Finally, after years of begging GM to rekindle the fire and spirit of the Pontiac G8 sports sedan, the General obliged and gave us the Chevrolet SS. With a 415 horsepower, rear-wheel drive, and four doors, you’d think we’d be happy with this awesome performance addition to the Chevrolet lineup.
But after seeing what both Holden and Vauxhall are getting, we can’t help but feel left out. GM revealed this week the Vauxhall RXR8 GTS, a Holden Commodore-based sports sedan with a 576 horsepower LSA engine under the hood. What gives, GM?
Last week Holden, GM’s Australian arm, announced the HSV GTS, which also got the supercharged LSA engine. Seeing a pattern here? So despite the fact that the Chevrolet SS is based on the Holden Commodore, we are left with ONLY a 415 horsepower LS3 to power our daily-driven grocery getter. Kind of makes us feel left out, don’t it?
Then again, both the Vauxhall and Holden versions of the Commodore have been on the market for many years, while the Chevy SS has yet to arrive in showrooms. Maybe GM is just waiting to test the waters and see if it will be as successful as its siblings before it goes on sale. But if you ask us, GM is leaving money on the table by not offering a supercharged Chevy SS from the get-go.
That said, the $83,000 asking price is pretty steep. Maybe GM made the right call here.