VE II Commodore

The Holden VE II Commodore (2011–2012) was the Series II update of the VE Commodore — the last Holden of the five-litre Project Blueprint formula before the control chassis of Car of the Future arrived for 2013.

Project Blueprint — the final Holden state

The VE II remained a parity car, not a control-chassis one: teams still built their own chassis to the standardised Blueprint geometry. It continued the marque-common double-wishbone front (adjustable camber, cockpit-adjustable anti-roll bar), a live rear axle located by four parallel links and a Watts linkage on coil-over adjustable dampers (from the control damper list), a front-mounted Holinger six-speed, the Dunlop control tyre, the mandated control ECU and a 1355 kg minimum. The common control chassis only came with Car of the Future in 2013 — so the VE II is the end of the own-chassis Blueprint line for Holden.

What the Series II changed

The Series II was a body/aero and running-gear refresh rolled in for 2011 rather than a new mechanical package: the VE II kept the VE's Blueprint driveline and suspension essentially unchanged while updating the body to the road car's Series II front. The aero stayed within Blueprint's parity-controlled envelope — front splitter and undertray plus a boot-mounted rear wing — held close to the Falcon by the technical rules rather than freely developed.

Engine & driveline

Power came from the Holden Motorsport 5.0-litre V8 with HRT-developed heads — a 90-degree pushrod unit on the control ECU (media guides name MoTeC), estimated around 635+ bhp, limited to 7500 rpm at a 10:1 compression ceiling. Drive ran through the Holinger six-speed and a "Motive 9-inch" differential on the control 3.25 / 3.5 / 3.7 final-drive set, via an AP Racing triple-plate carbon clutch.

Brakes, wheels & tyres

The works VE II ran Alcon six-piston front monobloc calipers (removable bridge bar) on 375 mm discs and Alcon four-piston rears on 343 mm discs, with O.Z 17×11 wheels — the works fitment only: brake make and wheel supplier varied by team (the control-brake list approved AP Racing, Brembo, Alcon, PFC and Harrop). The tyre was the single-make Dunlop control.

Evolution

The VE II raced 2011–2012, after which both Holden and the category moved to the control-chassis Car of the Future (Gen I) — Holden switching to the VF Commodore — for 2013.

Sources: harvested V8 Supercar media-guide spec sheets (Commodore VE, Blueprint equivalence) + Division C technical rules — Grade B; Project Blueprint standardisation — Grade B/D.