AFTER much speculation as to what badge the sports version of Holden’s next generation Commodore was going to wear, Holden has confirmed it will carry the VXR nameplate.

“It made sense for us to bring it into line with existing models like the Astra,” said director of communications Sean Poppitt.

A press release from Holden also confirmed many of the specifications that Wheels published in our Summer edition of 2016. The 3.6-litre V6 powerplant’s peak power and torque outputs have been an open secret for some time, as has the choice of a nine-speed automatic transmission and a torque vectoring all-wheel drive chassis.

The SS badge first appeared on the Commodore with the VH in 1982 and has been the hero V8 Holden ever since (HSV is a different company), but prior to that, it first featured on the 1972 HQ SS, the badge gaining popularity with the launch of the 1976 LX Torana SS. This was one of only two occasions that the SS badge appeared on something without a V8 in the snout (the other being the VT SS with the supercharged L67 V6). From the VH Commodore onwards, the SS badge was a permanent feature.

“The next-gen Commodore VXR offers a different execution of performance to the outgoing SS but make no mistake, this is a more than worthy successor,” said Holden’s Lead Dynamics Engineer, Rob Trubiani.

Holden is slating ‘early 2018’ for the VXR’s arrival in dealers, launching alongside the rest of the NG Commodore range that will include sedan, Sportwagon and Sports Tourer body styles.