Holden Insignia News

High-speed crooks may soon be harder to catch once Holden and Ford stop local production of police pursuit cars.Highway patrol forces across Australia have used Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons for more than three decades to nab speeding drivers and criminals trying to outrun the law.But the cars that will replace the Falcon and Commodore pursuit vehicles over the next two years will be slower and more expensive than the current models.The switch to imported cars has police across the country scrambling to find suitable replacements for highway patrol vehicles.They might look like family cars, but the latest generation pursuit vehicles used by NSW Police are the most capable ever put into service.It's not only their blistering acceleration that has helped stop pursuits before they start because, according to police, the bad guys know they can't get away.More importantly, say frontline officers, it's the stopping power that gives them the edge.Both Ford and Holden pursuit cars used by the NSW highway patrol have been fitted with police-only high-performance brakes ever since a series of brake failures led to a stringent test being introduced at the Police Driver Training centre in Goulburn more than 10 years ago.Other Australian states and territories do not have the same "pursuit test" braking requirement, leaving some officers concerned about a return to "the bad old days"."Before we had bigger brakes fitted to our cars, they would turn to mush after a few hard stops, the brake pads would eventually disintegrate," said one high-ranking officer with 20 years' experience."Ever since we had the better brakes fitted, it has enabled us to slow down through intersections more safely and more reliably ... and then accelerate again to catch up to the bad guys. It's a public safety issue as well as an officer-safety issue," he said.Other officers who spoke to News Corp Australia said there have been fewer pursuits since "the crooks realise their brakes run out before ours do."An officer with 12 years' highway patrol experience said vehicle performance was "not just about catching getaway cars"."Highway patrol are often the first cars at the scene of armed hold-ups, violent domestics, serious injury crashes and other life-threatening situations," the officer said. "The general duties cars are often tied up, whereas we're always roaming. If I've got to save someone from being stabbed, you want to get there as quickly and as safely as possible."The highway patrol certification test used exclusively by NSW Police involves the car accelerating and braking repeatedly for an extended period of time to simulate a pursuit or a response to an emergency.Both Ford and Holden had to upgrade their brakes on NSW highway patrol cars once the test was introduced.Cars that don't make the grade are not commissioned for highway patrol use. For example, the Toyota Aurion V6 did not pass NSW Police brake tests even though the car is used by highway patrol in other states.A national police advisory agency closed submissions for future vehicle replacements last week, with luxury brands dominating the list of tenders, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.However, these vehicles are likely to be deemed too expensive.This leaves limited options, including performance cars such as the Ford Mustang coupe, Volkswagen Golf R hatch or wagon or the Chrysler 300 SRT performance sedan, all of which are in the $50,000 to $60,000 price range.The current Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore pursuit cars cost about $48,000 -- before significant government discounts are taken into account.NSW Police said it would start to evaluate new vehicles later this year."As far as a national vehicle is concerned, that is clearly a longer term ambition (but) there is a layer of complexity around that," the statement said. "We have very specific technical requirements."NSW Police cars are more advanced than those in other states, with all 400 cars equipped with in-car video, computer terminals, and automatic number plate reading technology.Other states have just begun rolling out number plate detection cameras on a handful of cars, whereas NSW has started equipping general duties cars with the technology.Meanwhile, substitutes for future general duties vehicles are expected to be a formality, because police are already driving them.The Toyota Camry has begun replacing the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon general duties sedans, while the Hyundai SantaFe has started replacing the Ford Territory SUV.The Hyundai iLoad and Volkswagen Transporter vans have been replacing utes as prisoner vehicles for several years.What highway patrol drive nowHolden Commodore SS V8Price: $48,6900 to 100km/h: 5.0 secondsHigh performance brakes (the same used by US police)Ford Falcon XR6 TurboPrice: $45,6900 to 100km/h: 5.0 secondsHigh performance brakes (race-bred, made by Brembo)The optionsFord Mustang V8Price: $59,9900 to 100km/h: 5.0 secondsPros and cons: High performance brakes (race-bred, made by Brembo), similar acceleration to current cars. Coupe body not as practical as a sedan but could be used for certain areas (police have used coupes before, including the Valiant Charger, Ford Falcon XB and XC Coupe and Holden Monaro). The Mustang needs a special bracket to store a full size spare tyre (a police safety requirement) because an inflator kit is standard. Fortunately the boot is bigger than before and police computer equipment is getting smaller.Chrysler 300 SRT V8Price: $59,0000 to 100km/h: 5.0 secondsPros and cons: High performance brakes (race-bred, made by Brembo), similar acceleration to current cars and it has a big boot that can fit a full size spare (a police safety requirement). The Chrysler 300 SRT V8 doesn't handle corners as sharply as the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon performance sedans. Question mark over reliability, and it has higher service costs. Dealer network not as vast as Holden or Ford.Volkswagen Golf RPrice: $55,0000 to 100km/h: 5.0 secondsPros and cons: High performance brakes, similar acceleration to current cars and it has constant all-wheel-drive grip, which is ideal for tight city streets and wet or icy roads. The Golf R is available as a wagon to fit extra gear, but a full size spare would need to be accommodated (inflator kit or space saver is standard). The cheaper Golf GTI is not as suitable because it's slower, front-wheel-drive only and does not get performance brakes as standard.Holden Insignia VXRPrice: $51,9900 to 100km/h: 6.8 secondsPros and cons: The Holden Insignia VXR is a pointer to the all-wheel-drive turbo sedan that will replace the Commodore SS in 2018. But it needs to make a big leap over the current car which, according to independent tests, is slower than a Toyota Aurion V6. Holden insiders have confirmed the next generation Commodore performance sedan will not be as quick as the current V8, nor as cheap.Ford Mondeo TurboPrice: Not yet announced0 to 100km/h: Not yet announcedPros and cons: Ford of Europe is secretly working on a turbo all-wheel-drive version of the Mondeo mid-size sedan, but its performance credentials are an unknown. The car is also smaller and narrower than a Ford Falcon, and as with its Holden counterpart, unlikely to match today's fast Falcon, let alone beat it.

