"JustWaitingForAMate" (justwaitingforamate)
09/13/2015 at 00:01 • Filed to: Holden, Commodore, theend
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"JustWaitingForAMate" (justwaitingforamate)
09/13/2015 at 00:01 • Filed to: Holden, Commodore, theend | 9
| 21 |
This is is. The final curtain call. The last hurrah. The end of an era.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the last Holden Commodore to be built in Australia.
Being sold as the VF Series 2 it will come with an 6.2L LS3 engine, a nice upgrade from the current 6.0L and Bi-modal exhaust on the SS and SS-V models.
The fact sheet puts power at 304kW and 570Nm, which is 407 clip clops and 420 twisty-wistys for your non-metrics.
0-60 time is 4.9 seconds.
And it sounds great.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
I’m actually feeling a bit emotional writing this. I’ve owned 4 Commodores in my life, my brother has one, my father has owned a handful as well. The amount of friends, family and people I know that drive Australian made Holden products, I can’t even begin to count.
But in 2 years time, all that ends, no more Australian production, the industry is dead. Everything will be imported and the Commodore, the only car that had some semblance of a soul is going to become a rebadged Opel front wheel drive with no V8 option.
So here it is, the last of the V8s. The last Australian made car I’ll ever own.
Alex from Toronto
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:16 |
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:(
Random Commenter
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:18 |
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FYI: Sure, the Holden Commodore might be becoming a shadow of it’s former self, but rumor has it that
Holden will get a new V8 powered RWD halo car in 2018...
That article says “there are only two other RWD V8 powered vehicles to fit this scenario in the General Motors lineup besides the current Holden Commodore: The Corvette and the Camaro” but I think someone didn’t think that through... There’s also the CTS/CTS-V... So, while it might not be made in Australia, there’s still a chance for Holden to have a V8 powered RWD car in their lineup...
desertdog5051
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:18 |
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JustWaitingForAMate
> Random Commenter
09/13/2015 at 00:22 |
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Neither will be made here, both will more then likely be in the $100k price range, meaning that the majority of current V8 owners will not be purchasing them.
not for canada - australian in disguise
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:22 |
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They really need to put the mill from the new Z06 or the CTS-V in the Commodore to give it a proper sendoff, tires blazing.
JR1
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:26 |
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It makes me so sad that the Aussies are no longer making cars
R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:33 |
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Soooo the groundwork for mad max has been laid
No we wait......
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JustWaitingForAMate
> R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
09/13/2015 at 00:38 |
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Time to dust off the leather jacket and take a hacksaw to the shotgun.
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R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 00:47 |
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Be judicious in all things mate.
Also can’t not hum “the final countdown” in my head after reading this
ly2v8-Brian
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 01:00 |
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Random Commenter
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 01:04 |
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I get why you’re unhappy that they won’t be made in Australia... I’d be unhappy if they started making the Corvette in another country and importing it... But you’re making big assumptions.... Who says it’ll be in the 100K range? They could easily take the Alpha (basis of the ATS) platform, throw in a v8 from the Camaro SS, and design a new body for it, and then sell it for around $50-60k, easy...
pip bip - choose Corrour
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 01:12 |
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even sadder , Ford Australia will finish on October 7 , 2016
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JustWaitingForAMate
> Random Commenter
09/13/2015 at 01:33 |
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I’m guessing you’re not an Australian due to the prices you’re quoting, so I’ll educate you.
Current SS-V Redline - $56,000 AUD onroad.
Current Ford Mustang - $55,000 AUD onroad.
V8 Mustang US MSRP $33,000 - $46k AUD.
Corvette US MSRP $55,400 - $78k AUD
Now those last 2 cars, are just dollar swaps at our current 70c USD rate, which by this time next year, will be at 55C, would you like to do the math around that?
So, we’re paying a 9k premium on the Mustang, a car that they’re expecting to sell something like 11,000 units of. A Corvette starting at $90k (conversion at current rate + a $9k premium which is well below what it will be in the real world) would shift nowhere near that many units.
