Holden's Latest Export Put To The Test in USA

[mcnews]

Holden PR...
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The Australian-made Chevrolet SS rear-wheel-drive performance sedan has recently been put through its paces by US motoring journalists for the first time in Palm Springs, California.

Based on the new Holden VF Commodore, the Chevrolet SS joins the all-new Corvette Stingray and updated Chevrolet Camaro in the Chevrolet performance car line up which has been evaluated in California’s desert hills.

Early previews have compared the locally made car favourably with premium sports vehicles.

Automobile magazine said the sedan will go “toe-to-toe with a US$65,000 BMW 550i” while Car and Driver Magazine declared the SS “The gifted offspring of a BMW M5 and a Chevy Camaro SS.” Autoweek magazine said “This full-size Chevy is surprisingly light on its feet, and almost never feels big. It's civilized but not desensitized in any notable fashion.”

Holden Program Engineering Manager, Steve Manson, who attended the drive program in the US as a representative from the Holden engineering team said the car was acquitting itself very well.

“We knew that the SS would be well-received here in the United States and we really are encouraged with the feedback that we’ve heard already from American motoring critics.

“The SS will play its part in in Chevrolet’s performance car line up, and that’s something the entire Australian and global SS and VF Commodore development team are very proud of.”

A true performance hero, and Chevrolet’s first V8, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan since 1966, the Chevrolet SS features a 6.2 litre V8 engine which delivers 310kW power and 563Nm torque, and is matched with a six-speed automatic transmission that can be shifted manually using TAPshift paddles mounted on the steering wheel.

The new Chevrolet SS shares many technological features with Australia’s family favourite. Just like the VF Commodore, the SS is the first Chevrolet car to feature Automatic Parking Assist, which provides hands-free parking help. This ‘hands-free’ parking assistant uses the ultrasonic sensing system to detect the width and depth of either parallel or reverse right-angle parking spaces. While the driver controls the throttle, transmission, and brake, the Automatic Parking Assist controls the steering inputs necessary to park the Chevrolet SS.

The SS also features additional safety and driver aids including a rear-vision camera, and side blind zone alert and lane departure warning, which give audible or visual cues to the driver that they may be in danger of a collision.

The Chevrolet SS also features a sport-tuned chassis, including:

MacPherson strut front and multilink independent rear suspension geometry
Electronic power steering system, optimized for sport driving
Standard Brembo brakes, with ventilated, 355-mm rotors and two-piece, four-piston front calipers
Forged aluminium wheels, wrapped in ultra-high-performance Bridgestone tyres: 19 x 8.5 inch wheels with 245/40ZR19 tyres in front; 19 x 9.0 inch wheels with 275/35ZR19 tyres rear
Already in selected Chevrolet showrooms and on the driveways of driving enthusiasts, the SS joins the Corvette and Camaro, whose combined sales have made Chevrolet America’s favourite performance brand for the last two years.

[Chopped]

They want the GTS >
Ultimate Oz Rocket! 2014 HSV Gen-F GTS Attacks Bathurst! (MotorTrend Mag)

[Pedro]

So with Holden closing the shop, are they going to take the tooling to USA and make them there, or is this going to be another Pontiac?

[GQ_Smooth]

Originally Posted by Pedro

So with Holden closing the shop, are they going to take the tooling to USA and make them there, or is this going to be another Pontiac?

With the quantities Chev is allowed to import, they can make their entire allocation in 1-2 months production. From memory I think sunroof was the only option you can have, just about getting the colour right.

[robertjp]

Originally Posted by Chopped

They want the GTS >
Ultimate Oz Rocket! 2014 HSV Gen-F GTS Attacks Bathurst! (MotorTrend Mag)

Pity the video seemed more about his trip to Australia than the car!

[johnydep]

Here's a good read http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews..._chevrolet_ss/

From the January 2014 issue of Automobile Magazine - by David Zenlea |

A ghost is haunting Woodward Avenue late on a Saturday night, disturbing the silence that stretches all the way from downtown Detroit through the economic wasteland near Hamtramck to the slumbering suburbs above 8 Mile. Few cars are on the road. A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution heading northwest around Pontiac is clearly just going home, and yet its driver can't resist the challenge when an unfamiliar-looking large sedan rolls up next to him in a low gear. He takes off hard at the next stoplight and probably thinks he's escaped when it comes up behind him, roaring and pulling hard past his front fender at 80 mph. This happens three or four times until he finally lowers his window, astonished, and asks, "What is that thing?" It's the 2014 Chevrolet SS -- a big, rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet sedan with a 415-hp V-8. It's a ghost.

In its heyday, the V-8 Chevy dominated straight, wide boulevards like these. Chevrolet introduced the small-block V-8 for 1955 and immediately stuffed it into its bread-and-butter full-size cars. The cherry red Bel Air that Mike Helfrich drove to our photo shoot in Detroit's Eastern Market would have cost about $2000 when new, roughly $17,500 in today's money. No wonder Chevy sold some 740,000 V-8-powered vehicles that first year. It's worth noting that the 265-cubic-inch engine put out only 162 to 180 hp, just as it's worth remembering that radial tires, airbags, and stability control are nice things to have. But that's beside the point. In 1955, a Chevrolet was one of the most powerful and stylish cars on the market, and almost anyone could afford one............