I think Holden might have imported the wrong model from the Insignia line-up to warm us to the Commodore of the future.

The Holden Insignia comes from Germany and has technology that can brake automatically to avoid hitting the car in front if the driver is distracted. It also has a rear-mounted radar to spot cars overtaking at a high speed, and headlights that automatically adjust their intensity in wet weather.But there is a catch: the Insignia VXR costs more than $50,000, as much as the dearest Commodore models on sale today, as Holden is only importing the flagship model for now.The all-new Insignia, due in 2018, will wear a Commodore badge and replace the locally-made sedan and wagon.It means the Commodore will have come full circle: the original 1978 model was an Australianised version of the German family sedan made by Opel.The shift to an imported Commodore means there will be no V8 sedan in Holden showrooms for the first time since 1968 and no passenger-car-based ute for the first time since 1990.The Insignia arrives as independent research shows Australians are falling out of love with Holden at rapid rate.A survey from Roy Morgan research of more than 5000 customers annually shows that the number of people intending to buy a Holden has halved in the past five years.Our market share is falling, are we happy with that? No. Are we going to grow? YesExclusive figures supplied to News Corp Australia show in 2010 about 14 per cent of new-car buyers had Holden at the top of their shopping list, but that figure has fallen to just 7.4 per cent so far this year.Against the odds, following Holden's lowest sales tally in 21 years in 2014, the company still has highly ambitious plans to overtake Toyota by the end of the decade, even though the Japanese company now outsells Holden by almost two-to-one and Holden has not led the Australian new-car market for 13 years.So far this year Holden has slipped to third place in the rankings behind Toyota and Mazda and is just 800 sales away from being overtaken by South Korean car maker Hyundai, according to figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries."Intention to buy goes with market share. Our market share is falling, are we happy with that? No. Are we going to grow? Yes," said Holden executive director of sales Peter Keley.Holden says it will introduce 24 new models over the next five years"We all wake up every day to take a step forward to be number one. We are not getting up to be number two," he said.Holden says it will introduce 24 new models over the next five years but admits that most of those arrive after the factory at Elizabeth on the outskirts of Adelaide shuts down.The former boss of Holden Gerry Dorizas boldly claimed just two months into the job in February 2014 that Holden could overtake car giant Toyota, but he left the company barely six months into the role.The first Australian to run Holden in 25 years, Mark Bernhard, is due to start at Holden next month (July 2015).

Holden has announced the European-sourced Insignia VXR performance sedan will arrive in local showrooms next month.The Insignia VXR was previously sold in Australia as an Opel before the brand pulled up stumps around eighteen months ago.Now the Insignia performer is back wearing Holden badges and priced from $51,990 – a massive $8000 less than the Opel.Ordinarily the Insignia is a family car rival to the Volkswagen Passat and Ford Mondeo, and fitted with front-wheel drive and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.However, Holden is only importing the range-topping VXR performance model which scores a 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 developing 239kW/435Nm.It’s also fitted with all-wheel drive, a six-speed automatic gearbox and sports suspension with three-mode adaptive dampers.Holden makes no acceleration claims, but there's no reason why the lion-badged VXR shouldn't match the Opel version's 6.3 second 0-100km/h time.Holden is only importing the range-topping VXR performance Insignia which scores a 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 developing 239kW/435Nm.The Insignia is also fitted with three significant features never before seen on a Holden.The first is adaptive cruise control which allows the car to automatically slow down and accelerate in traffic to maintain a safe gap between the itself and the car ahead.Auto emergency braking is also standard and helps to prevent front-end crashes by automatically applying the brakes if the forward-facing radar detects an imminent collision.The Insignia VXR is also equipped with a lane change alert system which can detect a fast approaching vehicle up to 70 meters away in the parallel lane. This feature is designed for the high-speed derestricted autobahns of Germany where cars in the outside lane could be travelling upwards of 200km/h.Other standard features on the Insignia VXR include 20-inch alloys, heated leather upholstered Recaro sports seats, reversing camera with front and rear sensors, satnav and MyLink infotainment.Like the Astra VXR, the Insignia also features three different driving modes including Normal, Sport and VXR which each sharpen the steering and gearbox response while firming up the suspension for better handling.