Holden Wants To Build A 'Torana' Small RWD Sedan

[JoeT]

Torana Hopes Still Alive

Andrew Heasley
9 August 2006
www.drive.com.au

Holden wants a small performance sedan.

Holden's boss wants the company to make a smaller rear-wheel-drive sedan to rival the BMW 3-Series.

"I would tell you for a fact that we're still very interested in that," Holden chairman and managing director Denny Mooney said. "I wouldn't mind at some point in time trying to build a smaller performance rear-wheel-drive car."

The idea comes from a recognition that buyers are choosing smaller cars but still desire, Mr Mooney says, the driving attributes of a performance sedan that's affordable.

"Quite honestly, there aren't any rear-wheel-drive, affordable performance-oriented cars in the market. If you want to buy a smaller rear-wheel-drive performance car you've got to buy a BMW. And they're not inexpensive cars. They're not affordable."

Such a car would be a logical fit, Mr Mooney adds. "I think it would be absolutely within the Holden image: a rear-wheel-drive, more performance-feeling kind of vehicle, with great ride and handling, but make it affordable."

That "performance" he says, is not a narrow definition measured in the sprint to 100 km/h, but a car that is responsive in handling dynamics as well, Mr Mooney says.

"There are plenty of people out there that love cars, love to drive cars, like to go out on a country road, drive a car and have it handle. That's what I think our heritage has been. That's why I think it would be a market we could do very well in."

How affordable? Think mid-$20,000s to mid-$30,000s, and powered either by a four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine, he says.

"With a four-cylinder you get fuel efficiency, but with rear-wheel-drive you'll get better weight distribution. You put a world-class suspension in there. It hits a market that, frankly, isn't there today."

The new Commodore is built on a flexible architecture that allows for short and long-wheelbase manufacturing, but it can't shrink small enough, cheaply enough, for a 3-Series rival.

That's because all the associated tooling and hardware has been made for the Commodore-sized car, Mr Mooney says.

"I don't know that you'd try to shrink this (Commodore platform) down. We've looked at that, but you've got to get the cost down if you want to hit the price points."

Instead, Holden would scour the GM "parts bin" to find a suitable donor chassis, he says.

Holden whetted the appetite of compact sport sedan fans at the Sydney motor show in 2004 when it took the covers off a metallic hot-pink Torana TT36 concept car. It was built on a modified Pontiac Solstice chassis, a rear-wheel-drive compact convertible sports car in the US.

"We were looking at that (Solstice) hardware as a potential base . . . to do a sedan off that. That's fundamentally what we'd do," Mr Mooney says.

The small car could be built in the same Adelaide plant as the new Commodore, he says, occupying up to half the factory's capacity.

Holden is now recognised within the GM world as expert in rear-wheel-drive car development.

Holden Torana TT36 Concept

[macphisto]

This goes along with what I've heard of a compact RWD Pontiac sedan & coupe in development. Pontiac is developing much of its future product with Holden, though we will see some different sheet metal in the states on the cars. Most of the engineering on the RWD Pontiacs in Australian.

[demonv8]

They need something like this now, not in 2 years time! That Torana will be nothing special by then & holden may not even be around ....

[JoeT]

That's the spirit tiger!

[CRBoyd91]

It's a good idea and the concept is beautiful, even in pink. Just as long as Pontiac gets a piece of that action...

[Aych Es Vee]

Torana needs to:

A: be made
B: be WRX size
C: be light
D: have an LS4 in a HSV counterpart, to kill BMW M3s.
E: have an awd option, to kill WRX STis and Evos.

WIN WIN.

[bryce miller]

its a neat car it would make a good saab if it was smaller than the 9 - 3

[redTT]

They need something like this now, not in 2 years time! That Torana will be nothing special by then & holden may not even be around ....

Actually with the way things are going, Holden wouldn’t need a small (or medium sized) car. Some people switched to small cars to get better mileage. The government’s announcement of subsidising LPG conversions would negate the high fuel price issue. Holden already offer an LPG option on their VE Omega.

[ViperDVMan]

This goes along with my idea of a Pontiac sport compact being built as a rear-wheel drive car as kind of a 1-series competitor (yes, I know the 1-series isn't in the States yet). It can also recall the success of the AE86 Trueno (Corolla) and the Nissan Silvias (240SX).

Build it on a stretched Kappa chassis, give it a good 4-banger, especially that turbocharged 2.0L that's going in the Solstice GXP, and you got yourself a killer sport compact that could mop the floors with the 1-series.

[Butz]

Kappa? Zeta? or probably Kappa + Zeta?

[casket_demon]

Does it snow in the land down under?

[Richard1098]

Originally Posted by casket_demon

Does it snow in the land down under?

Only in parts. You pretty much need to take the time and effort to get to the parts where it does snow (even if they are larger than some European countries).

[Carguy]

To bad this was not done from the begining as a sister car of the Commodore on the same timeline. That would have givin it to us MUTCH SOONER then this for a new PONTIAC G4 replacement and a smaller CADDY ATS model!

[RedVee8]

I was trying to wangle an invite to see the VE at a dealer function next week an the salesperson i was chatting to told me "the Torana will be on sale in 2 years". I took this with a grain of salt, but who knows? maybe it is possible.

[kenman923]

This could be something sold alongside the G6, or maybe even replace it.