Don't be deluded into viewing the SS as any kind of return to the golden days. Chevrolet doesn't plan to import more than 4000 of them annually from Australia. For 2013, the SS became Chevy's NASCAR model. Officially, Chevrolet hasn't decided what will follow. "Stay tuned," says Dave Leone, GM's executive chief engineer for global product platforms. Unofficially, it's hard to imagine this car becoming any more of a commercial success than the last two Holden-sourced imports, the Pontiac GTO and G8. To sell more, GM would have to consider relocating production to North America. It would also have to improve fuel economy -- think cylinder deactivation and a transmission with more than six speeds -- so as not to adversely impact the company's CAFE standing. Those things cost money that Chevy would probably rather use to, say, improve its all-important compact and mid-size cars. We get all that. And yet the 2014 Chevrolet SS still haunts us as a reminder of a time when Chevry built powerful, charismatic sedans for the masses.

Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...#ixzz2mwvIC5Ue

[1TUFFUTE]

How could anyone think it a good move to export the GTS there when the ss hasn't even sold 100 in its early stages. I mean even there extremely keen number of 5000 makes it a massively small niche over there. A more expensive model with far more competition would sell a fraction of the current numbers.....so like 4 or 5 maybe
Plus it looks pig ugly still.
Also I'm amazed how many Americans think the ss is American. The comments are full of guys saying, 'hey that looks exactly like our Chevy ss, why can't they design there own'
Although the engines are always American....

[johnydep]

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

How could anyone think it a good move to export the GTS there when the ss hasn't even sold 100 in its early stages. I mean even there extremely keen number of 5000 makes it a massively small niche over there. A more expensive model with far more competition would sell a fraction of the current numbers.....so like 4 or 5 maybe
Plus it looks pig ugly still.
Also I'm amazed how many Americans think the ss is American. The comments are full of guys saying, 'hey that looks exactly like our Chevy ss, why can't they design there own'
Although the engines are always American....

What's wrong with selling Aussie cars to the Yanks? Exports is the only thing that might save our auto industry.

Sales were at 144 for November, this with delivery shortages. I'm hoping they sell out super quick and decide to increase their next order; for Holden's sake.

2014 Chevrolet SS drive review: One of the best American sedans we’ve driven in a long, long time

What Is It?

The 2014 Chevrolet SS is the first Chevrolet to take SS as a model name rather than a trim designation, and the first rear-drive Chevy sedan since the 1996 Impala SS.

No, the 2014 SS is not exclusively a Chevy at its core, or at least not a Chevy first and foremost. The billion or so spent developing this car will be recouped largely by its corporate sibling, the Holden VF Commodore. Its immediate predecessor, the VE Commodore, was Australia’s best-selling car for 15 consecutive years.

The SS will ultimately represent a tiny sliver of GM’s North American sales, providing the third leg under Chevy’s performance stool with the Corvette and Camaro. SS chief engineer Dave Leone concedes that the SS “is not a high-volume car, in terms of its priorities and capability,” but he insists that it was created as a Chevy from the start, with key components not offered in any Holden, starting with the engine.

The SS’s centerpiece and first draw is Chevy’s Gen IV LS3 V8 — better known as the base engine in the C6 Corvette. Horsepower peaks at 415 and torque at 415 lb-ft, down 15 hp and 9 lb-ft from the 2013 Vette, thanks largely to the intake and exhaust paths. Its transmission is GM’s 6L80 six-speed automatic — also developed for the C6 and installed in the SS with the same with TAPshift sport electronics and identical ratios. A limited-slip rear-end comes standard, with a 3.27 final drive ratio.

http://withinouttechnicians.info/201...ong-long-time/

[ltd]

Johnydep I agree, but it seems a foregone conclusion that Detroit has determined Holden will be gone after 2016, and the orders from parts suppliers to Holden cease in 2016 as well.

[flooded one]

Originally Posted by ltd

Johnydep I agree, but it seems a foregone conclusion that Detroit has determined Holden will be gone after 2016, and the orders from parts suppliers to Holden cease in 2016 as well.

It does seem so...

[jpd80]

Chevrolet SS November sales : 178 cars.

Current US dealer inventory: 431

[Nikked]

Drop in the ocean...

[stevz]

Originally Posted by ltd

Johnydep I agree, but it seems a foregone conclusion that Detroit has determined Holden will be gone after 2016, and the orders from parts suppliers to Holden cease in 2016 as well.

Until there is an official announcement I don't see the need to harp on about it in every thread.

[Nikked]

I do wonder, could the exports be a testing the waters exercise for a future US based product of similar nature?

[GasoLane]

I wonder if there will be a market for Commodore badges in Seppoland to replace the bowtie things.

