Holden Commodore (VL)

A comprehensive Black engine was completely dropped in favour of an imported 3.0-litre RB30E straight-six unit designed and manufactured by Nissan in Japan. The reason for the Nissan-Holden combination was because all cars manufactured in Australia from 1 January 1986 had to run on unleaded 91 octane fuel. The previous six-cylinder Black motor was unable to do this, as was the V8, hence the later release date of this engine. As the tooling for the Holden straight-six engine had become worn by this stage, it also was not considered cost-effective to adapt the design to unleaded petrol. The new engines included features such as an Electronic Combustion Control System (ECCS) and a ram-tuned intake manifold.

Interior

Holden VL Calais Turbo

Six months into its release a 150 kW (201 hp) turbocharged RB30ET version of the Nissan engine was released. The Garrett turbo unit was fitted inside a water-cooled housing to ensure longevity. The engine received new pistons which lowered the compression ratio, while an updated camshaft was used to reduce overlap. The allure of the Commodore was quickly established particularly when the top speed was 200 kilometres per hour (124 mph) and then extended to 220 kilometres per hour (137 mph) with the addition of the Garrett turbocharger. The turbo models had larger brakes and Girlock finned alloy front calipers. The Australian Police commissioned the turbocharged models as their "interceptor" Highway Pursuit cars of choice. These interceptors were denoted by "BT1" in the model code on the Body & Option plate attached to the firewall.

GM also sourced a Jatco electronic four-speed automatic. Those that opted for a manual received 5-speed Nissan gearboxes. The turbo and non-turbo variants were designated MX7 and MF5 respectively.

Power was sent to the rear wheels through a Borgwarner 28-Spline (Turbo variants) / 25-spline open center (non-turbo variant) with a 3.45 or 3.23 Final Drive ratio with a Limited-Slip version available as an option. This was taller than the ratio offered in the Nissan Skyline (3.70 Manual, 3.889 Auto) which utilised the same power plant.

The New Zealand assembled six-cylinder VLs had the 2.0-litre Nissan RB20 engine six-cylinder available as an option in addition to the 3.0-litre models. The engine was mated with the Japanese Jatco four-speed automatic; the 5.0-litre (4,987 cc) V8 remained available in carbureted form with the old three-speed automatic. 2-liter models, including those for New Zealand were not saddled with emission controls. Maximum power and torque figures are 95 kW (129 hp) at 5,600 rpm and 180 N⋅m (133 lb⋅ft) at 4,000 rpm. The 2.0 litre engine was also used in exports to other South East Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand. This model was also the last Holden to be assembled and sold in Indonesia, initially as the "Holden Calais 2000" and also as the Holden Calais Enterprise. The car was first shown in Indonesia on 19 February 1987, at a ceremony attended by the Australian ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Morrison.[1]

Previously, Holden had considered discontinuing their V8 engine rather than adapting it to unleaded petrol. This was partly in response to Ford Australia's 1983 decision to drop the V8 from its competing Falcon model. However public outcry spearheaded by a media-driven "V8s 'til 98" campaign persuaded Holden to continue production. Eventually with continual developments, the Holden V8 lasted until 1999, before being replaced by the imported GM LS1 V8 engine.

The 5.0-litre V8 was released in October 1986, it still featured the familiar Rochester four-barrel carburettor, not electronic fuel injection (EFI). Now adapted to unleaded fuel, this V8 5.0-litre was boasting both more power and torque than its predecessor, now at 122 kilowatts (164 hp) with 323 newton-metres (238 ft⋅lbf). GM had fitted the V8 with larger valves carried over from the previous Group A engine.

EFI did however, make its V8 debut in the VL Commodore in the evolution version of the Group A touring car homologation special, the SS Group A SV (see below). Commonly known as "The Walkinshaw", the SS Group A SV also marked Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) taking over as Holden's official performance car partner.[2] With the 150 kilowatts (200 hp) 3.0-litre turbocharged engine being the performance flagship, Holden marketed the V8 as ideal for towing due to its low-down torque characteristics. The V8 engine was mated with either the existing three-speed TriMatic automatic, or the five-speed Borg-Warner T-5 manual.

