Some more details of the 2018 Holden Commodore have been confirmed just as the European counterpart, the Opel Insignia Grand Sport, hits its local roads.
The first media reviews for the new Opel and Vauxhall versions are in, with most of the praise pointed towards the car’s comfortable ride, handling, and strong acceleration. Meanwhile some of the criticisms include suggestions that the car posseses no charisma and that it feels like it might age too quickly.
Despite the Opel and Vauxhall versions hitting the roads in Europe, development for the next-generation Commodore is continuing in Australia. Holden says it has been part of the development process since the very beginning.
The Commodore version is scheduled to launch here in “early” 2018, after it continues prototypes development in Victoria and around the Lang Lang proving ground. Holden’s executive director of engineering, Brett Vivian, said:
“We’ve been involved with the new Commodore’s development from the very beginning and have been working to tune to the specific tastes of Aussie buyers who like responsive steering and sporty suspension, yet composed ride quality when cruising. These are the hallmarks of Commodore and we are going to deliver again with the next-gen car.”
Holden-badged models will come with bespoke suspension and steering, and Aussie-focused powertrains. The powertrains include a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol with front-wheel drive and a 3.6-litre V6 producing 230kW, using all-wheel drive. Both will be equipped with a nine-speed automatic.
Performance figures are yet to be confirmed but the local arm has set a 0-100km/h target of 7.0-7.5 seconds for the 2.0T version, which it says is on par with premium rivals including the Lexus GS 200t and Jaguar XF 25t – specifically highlighting the ‘25t’ Jaguar suggests power for the 2.0T will be around 180kW. As revealed today by PerformanceDrive, the Calais badge will live on and is set to be applied to the upper-end variants to help it take on such rivals.
Some of the key highlights for the new model that have just been confirmed include extensive active safety systems, along with various rather interesting features such as massage seats and active noise cancellation. See below for more, although keep in mind these will be available but not necessarily standard on all variants.
- Cutting-edge driver assistance systems and technology:
- Autonomous Emergency Braking
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Speed Limit Cruise Control
- Lane Departure Warning
- Lane Keep Assist
- Forward Collision Alert
- Side Blind-Zone Alert
- Rear Cross-Traffic Alert
- Next-generation comfort and convenience technologies:
- Massage Seats
- Rear one-touch folding seats
- Heated Front and Rear seats
- Ventilated Front seats
- Express up/down all windows
- Wagon power lift-gate
- Active Noise Cancellation
