Residents of South Australia will have to keep an eye out for a new set of headlights. The 2018 Holden ZB Commodore has officially joined the police fleet.
It’s the first time the imported Commodore has been tapped for police duty and Holden said the ZB-generation car “blitzed” through SA’s test-drive comparisons. Following the initial tests, Holden and SA agreed to 100 ZB Commodore police cars for a three-month-long trial. A long-term contract is likely.
Holden has supplied SA with police vehicles for 70 years.
“SA Police have run an exhaustive comparison of vehicles from every manufacturer and we’re proud our latest Commodore has once again proven its credentials when it comes to vehicle safety, specifications, durability, dynamics, performance and importantly manufacturer and servicing support,” Holden’s Director of Sales, Peter Keley, said.
The cars themselves are RS V6 All Wheel Drive models featuring a 3.6-liter LGX V6 engine and a nine-speed automatic. The pedestrian Commodore with the same powertrain makes 308 horsepower and 272 pound-feet of torque.
Look for the ZB Commodore to hit the roads decked out in SA police graphics and lights over the next two years.
Comments
That looks like a Buick front end ??
South Australia is the only state. The other states have gone Stingers or BMW.
Others have gone for the Chrysler 300C SRT8 to. I don’t know how the performance of the BMW compares but I think this is also partly a difference in policy towards high speed pursuits that different states have. SA don’t have V8 Commodores in the fleet so don’t see a need to replace it with a vehicle that has equivalent performance like the Stinger or SRT8.
I remember when WA police phased out V8 Commodores more than 15 years ago. The attitude is that if a chase is getting to a point where you need a V8 Commodore or equivalent performance vehicle then it is time to back off and put other tactics to use to catch the offender.
I agree with this approach. No need to put people’s lives at risk like that. WA hasn’t looked back since so maybe they will go with the new Commodore to