MOTORNETNEWS  -  ROAD  TEST  -  NOVEMBER  2007

VE  HOLDEN  SSV  UTILITY

Forget that this is a practical, hardworking utility truck - this is a high performance 2-door sports car with a huge boot! It has sporty, aggressive looks, comfortable sports seats, low profile tyres and more power than anyone really needs. The $46,990 price tag might sound a bit high for a ute but it's a bargain price for a performance sports car! Let's face it, there aren't many sports cars that can carry a couple of trail bikes or a jet ski and still look this good.

OUTSIDE:

Finished in a lurid green, the SSV ute turned heads wherever it went. Young men were drawn to it like moths to a candle and they all approved!

Back to the windscreen it's all VE Commodore with the not-too-low front airdam incorporating the air intake and driving lights, the wildly flared guards with air extractors and repeater lights at the sides, body coloured mirrors and steeply sloping screen.  From there on there is a rather slab-sided rear cargo area with neat flares over the rear wheels and classy wraparound taillights. 

The rear of the cab has sloping projections each side of the wide rear window. The sports look is accentuated by the 19", 6-spoke alloy wheels and ultra low profile tyres. The gas strutted bonnet has full insulation and reveals a very impressive engine layout dominated by the huge 6-litre V8. Access to the maintenance points is very good.

INSIDE:

Slip into the black, leather-faced sports seats, grip the leather-wrapped fully adjustable wheel, feet on the alloy-faced pedals, hand on the leather gear shift knob and eyes on the full sports instrumentation and you will be forgiven for thinking you have stepped into a full blown sports car. 

It's only when you turn round and peer through the narrow rear window at the expanse of tonneau cover that you come down to earth! Snap the ignition key and the six litres of start to throb and the gauges come alive.

The interior feels a little claustrophobic as the rear window is quite close and the thick A pillars close around you. The all-black interior is somewhat relieved by the brushed silver highlights. Ahead is a deep binnacle with the instrument dials which, unfortunately, are light grey with off-white letter/numbers and very hard to see when wearing sunglasses!

The big centre console has an armrest bin, there are large door bins and glove box and tons of room behind the seats  (complete with neat cargo nets) for quite a bit of luggage or personal items. The seat belts are non adjustable but the driver's seat has electric height adjustment and manual lumbar support. 

The steering wheel has rake & reach adjustment and has audio/ cruise control and trip computer controls on the spokes. The centre dash has the climate control air-conditioning and 6 in-dash CD and radio controls. There is an overhead glasses compartment and both vanity mirrors have sliding covers. 

LOAD AREA:

The load area is very large and has a full bed-liner fitted as standard. The tailgate is opened by a sliding lever inside and it opens flat with the load area. The soft tonneau cover that comes standard has a simple fastening system that could possible deteriorate in time. It certainly looks neater than the strap type fasteners on most utes but durability may be a problem. 

One good feature is that the interior wheel arches are quite small so that almost the full width of the tray can be used for building sheets and such like. The high mounted stop light repeater is on the cabin roof so is easily visible even when the ute is loaded.

ON THE ROAD:

Stomp your right foot on the accelerator pedal and the SSV explodes off the line. Just a gentle touch is quite enough to see off most other vehicles at the lights - even if you aren't trying. Hit the pedal hard and they disappear into the distance behind you. The auto transmission does a good job in taming the power aided by the traction control and Electronic Stability Program.

One could imagine what it would be like without those aids on a wet road without a load in the rear, however, the SSV is very tractable to drive although the head restraints get a workout as the ute surges forward.

The cruise control thankfully works very well and it is really needed as the other thing that moves very, very quickly is the speedo needle! The sports suspension is very compliant and the SSV rides very much the same as the sporty versions of the Commodore sedan. It also provides excellent handling and the low profile tyres have extremely good grip. Steering and brakes are well matched to the performance and, apart from those very thick A pillars blocking side view, this is a great fun car to drive.

Rearward vision is quite restricted as the load area is quite high and the rear window quite small in height. reversing, however, is made much easier with the standard reversing sensors. Economy is not the SSV's strong point. Urban driving saw well over 16 litres per 100km, the average was 14.7 (and that included quite a long highway drive) and the best figure obtained was only 13.1. It truly is a vehicle that can pass anything on the road except a service station. After all, it does have 207kW of power and 530Nm of torque and the power is developed at a very high 5700pm and the torque at a high 4400rpm.

PRICE:            $46,990 6-speed auto - $44,990 6-speed manual plus on-road costs.

STANDARD:    ABS brakes with Electronic Brake Distribution; alloy-faced pedals; auto lights; Dual front airbags; 19" alloy wheels; Air-conditioning; bedliner; Body Kit; 6-disc in-dash CD; Central remote locking; cruise control; driving lights; Electronic Stability Program; electric driver's seat controls;  leather faced seats; leather wrapped steering wheel and gear shift lever;  lumbar support; power mirrors, steering and windows; radio/CD player; seat belt pre-tensioners; sports seats; sports suspension; Trip computer;

OPTIONS:        Ladder rack $688.00; Roof rail $385.00; Sports Bar $874.50; Superbox $544.50; Towing kit $302.50; Tie-down rails $385.00;