People who lust after V8 Commodores fall into one of two camps - those who see performance as the Esperanto spelling of vee-eight, and those who want the practicality of a four door, roomy car - with grunt to tow a boat or caravan. But now we can add another category: curious people who take a 5.7 litre test drive - and then find out how much they've been missing! To put not too fine a point on it, we were rapt with the big SS Commodore - it's so much better than a bog standard V6 that a blindfolded passenger wouldn't even pick it as the same basic car
In Australia the V8 engine has had a pretty sorry time of it over the last decade or so. In fact, if you're aged under 30, you're much more likely to think Cordia Turbo, Commodore Turbo, Liberty RS, Lancer GSR, Mitsubishi 3000GT, Skyline GT-R, 200SX or WRX - especially WRX! - than anything else when thinking straightline grunt. Sure, there've been home-grown V8s over that period - the Commodore VN V8 with its high fifteens over the quarter, the rare Falcon Sprint with even better performance, and the homologation specials like the VL and VN Group A cars. And of course - up there in mega-buck land - the HSVs. But, really, it's been a lean ol' time for those driving unmodified V8s. So it's damn' easy to start falling into a belief trap that says high revving turbo fours and twin turbo sixes are it for late-Nineties Australian performance - especially given the thriving import scene. But that mindset is defenestrated when you step into a VT 5.7. Why? Cos this car hauls ass!
Forget the 'but-the-WRX-is-faster' line. Yep, the Rex can put down quarters about half a second quicker than the 5.7, but are you quite sure that you always wanna launch with a clutch-smoking five grand side-step? Certain that you can change down two gears without losing any time when a driver alongside gives you the nod? Happy with the dramatic hot weather performance loss of a turbo four? On the road in the normal cut-and-thrust of traffic light grands prix, or in a quick-fang-through-second to leave some pretenders behind, or through the let's-get-serious line of tight corners, the 5.7 Commodore SS is stunning in its abilities. Yes, and we did include 'corners' in that para.
The transformation is wrought over the cooking Commodore by the ess-esse's new suspension settings, wheels, tyres - and that huge, all-alloy engine. Lumpily audible at idle, you're left in no doubt that there's a big V8 up front. Selecting first in the heavy six-speed requires that you stand on the clutch - get out of a little Japanese four and you'll have to check that it's not the brake pedal you're pushing on... Then it's time to release some of those Newton metres, to get the expected mountainous just-off-idle torque spinning up those rear donuts. 'Course, you just know that you'll need to change gears at about three grand, like with all Aussie V8s - all torque and no action. But it's time for the first surprise: the Gen III is nothing like that. The torque at low revs isn't monolithic; instead it's a far more usable incline up which the revs climb. It's an engine where acceleration can be felt to grow and grow, one where you can watch the tacho needle blurring around the dial as the cabin is filled with the raunchy, inspiring and seductive eight cylinder note.
This is a sporty engine, one that begs for intelligent gear selection - but that can still be trickled along at 1200 rpm in fourth. The single cam, pushrods and conservative design mean that the 5.7 is nothing like as Lexus-smooth or revy, but the torque peak of 446Nm at 4400 rpm gives the engine a far more linear feel that previous Holden V8s - especially high-power ones. Quoted peak power is 220kW at just 5200 rpm, and - while the redline is at 5500 rpm - changing at five grand is best for both the ears and performance.
The progressive torque delivery - marred a little in the test car by a jerky, stiff throttle action - means that the SS isn't the oh-my-God-there-she-goes! power-oversteering monster that you might expect. Lacking the traction control of the auto model, there are just those 235/45 17 B530 Bridgestones and the mechanically-locking LSD to get that power to the pavement. And they both do a very good job. In fact, the standard Commodore's V6 engine - with its sudden torque peak - gives more unexpected rear end traction loss than that achieved by the far more powerful V8.
Low speed handling of the SS is characterised - and it could hardly be otherwise - by power oversteer, but it is superbly progressive and well-telegraphed. The steering is wonderful - far better than in other Commodores we've sampled - and the level of front-end grip exemplary. In fact, if you're more used to constant four wheel drive or front wheel drive high performance, the lack of initial understeer, even with very high entrance speeds, is astounding. The well-weighted, precise and linear steering inspires confidence and allows cornering accuracy, even for those used to much smaller, inherently more nimble cars. Perhaps the reduced engine mass between the front wheels has something to do with it - certainly the turn-in is excellent.
