SS V Redline: Holden's Unique Selling Proposition

Holden set up a drag strip at Phillip Island with Christmas tree lights to demonstrate the effectiveness of its new Launch Control. This is not an SS lined up against a Calais but the same VF SS V Redline specification in both cases. It’s hard to think of another model that can look so different depending on wheel finish and body colour.

Holden’s latest Redline series based on the new VF range is the best factory Commodore ever by a substantial margin. It has to be. It is the hero model in the last remaining market segment which the Commodore almost has to itself. The Chrysler 300C is its only serious atmo V8 challenger both here and in the US. The SS V Redline is Holden’s best chance of making up for lost sales. 

The relationship between the VF SS V Redline and the export Chevrolet SS is a repeat of the final VZ Monaro CV8 and its Pontiac GTO offshoot.  Neither model would have existed with such a complete specification if it wasn’t for the demands and resources of the US export market.  

The key difference then and now, is that both Holden versions make do with slightly smaller engines to give their HSV counterparts room to move. In this case, “making do”  with the standard 6.0-litre V8 with its 270kW/530Nm as a manual or 260kW/517Nm for the auto makes only an academic difference, if any, under Australian speed limits.

As with the world-beating Ford Ranger developed in Australia, the latest SS V Redline highlights the pool of Australian engineering talent that can be let off the leash if there is an export market to pay for it.

Some would argue that this is how a VF Calais V should look, not the version with the Korean-style front that wears the Calais V badge. In fact, this is the SS V Redline with the polished version of the forged alloys. Combined with the dark colour, the wheels highlight the brightwork for a top shelf sports-luxury effect.

The Motorsport Dimension 

The claimed 0-100km/h time of 5.5 seconds for the manual Redline ute is so close to its 6.2-litre HSV equivalent that it almost comes down to whether the pilot had muesli or a cooked breakfast that morning. Significantly, the VF Redline marks the point where Holden has decisively crossed into HSV territory. 

Think of it as an Aussie Cricket A team slogging it out against an Aussie B Team with the spectators as the winners as the B Team surprises with flashes of brilliance.

On July 18, Holden invited a small group of specialist writers to Phillip Island race track to give a sample of Redline cars an absolute thrashing under competition conditions. And if the journalists weren’t stoking them hard enough, Garth Tander was there to complete the job. I can’t remember a more fun-filled day since HSV and Mark Skaife launched the W427 in every sense of the word, at Calder. The comparison with the W427 is significant but more of that shortly. 

There was a time when Tickford delighted in launching various Tickford models and XRs at race tracks knowing full well that if Holden or HSV tried to match it, the circuits would be littered with broken Commodores.  Even though HSV called their entry model ClubSport with its implied dual road and track usage, HSV always stopped short of any suggestion that it was prepared for track work.  

Brakes, suspension bits, power steering systems, engine drive belts, clutches and gearboxes were just some of the Commodore items too easily lunched on a gruelling track day. Early IRS models would just as soon leave the track backwards if you pushed them too hard anyway. And if you did it too often, the body shell would be left with more groans and creaks than a scuppered ocean liner. 

The SS V Redline with black wheels and solid colour but same body details. The black wheels seem to highlight the black detailing and change the overall effect entirely. Rear splitter in matt charcoal which looks acceptable with the bright wheel finish, doesn’t match the shiny black wheels and front spoiler. The totally different presentations generated by the wheels polarised opinion.

For HSV, that all changed with VE. For Holden, the VE SS/SS V was a tidy and tough road package but there were a few departments that still needed tweaking to survive routine race track sessions. 

The VF SS V Redline closes that gap. Watching it reach warp speed in showroom spec at the end of the Phillip Island main straight raised the question: How would it go against a full race-prepared VN Group A? 

That you would seriously contemplate such a contest between a stripped-out lightweight Group A special against a five-star safety and luxury-equipped VF Commodore straight off the Elizabeth production line shows how far Holden has come!

It would have been easy to dismiss Holden’s Phillip Island event as another local blind alley or desperate throwback to another age. Most road cars are not that much fun to drive on the track. And the last thing anyone needs to be reminded of is how far the gap has grown between what today’s V8 Commodores can do and how much you are allowed to do without losing your car, or worse, ending up in jail.

However, these latest VF Redline upgrades deserve a more objective assessment. The SS V Redline is so good that it opens up a whole new Jekyll and Hyde lifestyle. It’s an easy-going, if relatively thirsty, family car that can be wheeled into any club motorsport event after hours. It not only rewards good driving, it is absolutely thrilling. It’s also tough enough to do it again. And again.

