Holden’s Lowndes Commodore races out the door

HOLDEN Commodore buyers will pay a $5500 premium for the range-topping Craig Lowndes limited-edition over the SS V Redline sports flagship on which it is based.

For their money, they get bigger 20-inch wheels, all-round Brembo brakes, a suspension tweak, black body highlights – including a blacked-out roof – and special monogrammed interior bearing the V8 Supercar driver’s signature.

Buyers also get a chance to hob-nob with Lowndes at a special function, as well as free admission to a 2015 V8 Supercar race and a framed certificate with the individual vehicle's build date.

Holden chose this weekend’s Supercheap 1000 V8 Supercar race at Bathurst to launch the new variant in honour of Lowndes’ 20 years in Australian motorsport.

Only 233 of the cars will be built, as Holden says its Elizabeth factory enhancement centre could not handle more before the end of the year. At least half are already spoken for.

Six-speed manual Craig Lowndes SS V Commodores are priced from $57,990 before on-road costs, compared with $52,490 for the SS V Redline that is the permanent performance Commodore flagship.

The six-speed auto costs $2200 more, at $60,190, and like the latest 2015 Commodore SS V Redline, comes with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters – a first for an Australian-developed car.

The shifters create an obvious point of difference over the Commodore's main rival, the newly reborn and more powerful supercharged Ford Falcon XR8.

So far, the automatic SS V Redline, including the new Lowndes edition, is the only Holden Commodore variant to get the paddles, but Holden has hinted that more variants could get them at some point.

Power and torque from the 6.0-litre normally aspirated V8 remains the same 270kW and 530Nm as the SS V, but stopping and cornering has been improved with the addition of four-piston rear Brembo callipers to match the front set, along with upgraded suspension bushes and 20-inch black alloy wheels replacing the standard SS V 19-inch rims.

All of the 2015 V8 Commodores accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds, which is unchanged from the 2014 model.

The limited run of Lowndes vehicles will be available in either Red Hot or Heron White, offset with a black stealth look on the bonnet, lower sides, spoiler, fender vents and grille.

On the inside, Craig Lowndes' signature is embroidered in to the dash, with matching autographs on sill-plates and floor-mats. The V8 gets a finishing touch with a red engine cover.

As with all SS V Redline Commodores, the Craig Lowndes Special Edition gets a selection of driver-focused equipment with launch-control, switchable levels of ESC, head-up display, Holden's MyLink information system with eight-inch touchscreen, park assist, reverse camera, lane change warning and forward collision mitigation.

Since announcing the special Commodore last month, Holden says customer interest has been strong with 122 of the limited run already sold. It says it could have sold more than the 233 planned.

Holden Commodore sedan pricing*

Evoke (a)	$35,490
Evoke LPG (a)	$37,990
SV6	$36,790
SV6 LPG (a)	$41,190
SS	$42,990
SS V-Series	$46,490
SS-V Redline	$52,490
SS-V Redline Craig Lowndes Special Edition	$57,490
SS-V Redline Craig Lowndes Special Edition (a)	$60,190
Calais (a)	$40,790
Calais V-Series (a)	$47,990
Calais V-Series (a)	$53,990