2015 Holden Commodore SS V Review

2015 Holden Commodore SS V Review - A standout amongst the most unmistakable confronts – and might we venture to say set of eyebrows – in Australian motorsport, Craig Lowndes, as of late accomplished a deed that no other V8 Supercars driver has ever finished: 100 vocation race wins. So what better time to take a last take a gander at the most recent generation model to wear the immense man's name, the Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Holden Commodore.

Base a task on an auto also regarded and exceedingly adulated as the VF Holden Commodore and the outcome ought to be a gooden. What's more, in many regions in any event, the Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition is only that.

Discharged before the end of last year as a major aspect of the redesigned 2015 Commodore extend, the restricted version model was intended to observe Lowndes' 20-year vocation in top-level Australian motorsport – a profession that began in 1994.

To some degree outlandishly, three months in the wake of securing his 99th V8 Supercars/Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) race win, the auto #888 driver at long last raised his ton of triumphs at, trust it or not, the title arrangement's 888th race.

Topped at 233 autos, the "Lowndesy" SS V Holden Commodore propelled at $57,990 for the six-speed manual and $60,190 for the six-speed programmed with oar shifters – instructing $5500 premiums over their separate lead SS V Redline beginning stages.

Solely accessible in either Red Hot or our manual test auto's Heron White, the car just Lowndes Edition was assembled with information and endorsement by Lowndes himself and can be spotted effectively enough.

All things considered, a dark '6.0 Liter V8' hood decal, dark side decals, and a dark grille, rooftop, and back spoiler all give the amusement away, alongside exceptional badging, dark bumper vents and dark window encompasses.

Look a bit longer and you'll get the heavenly looking four-cylinder front and back Brembo brake bundle, bigger 20-inch dark composite haggles encompasses for the standard daytime running lights.

Inside, a weaved 'Craig Lowndes' mark sits gladly on the traveler side dash cushion, while 'Improved'- stamped ledge plates join the same eight-inch shading touchscreen seen run wide with Holden's first class MyLink infotainment framework.

As is standard on the general SS V Redline, you additionally get a shading head-up presentation, back perspective camera, programmed park help, back stopping sensors, path takeoff cautioning, blind side observing and forward crash alarm.

Pop the enormous fellow's cap and, aside from Holden's fabulously torquey 270kW/530Nm 6.0-liter V8 (260kW/517Nm in auto trim), you'll likewise locate a Red Hot motor spread and an exceptional form plate altered to one side hand strut tower.

Presently, Holden may assert the enormous eight-chamber unit achieves crest torque at 4400rpm in any case, similar to all models talented with this powerplant, you can drive the Lowndes Edition as sluggishly as you wish.

Pickup is abundant from anyplace north of 2000rpm yet you can serenely pound the day by day drive, inward city creep and shops runs floating between 1000-1500rpm.

What's more, with the profound yet reassuringly strong feeling manual transmission, there's sufficient low-end push available to you to just skirt all even numbered gears until 6th on the off chance that you so wish. Then again you can simply appreciate second-rigging begins while never alarming motor or transmission.

Sink the boot however and two things happen. One, you'll hunger for an all the more discernably animating reaction from the motor and its going with quad fumes funnels. Also, two, while there's genuine and straight hustle from 4000rpm or more, you'll blow Holden's 11.8 liters for each 100km fuel utilization claim get out of the water. Over our 400km or more time with the auto we found the middle value of 16.6L/100km.

Sitting in the moderately wide and to a great extent agreeable driver's seat things feel really standard VF Commodore, which is no terrible thing, however, we'd feel a little sting in the event that we'd simply payed additional for an "uncommon" release.

Inside fit and complete is to a great extent positive, then again, our test auto (with a bit more than 12,500km on the clock) is the first VF Commodore item we've encountered that has shown squeaking and flexing sounds originating from behind the driver, especially when arranging more extreme garages and so forth (appearing to be well on the way to be trim related).

Keeping in mind guiding – both in weighting and reaction – and the uprated brakes are solid pluses, the greatest staying purpose of the Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Holden Commodore is its ride.

Highlighting "updated suspension hedges" went for "improving at-the-utmost taking care of", the auto takes the firm yet astonishingly agreeable and agreeable ride already praised on both the SS V Redline vehicle and SS V Redline Ute, and to be honest, ruins it.

In spite of the fact that we didn't get the chance to drive the auto at the farthest point, at not exactly the breaking point, where the greater part of driving is done, the auto is nervous and less proficient at managing a mixed bag of street flaws – especially more keen defects, for example, garages – contrasted and the standard auto.

The uprated suspension may maybe enhance the auto's general element sharpness when pushing on yet it sours the normal VF's sweet ride and taking care of mix, making things superfluously brutal and altogether less agreeable and pardoning.

Most likely having impact here is the Lowndes Edition's one of a kind haggle bundle.

One inch bigger than the standard Redline's 19-inch things, the exceptional version's 20-inch wheels move on an amazed arrangement of Bridgestone Potenza tires that match those fitted to the base Redline regarding width – 245mm front/275mm back – yet are five for every penny lower in angle proportion front and back – 35 front/30 back rather than 40 front/35 back. This implies, front and back, there is separately 12.25mm and 13.75mm less tire divider to go about as a pad between the street and the wheel. 

Craig 'The Kid' Lowndes made his V8 Supercars debut in a Holden at age 20, was taken under the wing of Australian hustling sovereignty Peter Brock, had a stretch driving adversary Ford Falcons, has won three V8 Supercars titles (1996, 1998 and 1999) and five Bathurst 1000s (1996, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010). Needing to possess an auto that gives a gesture to such a symbol with such a record is totally reasonable.

Unfortunately however, in the event that you're not one of only a handful few that pre-requested their Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Holden Commodore and right now have your encircled testament of validness to go with it, then you're in a tough situation. Holden says the sum total of what cases have been gobbled up and, in fact, the auto is no more on special.

Craig Lowndes has done a ton in his motorsport profession and, amazingly, keeps on doing combating at or close to the extremely top of the class. However, while quite a bit of what has his name on it has been attached to extraordinary levels of achievement, lamentably, on account of his 2015 uncommon version Commodore,  the result has fallen somewhat short of the mark. For fans and enthusiasts alike, however, sold out or not, the Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Holden Commodore will long remain one to want…