VY Commodore

The Holden VY Commodore (2003–2004) was Holden's first Project Blueprint V8 Supercar — the VY-model body on the category's new parity package, replacing the pre-Blueprint VX Commodore.

Project Blueprint — a parity reset, not a control chassis

Blueprint was a major engineering reset, but a parity exercise rather than a control-chassis one. For 2003 it brought the two marques together by standardising the front suspension geometry, key dimensions and much of the running gear. For the Commodore the headline change was the front end: the VX had run an HRT-developed MacPherson strut, and Blueprint moved it onto a common double-wishbone front (adjustable camber, cockpit-adjustable anti-roll bar) shared with the Falcon. Behind it sat a live rear axle located by four parallel links and a Watts linkage, a front-mounted Holinger six-speed, the Dunlop control tyre, a mandated control ECU and a minimum weight of 1350 kg (1355 kg from 2004). Teams still designed and built their own chassis, though — the common control chassis did not arrive until Car of the Future in 2013.

Body & aero

The VY carried the road car's silhouette, with the aerodynamic package worked to Blueprint's parity-controlled envelope — a front splitter and undertray and a boot-mounted rear wing. The aim of Blueprint was to bring the two marques' downforce and drag close together, so the aero was a controlled package rather than free development; the splitter, undertray and wing are set by the technical rules rather than published as per-car figures.

Engine & driveline

The works engine was the Holden Motorsport 5.0-litre fuel-injected V8 (a 90-degree pushrod unit), running on the control ECU (the media guides name MoTeC), quoted around 620 rising toward 635+ bhp, limited to 7500 rpm with 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 (a longer 3.15 was added for Bathurst from 2005), via an AP Racing triple-plate carbon clutch.

Brakes, wheels & tyres

The HRT works VY ran Alcon six-piston front calipers on 375 mm discs and Alcon four-piston rears on 340 mm discs, with Penske four-way-adjustable coil-over dampers and O.Z 17×11 wheels — but none of these was universal: brake make and wheel supplier varied by team (the 2006 control-brake list approved AP Racing, Brembo, Alcon, PFC and Harrop), so other VY runners used different combinations. The tyre was the single-make Dunlop control.

Evolution

The VY raced 2003–2004 before the refined VZ Commodore took over the same Blueprint package from 2004.

For the VY's championship record, see the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Sources: harvested V8 Supercar media-guide spec sheets (HRT VY) + Division C technical rules — Grade B; Project Blueprint standardisation — Grade B/D.