Holden Caprice (WM)

Development and design

The WM Statesman was an A$190 million investment, in combination with the $1.03 billion VE Commodore programme. The WM will continue to supply cars to senior Federal and State politicians, government officials, businesspeople and private buyers in Australia and overseas.

The WM Statesman features the same bodyshell as the WM Caprice, but the Caprice possesses a sportier character than the more conservative Statesman. Less chrome is incorporated outside compared to the Statesman. Visually the boot may look smaller from the outside but it is considerably larger inside compared to the VE. The front windscreen and the front doors are the only parts of the Caprice that are visually the same as the VE. Unlike previous models, the rear doors were not taken from the Commodore wagon; the WM's elongated rear doors enable easier entry and egress.

Points of differentiation to the Statesman for the Caprice include sports suspension, larger 18 inch alloy wheels, although 20 inch wheels come as an option, and dual rear seat LCD screens (with DVD player), Bi-Xenon headlamps also come as standard as well as rear LED brake lights. Unlike the Commodore, the Caprice receives a full size spare alloy wheel as standard.

Compared to the previous generation, more sporting trim highlights are used in the cabin and the centre dash incorporates real aluminium. The already considerable rear leg-room has been increased over previous models. Tri-zone climate control systems feature for the first time that can regulate the car's temperature at three separate places inside the cabin. Themes for the specialist interior design team were comfort, sophistication, harmony, luxury and attention to detail. The extroverted instrument pad features a wide binnacle, unique chrome-ringed instrument cluster and integrated centre stack with a high resolution colour screen, zoned audio and climate controls and satin chrome detailing.

Series II

Series II Caprice and Caprice V model gained Holden's new Holden IQ system which enables the connection of USB devices, enhanced bluetooth connectivity, satellite navigation with traffic alerts and a reversing camera, standard on both models. Bose audio is also standard on the Caprice and Caprice V.

WN update

The WN update from July 2013 added a VF Calais V interior and alloy wheels to the externally unchanged Caprice. The rear LCD screens for the Caprice V's DVD entertainment system now folded into the seat backs when not in use. The WN Caprice adds trailer stability control, rear cross traffic alert, backup camera, blind spot monitor, lane departure warning system, collision avoidance system, automotive head-up display, electric park brake, automatic parking. For the 2015 model year, the WN dropped the base model Caprice, leaving the Caprice V with a choice of L77 V8 or LPG-fuelled V6 engine options.

Series II

The final Australian-made Caprice V of September 2015 left equipment levels largely unchanged, but dropped the V6 engine and replaced the L77 with the 304 kW (408 hp), LS3 V8. Minor external changes included 19" wheels shared with the VF Series II Calais V, the standard fitment of the formerly optional rear lip spoiler and a single exhaust pipe on each side replacing the quad exhaust tips of previous V8 models.

Engine and mechanics

The Caprice comes standard with a 6.0-litre L98 V8 engine producing 270 kW (360 hp) coupled to the GM 6L80E six-speed automatic transmission as featured on sports Commodore variants. A cheaper 195 kW (261 hp), 3.6-litre Alloytec V6 was available as an option for the Caprice, but is standard on the Statesman. The semi-sports suspension is stiffened compared to the Statesman, Holden refer to the more sporting suspension as "FE1.5", sitting halfway between their standard suspension tune and the "FE2" suspension tune of their sports models. The V8 had a claimed 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) time of a little over six seconds.

The WM Series II Caprice come standard with a Holden's 210 kW (280 hp) 3.6-litre SIDI direct injection V6, paired with a six-speed automatic transmission with Active Select. From the MY09.5 update until the 2015 WN, V8-powered Caprice variants were powered by a 260 kW (350 hp), 6.0-litre Gen IV V8, with Active Fuel Management (AFM) technology and matched with a six-speed automatic transmission with Active Select. The WM Series II and WN Series I Caprice also offered the ability to run on bio-ethanol or E85. WN Series II models are solely powered by the LS3 V8.

Safety

In the safety aspect the Statesman comes with Bosch Electronic Stability Control, traction control, ABS brakes, EBD, BAS and a tyre pressure monitoring system as standard Front, side and curtain airbags come as standard which is another incentive to improve the Caprice's safety equipment, this also contributed to the fact that the Caprice’s safety rating surpass that off its main rival, the LTD. Development commenced with the largest virtual crash modelling program Holden has ever undertaken. Emphasis was placed on considering the range of impact scenarios that occur in real world accident situations and differing occupant criteria. Safety technologies were benchmarked along with the world’s leading luxury brands and major engineering programs delivered a stiffer body structure and vastly increased usage of advanced strength steels. Multiple load corridor strategies for frontal, side and rear impacts improve passenger compartment integrity. They are complemented by an improved multi-point airbag sensing system and an adaptive restraint system which includes dual stage front airbags, thorax side impact airbags, curtain airbags and front seat active head restraints as standard equipment. Structurally optimised crush zones absorb crash energy and other occupant protection features include a steering column ride-down mechanism and breakaway brake pedal.