[ltd]

Originally Posted by stevz

Until there is an official announcement I don't see the need to harp on about it in every thread.

Pot meet kettle. Every post you've had is about Holden and ford closing you hypocrite. You want to live in some illusory world where your opinion will make a difference yet, you have managed to gloss completely over the reality that it's the fault of governments (not just yours and straw-mans hatred of tony Abbott), the unions and their outlandish sense of entitlement in a market which is punishing their product and the management of the companies themselves; you know, the American parent companies that have happily received profits from their australian outposts when times were good.
As you've been told by others if you wanna help, go buy a new Holden or ford, don't keep prattling on with the same parochial bs designed to assuage your own conscience based on buying trends.
Nothing will save Holden nor shall it, and taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for union largesse and arrogance - deal with it. I don't like losing companies as do other members but you've become a broken record of irrelevance in your quest to save Holden. Go to ls1.com and bore the **** out of everyone there.

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Nikked

I do wonder, could the exports be a testing the waters exercise for a future US based product of similar nature?

I suggested that way back when rumours of commodore going fwd came out.
If it can sell a few thousand at a high imported price then it's probably worth building over there, where they can build them a lot cheaper

[Moby Vic]

It's another confusing move by GM, adding more product overlap. If they had just made this the new Impala it might have made sense.

And the new Impala is a very nice-looking car, finally. Ever since the switch to FWD they've been incredibly bland. Obviously an enthusiast would prefer the SS over the Impala, but why have two full-size cars in the same lineup?

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by Moby Vic

It's another confusing move by GM, adding more product overlap. If they had just made this the new Impala it might have made sense.

And the new Impala is a very nice-looking car, finally. Ever since the switch to FWD they've been incredibly bland. Obviously an enthusiast would prefer the SS over the Impala, but why have two full-size cars in the same lineup?

So Holden could export something for previous Aust. government funding... or am I just being too cynical.

[stevz]

Originally Posted by ltd

Pot meet kettle. Every post you've had is about Holden and ford closing you hypocrite. You want to live in some illusory world where your opinion will make a difference yet, you have managed to gloss completely over the reality that it's the fault of governments (not just yours and straw-mans hatred of tony Abbott), the unions and their outlandish sense of entitlement in a market which is punishing their product and the management of the companies themselves; you know, the American parent companies that have happily received profits from their australian outposts when times were good.
As you've been told by others if you wanna help, go buy a new Holden or ford, don't keep prattling on with the same parochial bs designed to assuage your own conscience based on buying trends.
Nothing will save Holden nor shall it, and taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for union largesse and arrogance - deal with it. I don't like losing companies as do other members but you've become a broken record of irrelevance in your quest to save Holden. Go to ls1.com and bore the **** out of everyone there.

You'd know all about pots calling kettles black. You have been sticking the knives into Holden for years yet now you are telling people to buy one to save Aussie manufacturing. Go figure.
I already have an Aussie made car which I purchased new in 2010 and I have plans to purchase another in the near future. Unfortunately the finances don't support buying a new one every year. Besides, one person buying a car isn't going to help the industry either - the message needs to get out to the masses that buying an imported car is wrong and is essentially a knife in the back of our country's future prosperity. At least I have used every opportunity I have had to try and wake people up to this, unlike you who sits back and does nothing then has the nerve to ridicule people for trying.
So how about you lift up your skirt and troddle off back to your fantasy world where Holden line workers earn $130k per year.

[ltd]

Originally Posted by stevz

You'd know all about pots calling kettles black. You have been sticking the knives into Holden for years yet now you are telling people to buy one to save Aussie manufacturing. Go figure.
I already have an Aussie made car which I purchased new in 2010 and I have plans to purchase another in the near future. Unfortunately the finances don't support buying a new one every year. Besides, one person buying a car isn't going to help the industry either - the message needs to get out to the masses that buying an imported car is wrong and is essentially a knife in the back of our country's future prosperity. At least I have used every opportunity I have had to try and wake people up to this, unlike you who sits back and does nothing then has the nerve to ridicule people for trying.
So how about you lift up your skirt and troddle off back to your fantasy world where Holden line workers earn $130k per year.

[MercurySilver]

LOL at 130 grand a year for holden workers
i work with two blokes who were there 5 years ago

they were certainly not on 130 grand a year as a production line employees

ps
i actually dont mind the look of that car in the first pic

[fgpsi]

Looks worse than the vf SS

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by johnydep

What's wrong with selling Aussie cars to the Yanks? Exports is the only thing that might save our auto industry.

Sales were at 144 for November, this with delivery shortages. I'm hoping they sell out super quick and decide to increase their next order; for Holden's sake.

If you can't work out why this particular export doesn't add up...I'd hate to see you running a buissiness. I never said the idea of exports was bad...it's a great idea.
And they have sent 900 over there so far.....so having a shortage sounds like tripe

[AU1XLS]

Why cant you people get your points across without resorting to personal attacks and name calling