
combine well with the
driveline which will
cater for the role Kiwis
have come to expect from
the Commodore nameplate.
It also gets a 2100kg tow rating,
in Tourer form the rear wagon area is
cavernous, there’s a 560-litre load capacity
extending to 1665-litre with the rear seats
folded.
Sadly, the gloss was taken off my time
with the Calais Tourer, a short time after
picking up the vehicle from the dealership
I received a call to say my mother had
passed away at her Darfield rest home.
From that point I was well focussed on that
event, and it put paid to my usual testing
regime. However, the Commodore did
serve me well amidst the several trips I had
to make to the township and her former
home in Kirwee thereafter.
However, I can report from my previous
experience with the RS-V V6 all-wheeldrive
that it has direct steering and
performance handling. It’s a quiet highway
traveller and incredibly comfortable to be
in. In Calais form the Commodore is a
true luxury car, the front seats are amazing
and there’s adjustable bolster support along
with a back massager, a feature I found
very useful to help relieve the anxiety of
the weeks’ events.
Other features are too numerous to
mention, but at $65,990 it is a car that
comes well equipped for its price, and if
you take into account its European build,
it’s a car which not only competes with the
mainstream vehicles, it is also the large
car which takes on the big names from
Germany. If you look at it in that context it
is a bargain and a car you would find hard
to be disappointed with.
I’m itching to get into the four-cylinder
powered models and will contacting
Holden NZ with that in mind. In the
interim, I’ll be glued to the TV every
weekend that amazing championship
series is being held just to see how the
Commodore – and the Kiwis – take to the
racing.
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