Holden Commodore VK SS Group A 1986

[05XR8]

SPECIFICATIONS​

VK Commodore SS Group A​

Production: 1985
Body: 4-door sedan
Engine: 4987cc V8, OHV, 16v
Power: 196kW @ 5200rpm
Torque: 418Nm @ 3600rpm
0-100km/h: 7.0sec (claimed)
400m: 15.0sec (claimed)
Gearbox: 4-manual/5-manual
Suspension: MacPherson struts (f); Live axle, coil springs (r)
Brakes: Discs

What I nice unique addition this would be in the franchise. We’ve had the modern Commodore SS in the days of Gran Turismo 4. Gran Turismo 7 have brought back the nostalgia of the road car based Group A era. This fits perfectly with PD’s trend of adding such road cars to to the list allowing players to build to race car specifications.

Holden VK Commodore SS Group A

The aussie muscle car that took on the world...

www.tradeuniquecars.com.au

“As an homologation special, the Group A would have suffered a weight penalty had the engine remained over five litres, so Holden re-engineered the 308 powerplant to create a slightly destroked version of the pushrod V8 with a displacement of 4987cc – just under the limit.

The road cars featured Scheel seats and a Momo steering wheel and gearknob. But these cars weren’t luxury cruisers, so the radio was a simple, two-speaker job and you could forget about power seats or electric windows. Sixteen-inch alloy wheels were standard and, while some owners ordered the wheels in white, the standard issue was polished alloy. The homologation package was largely about the body kit for aerodynamics, but the engine also got stronger conrods and a double-row timing chain for reliability.

Driving an SS Group A now is to realise that Commodores were once light on their feet and could really side-step. They steer accurately and there’s an almost delicate feel to the controls that has been lost as kerb weights have climbed from the 1340kg of this car to the 1800-plus kilos of late-model Commodores.

The old carburetted engine might seem a bit low-tech, but it has all the torque that helped make the cast-iron 304 such a great engine for a road car.

The standard four-speed manual feels a bit clunky, but that the M21 for you. Anyway, you could always specify the optional T5 five-speed, which was an all-round nicer thing.“