The 2016 Holden Commodore VFII Ute, the “most powerful Commodore Ute ever, was revealed yesterday at the Deniliquin Ute Muster.

WHILE THE COMMODORE VFII was revealed the other week, Holden says “the public debut of the VFII was reserved for Holden fans at the Ute Muster”. The Commodore VFII Ute now gets the sedan and wagon’s 6.2-litre LS3 V8 engine which pumps out 304kW of power and 570Nm of torque. This is enough grunt to get the thing to 100km/h in just 4.9 seconds. The Commodore VFII Ute is on-sale now.

Holden says a lot of work was spent on the noise of the Ute. “Working in harmony with VFII’s new 6.2-litre engine, Holden engineers have spent countless hours developing VFII Ute’s new and unique sound character.  Using a newly introduced bi-modal exhaust, a patent pending Holden designed “Baillie Tip” and a mechanical sound enhancer, the sound package combines to ensure you are likely to hear the car before you see it,” Holden said in a statement.

Rounding off the upgrades to VFII, Holden designers have introduced functional design changes in the form of front fascia ducts and hood vents, allowing for aerodynamic benefits and increased engine cooling respectively, as well as a range of new wheel designs.

Holden’s Lead Dynamics Engineer, Rob Trubiani, said the entire team was incredibly proud of what they had achieved and was looking forward to the public’s reaction. 

“This has been an especially exciting project as we’ve wanted this engine in this vehicle for some time now so it’s great that it’s finally here and it certainly won’t disappoint,” said Mr. Trubiani.

“It’s a perfect demonstration of how Holden understands the unique needs of Australian ute drivers who want a functional car for the week but with the added performance and character for an engaging weekend drive.

“The Deniliquin Ute Muster is an ideal place for VFII to make its public debut.  The people that attend this event are fans of the car and the brand and we want to show them that they’re important to us.”

In addition to the technical changes, Commodore VFII Ute “also boasts the exceptional refinement and handling that Holden has become famous for thanks to extensive tuning work done at Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground and test rides across Victoria”. We’ll reserve judgement on that until we try it for ourselves.

In addition to the VFII Ute reveal, Holden “will invite fans to experience a virtual reality tour of the top secret Lang Lang proving ground with three-time Bathurst 1000 champion, Garth Tander, in the driver’s seat”.  Powered by Oculus Rift technology, the drive takes in numerous parts of the test facility.

New Features to Commodore VFII Ute Range

SV6

• Passive entry / Passive start
• New front fascia and grille
• New 18-inch alloy wheels

SS (above SV6)

• 6.2 litre LS3 V8 engine
• Bi-modal exhaust with mechanical sound enhancer
• Passive entry / Passive start
• New front fascia and grille
• Hood Vents
• New 18 inch alloy wheels
• Performance brake option

SSV (above SS)

• 6.2 litre LS3 V8 engine
• Colour Head Up Display
• New 19 inch alloy wheels

SSV Redline (above SS-V)

• 6.2 litre LS3 V8 engine
• Rear Brembo brakes
• New 20 inch forged wheel option

Colour Range

• Slipstream Blue* (NEW)
• Phantom Black*
• Nitrate Silver*
• Prussian Steel Grey*
• Jungle Green* – available on sports models only
• Some Like It Hot Red*
• Heron White
• Red Hot
• Regal Peacock Green*

*premium paint – $550 option

Pricing

• Evoke, V6 Auto                                               $33,490 (+ORC)
• SV6, V6 Man / Auto                                        $33,990 / $36,190 (+ORC)
• SS, V8 Man / Auto                                          $40,990 / $43,190 (+ORC)
• SSV, V8 Man / Auto                                       $44,490 / $46,690 (+ORC)
• SSV Redline, V8 Man / Auto                           $50,490 / $52,690 (+ORC)

Optional performance brakes and 20 inch wheels:

• Performance brakes (V8s only)                     $350
• 20 inch forged alloy wheels (redline only)      $1500