Now here’s the real kicker :
Alpha platform - Can’t do right hand drive.
Now you’re saying that GM would create a new car , put a V8 in it, and sell it as an RHD in a low volume market for a $50k-$60k AUD price? No, not possible, not financially viable. The only way that would work is if GM did the same as Ford and decided to sell the Caramro around the world.
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JustWaitingForAMate
> pip bip - choose Corrour
09/13/2015 at 01:35 |
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Never understood where all the Falcon love comes from on Oppo. If people actually got behind the wheel that sentiment would change.
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pip bip - choose Corrour
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 01:37 |
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i don’t think much of Falcons either , but i saw a mention of the exact date of when Ford was finishing.
so sad to see so many aussies about to lose their jobs.
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Random Commenter
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 02:23 |
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“New car” doesn’t have to mean it has to be all new parts... GM has a HUGE parts bin to work with. Also, I fail to see how it would be hard for GM to make a RHD car with the Alpha Platform... unless there is something I’m missing here... The ATS has Electronic Power Steering, which, iirc, means that there is no shaft going from the steering wheel to the steering box... If that’s the case, then it’s a simple case of designing a new dashboard with the driver controls on the right side instead of the left.
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JustWaitingForAMate
> Random Commenter
09/13/2015 at 02:49 |
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I don’t know what the case is, but all I do know is GM came out and said the Alpha platform isn’t going to be RHD, I’m taking the word of the guys that built it.
Car design isn’t like piecing together a lego set. They’d have to find a valid platform and try to wedge whatever they could into it, and build the rest new. The Sigma platform is too big, the Zeta platform dies with the Commodore, the Alpha only does RHD, leaving the Y, which is under the Corvette as the only viable platform to house a V8. So they would either need to take that platform and try to wedge a 5 door sedan over the top of it, or attempt to make an even more stripped down and cheaper version of the Corvette in RHD to sell in a small and unbelievably crowded car market.
So GM would have to invest time, resources and tolling into making a ‘bitsa’, that’s cheaper, less powerful, and has less features then a Corvette, it’s just not a viable proposition.
PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 03:08 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bQzkd…
no words necessary
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Random Commenter
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 04:08 |
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I notice you said that GM said the Alpha platform “isn’t” going to be RHD, but that doesn’t mean it’s incapable of being used for a RHD car. And frankly, I call BS on the claim that the Alpha platform is incapable of being RHD... GM was considering offering the latest generation Camaro in RHD, and the new Camaro is based on the Alpha Platform. So making a RHD car on the Alpha Platform must be possible.
And dude, I’m 34, and have been heavily into all things cars since I was like 4... I know car design isn’t like piecing together legos.
Personally, I think you’re just bummed out, and being pessimistic. Don’t forget that Mark Reuss (Executive Vice President, Global Product Development) used to be an exec at Holden, and I’ve read he’s been pushing for a V8 RWD car to replace the outgoing Commodore after 2017. For all you and I know, GM is developing a new car to replace it as we speak.
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JustWaitingForAMate
> Random Commenter
09/13/2015 at 04:50 |
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Not pessimistic, realistic. Unless GM comes out and says they’re doing a RHD Camaro everything else is just theory crafting and guesses.
And we are getting a replacement Commodore. It’s a front wheel drive 4cyl/V6 from Opel, no V8 available. GM wouldn’t release a stand alone V8 Sedan in the same bracket as the current SS/Calais range unless it was a cost viable option, ie, they could sell it in Britain and other RHD markets. There has been no word of any plans at all around that.
IF GM come out and says that they’re working on an RHD Alpha platform car, I’ll be optimistic, but until then the only words that have been said are from people hypothesizing based on...well, no facts at all.
Hot Takes Salesman
> JustWaitingForAMate
09/13/2015 at 12:26 |
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Why no 650 horsepower LS4, the Z06 engine?