Taking measures to protect the environment has already become an important part of many people’s everyday. There is at least one task that can be added to any lifestyle very easily, but the problem comes when they attack what a person likes best – like making car fans drive electric or hybrid vehicles. The prevailing attitude has been to accept the ecological cars, but we’ll always have that hidden thirst for speed produced by big gasoline engines with their irresistible sounds. This sedan is GM’s latest way of quenching it.
Yes, if you integrate the team who defends efficiency and low-polluting need to be every car’s concerns, unfortunately you won’t like this one. SS is the result of Chevrolet’s wish of a performance-focused sedan, which means having not only a powerful engine but also the whole concept dedicated to this, which finds response also in the sporty design and exclusive structural characteristics such as the rear traction. GM has essentially rebadged the recently showed Holden Commodore VF to the North-American brand, just like they did in 2007 with Pontiac G8. In fact, the latter only had to be dropped due to the 2008 crisis, which made GM reorganize its entire line and cut even entire brands. Pontiac’s end couldn’t avoid taking G8, but there was always a rumor that something would be done to sell this car in North America once again. The older came from Commodore VE, but this and VF are nothing but different phases of the Australian’s same fourth and current generation – VF must’ve been projected considering SS since the beginning, because Chevy’s car was released only few days after Holden’s. It is true that those cars use an aging platform that will be completely dropped in some years, but it’s also the best solution for now. The Australian division has made a huge evolution when it comes to technology and performance, including retuned chassis and new electrical architecture.
In other words, the covered parts were as refreshed as the exterior, which dropped the 2000s’ typical straight creases and lines for a much more elegant design, characterized by more imponent shapes and smoother volumes – to be more specific, SS is the rebadged version of Holden’s SSV version, not Calais. Chevrolet’s influence is noticed at the dual-cockpit interior, but also in the huge touchscreen’s infotainment system: MyLink is only one item of the large list which includes stitched-leather seats, Bose sound system and even automatic parking assist, with the optional power sunroof. What the attractive black, chrome and red decoration doesn’t show, though, is SS’s top-notch powertrain: the rear axle will be powered by Camaro’s LS3 6.2L V-8, delivering 415-hp power and 415-lb-ft torque, which takes it very close to the new Corvette Stingray. The six-speed automatic transmission will help SS to achieve the announced 5-second 0 to 60 mph acceleration, while the stopping will be credited to Brembo brakes (front rotors with 14” and rear with 12.8”), everything running on 19” wheels and Bridgestone tires (245/40 and 275/35, respectively). SS received the entire latest collision-prevention equipment, but the technology didn’t reached too much under the hood: there aren’t direct injection, cylinder deactivation or variable valve timing. After all, everyone’s entitled to remember once again the good old times of “there’s no substitute for cubic inches”.