Holden VF Commodore SS V Redline 2014 new car review

It was almost ironic that the day I was due to return the SS V Redline back to the dealership, a recall for a potential seat belt fault was issued by Holden. It didn’t for a moment phase me or take the shine off what is a very competent and capable car.

There was also a Nissan C20 Vanette somewhere in there as well, a minor aberration on my Dads behalf, while the truck fleet saw numerous Isuzu trucks come and go.

So, despite the Generals past best and worst efforts, I’m still very fond of the large Aussie sedan, and am somewhat saddened that despite the fact that the new VF Commodore is actually a world class car, its days are definitely numbered.

Sadly, although you can easily fit five people and a boot full of luggage into the Commodore for a long distance trip which is its greatest feature and benefit, more and more consumers are opting for an SUV style vehicle that can seat up to seven people and give even more flexibility. Indeed demand for the Holden Colorado 7 and Holden Captiva 7 SUV models grows month by month as the sales charts tell us.

However for the diminishing few such as myself who still like a large sporting sedan, the VF Commodore has more technology, more refinement (actually for a V8 its too damned quiet for my taste but more on that later), and more active and passive safety features than its predecessors.

Who would ever have thought even as recently as five years ago, that a mass-market Aussie designed and built car such as the Commodore would offer a head up display system, and one that not only projects the speed of the car in front of you, it will also show up turn by turn instructions from the satellite navigation system, and will even flash up the next song being played from your iPod as it starts.

I don’t need automated parallel parking assistance (well not as yet) but its a function that's there, and no doubt is a godsend for people who find parking a bigger car a challenge in the urban environment.

Occasionally the forward collision alert will bleep at you if you are getting a bit too close to the vehicle in front, and the lane departure warning and blind-spot alert are also very useful features for people who spend their life commuting in heavy motorway traffic.

I did find occasionally that the forward collision alert was a bit too sensitive, occasionally mistaking a parked car as an object I was about to hit.

The reversing camera, reverse traffic alert, and front and rear parking sensors also deserve a hymn of praise, especially in tight car parking buildings but the Commodore is surprisingly manoeuvrable for a large car.

The VF Commodore has a much more premium feel to the interior, no doubt due to the fact that this car was designed for both left and right hand production, the left hand drive cars being exported to the USA as the Chevrolet SS.

The awkward Saab style handbrake has been ditched and replaced by a dinky-wee electric park brake which can be activated with one finger, and the controls for the electric windows have thankfully been moved from the centre console back onto the door cards which looks better, and feels more natural to use.

I liked the light grey coloured cloth trim that is used on the upper dashboard panel and the upper panels of the doors, as well as the stripe along the seat upholstery that just adds a touch of finesse and make the vehicle feel a bit more premium.

Syncing up your phone to Bluetooth in Holden’s MyLink infotainment system is quick and simple, and the sound from the 9 speaker Bose audio system is pretty decent, I like to plug the iPod into most vehicles to compare sound quality and I wasn’t disappointed.

The satellite navigation system is very good, although some local roads near home have seen roundabouts removed recently, and the Holden system has obviously not been updated yet, but I’m sure a trip to the dealer would rectify this at the next service.

It was interesting to drive the SSV Redline directly after two tautly-sprung AMG Mercedes-Benz models, the last one being the C 63 AMG reviewed recently here at Car and SUV.

The Commodore FE3 suspension package is much more comfortable to live with on a daily basis in a world of potholes and cobblestoned urban streets, than the European sedans were. My fillings didn’t rattle every time the car ran over a less than desirable surface, and yet when you pushed the big beast around, it handles very crisply and benignly, and that shove in the back acceleration off the line reminds you that there is indeed no substitute for cubic inches.

It was also interesting to compare average fuel consumption between the 6.3-Litre V8 AMG and the 6.2-Litre V8 Holden, my worst in the Benz was 19.5L/100km and the Redline was 18.5L/100km.