Holden Commodore 2013 Video Review

In the midst of all the current gloom about the car industry – Ford shuttering the factory in 2016, the spectre of changes to FBT, Holden speculating it might have to close its operations if it doesn’t get more help -- it's difficult to believe the new VF Commodore has been in showrooms only a month.

Before the FBT announcement Holden was convinced it had got off to a good start. It deserves to. From top to bottom the VF is a better car than VE, the previous Commodore.

It has also been pitched aggressively to private buyers and none more so than the top trim level, Redline. This adds sports tuning to an SS V sedan, wagon or ute and is now a separate designation rather than an option. Among early orders for SS Vs, half are going for Redline.

Value

It’s priced from $48,990 for the manual ute to $55,690 for the automatic wagon, and the additional $6000 over a standard SS V buys a few extra features, such as heated front seats, premium Bose stereo, colour head-up display and two more driver assistance systems: collision alert and lane departure warning. But performance upgrades across the car are where most of the value lies.

For the first time, Holden has gone with wider, lower-profile rubber at the rear with 275/35 tyres against 245/40 at the front. To any potential buyer, that says: "We're taking this seriously.''

Read the full Holden Commodore SS V Redline sedan 2013 review.