Holden SS V Ute

It used to be that if you drove a ute you were obviously involved some way in the building or farming trade. Comfort features were rare or nonexistent, and the less you said about the ride and handling the better. But these days utes are hot property, and you can't get much hotter than the $55,490 Holden VE SS V Ute.

It's a new top end addition to the all new VE Ute range, and a recognition that hardly anyone buys this sort of vehicle as a workhorse. There's also the renewed possibility that the ute will be brought to the US as a Pontiac, judging by recent comments from Bob Lutz.

In this SS V you get big 19 inch alloys, projector headlights, Bluetooth phone connection, part leather upholstery, and a 150W audio system, but more importantly there's a 6.0 litre V8 engine pumping put 270kW and a chest thumping 540Nm of torque slotted in under the bonnet.

But it's not all about brute power, because losing the requirement to carry huge loads in the rear means that the suspension can be tuned more like a car than a truck.

The SS V does drive very much like a car, except that you get the feeling it would be happier with a little bit of extra weight over the rear wheels, because when you enter a corner the nose dips heavily under the weight of the V8 in the nose and the Ute begins to understeer before the stability control reins it in. Maybe even in the 21^st century there's still a place for a couple of carefully placed bags of cement over the rear wheels.

A sure sign that car-like ability was the focus in the SS V is that you can only fit 508kg of extra weight in the SS V, and that includes driver, passenger, anything in the cab, and any aftermarket accessories you may desire on the vehicle. This particular model has morphed from focused workhorse to dedicated lifestyle accessory.

Since the interior is largely lifted from the sedan it's all pretty familiar territory, with a good looking and well equipped dashboard. The familiar low budget trims are there as well, as is the handbrake with the decidedly un-ergonomic button that requires you almost always catch your fingers when you let the handbrake off.

On the plus side, Holden has increased the storage room inside the cabin, with room behind the seats rising from 90 litres in the old model to an impressive 245 litres. Peer behind the seats and you could almost imagine a set of tiny jump seats, albeit for very short people only. There's also a colour screen multi function display on the dashboard, and full satellite navigation availability.

The ute, and this ute in particular, has finally transcended the idea that it's a workhorse first and a fun car last, and that's not really a bad thing as there are still other utes out there - including ones in the rest of the Commodore ute range - that will carry a heavy load all day. It's really best if you imagine the SS V as a two seat muscle car with an abnormally large boot. That way, it really does make sense.