Holden’s landmark imported 2018 ZB Holden Commodore is inching closer and we've just sampled the all-new entry-level model, powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine. Before you can say "only milk and juice should come in two litres!" Holden is quick to point out this is the "best entry-level powertrain" Commodore has ever had. Will that be enough to sway buyers? We compare new and old Commodores to find out.
Confidence can be persuasive. When you believe in something so strongly, you feel almost indomitable. You'll argue 'til your blue in the face, defend the un-defendable and deliver a more convincing performance than imitation seafood.
Holden is absolutely bristling with confidence with its new ZB Commodore, the all-new German-built large car it will launch in late February, 2018.
When a company lines up what is arguably the best Australian car ever developed and built in this country, the VFII Commodore, against this new-generation, front-wheel drive four-cylinder European car, it's clear it has a confident mindset.
It needs to be confident. The concept of a front-drive Holden Commodore is alien. For its entire 40-year lifespan, and the Kingswood before it, the homegrown Holden flagship has always been rear-drive.
"Don't knock it until you try it," grins Holden's lead chassis engineer, Rob Trubiani, who also lead the development team on the previous VF Commodore.
He's also a decent driver, nabbing the Nurburgring commercial vehicle lap record in 2013, driving a Holden VF SS V Redline ute.
You know what? He's not wrong.
The new Commodore is a good car
The ZB Commodore drives better than the new Opel Insignia it is based on, by virtue of unique, Australian-developed suspension and steering settings that Trubiani's team effected over 12 months of local testing.
The Aussie-tuned 2018 Commodore has less body roll through corners and better road holding than the German-spec vehicle. It's a more balanced car over bumps and feels lighter on its feet. Perhaps the only area where it doesn't match the German spec is ride comfort – but only by a tiger cub's whisker.
Ride quality remains good, but it doesn't bob and bounce on its suspension when rounding fast, open corners like the Opel-tuned Insignia, which tends to take a lot longer to settle after bumps.
"We wanted this car to feel like a Holden and to feel like a Commodore. So, Commodores have historically had that precise steering and good body control and we wanted this next generation of Commodore to feel the same," explains Trubiani.
The new Commo tips into corners with a surprising amount of dexterity, mid-corner grip and higher-speed stability are strong points and there's not a lot of understeer to talk of.
The kickback through the steering wheel we experienced when we tested V6 Commodore mules appears to have been dialled out and throttle response from the new 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four that will power base models is excellent.
The old Commodore is a good car
Piloting a VFII Calais and SV6 Commodore on the same roads, corners and slaloms highlights the extra weight the older Commodore is carrying. The new E2 chassis architecture is lighter and smarter than the overripe Zeta platform, with high-tensile steels and aluminium bonnets (not to mention a lighter engine and no rear diff) also reducing overall kerb mass.
Indeed, the Aussie Commodore is not quite as eager to turn in on sharper corners due to an estimated 250kg weight penalty, give or take, but the old girl offers more steering feel and performs similarly on wide, sweeping corners where it tracks keenly and confidently.
The Australian-built Commodore outdoes its successor is in its ability to cancel out low-amplitude bumps and corrugations in the road, such as the inside of corners where repeated braking and acceleration forces cause a ripple effect in the road surface.
The outgoing Holden's ride quality is very, very good and reminds us just how well suited it is to abused Aussie asphalt.
That said, the new nine-speed transmission fitted to the imported Commodore makes a mockery of its predecessor's six-speed unit, snapping between gears with a level of rapidity usually expected of, well, a premium German car.
But the highlight of the new entry-level Commodore package could be its 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, which delivers healthy 191kW and 350Nm outputs that combine to give it a surprising turn of speed, even in its most basic form.
For reference, the current Commodore delivers 185kW/290Nm in its most basic 3.0-litre V6 (Evoke) guise, and 210kW/350Nm in 3.6-litre SV6 form.
Holden reckons the base 2018 Commodore (variant names are yet to be confirmed, except for the AWD, V6-powered VXR) will complete the 0-100km/h dash in about seven seconds.
And after driving it on public roads and inside the GM's Lang Lang proving ground, I think that figure — which would make it about a second quicker than the outgoing Evoke and almost as quick as the SV6 — is genuinely achievable.
It's an impressive engine, pulling incredibly strongly from low revs with nary a whiff of turbo lag. It's got more usable poke than the 3.6-litre atmo Commodore VXR too, despite that car's more generous 235kW/380Nm outputs, and I'm kind of bummed there's no hopped-up turbo version with all-wheel drive. That would've been mega.
Perhaps most important is the reduced fuel consumption. Holden insists the petrol-four Commodore will use less than 8.0L/100km, which is not only less than the existing Commodore 3.0-litre (8.3L/100km), but also the 3.6 (9.0L/100km).
These figures are for the most efficient sedan version, which will continue (albeit as a liftback), while the slightly thirstier Sportwagon will also be replaced, and this time there will be a crossover ‘Tourer’ body style too. Alas, of course, there will be no ute.
Perhaps more significant is that, when it comes to fuel consumption, the new Commodore will finally be competitive with mid-size fleet-friendly sedans like the (non-hybrid) Toyota Camry, which will also be replaced by a new, imported model within months.
This will be crucial because if Holden can get bums on seats, its new passenger car flagship could win a legion of new friends, both business and private.
Rusted-on fans of rear-drive Commodores – and the 50 per cent of buyers that currently opt for the V8 SS, which will be axed -- will baulk, but that was inevitable.
That could change if the new-look Commodore race car notches up a few wins? Then again, somewhat incongruously, it will still be powered by a V8 when it debuts in next year’s Supercars championship, and is likely to hit the track with a twin-turbo V6 in 2019.
