Two separate reports out of Australia say that Holden is looking to maximize the Commodore's fuel efficiency in an effort to stoke sales. Both stories quote General Motor's Asia-Pacific vice president, Nick Reilly, but the separate reports, while sharing a common theme, come to decidedly different conclusions about how the General plans to proceed.
The first story from the Sydney Morning Herald (thanks Patrick!) cites Reilly as saying that Holden is looking into hybrid technology to power the Commodore. "[It] could be one of the first hybrids that you will see," but Reilly insists that a gasoline-electric Commodore is still a few years out.
The second report comes courtesy of Drive.com.au, who also spoke with Reilly and asked if a four-cylinder version of the Commodore was in the cards. "It makes a lot of sense," Reilly said, "and therefore we're probably looking at it, but I can't tell you when." While that's far from a confirmation that a turbocharged four is on the way, it coincides with earlier reports that the new Camaro, which shares its platform with the Commodore, might benefit from the same 260 hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter found in the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Redline.
Both stories are somewhat devoid of hard details, but despite that, it may be proof that General Motors' operations Down Under are willing to look at a variety of solutions to address the Commodore's slipping sales.
APS is in the business of making power and that's exactly what they've done for the new Pontiac G8 GT and its Aussie-spec sibling, the Holden Commodore HSV. The tuner's Stealth Intercooled turbocharger setup uses two water-cooled turbos mounted deep into the engine bay, just ahead of the transmission, to ensure underhood temps are kept in check – road debris be damned. According to APS, the system is a straightforward, bolt-in affair, utilizing a right-sized, aluminum, air-to-air intercooler, seven pounds of boost and a pair of TIAL 38mm external wastegates to bleed off exhaust gases and optimize throttle response. While APS hasn't installed the system on a Pontiac G8 GT yet, they've strapped its own blown HSV (with a three-inch cat-back exhaust) onto the rollers of a Dyno Dynamics dyno and produced 557 hp and 583 lb.-ft. of torque while running 93-octane. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but considering how impressed we were with the standard G8 GT, this setup has the potential to redefine the bang-for-the-buck quotient in the segment.
Like the sedan and ute before it, the Holden Commodore Sportwagon will also soon have a corresponding HSV performance variant. The HSV Tourer is essentially an HSV Clubsport R8 Wagon, as it features the muscle sedan's front clip and 425-horsepower (317kW) LS3 V8 powertrain. Look for it to arrive arrive in Australia this October and in the U.S. as a Pontiac, well, never. (Pontiac has no plans to bring over the Commodore Sportwagon, remember.)
HSV admits that the Tourer could take some sales away from the Clubsport R8 upon which it's based, but that the presence of the wagon in the now-complete HSV lineup should still help HSV's sales numbers overall. Drive.com.au notes that the Commodore Sportwagon was supposed to launch back in March, but has been delayed while Holden continues to work out kinks with the wagon bodystyle. We expect to get plenty more info on the HSV Tourer closer to its launch, but today, we're more bummed than ever that Pontiac isn't importing the Commodore Sportwagon. Imagine what the possibilities could have been... Pontiac G8 Safari GXP? Not bad. And unfortunately, not gonna happen.
For those of you interested in picking up one of the new Pontiac G8 ST utes when they come to the US next year there's good news. In a recent round of ute/pickup crash testing in Australia, the Holden Commodore Ute beat all comers to score five stars. No competitor matched the lofty score. The Ford Ranger-based Mazda BT50 got three stars while the Indian Mahindra pickup only managed two. The Mahindra currently doesn't have airbags, which hurt its scores. Look for that to change before Mahindra launches its trucks and SUVs in the US a couple of years from now. For the time being, however, if you plan on driving into any barriers, you'll want to go for the El Camino wannabe.
UPDATE: Enough already! Yes my NyQuil hazed brain still isn't working quite right as I try to recover from this flu I've been battling all week. I did indeed mis-read the story. The Holden/Pontiac Ute only got 4 stars. On to other topics of discussion.
Holden and Ford have been fighting the battle of Commodore vs. Falcon for many years, and with the recent announcement of the new Falcon range, the war has heated up. Holden's very competent Holden line has been given quite a jolt in anticipation of the Falcon's release, with many offerings trumping Ford's recently introduced Falcon models.
The Commodore will now feature standard side curtain airbags across the model range, as opposed to only two of eight Falcon models having the safety tech standard. The Commodore's side air bags will also protect both first and second row passengers, as opposed to only the front row in the Falcon. Holden also held the price of the upcoming Commodore wagon to within $1,000 of the sedan's price, where before it was an extra $3,000, and air conditioning is now standard on all models. Pricing for the eight Falcon models has yet to be announced, so Ford still has a chance to retaliate.
It appears that the battle rages on for RWD superiority in the land of OZ, and if we're lucky Ford will bring the Falcon Stateside to battle the Pontiac G8 on our turf.
