ABDC 2017: Mission accomplished for HSV

Mission accomplished. That’s HSV engineering director Joel Stoddart’s view of the HSV GTSR W1’s win in Australia’s Best Driver’s Car 2017.

Stoddart told motoring.com.au the limited edition final variation on the Commodore V8 theme was always meant to be the most driver-focussed car the hot Holden tuner had ever built. And clearly, having defeated storied performance brands like Porsche and BMW in the annual Tassie test, the W1 achieves that goal.

“It had to be head and shoulders above anything else,” he said.

“We didn’t want it just to be another 10kW and a change of brake colour with a ‘Final One’ sticker on it or anything like that,” Stoddart explained.

“It had to be a unique, ultimate car. I put in the presentation [to HSV management for project approval] it had to be the ultimate Australian-made drivers car.”

To achieve that ambition, HSV combined the base Zeta architecture with a stonking 474kW version of the supercharged LS9 V8 engine and mixed it in with Aussie-developed Supashock suspension, powerful AP Racing brakes and super sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres. Just 300 W1s are being built at a retail price of $169,990. Most are spoken for already.

“This car was built to be driven and built to be appreciated by drivers,” said Stoddart.

“It’s not necessarily a daily driver, it’s for people who enjoy spirited driving and understand some of the technology in the suspension, the brakes and even the tyres.

“They don’t mind the fact the suspension is twice as stiff as a normal GTS because that’s what you need to get the ultimate performance out of that car,” he said.

Stoddart said planning for the W1 began about two-and-a-half years ago, as HSV mulled over how to end the locally designed and built Commodore era. Holden will cease production at its Elizabeth plant in October and the next Commodore will be a front/all-wheel drive import without a V8 or even turbocharged six-cylinder engine.

“We have always been known for pushing the boundaries but this car allowed us to push that little bit further and little bit harder because we knew it was a low volume car, we knew it would be purchased by people who would appreciate that type of car.

“We could put some carbon-fibre on it, we could put those R-spec tyres on there, we could put fully floating front rotors on there. It might get a bit noisy over time but at least people appreciate that’s what you need for the ultimate braking performance. So we were able to push the boundaries that little bit more,” Stoddart stated.