2018 Holden Commodore by the numbers
Shorter than the VF but has the VT covered, Holden claims of the all-new CommodoreIt may not arrive as the truly large car platform we’ve come to expect, but the all-new 2018 Holden Commodore is no shrinking violet.
Smaller than the VF, Holden execs are keen to point out the new car is still bigger than the VT series. And Holden also claims the new car will feel more spacious – for front seaters at least!
Holden folk are keen to call it a “fifth generation Holden Commodore” despite the fact it has been developed by Opel. The timeline is ticking for the new car – it goes on sale in Opel form in Europe in 2017. It will hit Holden dealers in February 2018.
The all-new vehicle will be offered in five-door liftback and more traditionally proportioned wagon versions, both of which will be available in front and all-wheel drive variants.
The new liftback (Sportback in Holden speak) is 74mm shorter than the VF sedan and rides on a wheelbase that’s been trimmed 86mm. It’s fractionally taller and 36mm narrower than the current car but Holden is talking up some key areas in terms of packaging improvement – the all-important art/science of delivering more room with less.
The couple distance between front and rear seats is unchanged. Base on the schematics Holden used, front passengers appear to sit slightly lower than the existing car, while the rear passengers are raised in what is normally called ‘theatre seating’./
Based on initial dimensions supplied, rear headroom has been decreased from 965 to 952mm – a function of seat height and roof profile changes. In contrast, rear kneeroom is unchanged and so too is front headroom.
The key change in our book is the width of the car. While VF was designed with the ability to seat three adults across the rear, the new ‘Insignidore’ is focused on seat two in comfort and three at a pinch.
This manifests itself in the placement of the front passenger and driver which are around 18mm further inboard respectively. Holden has delivered comparable room to the VF, it claims, by chopping a corresponding amount from the width of the centre console.
One of the other key dimensions the Holden team was also keen to play-up in their introduction of the new car was front “diagonal headroom”. This is effectively the dimension between you head and the A-pillar and roof junction. This is claimed to be within 1 mm of the outgoing car, yielding what Holden says is “equivalent seat spaciousness”.
Our first drive of the disguised prototypes at Lang Lang should enable us to deliver a verdict on whether the packaging boffins have earned their dollars.
Holden Commodore: key dimensions VF v 2018
Dimension VF New car Difference
Length 4973 4899 -74
Wheelbase 2915 2829 -86
Height 1471 1474 +3
Width 1899 1863 -36
Couple (fr:rr) 863 862 -1
Front head 985 985 0
Rear knee 85 85 0
Rear head 965 952 -13
Shoulder 1502 1444 -58
Hip 1454 1410 -44
Centre to passenger 393 375 -18
Diagonal headroom 44 43 -1
Dimensions tell just part of the story. We can’t comment on any aspects of the styling under the sneak peek agreement, but we will go out on a limb and quote one senior Holden exec, who told motoring.com.au: “to be honest I don't know whether it would have looked any different if we'd done it entirely ourselves.”
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