HSV Maloo R8 E-Series 2007 Review

OVERVIEW
Holden Special Vehicles takes pride in having introduced 'sports utes' to Australia. When the first Maloo was released in the early 1990s, it wasn't possible to buy SS or XR8 utes. HSV invented this curiously and uniquely Australian cultural element.

Yet despite the company's commitment to this sub-sector of the market, HSV has only sold 5000 units of the Maloo since its inception, 17 years ago. In fact, number 5000 has only been built with the introduction of this new car, the E-Series Maloo R8.

To put that in perspective, total Maloo production over a 17-year period is a few hundred units less than the company's total output for this year alone. So Maloo is a tiny part of HSV's business, but you wouldn't know that from the sheer focus and attention paid to the latest version in the design and engineering development phase.

Recognising that the Holden Ute -- the donor car for the Maloo -- is built on the long-wheelbase platform of the Statesman/Caprice, HSV used a Grange mule to put brakes and the stability control program through the wringer before the Ute was launched to the public.

From a very early stage, HSV decided to impress a different 'personality' on the new car. The SMC (Sheet Moulded Compound) lightweight tailgate, being unique to the Maloo, allowed HSV to fashion a unique style for the Maloo's rear end, complementing the traditional Maloo 'sailplane', updated for the 'E-Series' model.

As with all HSV models, the Maloo arrives at the company's production facility fitted with 'slave parts'. The steel wheels are finished in a daggy looking yellow and the bumper covers are unpainted black. These items are replaced by the appropriate alloy wheels and style-specific airdams during the process of taking a Ute and making a Maloo of it. The redundant slave parts are recycled, sent back to the Holden factory in Elizabeth for re-fitting to the next HSV headed down the line.

Watching the production process and listening to HSV staff discuss the Maloo, it's hard not to be infected by their enthusiasm. It would be easy to dismiss HSV models as Holdens that have been to finishing school, but there's a surprising amount of tweaking and fiddling that makes its way into the high performance cars.

As an example, the remote central locking also secures the hard tonneau through a centrally located lock/latch mechanism in the tailgate. The tonneau can be removed altogether, if required, but while fitted, provides a means of securing tools and other items in the cargo bed as well as, if not better than the tailgates in many wagons. Unlike wagons, there's no glass for thieves to smash in order to gain access to the payload.

The new car starts at $5000 above the VZ base model, but undercuts the VZ R8 by nearly $2000. For the 6L80E six-speed automatic transmission you'll pay an extra $2000, when the auto option in the VZ cost no extra. Of course, the previous auto transmission option was a four-speed box. The six-speeder in the latest Maloo is worth the extra money.

There's one key option for the R8, the Performance Pack, which includes leather trim and 20-inch alloy wheels for a cost of $3750.

Is the extra money of the E Series worth it over the superseded models? We would say yes -- with qualification. There's more power and torque, reverse parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, the VE upgrade features (multi-link IRS, one-piece side panel pressing, etc), the HSV-specific features like the larger brakes, the SMC tailgate with the remote central locking for that and the hard tonneau... The list goes on.

HSV's Paul McDonnell describes the Maloo R8 as a ClubSport specification with GTS seats. Those seats are trimmed in Glore suede for the bolsters and fabric for the inserts.

Standard features include leather-bound gearshift knob and multi-function steering wheel, trip computer, cruise control, electric mirrors, electric windows, Blaupunkt six-disc CD audio with five speakers and MP3 compatibility, remote central locking with 'follow-me-home' function and illuminated vanity mirrors for driver and passenger.

MECHANICAL
Some will find it disquieting that there's no Magnetic Ride Control in the Maloo R8. Still, the new car rides and points pretty well (more of that in ON THE ROAD below).

The six-litre LS2 V8 has been upgraded for the E Series range and now produces 307kW of power and 550Nm of torque. Being an all-alloy engine, it doesn't badly affect the Maloo's weight distribution and, according to HSV's Chief Engineer, John Clark, the Maloo's extra length over the ClubSport sedan compensates somewhat for the traditional 'light in the rear' ute syndrome. In fact, the additional wheelbase has led to the Maloo being close to the ClubSport sedan in kerb mass overall, from which we would extrapolate that the Maloo comes pretty close to the sedan's balanced weight distribution.

The V8 drives through the standard six-speed manual Tremec transmission and HSV offers the 6L80E six-speed automatic transmission as an option. For the new car, the auto box will blip the throttle on sequential-shift downchanges. This is a new feature introduced with the Maloo, but filtering down to other HSV models over time.

Lacking the R&D resources of Holden, HSV has nonetheless carried out extensive testing of the new SMC tailgate, which has been subjected to thousands of hours of durability testing. This tailgate is substantially lighter than the standard Holden pressing and allows HSV to distinguish the Maloo from other car-derived utilities on the road. Even though it's markedly lighter than the original sheet steel unit, the SMC tailgate will readily support a man's weight, as Clark (Ed: no wallflower!) proved during the drive program.

Mechanically, the underpinnings are VE Ute based, but with revised springs and dampers, plus larger disc rotors. Wheels are narrower at the front (8.0-inch front versus 9.5-inch) for the rear tyres to take maximum advantage of the rear suspension's native grip.