Touring Cars

The SS Group A was twice a winner during the inaugural World Touring Car Championship in 1987. Allan Moffat and John Harvey drove their Rothmans sponsored VL Commodore to victory in the very first race of the championship at Monza in Italy. Initially finishing 7th on the road, the pair were declared winners after the entire BMW Motorsport crew running the new BMW M3's that finished the race 1–6 were disqualified for running 80 kg underweight thanks to the use of non-homologated kevlar and carbon fibre body panels. Moffat and Harvey would later go on to finish a brilliant 4th at the Spa 24 Hours on the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, before Moffat abandoned the Commodore and returned to rivals Ford (for the first time since 1980) and their highly touted new challenger, the turbocharged Ford Sierra RS500.

The HDT spec Commodore's second win in the 1987 WTCC was at the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst. Peter Brock and his HDT had a well publicised split with Holden in early 1987 which saw the factory stop all support for the race team. Running as a privateer at Bathurst for the first time since 1977, Brock finished 3rd on the road driving with Peter McLeod and regular HDT co-driver David Parsons in the team's second car (#10) after his own car blew its engine on lap 34 with Parsons at the wheel. The two Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500's that finished 1st and 2nd were eventually disqualified in February 1988 for illegal bodywork (wheel arches that were 1 size too big) and Brock's HDT were declared winners giving the HDT spec VL Group A SS Commodore two wins from the 11 race WTCC. Allan Moffat's big money gamble to run a Sierra backfired as the car he leased from British driver/engineer Andy Rouse proved to be woefully unreliable. Moffat later claimed that he should have stuck with his original entry for Bathurst, his VL Commodore, stating that his Commodore (which at the time was in storage in Europe) was in much better shape than Brock's #10 which, by the HDT's own admission was cobbled together from whatever spare parts they had and was only run due to the teams contract with primary sponsor Mobil which called for two race cars. The HDT openly admitted surprise to the car finishing the race believing before the start that it would have been lucky to last 30 of the races 161 laps.

Until 2014, The Brock / McLeod / Parsons VL Commodore Group A SS held the record at Bathurst for winning the race from the lowest grid position, with Brock having qualified the car in 20th place. Ironically this was actually against the rules as he had already qualified his own #05 car in 11th spot and no driver can qualify two separate cars for grid position the race. Had the error been corrected, the #10 car would have started the race from 27th with Brock's time serving only to qualify him in the car.

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A of Allan Moffat & John Harvey, winner of the 1987 Monza 500, on display at the Historic Sandown 2009

Larry Perkins, who had continued to race the well developed VK rather than upgrade to the VL (which both Brock and Allan Grice reported small teething problems throughout the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship), was forced to replace his VK when it was badly damaged on just the second lap at Bathurst with a HDT VL, debuting VL in the Bob Jane T-Marts 500 WTCC round at Calder Park Raceway a week after Bathurst. He later qualified his new car on pole and led the early laps of the Group A support race for the 1987 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide before tyre wear and failing brakes on the demanding Adelaide Street Circuit forced him to drop back to 3rd at the finish. In the 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship Perkins ran the VL as the official factory team backed by the then new Holden Special Vehicles (later to be replaced by the Holden Racing Team). Against the lighter (by approximately 225 kg (496 lb)) and more powerful (by up to 130 bhp (97 kW; 132 PS)) Ford Sierras, as well of the introduction of the new Nissan Skyline GTS-R turbo, Perkins and the VL simply didn't have the speed to successfully compete for wins in the ATCC's shorter sprint races, while the weight of the car (1,325 kg (2,921 lb)) usually saw heavy tyre wear. His best result being 3rd in Round 7 at Sandown after some of the faster Sierras had struck mechanical trouble. Perkins would go on to finish 7th overall in the championship.

AUSCAR

The VL model was also successful in AUSCAR racing. Races were primarily held at the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne, a 1.801 km (1.119 mi) quad-oval speedway with 24-degree banking in the turns for high speed built by millionaire tyre retailer Bob Jane. The Thunderdome was noted as the first NASCAR style high-banked oval built outside of North America. Sydney based racer Tony Kavich won the 1988/89 Australian AUSCAR series using a VL Commodore, while Albury based Brad Jones won the first of what would be five straight AUSCAR titles in 1989/90 also driving a VL.

