Holden Commodore SSV VE Ute 2007 Review

Holden wouldn't make so much fuss over a mere load carrier.

No, the Holden ute could never be easily dismissed as a mere weekday workhorse. Even the recently installed managing director Chris Gubbey, a new arrival, knows the ute is an icon in Oz, a weekend warrior for performance buffs as well as a practical load carrier for those prepared to sully the heavy-duty plastic tray liner

Eighty percent of orders for the new VE are for the sports models - the SV6, SS and new pin-up of pick-ups, the SS V. If that jolts your brain, join the club. Yep, the ute is not so much a ute; more a tray-backed sports coupe.

The ordinary ground clearance at the front (145mm) is an indicator of preferences of today's sporty ute buyers - form over function. It's little wonder that Holden launched the new $44,990 SS V V8 to a rampaging recording of Rose Tattoo's 'Bad Boy For Love'.

This bad boy, with 270kW/530Nm of 6.0-litre Gen IV energy sling-shotting a chassis better suited to track than truck, is plainly focused on power and dynamic glory, and that's where the ute market is heading ... or perhaps where it already is.

The hero SS V, impossible to miss in its metallic bright green Atomic livery, delivers on the promises made by its racy, wedge profile, low stance, big and fat rubber, and the masculine soundtrack from the quad exhausts.

A full day's familiarisation with the ute range on Holden's ride and handling track at the Lang Lang proving ground (a damned good facsimile of patchy single-lane rural tarmac) gave Wheels the opportunity to determine the depth of true sports ability of the new SS V ute.

Here's the important bit: out of all the production Holdens for which we've recorded numbers, the new V8 SS V auto (and the SS with identical engine, transmissions and chassis) is the fastest - faster than the VE sedan and faster than the VZ ute.

The Wheels VBox found the auto VE Ute SS V banged out a lively 5.6sec for the standing 100km/h, en route to 13.8 at 166km/h for the 0-400m sprint. The auto VE Commodore SS V sedan previously managed 5.8s/13.9s respectively, albeit with different driver, different day, same venue. This, we figured, was due to the ute's lighter weight.

While the GM V8's full-throttle power delivery is strong and effortless and builds very quickly to the 5700rpm peak and beyond to the 6000rpm redline, we couldn't get the manual VE ute (5.8sec/14.18sec) to see off the manual VE sedan (5.6/13.9s).

Put that down to the human error, weather or track conditions, or else the ute's less-than-ideal 53/47 weight bias (improved from the VZ's 57/43).

While we're talking VZ, a reminder that the previous SS ute ladled out 260kW and 510Nm from its 6.0-litre V8. Yet despite being 150-160kg lighter, both the VZ manual and auto (14.6s and 14.0s 0-400m respectively) were both slower than the VE V8 ute.

And the good news continues when the SS V confronts undulations and slow and fast corners, along with sudden directional changes. The life-preserving qualities of Electronic Stability Control - standard (with anti-lock braking) across the VE ute range - keeps the show very much on the road.

Drivers can elect to leave the ESP engaged, or enjoy the vehicle without electronic intervention. With ESP neutered (it also incorporates the traction control) there's a sufficiency of grunt to get the rear wheels spinning furiously in the wet or dry.

The standard limited-slip diff partly suppresses the tendency of the inside rear wheel to create a smoky pall on exit from second-gear corners. With ESP dormant, it's all too easy to induce dramatic power-on oversteer through 90-degree turns. Even cranking on slip angles while tackling 120-150km/h third- and fourth-gear sweepers is cake.

The VE changes direction way better than the VZ, without the anxiety and rear-end flightiness that accompanied sudden steering inputs on the superseded model. It rides firmly on its sporty suspension, and is pleasantly contained coming off bumps, never losing composure.

The front anti-roll bar is now 24mm diameter, 1mm heavier than the sedan, while the rear anti-roll bar is a little thinner. Both changes were made to compensate for the differences in weight, load potential and front/rear weight split.

The V8 sports utes use the same rubber as the sports sedans - the SS V has 245/40 Bridgestone Potenzas wrapped around 19-inch alloys. Both SS and SS V use 321mm x 30mm vented front rotors and 324mm x 22mm vented rear rotors grabbed by aluminium calipers. Pedal feel is more reassuring than in the past; fade better contained.

The efficiency and smoothness of the computer-controlled automatic makes the transmission choice that much tougher. Along with the lighter clutch actuation and shorter travel, the Tremec T56 manual box is greatly improved, with much of its notorious recalcitrance gone. Shift effort is 30 percent reduced, and lever travel is chopped, but it's still no knife through low-fat margarine.

Gone is the old Power button on the auto. The 6L80E six-speed auto with Active Select (with sequential tap-up/tap-down function) is programmed to blip evocatively on the downshifts, and tap points are calibrated to please. It'll allow a lower gear so long as the road speed doesn't spin the crank revs beyond 5800rpm. On a trailing throttle, the transmission will handle the third-to-second downshift from as high as 112km/h, while the sedan won't play ball from more than 98.

Inside the roomy cab, the SS V, as the top-end model in the line-up, gets leather-faced sports seats, 150-watt premium audio system, colour-keyed sporty instrumentation, and unique SS badging between the seats on the T panel, sports profile leather-bound steering wheel, alloy pedals, centre console sports gauges, large colour screen with multi-function display, and dual-zone climate control.

Driver's seat has tilt/height power adjustment, but manual fore/aft, rake and lumbar controls. The seats are excellent, with good thigh support and upper body location when flinging the SS V about.

FLICK THE V AND YOU'VE GOT SS
The SS has the same mechanicals as the SS V - headed by the 270kW Gen IV V8 - same body bits, same quad exhaust, identical brakes, same grunty, growling performance.

But no hero Atomic exterior colour- that's reserved for the SS V, which is $5K dearer.

Other main differences in the SS model are Potenza 245/45R18s, which, against the SS V's 40-profile tyres on 19s, deliver a barely detectable improvement in ride on suss tarmac. There's a slight trade-off in steering response on turn in, and lateral grip. We don't believe many will notice the dynamic differences. One inch isn't always important.

Inside, the SS gets the same sports contoured seats as the SS V, but not its colour-coded leather. The SS and other sub-variants get cloth seats and trim.

Images: Cristian Brunelli

Track: Lang Lang, dry. Temp: 15° Driver: Peter McKay.

Images: Cristian Brunelli