SS V Redline ute with bright finish wheels looked too glittery for some but for those wanting a VF ute with a Calais V level of presentation and SS attitude, this is it!

Whether V8 Supercars are related to the road cars they resemble is now irrelevant in Holden’s case.  For just over $50,000, Holden is offering more than enough of that experience with the same linear responses in every department. Then you can drive it home and back to work the next day. 

Drivers in my age group can bang on about how claustrophobic today’s road conditions are compared to when we could drive our Falcon GTs and XU-1s as fast as we liked. What some of us did back then was neither that clever nor sustainable. 

Although the old muscle cars encouraged their owners to fantasize about being a Peter Brock or Alan Moffat at Bathurst, it didn’t take much to break something as soon as you took it all too seriously.

Back in 1972, I would have jumped at the chance to own a car as bulletproof and well-sorted as the VF Redline that I could exploit in a club competition setting at a price as accessible as it is today. Even if muscle cars in the late 1960s or early 1970s carried the same promise of after hours competition as the SS V Redline, you needed to be handy with a spanner and on good terms with the local wreckers. The SS V Redline challenges you to find a motorsport context and become a participant on a regular basis. Not too many $50,000 cars can deliver on that premise and that’s Holden’s point!

Although the VF SS V Redline won’t be knocking HSV’s W427 off its lofty perch any time soon, it still offers similar thrills and track-bred discipline for motorsport activities at a fraction of the price. The gap is closing.

What Makes a VF SSV Redline a Better Track Car

• Competitive Mode: a special program that changes the electric power steering and Electronic Stability Control calibration for the track. In practice, it brings the slightly inert road car steering alive under high lateral g conditions and allows the driver to set the vehicle up with some attitude before it intervenes.
• Staggered or Split wheel and tyre package: a first for Holden and the widest factory specification ever. The SSV Redline features special Bridgestone 245/40 R19 front tyres and 275/35 R19 rears which not only contribute to the track-ready feel and handling but substantially reduce braking distances. The reworking of the pedal box, booster and hydraulics exploit this with a 50 per cent increase in “brake stiffness” over the previous model.
• The Redline’s unique FE3 chassis set-up is taken to another level. It shares a heavy-duty front cradle with HSV models to contain the forces generated by the biggest front anti-roll ever fitted to a Commodore. A combination of forged and cast lightweight aluminium suspension components and forged alloy wheels along with new spring and damper rates front and rear, stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars and stiffened bushes deliver a sustained lateral g figure of 0.93 compared to the VE’s 0.88. Larger bore front struts with new technology rebound springs and the new damper rates support the much sharper steering in Competitive Mode and resist fade under track conditions. The roll gradient is 3-3.5 degrees/g compared to the VE’s 5 degrees/g. It’s this last figure that quantifies the race-bred feel instantly apparent on the track.
• High-performance Brembo® front brakes with four-piston, two-piece silver gloss aluminium front calipers and 355mm front rotors are packaged with the forged alloy 19 inch wheels. The front calipers increase stiffness for reduced fluid displacement and caliper deformation under track use without adding weight. A patented pillar-vented rotor design improves cooling and durability.
• Manual Redline versions gain Launch Control which can be activated after Competitive Mode is selected. The procedure is simple. With clutch fully disengaged, the driver mashes the throttle into the floor and holds it there, then side-steps the clutch pedal foot leaving it free to move. The car does the rest. Once on the move, you change gears as you would normally.

Stiff forged alloy wheels and massive front Brembos not only look the goods but took an absolute belting at the Phillip Island circuit without wilting.

