VR Commodore

The Holden VR Commodore was Holden's Group 3A V8 Supercar for 1995 and 1996, replacing the VP Commodore and giving way to the VS Commodore for 1997. This page describes the selected post-September 1996 revised package.

Development

The VR wrapped updated bodywork around the same fundamental Group 3A mechanical package as the VP: a naturally aspirated, fuel-injected Holden 5.0-litre V8 turning to the regulated 7500 rpm, a Holinger six-speed and a 9-inch live rear axle. Whether — and when — the racing Commodore's engine moved from Holden's own V8 to a Chevrolet-based small-block is disputed and left unresolved in the project's conflict register (CON-006); in period it is recorded as the Holden 5.0-litre unit.

Body & aero

The VR's most visible change was a centre-post rear wing in place of the VP's side-mounted arrangement — the wing style the VS would carry over. The front kept the mandated large spoiler and inverted-wing undertray. The selected state is the post-September 1996 revised package: ahead of that year's Sandown 500 the front spoiler and undertray were cut by a reported ~125 mm on parity grounds. That is a dimensional change identifying the amendment, not a downforce figure — the original CAMS bulletin and reference datum remain unrecovered, so no force delta should be read from the cut length.

Holden and TWR's original VR proposal was far more radical — a wildly lowered body with re-tubbed front wheel arches, longer rear trailing arms and modified front strut towers — but CAMS rejected it: the homologation papers were lodged on 1 November 1994, knocked back three days later, and only approved, in tamed form, late that December. The ruling forced the VR to reuse the existing VP floor-pan and suspension pick-up points, so in the end "the differences between the old and new Holden are all aerodynamic." That aero was worked in the wind tunnel — a 30%-scale model at RMIT, then the full-size car at Monash University, where the team evaluated four front spoilers, four undertray variants, three side-skirt sets and three rear-wing configurations before settling the package.

Chassis & driveline

Suspension followed VP practice: a MacPherson-strut front and a live rear axle located by a four-link and a Panhard rod on a Ford 9-inch-based housing. The Watts-linkage rear that defined the later VT had not yet appeared. Drive ran through the Holinger six-speed to the 9-inch crown-wheel-and-pinion. Category minimum weight rose to 1350 kg for 1996.

Brakes, wheels & tyres

Wheels were the 17×11 category size; early Group 3A cars ran various custom wheels rather than a single make. Tyres remained an open competition between Bridgestone, Yokohama, Dunlop and Hoosier — the control-tyre era was still three years off. Brakes and pads followed team practice.

Evolution

The VR handed over to the VS Commodore for 1997, which added a new front bar to the same VP-derived platform and kept the centre-post wing.

For its championship record see the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Sources: Group 3A formula and the V8 Supercars Physics Handbook (N. Higginson) — Grade B; VR aero states and the engine-transition dispute (CON-006) — Grade D.