In the tight stuff, tip it in on a slightly feathered throttle and then apply power at the same rate as you're unwinding lock. That way, corners are spat out, one after the other. A little too much power, and the back tyres start to protest. A little more power again and their slip angles increase enough to require some early unwinding of lock. Still more power, and you get to the point of requiring opposite lock. And, finally, if on the corner exit you tromp the loud pedal with a total lack of subtlety, you'll need to be fast in flicking on opposite lock to keep things on the blacktop.
On open high-speed sweepers the car is no less competent. It tracks extremely well - both aerodynamically and in its suspension dynamics, it is a settled, complete package. For example, tramlining - a noticeable negative trait in many other performance cars - is almost never felt, something that's very hard to achieve from wide, low profile rubber. However, the sheer size of the car means that the varieties of cornering lines available to a narrower car aren't an option. So your favourite narrow-road 100 km/h Vectra corner probably isn't going to be bettered by the Commodore but all the same it won't be that far behind, either.
However, as with the standard traction control-less V6, we would suggest that extremely gentle cornering might be prudent in wet conditions. We had only the briefest of drives on a wet road, and that indicated that wheelspin was only ever a throttle twitch away.
The ride on the SS-series rubber and SS-specific suspension is very good; while you're always aware that you're pedalling a sports sedan, it's only rarely that a distinct bump/thump gets through to really hammer the point home. Helping the ride are the good seats, which feature increased side support over the standard items. However, the side bolsters are placed a long way apart - good for fat bums, not so good for holding the skinnier variety in place. Apart from the take-it-or-leave it decaled interior trim, the cabin is pretty well generic Commodore - pedestrian non-CD stereo, over-size column stalks with sharp edges, twin airbags, four power windows, single window trip computer, cruise and air but no climate control.
But then again, in a car like this you don't plonk down the dollars for climate control; you're paying for that engine and those tyres and seventeen inch alloys. Unfortunately you also don't pay for a brake upgrade - one would be nice, although it's not a pressing issue. More important is the cost-cutting employed in specifying the noisy manual box's ratios - we can only put it down to funding tightness why such inappropriate cogs were chosen.
Sixth gear - by rights with this engine it should by the equivalent of fifth in a 5-speed 'box - is geared for land speed record attempts. At 100 km/h the engine is idling at 1500 rpm in sixth; a change back to fifth is necessitated whenever a hill is met. Fifth is only just usable around town - the engine is revving at only 1400 rpm at 65 km/h. So what you have is a four speed box with an overdrive - and then another gear that's apparently only there so that you can impress your mates with the gearknob's shift pattern insignia. Lowering the diff ratio (currently a 3.46) would surely improve matters without costing very much.
It's not as if the gearing is there for getting great AS2877 fuel economy figures, is it? With a quoted highway of 7.4 and a city figure of 13 litres/100km, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's a frugal V8 in a way previously foreign to Aussie V8s. It isn't. We averaged 16 litres/100km in a mix of country, urban, hard and soft kays. It's probably a typical figure. And that's one of the very few downsides of going the big-engine, big car route. But with fuel prices so cheap in Australia, it's a cost that you may very well judge to be worth it!
And its against the clock performance? Very good. We put the SS down the Adelaide International Raceway quarter mile and recorded a time of 14.768 at 93 mph. Other testers have recorded even quicker times, and by trying a dozen different launch attempts we could probably have shaved off a few more tenths. However - and much more important in the real world - is following performance stat: when idled away from the line before being given the boot, the SS gets to 100 km/h in high sixes. And its hot weather performance with the air on remains strong, strong, strong.
At $46,650 we reckon that the 5.7 litre Commodore SS is one of the great bargains of the late-Nineties. Performance, handling, space and comfort - all in a cheaply serviced, rugged local package. Certainly, for a long time the guys and gals around here will be smiling each time they see a SS 5.7 drive by.
Go pester your Holden dealer for a demo drive right now!
www.holden.com.au
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