What Makes a VF SS V Redline a Better Road Car

• Premium Bose® 220 Watt audio system with nine speakers, including sub-woofers (sedan only).
• Leather appointed interior trim
• Push Button Start with sensor key. Drivers can unlock, start and lock the car as long as they are carrying the sensor key somewhere.
• Smart Remote Start System (auto only).  It operates via key fob from as far away as 100 metres and not only starts the vehicle but also activates the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, which will operate at the ‘last known’ fan and temperature setting.
• Sunroof (sedan only)
• Colour Head-Up Display (HUD) with four screens. It projects important cluster information on the windscreen as selected including Vehicle speed, Tachometer, Turn signal indicators, High beam indicator, Selected gear, Forward Collision Alert indicator, Front park assist indicator, Turn by turn navigation display, Audio functions, Outside air temperature, Phone information, Vehicle messages, Lateral Acceleration and Racing shift lights.
• Forward Collision Alert. Active beyond 40km/h, the system looks for vehicles ahead and warns drivers via the vehicle’s Head-Up Display (HUD) if they are approaching another vehicle too rapidly and a collision appears imminent. If the HUD function is turned off, it will override this setting if needed.
• Lane Departure Warning. Once activated by a control on the steering wheel, this camera-driven system can alert a driver who strays from a marked lane.
• Reverse Traffic Alert. It warns the driver of vehicles approaching the rear of the vehicle including cross-traffic when reversing out of a parking space or a driveway.
• Blind Spot Alert. The system ‘looks’ for other vehicles in both rear side blind spots and alerts the driver to their presence via a cautionary visual alert in outside rear view mirrors, depending on which side the object is detected. 
• Despite the extra features, pricing is reduced by $6,300. The new VF SS V Redline sedan starts at $51,490 for the manual or $53,490 with automatic transmission. The Sportwagon is $55,490 and Ute version starts from $48,990 for the manual. 

Electric power steering is an impressive sight with a sealed-for-life toothed rubber belt making sure that everything stays in perfect synch with the various control systems. This is the standard VF cradle that supports the steering and anti-roll bar. The Redline cradle is massive by comparison to secure Holden’s biggest anti-roll bar ever and to contain competition-level steering forces.

So how good is it?

In a word, brilliant. The VF upgrades are so dramatic that any styling relationship with the VE is incidental. It will force self-appointed authorities who decide what is new and what isn’t for annual awards to re-assess their criteria.

The engineering that has gone into the VF Redline range has changed the driving experience way beyond a typical full body change for something like a Mazda6 or Toyota Camry. The new dash and the way it works is a world apart from the grim presentation of the VE and different enough to convince occupants that they are in a new and different car.

And even if some of the panels are familiar, they are changed in ways more substantial than styling when several are now lightweight aluminium. The detail changes in the suspension, steering, pedal mechanisms, structural cradles, gearshift and other systems are not incremental tweaks. They change the very nature of the car.

Holden engineers declare there is plenty of Camaro development in the SS V Redline and that’s how it feels. The extra reserves in every department make the SS V Redline feel like a small car as it doesn’t generate any sense of the weight or inertia that you would expect with so much real estate surrounding the driver.

For someone familiar with an XU-1 or A9X Torana set up for the track, the SS V Redline will be a déjà vu experience. The only black mark is the thick windscreen pillars that Commodore buyers are now stuck with, thanks to the funds shortage after the GFC.

Sophisticated independent rear suspension introduced at VE has been subject to constant development since 2006. Note aluminium components in latest version and new electronic handbrake mechanism on the top of the rear cradle.

And while there is no doubting that HSV’s latest GTS is the new heavyweight champion with its massive top end performance, not everyone who has driven both are convinced that the Redline would be humbled in its company. As mentioned above, the linear response that is matched across all Redline systems makes this VF version extra special. 

HSV’s W427 set a benchmark for all Aussie muscle cars on its arrival in this department. Even if the latest supercharged GTS appears to have its measure, its delivery is not linear. The SS V Redline is so good that it feels as though it has undergone the same comprehensive track development as the W427. Calling the VF SS V Redline, son of W427 is not overstating it as the essential character is the same.

For a third of the outlay, the SS V Redline comes close to providing 90 per cent of the excitement under track conditions, only surrendering to the W427 after the big 7-litre kicks in at higher revs.  Beneath the higher W427 ceiling, the VF upgrades including a much better manual gearshift and clutch feel, the stiffer brake system and the re-engineered front and rear suspension will reward the driver no less. 

The SS V Redline’s existence as a mainstream Holden throws up some wider challenges.

The VF’s new aluminium suspension components and front anti-roll bar mounting links show how sophisticated the Commodore has become in areas that matter.

The Relationship Between Maker and Owner

At the Phillip Island track day, Holden announced that the production VFs did not leave the plant until the first week of June. By the time each car found a home in dealer land around Australia, sales did not start until June 20-21.

In that time, Holden has been overwhelmed with orders and there is now a waiting list for the premium Calais V and SS V models. News of the coming SS V Redline models generated an immediate advance order bank. 

This is the problem with declaring the Australian industry dead without the facts. True, the VE Commodore was dead in the water but not because it was a bad Australian car. Detroit had bled its overseas divisions of future model investment and the VE had to soldier on, way beyond the normal changeover period for this type of vehicle.

