HSV W427 2009 News

Exclusivity doesn't come any better than the most expensive sedan ever built by Holden Special Vehicles, the W427.It is destined to become an instant classic despite its $150,000 price.Originally expected to cost $170,000, Tom Walkinshaw, the Scottish owner of HSV, has confirmed the car wearing his name will be $20,000 cheaper, subject to any changes in the luxury car tax.“With the LCT it will be $156,000,” Walkinshaw says.Despite the price, HSV has been inundated with inquiries since the wraps came off the car at the Melbourne Motor Show.The company has 1500 “expressions of interest”, 70 per cent of which have come from owners of high-end European brands, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz, according to Walkinshaw. The rest already drive HSV cars.He says the car is a credit to HSV engineers.“It's one of the best four-door performance cars I've ever driven.”HSV used high-end European cars as benchmarks for performance and handling.“Everything from Audi, Mercedes and BMW . . . it can hold its own against any of those,” he says.Only 427 examples will be built, a number that refers to the 7.0-litre V8's old-fashioned cubic-inch capacity.Only 90 W427s will be delivered this year and 110 next year.Low-volume production has started at HSV's factory in Clayton. Each customer will be flown to Melbourne to visit the factory to see the production line. They can also go online to follow the progress of the cars.HSV managing director Scott Grant says the company is also looking at performance driving courses for W427 customers.Walkinshaw is modest about the first HSV to officially have his name on it.“A lot of people liked the original Group A car (Commodore VL) which was never called the Walkinshaw in the beginning but everyone called it that,” he says.“So for the 20th anniversary of the company, Denny Mooney said why don't you make something special.”He says that without the help and guidance of Mooney, the previous GM-Holden chief, the car may not have been built.“He said, `Well, I think I can get the 7.0-litre engine from America',” Walkinshaw says. “Mooney was the driving force.“The work in making the car fast and reliable has been enormous. Almost everything from the engine to the wheels is new.“The entire drivetrain has been updated and redesigned to take the power and torque.”The W427 shares its V8 engine with GM's Chevrolet Corvette sportscar. The V8 engine is hand-made on a separate production line at GM in Detroit. It is then shipped to Melbourne to be slotted into the VE Commodore body.In the W427 it develops 375kW at 6500 revs and 640Nm at 5000 revs.HSV undertook extensive modifications to put the Corvette V8 into the VE and make sure it could cope with the power and torque. The car's cooling, suspension, gearbox, differential and wheel bearings were all upgraded.The previous most expensive HSV was the $100,000 VT GTS Series II in 1999. It had a 300kW Callaway V8, the first 300kW production car in Australia at the time. INSIDE VIEWHSV W427PRICE $150,000AVAILABILITY NowEXPRESSION OF INTEREST 1500 potential buyersNUMBERS Built to order up to 427POWERTRAIN 7.0-litre LS7 V8 with HSV calibrationPOWER 375kW at 65000 revsTORQUE 640Nm at 5000 revsSUSPENSION New springs, 30 per cent stiffer than GTS, 20mm lower ride height than GTS, stiffer rear bushings, new magnetic ride-control calibrationBRAKES New six-piston front brakes with 50 per cent greater pad area, two-piece floating front rotors (380mm x 35mm) compared with 365mm x 32mm one-piece on GTS Related storiesOrders race in for HSV's hot W427HSV Series: size countsHSV now a roaring successHSV powers up with LS3 

There is much interest about the car dubbed Australia's fastest production vehicle. HSV managing director Scott Grant has 1500 expressions of interest and yet has production plans of only 200 of the hand-built special sedans. Prices are now being crunched but Grant sees it falling in the $150,000 to $170,000 slot, a bit higher than the $125,000-plus hint dropped by HSV at the model's Melbourne Motor Show debut. But the price could be even higher. What won't change is the 200 production run though Grant won't rule out a second-tier model line using the same drivetrain. Only six W427 — for Walkinshaw and the imperial-measure cubic-inch capacity of the engine — cars will be made each week. “We can only manage six a week,” Grant said. “We're saying 200 today. But when we fix the price, we'll also confirm production numbers. “We'll stick at 200. But we could produce variations on that theme.” The W427 celebrates the 20 years of HSV that started in 1988 using the VL Commodore donor. Only 421 sales were made in 1988 compared with 5222 in 2007. Grant is aiming at 80 builds of the GTS-based W427 this calendar year and the remaining 120 in 2009. The 427cublic inch (7-litre engine) produces 370kW at 6500rpm and 640Nm at 5000rpm to be the most powerful HSV road-going model. The engine is based on the US-made LS7 though fine-tuned by HSV with cold-air induction, ceramic-coated 4-into-1 extractors and active twin-mode rear mufflers. Inserting the 7-litre V8 has proved to be a shoehorning exercise made awkward because of the engine's dry-sump design that requires a separate oil canister under the bonnet. The battery has been relocated to the boot to make some room. The W427 gets a new face to distinguish it from other HSV sedans, a carbon-fibre rear lip spoiler, 20-inch “cookie cutter” wheels, uprated springs that are 30 per cent stiffer than HSV's GTS and new adjustable MRC suspension settings. It sits 20mm lower than the GTS. It also uses six-piston brake calipers.