FPV GT R-SPEC 2012 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $76,990
Options fitted (not included in above price): Nil
Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 13.7
CO2 emissions (g/km): 324g/km
Also consider: HSV GTS (from $82,990)

FPV's latest model, the GT R-SPEC, is a car for extroverts. If you hanker for attention from passers-by, the R-SPEC edition is conspicuous on two fronts. First of all, you'll literally scare birds out of the trees and earn the tut-tutting of lycra-clad cyclists as soon as you rev up the engine. And on the overrun, when the engine is idling and the car is coasting, you'll still be noticed, thanks to the eye-searing combination of bright red on black applied to the car tested.

There's so much to enjoy in the R-SPEC that even quieter, shy types might get into the Mr Hyde swing of things driving this car. The young bloke in the family, who has witnessed just 10 summers, raced out of the house the first night the R-SPEC came home. Not normally one to be impressed by press vehicles, he was over the moon with this particular vehicle, a road-going facsimile of one of his beloved V8 Supercars. And let's not forget the proprietor of the local tile wholesale place, who brought out his family to see this new FPV. He owns a Black Series GT with the nine-inch-wide rear wheels, and his son owns an FPV ute with the 5.4-litre cast-iron V8. Both were rapt in the looks of the R-SPEC.

But the looks are just the icing on the cake. A wicked, supercharged V8 and ZF's very capable six-speed automatic channel prodigious power and torque – 335kW and 570Nm, to be precise – to the R-SPEC edition's rear wheels. What sets the R-SPEC apart from earlier GT models with the forced-induction V8 are the wider rear wheels (19x9.5-inch now), the launch control setup – a first for FPV – and some suspension fiddles.

Does it all come together? Yes it does, basically; you now have traction and action coming together in the same package. The R-SPEC can launch quickly, without the futility of spinning a wheel and generating smoke – although that option is still available for the hoons out there. Whether powering out of a corner or launching off the line, the R-SPEC requires less finesse than earlier supercharged GT variants. It's been a while since the last supercharged GT motoring.com.au drove, but this one feels like the power delivery is a little smoother. It will still storm away from a standing start, but without the same tyre-frying zeal.

Steering remains tactile, although the feedback through the wheel tells you that there's a heavy engine resting in the nose of this car, despite its alloy construction. According to one of the experts in the office, the supercharged V8's difference in weight over the previous cast-iron 5.4-litre V8 is only about 20 or 30kg. But that's still equivalent to a bag of cement, as the bloke from the tile place pointed out. When pushed fairly hard, the R-SPEC still exhibits some steering rack rattle, although the problem is much improved from the early FG Falcon models of 2008. We like the brakes; the meaty pads in the Brembo callipers can be heard and felt working, but it's a consoling vibe to let you know they're up to the task of reining in the car's performance.

Changes to the underpinnings have introduced a firmer ride and the car's composure is sorely tested over even minor bumps and undulations in the road surface, but the passionate enthusiast will put that misgiving aside in favour of the car's straightline performance. Whether those enthusiasts will feel the same way about the car's cornering remains unanswered. The R-SPEC understeers more in tighter turns, although throttle will quickly overcome grip at the rear and cancel out the front-end slip. That said, the FPV is quite capable in the bends and has something to tell the compact prestige sedans we tested over the same road a few months ago. On a trailing throttle its turn-in is responsive and it follows a neat line through bends if the driver is committed. With the combination of steering and brakes, it feels very secure entering a corner at speed.

For the week, the R-SPEC used 15.3L/100km of fuel, according to the trip computer. Given that it was not spared the neddies, that's not a bad effort. Despite the combination of supercharger whine and throaty V8 burble present at speeds up to and beyond 60km/h, the R-SPEC was very quiet during open-road cruising. The driveline conveyed no noise to the interior at all on freeways and other than a mild rumble, the tyres were also muted. There was some appreciable wind noise present at speed, but at no point was it challenging to conduct a conversation at 100km/h.

In respects other than those mentioned already, the R-SPEC is little altered from earlier FG-based models from FPV. Steering rake adjustment is still too low and the seats are too soft for this reviewer. Like the F6 E driven three years ago, this one lacks keyless entry and an auto-up facility for the driver's side window. However, the car brings many more highpoints to the showroom than it does shortcomings. With the gloss black interior trim, the well-arranged centre fasica and the very competent Bluetooth facility (with music streaming), the R-SPEC achieves a level of sophistication inside that could compare with more expensive rivals from Europe. Indicator and wiper stalks operate with a softly-damped action and the doors close with that reassuring drum-like quality akin to German cars. Just a couple of gripes: the suede trim on the seats looks a little bargain-basement, and the blue backlit graphics for the switchgear in the centre fascia can be hard to read at night.

We are reliably informed the rear Dunlops come from Germany and might be hard to replace – but chances are the wider wheels on customer cars will be the first thing to go anyway, replaced by steel wheels shod with cheap tyres for the burn-out competition!