When reviewers want to say that a vehicle handles well, they often mention how the designers did the testing at the N\u00fcrburgring. The \u201cRing\u201d is considered to be one of the most demanding and difficult race courses in the world, and to get around the track in one piece is a sign of a good car and\/or a good driver.<\/p>\n
Not many utes have been tested at the N\u00fcrburgring.\u00a0 This is partly because these aren\u2019t common vehicles over in Europe (which raises the question about what tradespeople use to haul their gear around \u2013 do they all use lorries and vans? And does every single farmer in the European Union use 4×4 motorbikes and tractors to do the rounds?). But back in February this year, when the design team at Holden were just putting the finishing touches on the new Holden VF Commodore<\/a>, they decided to put the ute through its paces on the (in)famous N\u00fcrburgring.<\/p>\n Only two utes had been put through their paces at the N\u00fcrburgring before: the Dodge <\/a>\u00a0Ram SRT rigged up with the 8.0-litre V10 engine from the Viper, and the Ford <\/a>\u00a0F-150 SVT Raptor with a supercharged 6.2-litre V8. It was rather lucky for Holden that a VF Commodore was in Europe already when they had this bright idea: a pre-production model was undergoing a bit of testing in Spain. Time was short: this model would either have to be crushed in Spain or sent back home to Australia within six weeks.<\/p>\n There was no time to book a famous professional racing driver.\u00a0 Instead, the best driver they had on hand was Rob Trubiani, a member of the chassis design team who had been on hand for the testing in Spain, which included calibrating and fine-tuning the ESP.\u00a0 Trubiani was not and is not a racing driver, but he was a certified N\u00fcrburgring test driver.\u00a0 After all, what better way to ensure that the chassis you\u2019ve designed works brilliantly than to see how it goes through the N\u00fcrburgring?<\/p>\n The team at Holden selected ANZAC Day (Australian time) as the day to put the Holden VF Commodore SS-V Redline Ute against the clock. However, they managed to get it out onto the track in the hands of Rob Trubiani before then, as the track had some of their industry pool days on (days when the track circuit is kept for manufacturers to test cars on). This nearly spelled disaster, as the Holden had a close brush with an Audi <\/a>\u00a0that sent the ute off the track onto the dirt at the exit. But what\u2019s a bit of dirt to a ute? Even with this close call, the Holden still managed to do the track in under the 8 mins 40 seconds Trubiani thought it capable of doing.<\/p>\n ANZAC Day dawned in Australia as Trubiani lined the Holden VF Commodore Ute up ready to go. The ride is better seen than merely described, which readers can do at this link<\/a>, complete with Rob Trubiani providing the commentary on his drive. \u00a0He gets airborne at one part and dodges debris from a prototype Jaguar \u00a0<\/a>that exploded during the industry pool days, but still picks up a time of 8:19:47.\u00a0 And now, the Holden can proudly claim that it\u2019s the fastest time for a ute to complete the N\u00fcrburgring. Sure, \u201cutes, pickups and commercial vehicles\u201d is a new category for the Ring, but a record is a record!<\/p>\n