MOTORING
Evolution
of an icon
The 2018 Holden Commodore.
Holden’s all-new German-built Commodore developed with over
200,000km local Australian testing, enough to circle the world five times.
PUT yourself in Rob Trubiani’s
shoes for a minute.
Trubiani, Holden’s lead dynamics engineer, has been
responsible for the way Commodores drive for the past 22
years.
In fact, while most people were focusing on Cathy
Freeman beating the world, Trubiani was focusing on
perfecting the VY Commodore.
Now, Trubiani and Holden’s talented engineering team
have released their most recent masterpiece to Australia –
the 2018 Holden Commodore – and this time making sure it
felt like a Commodore was more critical than ever.
“We’ve been working with the GM team in Europe for a
few years to make sure all of the elements of Commodores
are present in this car but when it comes to how it feels,
that’s work we have to do here,” Trubiani says.
“Australians have different driving tastes to Europeans
and Americans.
“Here we like cars to feel more connected to the road and
more engaging to drive. It’s all about road feel and steering.
“We’ve developed an Australian suspension tune that
works unique Holden hardware in the shape of struts and
shocks to make sure the new Commodore feels as planted
as ever.
“Then, add in the adaptive AWD system and it feels so
well-planted it could be running on tram tracks.”
Crashlab to undergo upgrade
ROADS, Maritime
and Freight Minister,
Melinda Pavey, has
announced increased
funding for Crashlab to
enhance local crash test
capability to assist with
independent testing
of autonomous vehicle
safety technologies.
The Government is investing $1.6
million to upgrade the existing Crashlab
test facility to enable the assessment of
autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
systems and other advanced driver
16
assistance systems.
Mrs Pavey said the Government
understands the importance of vehicle
safety in reducing road trauma, which is
why driver assistance technologies like
AEB, lane-keep assist and speed assistance
systems are so important.
“Expanding Crashlab’s capabilities
to test new and emerging vehicle safety
technologies will support ANCAP in
its important role in encouraging the
introduction of AEB and other life-saving
technologies across the national vehicle
fleet,” Mrs Pavey said.
“This means that to achieve a five star
ANCAP safety rating, an effective AEB or
lane support system will be required on all
new vehicles rated."
MARCH 2018 | AK NewsMagazine, Vol 8 No 6
Crashlab testing site.
www.kalatas.com.au