V6 Commodore returns, but do you need it?
The 'twinster' all-wheel drive system in the V6 Commodore VXR is a very cool set-up, a slightly less extreme version of the AWD system used in the Ford Focus RS.
That means it can route torque between the left and right rear wheels – true torque vectoring, not by braking – delivering impressive traction and helping to make the front-end feel nice and pointy.
It can pump up to 50 per cent of torque to the rear axle and then all of that twist can be apportioned to the left or right rear wheel.
In practice, the AWD system works well, pivoting the car effectively round tighter turns – provided you have the throttle applied. It's a shame we couldn't flog it on dirt roads, but it’s a more playful AWD system than I expected.
The extra 138kg this driveline adds doesn't take away too much from its cornering dexterity, such as when navigating tight slalom runs at the proving ground, but the V6 takes longer to build up steam than the four-pot turbo.
That said, it sounds better. Aussie Commodores get unique mufflers and a specially tuned exhaust to add a few more decibels. It's no V8-powered SS Redline but it makes a subtle burble labouring at low revs under full load.
Both four- and six-cylinder models shrink around you when punted hard, which is a testament to the work Holden's chassis team has wrought on the German car. It's also a very good open-road, 100km/h tourer and will likely eat up miles like its predecessor – only using less fuel.
But unless you're planning on driving on a lot of dirt roads a lot of the time, I can't see why you'd pick the all-wheel drive V6 over the turbo four. The turbo engine is more driveable and more refined.
I never thought I'd say it, but the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol Commodore is the pick of the bunch – at least until we test the turbo-diesel model.
Life inside the Holden flagship
Holden claims almost identical interior space for passengers in the new Commodore, with the car being only slightly narrower than the current model.
There's loads of room for front seat passengers and the back seat offers far more leg room that I had anticipated.
Rear seat headroom gets cramped for taller passengers in the liftback variant due to its slanted roofline but the wagon's horizontal roof creates heaps of back-seat head room.
Boot space is best described as plentiful and although I already miss the sedan shape of the current Commodore, the liftback design makes it a whole lot easier to access the slightly larger 490-litre space.
Fold back the rear seats and you get 1450 litres. Need more space? The wagon opens up 1640 litres.
The front seats are comfortable, although not quite as wide and welcoming as the current Commo. By the same token there is a massage function now, which sporadically turned on and off in one of the V6 mules we drove.
The cabin has a more modern look and feel now, and your eyes are initially drawn to a large 8.0-inch digital screen wedged between the speedo and tachometer.
On top of the customisable high-def instrument display there's a decent sized central touch-screen with satellite-navigation and some models will get a 360-degree parking camera too.
There's also a head-up display for road speed and other info but it’s not as clear as the system in the current Commodore.
Hopefully more local adjustments, like those undertaken for the radio tuner and navigation, will be made here. Apply CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility are standard too.
Driver assistance technology has improved with additions like radar cruise control and lane keep assist, meaning the car will accelerate, brake and steer by itself in the right conditions. More importantly, there will also be autonomous emergency braking (AEB).
Ultimately, price will probably dictate how successful this car is, but for now Holden is keeping mum on the cost of admission, which currently stands at $35,490.
When you get lemons, make lemonade
This was by no means an ideal comparison. The Aussie-tuned ZB Commodores with 2.0-litre mills were pre-production vehicles, and the Commodore VXRs were cobbled-together mules, complete with kill switches, fire extinguishers and wild exterior camo.
None of the cars had proper sound damping materials either, but on that score the four-cylinder Commodores were fairly quiet inside, boding well for the finished product.
Strangely, the 2.0-litre petrol models wore big 20-inch alloy wheels, while the VXR mules rode on 18-inch alloys. The new models had Continental tyres, the old ones Bridgestone rubber.
So it wasn't exactly a like-for-like test, but it was enough to provide a solid insight as to where Holden wants to take its vitally important new Commodore.
Holden has invested significant time and effort into the new car and it's a considerably more engaging vehicle to drive than its German-spec sister model — one that hugs the road with more gusto and deals with road imperfections more seamlessly.
Yes, the slinky new Euro-dore has a vastly different driveline philosophy to its muscular predecessor, but although it executes its mission with radical new tools, for the vast majority of people the outcome won’t be distinctly different.
Ultimately though, for people who like to drive, it's not as satisfying as the rear-drive 2017 Commodore.
I wouldn’t go as far as to call the new Commodore soulless, but -- like many imported mid-size sedans — it does have a "designed by committee" feel.
Capturing the heart and soul of the Aussie designed and engineered Commodore in a German-made model was always going to be difficult, but the end result feels as much like a VF Commodore as a Mazda6 feels like a BMW 5 Series.
This is a Commodore but not as you know it, yet it’s far better than any of Holden’s previous, US-sourced mid-size sedan attempts like the half-based Epica and the hum-drum Malibu.
This is a good car and Holden's confidence is not misplaced. It should be proud of what it's achieved and I'm looking forward to spending more time behind the wheel.
The new Commodore is more refined and more high-tech than its predecessor. It retains a fun-to-drive attitude and I've no doubt it will bring a new breed of customer to the Holden brand.
But it won’t attract traditional Commodore buyers and it remains to be seen whether it will tempt new purchasers in greater numbers than Holden’s loyal but dwindling customer base.
As I've said before, the only thing wrong with the new Commodore may well be its name.
2018 Holden Commodore pricing and specifications:
Price: TBC
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 191kW/350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: Below 8.0L/100km
CO2: TBA
Safety rating: Five-star Euro NCAP