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AUSTRALIA’S last-ever homegrown super-sedan range will bid farewell with a torrent of piping-hot V8s.
HSV’s 2017 line-up will not only see the revival of the long-rumoured GTSR badge – last seen on the ‘be-winged banana’ VS GTS-R in 1996 – but there will be a limited-run mega-sedan sitting above and beyond even the ‘regular’ HSV GTSR, called GTSR W1.
VIDEO: We hit the race track in the GTS-R W1
Packing the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s epic dry-sumped 6.2-litre LS9 supercharged bent-eight instead of the regular GTSR’s tweaked LSA unit, the W1 will justifiably sit right at the top of Australia’s balls-out, muscle-car hierarchy. And it won’t be just numbers on a dyno sheet either. While 474kW and 815Nm are worthy of their own cult worship, the W1 will back up this beef injection with a raft of upgrades to gearbox, suspension, wheels and tyres intended to ensure that it’ll be the closest thing we’ll ever see to a V8 Supercar for the road.
Inside GTSR sedan and Maloo GTSR, HSV’s excellent seats receive Alcantara inserts with diamond-quilted stitching and leather outer bolsters, in conjunction with a new start-up screen for the ‘Driver Interface’ set-up, also fitted to MY17 GTS.
Visually, the W1 builds on the already-smokin’ GTSR with a few subtle but worthwhile extras. Additional ‘W1’ front guard and bootlid badges, a unique “carbonfibre-upper” rear spoiler, matte-black for the scalloped section of the side skirts, and unique tyres for the 20-inch forged wheels shared with GTSR – Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R rubber measuring 265/35R20 up front, 295/30R20 at the back (instead of 255/35 front and 275/35 rear).
With a retail sticker of $169,990, the W1 is even more expensive than the exxy 7.0-litre W427 from 2008. But no matter the cost, this LS9 beast will fly out the door. Sales begin February 1 with production starting early April. As one of the most hardcore four-doors ever produced by a GM brand, it’s a fitting send-off to Australia’s fastest-ever car.