VL model AUSCAR's used a variation of the HDT's SS Group A body kit, with the only difference being that the cars had a regular VL bonnet without the air scoop of the Group A version. In AUSCAR racing, all Holden Commodores used, including the VL, would use the 5.0 L Holden V8 engine, though Commodore runners had the choice of also using the Group A developed 4.9 L V8. However, unlike in Group A racing, the weight of the AUSCAR remained the same whichever size engine was used.

The Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV driven to victory in the 1990 Tooheys 1000 by Win Percy and Allan Grice

The Group A SV, according to reports, should have made its track debut early in the 1988 ATCC. However, due to the split between Holden and Peter Brock in 1987, the car was severely delayed in the change from HDT to HSV. Instead the car made its world racing debut on 21 August at Brands Hatch in the hands of Mike O'Brien,[14] scoring a 13th place in the 10th round of the 1988 British Touring Car Championship. Its Australian racing debut occurred on 28 August at Oran Park, driven by Garry Willmington[14] in the 1988 Pepsi 250, with Willmington failing to finish.

HSV owner Tom Walkinshaw and his longtime TWR driver Jeff Allam drove a TWR entered SV in the 1988 RAC Tourist Trophy race at Silverstone on 4 September, finishing 15th.[15] The car proved itself quick but not up to the speed of the Ford Sierra RS500's. Walkinshaw found the Commodore's performance level to be about the same as the factory Nissan Skyline GTS-R's. TWR also raced the SV at the 1988 Tooheys 1000 in a joint effort with the Perkins run (but TWR owned) HSV Team. The car was retired after just 5 laps with rear suspension failure. Walkinshaw himself was cross-entered in the Perkins/Denny Hulme car for the race. That car was retired from 2nd place after 137 laps with engine failure, a rare thing for a Perkins built engine. This was also the last time Tom Walkinshaw raced as the 1984 European Touring Car Champion retired from driving after the event. The best result for the new VL in its first year was when Perkins and Holden Special Vehicles teammate Denny Hulme scored a 1–2 result in the Group A support race at the 1988 Australian Grand Prix. The pair had earlier finished second at the 1988 Enzed 500 in the factory teams debut of the new car, while their teammates for the race (in Perkin's updated ATCC VL), Armin Hahne and Jeff Allam retired after 56 laps of the 129 lap race.

Wins and even placings were hard to come by for the cars in Australian Touring Car racing during 1989 and 1990 as they were up against the lighter and more powerful turbocharged Ford Sierra RS500's and Nissan Skyline GTS-R's. The factory backed Holden Racing Team was hardly seen other than at the major endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst and it was left to the privateers to fly the flag for Holden. At the Sandown 500, Perkins teamed with Win Percy to finish 2nd behind the Skyline of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife. At the 1989 Tooheys 1000, the fastest Holden was the Holden Racing Team VL of Perkins and defending race winner Tomas Mezera who qualified 11th, some 3 seconds off the pace. This meant that for the first time since it was introduced in 1978 no Holden qualified for the pole shootout. In the race the two HRT cars of Perkins/Mezera and Percy/Neil Crompton finished 6th and 7th respectively and were the first Commodore's to finish, 3 laps down on the winning Dick Johnson/John Bowe Sierra.

Fortunes for the car turned around with a surprise win in the 1990 Tooheys 1000 by Win Percy and local hero Allan Grice driving for the Holden Racing Team (the winning car was in fact the same car that failed under team owner Walkinshaw during the 1988 race). This was followed by a win in the 1990 Nissan Sydney 500 at Eastern Creek Raceway by Perkins and Tomas Mezera in Perkins privately entered car.

The car was replaced for 1991 by the Holden VN Commodore SS Group A but made a comeback of sorts in 1992 again campaigned by Perkins who reverted to the VL model once more, winning the 1992 Sandown 500 before going on to start on the front row at Bathurst. The Sandown event was the last major win for the VL SS Group A SV.

For 1993 the VL was abandoned by the major teams in Australia as that year saw the start of what is today's V8 Supercars. The car was still used by the majority of the privateer teams up until the end of the 1995 Australian Touring Car season.