News
Gallery 1
All this talk of LS9s and bulked out guards risks overshadowing the HSV bread-and-butter (if that’s an appropriate term) range.
But tucked in below the W1 and the rest of the GTSR gang lies the volume-selling HSV stuff which, as well as celebrating the 30th year of HSV also stand as markers of the end of the Zeta platform and the end of locally-made HSVs.
The point is that the HSV range we’ve come to know still represents the high-water mark in volume-selling local hot-rods and even though they don’t bear the GTSR badge, they still stand to be considered pretty damn collectible.
Nope, there’s a new tune that hikes power on Clubsports and Maloos by 10kW (to 410) and boosts torque by 20Nm (now 691). The bi-modal exhaust valve has also been recalibrated to open earlier than before, purely in the interests of more bark.
A tricky little slalom exercise proves the worth of torque vectoring, although it pays to remember that it doesn’t do squat if you aren’t inputting some percentage of throttle application at the time. Back right out of it, and you’re on your own, and that means losing your bottle completely allows physics to take over and she’ll lay down some pretty lairy sideways stripes.
The other big thing in the 30 Years line-up’s favour is, relatively speaking, value for money. The range kicks off with the Maloo R8 at $79,990, moves up to the Clubsport R8 at $82,990, the Clubsport R8 Tourer (wagon) at $88,990, the Senator Signature at $95,990 and tops out with the GTS at $98,990.
To read more on HSV’s 2017 range click here.
1
