cars blog google

Holden Commodore SS Car Review

Overview

After much anticipation the Holden Commodore SS was finally released. Most cars today have electronically adjustable seats, but aside from the electronic tilt, the Commodore SS driver and passenger seats are only manually adjustable. Also, the trunk of the car is absolutely huge. The brakes found in the SS are absolutely great. Driving the Holden Commodore SS is an easy and enjoyable task.

If you are looking for a great V8 sedan then the Holden Commodore SS would be a great car for you to go with.

Details

You will have the option to go with the regular model SS or the SS-V model. If you decide to get the regular model you will only get basic features in the car. On a plus side though, without all the extra goodies in it you will receive a better power to weight ratio. If you go with the SS-V version you will be treated to leather seats, color LCD screen, and a few other features. This model is considered to be the luxury version and as is of course more expensive.

Although the exterior does not really feature anything completely new or ground breaking, I think the car looks absolutely great. The headlights are very similar to those of the Omega, but come equipped with a snazzy front spoiler. There is also an option to spice the car up a bit by adding a two track stripes down the center of the car. It does add $302.50 to the price, but it is definitely worth the extra cash if you want an even sportier look. You can also add 19" Supersport wheels to add even more to the effect of the car. Personally, I would get this option in a heartbeat even though it costs $1549 to get it. These look so much better than the standard wheels and fit the car much better in my opinion. The Commodore SS does have a similar appearance to the Omega, but if you go for the optional additions, the car will gain a more unique look as well as perform better.

Holde Commodore SS with spoiler

After much anticipation the Holden Commodore SS was finally released. Holden strongly stood by their words claiming that the SS would be better than ever, and that it was going to blow away any of its competition. With all the hype and a 6.0 liter V8 engine, many were believers before they even had a chance to test it out. One thing is definite and that is the fact that this car is very nice looking.

If you look to the rear of the Holden Commodore SS you will most likely notice the spoiler first since it's pretty large. Having a large spoiler can make parking and reversing a little difficult, especially since the vehicle does not come with rear parking sensors as standard. The trunk of the car is set fairly high as well, adding even more difficulty to your daily driving and proving that there is a need for rear sensors on a vehicle like this one. Aside from that you will see a set of quad exhaust pipes that indicates the presence of a 6.0 liter V8 engine. You will also notice a imitation mesh grille located at the bottom of the car, which serves absolutely no purpose at all other than pleasing the eye.

To stay in the sporty theme you can opt for the sports gear shifter and/or the red sports steering wheel. I would recommend getting these options since they really compliment the car, and add a little more edge to it. The gear shifter is somewhat small, but easily within your reach providing a pleasurable driving experience. The steering wheel is perfect in size and should fit your hands quite well. Since it is not leather, you don't have to worry about grabbing on to an extremely hot steering wheel. The handbrake, however, is a totally different story in terms of being attractive. It does not seem to fit the car at all and looks a little strange. The handle is more of a pain to use rather than useful, and could have been a lot better.

Leather seats definitely have a luxury feel to them, but they also get much hotter when in the sun and the slick surface can have you sliding around. With that said, I personally prefer cloth treatment in any vehicle. The cloth interior inside the SS is as good as it gets. You get all the advantages of cloth treatment plus the quality pattern look of the leather seats.

If you go with the basic Holden Commodore SS, you will be missing out on the ease of the color LCD screen for your controls. The LCD screen is of course not needed, but provides a much smoother experience if you have it. The manually controlled setup on the dashboard isn't very complicated though. Once you get used to which button does what, you should have no problems at all other than the task lasting a little longer than necessary. I'm not saying that manually pushing buttons is a terrible thing to do, but when it is compared to the LCD screen it just can't compete. The speedometer and tachometer are not only great looking, but very easy to read as well. Once it is night time, the backlit red radio/CD player screen at the top of the dashboard will definitely become a lot more noticeable. The CD player is a 6 disc changer and built in to the dash of the car. The red glow that comes off of it adds a great effect to the vehicle. Unfortunately, there is a downside to this great looking feature. During a bright and sunny day the screen can be a little bit difficult to read. Aside from that, the CD player is mp3 compatible and blasts out a total of 80 watts through seven different speakers. It's not the best sound system out there, but for the default system that comes with the car it does its job very well.

The set of steering wheel controls in the Commodore SS are extremely useful and helpful. With these controls you have the ability to modify and personalize tons of settings, including the amount of time that your headlights will stay on once you have left the car or even the radio volume. By simplifying many tasks, this car has definitely impressed a lot of drivers.

Most cars today have electronically adjustable seats, but aside from the electronic tilt, the Commodore SS driver and passenger seats are only manually adjustable. The rotary knob that tilts the seats back is poorly positioned and it can be a little difficult to get to it. The seats are actually quite large in size though. It seems like the seats were made for larger drivers. If you are a larger driver then you should fit in just fine, but smaller drivers could find themselves with too much room and feel a little awkward. This would be more prominent when handling around sharper corners at higher speeds, but shouldn't be a big deal to the average driver. There is a significant amount of leg room in the front and back seats as well. The driver and any passengers should fit in the car quite comfortably without being crammed in. Also, the trunk of the car is absolutely huge. It has enough room for a spare tire, which is optional upon purchase of the vehicle, and any luggage or necessities that may be stored in the trunk.

When you are out on the road driving the Commodore SS, you will immediately be impressed at the way the car handles curves. The car may weigh approximately 1.8 tons, but it has no problem maneuvering through even some of the toughest corners and curves. You will see that Holden wasn't just hyping the car up when they said they wanted blow the competition away. The time and effort they put into the SS was definitely showing here.

As mentioned earlier in this article you can get the Commodore SS or the Commodore SS-V. The basic SS is available in 6 speed manual priced at $44,990 or the automatic transmission for $46,990. If you go with the Commodore SS-V you will be dishing out a little more cash. The 6 speed manual transmission is priced at $51,990 and the automatic transmission is priced at $53,990. Those prices are based on if you get the car without adding any extra options such as the tires, stripes, spare tire, etc. So if you want those options you will need to factor that into the cost as well.

The brakes found in the SS are absolutely great. They grab the road just as they should and you can be confident they will do the job. There are two systems that mainly contribute to this and they are Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA). With EBD and BA combined and working together, you will notice that as the car shifts its weight they can alter the braking force that is applied to each individual tire. In addition to these systems, the Antilock Braking System (ABS) also helps by changing the braking pressure to prevent a brake lockup and the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) adds even more control and success to your driving. With all of these factors coming in to play you can remain confident that losing control will actually be a hard thing to do. Driving the Holden Commodore SS is an easy and enjoyable task.

The quality of the build for the SS is actually pretty disappointing. If you look between the dashboard and the steering wheel, you will see a piece of plastic sitting there. The plastic is fairly loose and kind of has a cheap feel to it. If you shift the loose plastic around you will the reveal wires that go to the dashboard. You can find many pointless gaps between things and some of the features don't appear to be even with their surroundings. These are not really big problems or anything that affects the driving, but most people would expect more out of a car that costs over $40,000. When paying that much for a car, you would normally want it to be completely flawless and of a higher quality.

In conclusion, the SS could use a tune up in the interior department but everything else was absolutely great. If you are looking for a great V8 sedan then the Holden Commodore SS would be a great car for you to go with. The car is actually very exciting and fun to drive. Whether you go all out for the SS-V or just stick with the basic lighter weight SS, you should be more than happy with your purchase.