Restore the Commodore (or Falcon for that matter) to the top of the class, as the VF now achieves in so many areas, and buyers will come back. But some have gone forever. The years 2008 to 2013 were not a good time for Holden or Ford to abandon regular facelifts. 

During that period, cars like the Mazda 6, Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo, Toyota Camry, Volkswagen Passat, Subaru Liberty, Peugeot 508, Skoda Superb and others have white-anted the Commodore and Falcon.  They appeared as fresh and affordable family car alternatives.  Some would say classier and better finished, in most cases.

Fans of the HJ Monaro GTS sports seats will feel at home with the SS V Redline’s centre seat stripes.

Even if none of these imports have posted really big sales, collectively they are enough to upset the viability of the local product. More importantly, they have encouraged patched-on local car buyers to move to something new, a process more likely to continue once that loyalty is broken. What buyers have discovered in the switch to these models might explain why loyalty to the local industry is no longer a given and certainly not unconditional.

It is clear from the Phillip Island track day that Holden is now cultivating a segment which none of these medium to large family car imports can match: the high performance rear drive V8 market.

This is at a time when suggestions that either power or ownership of these vehicles, or both, need to be further restricted are gaining momentum. As more cars like the HSV VTII GTS 300, a 400 bhp monster without the fail-safe systems of the VF Redline models, hit the $20,000 mark, it is an issue that can only gain traction.

Both HSV and FPV anticipated this and matched their advances in performance with the offer of free driving courses under HSV’s John Harvey or FPV’s John Bowe. Apart from boosting skills of owners, these courses formed a strong bond between company and owner, based on the premise that enjoying the product with skill and responsibility is in everyone’s best interest! 

As one who has witnessed what owners have learnt in these courses and reported their feedback, these courses are highly-valued. They do make a difference, no matter what research the government chooses to quote. 

Highlight of the day was chasing Garth Tander in lead car while he defined the correct racing lines around the Phillip Island circuit. It is the sort of classroom activity that every V8 Commodore driver should experience if only to highlight how much there is to learn about top level driving. Utes were generally lighter and faster but walked around more and were not as agile with the longer wheelbase.

Holden’s recent Redline Phillip Island Track day was no less valuable.  As a reminder that even seasoned journalists can get rusty, such a day is always timely.

Holden split the activities into three segments: 

• A drag strip with the real Christmas tree lights that pitched drivers against each other while testing their own skills against the Redline’s Launch Control.
• A fast but tight Motorkhana course that allowed drivers to assess their own skills with and without the safety net of the new Competitive Mode.
• A track session that invited drivers to drive behind Garth Tander at speed while he defined the correct racing line before allowing each driver on the circuit on their own.

Apart from showcasing the SS V Redline’s range of capabilities, drivers were forced to face where they stood in terms of reaction times, car control and ability. For some, the notion of picking a racing line through a series of corners had never made much sense until they saw it demonstrated immediately in front of them in an identical vehicle driven by Garth Tander.

As a veteran of several best car shootouts on race tracks involving private owners and their classic performance cars, I have noticed the highlight for those owners is to experience their cars being driven by a professional racing driver such as Jim Richards or John Bowe. 

Despite its bulk, the SS V Redline was surprisingly nimble around the motorkhana course.

The experience always comes as a surprise, and not because of the drama. It is the complete lack of it and how easy it is on the car. After many years of sitting in the passenger or driver’s seat with a cross-section of Australia’s best drivers, the smoothness and total control under their guidance never cease to impress. 

Almost without exception, the skills of most good road car drivers end where the skills of the best professional drivers start. That’s why race organisers have to handicap them so strongly when they join the historic classes in their later years!

This leveller usually prompts a total re-assessment of what the rest of us think we know and how much we don’t, a process that most drivers of some of the fastest cars on our roads will never face.

So, now that Holden has built the SS V Redline and made it unusually affordable and effective, what relationship is the company going to build with its owners? How does Holden give its Redline owners the same Phillip Island experience and insights that some of us were privileged enough to enjoy? In recent years, the Commodore has gained enough of a reputation as the car of choice for the lawless and irresponsible for some owners to shop elsewhere. 

If handled as a complete package, the Redline is the perfect opportunity for Holden to redefine the Commodore as something to be valued and held onto.  It deserves better than ending up as just another Commodore for the cops to tow away under anti-hoon laws.

- Joe Kenwright