HSV ClubSport R8 LSA
Australia's Best Driver's Car

6th

Last year the GTS flew the flag for Holden Special Vehicles at ABDC. This year it's 'son of GTS', or as it is better known, the ClubSport R8 LSA. Now in GEN-F2 specification and endowed with a 6.2-litre LSA supercharged V8, the HSV is one of the true muscle-cars in the field. But has it got the poise and the power to handle the foreign invaders – as well as a threat from within its own camp?

The best bit of my week with the HSV ClubSport R8 LSA in Australia's Best Driver's Car? Doing a few laps of Baskerville Raceway.

No, racetrack laps aren't integral to the decision making process for the judges in ABDC. This is really the domain of our pro drivers Luke Youlden and Greg Crick, who can use it to understand the ultimate behaviour of each car at the limit in a safe environment.

I didn't do that in the HSV. I will make that clear now. But what I did manage to do was lap the undulating 2.01km track at a brisk pace changing gear only once.

That's from third to fourth on the back straight; and only if I got good drive out of the preceding corner. In a 1900kg rear-wheel drive sedan with a 400kW/671Nm 6.2-litre supercharged V8, that wasn't always a given.

So think about that. Such is the breadth and depth of the LSA V8 it could pull well beyond 160km/h down the back straight and tractor out of the uphill turn three at about 40km/h in the same gear!

Handy, very handy, considering I had my hands full. It's not that the Clubby is unruly, or the Tremec TR6060 manual gearchange particularly balky. It's just a big car, with a tendency to push its nose at the cornering limit and then set its angle of exit early and steadfastly.

Baskerville has some nice big concrete kerbs on corner exits and they were really appreciated. It was a bit like caroming an ocean liner off a tidal wave to change direction. Thankfully, no capsizes.

In fact, far from it. For all its bigness, this is a car that delivers full confidence to the driver, making it a worthy ABDC participant -- just like the HSV GTS was in 2015.

The flagship 430kW HSV is very much the R8's genealogical father. With the upgrade to the GEN-F2 model range, the ClubSport gets a 'detuned' version of that car's engine, while sacrificing the MRC adjustable suspension and torque vectoring differential from the GTS.

So that's significant change. But still, considering the locally-built Commodore ends production in late 2017 – and that HSV's high-po versions will go with it – this is a pretty cool way to say farewell.

Which is exactly what you'll be doing to most other cars in a straight line.

The LSA's big outputs deliver big rewards. At the drag strip in ridiculously slippery conditions Youlden had to idle off the line to deliver a respectable (in the conditions) 5.079sec 0-100km/h time.

Over 400m it ran a 12.981sec @ 183km/h, making it fourth-fastest; but still equal on speed with the Porsche 911 Carrera S – and only bested by the volcanic Mercedes-AMG C 63 S which belted out a 191km/h terminal speed!

It won – or really lost – another numbers battle: Fuel consumption. The HSV was the thirstiest of our 13 vehicles, averaging 23.11L/100km for the week-long test.

But the upside was the fourth-fastest lap time around Baskerville, a 1.01:410, a time within cooee of both the BMW M2 and Mercedes-AMG C 63 S, albeit delivered in a very different straight-line sort of way.

That shows just how good the overall balance of this car is, capable of delivering fast times on a racetrack, yet also feeling comfortable and cohesive enough on the road to cruise or bruise depending on your feelings at the time.

"How do they make such a big car feels so sporty?" asked Mike Sinclair. "Great steering, excellent ride and grip for Australia. Engine is almost perfect blend of revs and torque. And it's a V8!"

He wasn't alone in his enthusiasm, with widespread complements for the drive experience, the seats and driving positon and the bellowing bi-modal exhaust with its crackling over-run.

There were complaints too, centering on issues like the pedal feel (a springy clutch and stiff brake pedal) and the relationship that made heeling and toeing more difficult than it should be, the tendency of the media screen to freeze up and of course that old Commodore pain -- the thick, vision-obscuring A-pillar.

So to the ultimate final numbers, the ones allocated by the judges over eight criteria for every one of our 13 contenders, and the HSV ended up sixth, narrowly pipped by the cheaper and slightly slower – yet still remarkably enjoyable – Holden SS V-Series Redline.

In the end it was the Commodore that proved the biggest issue for the HSV. Even though price isn't central to the ABDC judging process, it's hard to ignore when the Redline is so good and so much cheaper.

Even forgetting price though, in some ways the Holden is simply a better drive.

As Marton Pettendy noted: "The HSV is better in most respects than the SS V-Series Redline, but not ride. Less compliant, less progressive at the limit ... the firmer ride detracts from the fun factor."

But we are in the final analysis speaking of degrees of excellence here. No, the HSV doesn't win ABDC. But that shouldn't discourage you if rear-wheel drive V8 sports sedans are your thing.

2016 HSV ClubSport R8 LSA pricing and specifications:
Price: $80,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 6.2-litre eight-cylinder supercharged-petrol
Output: 400kW/671Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 15.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 363 g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP)

motoring.com.au’s 2016 Australia’s Best Driver’s Car

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