AUTOS: Holden Reveal Previews Chevy SS

The Australian version of the new rear-drive car is shown ahead of the U.S. model that debuts this weekend in Daytona.

AutoWeek | http://www.autoweek.com/ | Posted February 14, 2013 Port Melbourne (AUS)

The Holden VF Commodore SS V revealed today is a template for the new rear-drive Chevy SS. (Photo: Holden)

General Motors’ Australian arm, Holden, revealed the new VF Commodore SS V before its brother-in-arms, the Chevy SS, gets shown this weekend at Daytona. The show car is finished in the color Fantale orange metallic.

Unfortunately, Holden and GM kept hidden the most exciting parts of the new full-size, rear-drive platform: the engine and the price.

The new Holden is a performance version of the Australian sedan. (Photo: Holden)

Holden says the car adds a performance edge to the VF Calais V, which was shown last weekend.

The Chevy SS will probably have V6 and V8 variants, similar to the Chevy Caprice PPV. We would love to see an LT1-equipped Chevy SS-S.

As for the Commodore, Holden says it will include a range of electronic firsts for an Australian car, including reverse-traffic alert, head-up display, blind-spot alert, forward-collision alert, lane-departure warning and auto-park assist. We’d bet the Chevy will have most of the same electronics, though it won’t be a first for the United States.

The SS will also get MyLink, with apps such as Pandora and Stitcher, as well as Apple’s Siri speech function.

The platform makes us nostalgic for the last Pontiac G8, which was one of the best in years from the defunct brand’s lineup. It had a V6 and two V8 options, the most powerful topping out at 402 horsepower.

This story originally appeared at Autoweek.com.