E Series

Based on the Caprice, the E Series Grange uses a LS3 6.2 Litre Generation Four V8 engine, which produces 325 kW (436 hp) at 6000 rpm and 550 N·m (406 lb·ft) of torque at 4600 rpm so it will accelerate the car from 0–100 kilometres per hour (0–62 mph) in 5.0 seconds. The vehicle is heavily based on the Holden Caprice. HSV badges are positioned on the car to help differentiate it from the Caprice.

The price of a Grange's A$82,990, which is A$13,000 more than a standard Caprice.

Gen-F and Gen-F2

While the Grange F Series has the same exterior as the preceding E Series, it features the same dashboard interior upgrade as the last HSV GTS (VF). When the Gen-F2 was launched in September 2015, however, the Grange did not gain the supercharged LSA motor now fitted to several of its VF Series II-based stablemates. The formerly optional 340 kW (460 hp) upgrade to its LS3 engine became standard, though the regular WN series II Caprice was by this stage also powered by an albeit less powerful LS3 engine variant. With the announcement of the cessation of the HSV Grange production in October 2016, a final run of 50 limited edition models, called Grange SV, was announced. The SV boasted four-piston AP Racing brakes with black calipers, black accents on the bodywork and 20-inch Rapier gloss black forged alloy wheels.

Exports

Like the previous model, the WM is exported to the Middle East as the Chevrolet Caprice since 2007. Since 2007, complete knock down kits have been exported and assembled by Shanghai GM for the Chinese market. Sold as the Buick Park Avenue, the car replaces the Buick Royaum; a rebadged version of the WL Statesman and utilises Australian-built versions of the GM High Feature engine.

Holden recommenced Caprice exports to South Korea in 2008 as the Daewoo Veritas after showcasing a pre-production Daewoo L4X in 2007. Compared to the Australian-specification model, the Veritas is V6-powered only and has a modified rear floor to accommodate the electrically adjustable rear seats incorporating a massage function. The headrests are also electrically adjustable, with the Caprice's dual headrest-mounted LCD screens orphaned in favour of a single, ceiling-mounted unit. The Veritas was discontinued after GM phased the Daewoo brand out in favor of Chevrolet.

On 5 October 2009, General Motors announced the new Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) would be sold to law enforcement agencies in the United States market from 2011. It was not to be sold to the public as a new, untitled vehicle although some of the detective spec models were sold by a dealer to civilians in June 2011, and fleet demonstrator or factory used vehicles (not placed in police service) are routinely sold by dealers nationwide as used vehicles. Imported from Australia, the Chevrolet is a captive import of the Holden Caprice, as opposed to the Pontiac G8 which was based on the short-wheelbase Holden Commodore version. Holden outfited the Caprice with the 6.0-litre L76 AFM V8, a 3.6-litre LLT SIDI V6 engine became available nine months later. Both engines are E85 ethanol-capable.

Previously, the future of Holden's North American export programme had been the subject of contradictory announcements as General Motors emerged from bankruptcy. On 11 July 2009, Bob Lutz declared the Commodore-based Pontiac G8 "too good to waste" and indicated it would return as a Chevrolet Caprice. However, it was undisclosed as to whether the revived Caprice was to be based on the short-wheelbase Holden Commodore (like the Pontiac G8) or the extended length Holden Statesman/Caprice, like the Middle Eastern Chevrolet Caprice. Several days later, Lutz retracted his comment, citing market conditions, while GM CEO Frederick Henderson confirmed that police applications were being studied.

The Caprice PPV had a positive reception, with near perfect scores in an assessment by The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and with the only criticism being directed at over-cautious electronic stability control. The US Chevrolet Caprice PPV was different to its Australian and Middle Eastern counterparts in that the lower front bumper is based on the Commodore Omega Series II front-end, and the interior is also from the Commodore Omega, the low-end trim of the VE Commodore that is used by law enforcement in Australia and New Zealand. The 9C3 Detective version used the same interior as that in the Middle Eastern-spec Caprice LS.

Updates to the Caprice PPV for 2014 included the interior from the Commodore Evoke, with a column shifter replacing the floor shifter that was in the 2011-2013 models to make room for equipment and the 9C3 Unmarked/Detective version being discontinued. For 2015, the PPV gained the same rear vision camera as the Holden Caprice WN, Royale and SS models. No changes were announced for the 2016 model year.

A final Chevrolet Caprice PPV update was made for the 2017 model year, including a limited-slip differential for the V6 model, vinyl rear bench seat with seat-back security panel, 18" full size spare wheel and the deletion of two exterior paint colour options. Like the Holden Caprice WN and exports to the Middle East, the Caprice PPV will be discontinued when production in Australia ends.

Bitter Vero

In 2007, the small-scale German manufacturer, Bitter, which specializes in rebodying existing vehicles for sale in Europe, resumed its operations by launching the "Vero" at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. It was based on WM series Caprice (WM) sedans, believed to have been purchased directly from Holden thanks to Erich Bitter's friendship with Holden's former Peter Hannenberger. It featured extra luxury fittings and a revised exterior, and its production ended in 2012.