PACKAGING
What can you say about packaging for a car that begins life as a commercial vehicle? As we know, the Maloo is based on the VE Holden Ute, itself a light commercial vehicle built on the same wheelbase as the Statesman/Caprice and HSV Grange.

So for load-lugging -- a role in which most Maloos won't loom large anyway -- the HSV has more useable load space than the VZ model, even though the overall length of the car is shorter than the VZ model's.

How that works is like this: VE's wheelbase is longer than VZ's, but VE's rear overhang is shorter. The total load section floor is shorter than the VZ's, but the 'open dimension' of the floor (aft of the rear window) is longer for the VE.

The payload has definitely gone backwards, however. HSV cites a payload of 500kg dead for both manual and automatic variants, which -- by the company's current testing measures -- is 11kg less than the payload of the Z Series model.

Whilst the Maloo is not the sort of car that will spend its life carting a tray full of pavers around, as soon as you seat driver and passenger in the car with two dirt bikes in the back, chances are the Maloo will be over its maximum permitted GVM.

On the plus side, the E Series Maloo's towing capacity is 1600kg, which is enough to tow a car trailer and race car behind it.

In the cabin, the Maloo feels snug. With a lot of 'charcoal' ambience, the cabin shrinks around you -- also made somewhat more 'claustrophobic' by the thick 'A' pillars and low roofline. Despite that, the cabin is very comfortable and there's plenty of head and legroom for driver and passenger.

HSV has made it just a little bit easier to climb in and out of the cabin by squaring off the bottom of the steering wheel.

A nifty little receptacle closer to the passenger seat is very useful to hold a mobile phone.

There's additional 'secure' storage space behind the front seats, although it's slightly annoying to have to push the lever on the seat and pull the seat forward just to place larger items in that storage area. What could and should be a one-handed task requires two hands, one to push the lever back, the other to pull the seat back forward -- and a third hand to carry the item(s) you want to stow there in the first place!

SAFETY
As for the VE Ute, the Maloo does not have side impact airbags. It does, however, offer two-stage deployment for the front airbags, active head restraints and seatbelts that feature both load-limiters and pre-tensioners.

On top of that, the car has an emergency mode facility that is triggered by the pre-tensioners, turning off the engine and fuel pump immediately, unlocking the doors and initiating the hazard warning lights and interior dome light.

So there's good and bad where passive safety is concerned. On the active safety front, things improve considerably.

The Maloo rates as one of the safest cars on the road today for its ability to avoid collisions in the first instance. In fact, its capability is surprising for a car -- keep reminding ourselves here -- that is fundamentally a commercial vehicle.

The driving safety aids fitted include stability control program, ABS, Brake Assist, traction control and the all-important EBD, for those occasions when the Maloo is actually carrying a sizeable load.

Over and above the tacked-on safety aids, the Maloo is inherently stable and can change direction very rapidly when called upon to do so. Combined with the responsiveness of the engine and the vice-like grip of brakes and tyres, the Maloo should be able to avoid most dangerous situations thrown at it.

COMPETITORS
For the most part, the Maloo's competitors are pretty obvious. FPV is currently selling the Cobra Ute for barely $1200 more than the Maloo -- for both manual and auto. If you're hanging out for the manual, there's a cost saving with the Maloo, but the Cobra is cheaper than the HSV with the auto option.

With the Cobra, you're arguably buying automotive history -- in more ways than one, it might be recklessly said.

FPV will sell you a car without the same collectable quotient. It's called the 'Pursuit' and is now fitted with the same 302kW engine as the Cobra's -- for thousands less. There is a reason why it costs thousands less, of course. It's about specification. A hard tonneau which is standard for the Maloo R8 costs $2900 for the Pursuit, according to FPV's website. That will take the Pursuit perilously close to the Maloo manual's starting price.

Finally, there's the FPV Super Pursuit, which is already very close to the Maloo in price -- and it has to be said, with Brembo brakes and the no-cost option of the ZF six-speed auto, it's the car that is most likely to cause HSV grief.

However, these cars can afford to be priced very competitively because whilst they perform much the same function and offer similar specifications for the money, there's one principal thing that will constrain buyers from cross-shopping the Maloo against its FPV: branding. One is a 'Holden', the other is a 'Ford' -- and never the twain shall meet.

Accelerating at the same pace and through the same radius in our 'E Series' Maloo, the car just launched... No fuss, whatsoever. The multi-link rear end and 275mm width of tyres just took care of business.

Straight away then, there's a dramatic contrast between the old and the new cars for dynamic ability.

But it goes beyond that. Not only is the E Series Maloo more capable from point to point, it gets there with refinement and a fantastic balance of ride and handling. This is a car that rides with more composure on its 35-series tyres (40 series for the 19-inch front wheels) than some out-and-out prestige sedans. That's without MRC, too. For a 'commercial' to offer this much enjoyment and refinement beggars belief.

Having said that, the ClubSport sedan feels a touch wieldier in the twisty bits than the Maloo. A product of the sedan's shorter wheelbase, perhaps?

With power on, the basic handling trait for the Maloo is mild, consistent understeer. The car can be placed quite accurately on the road with minimal steering input. In other words, you're not constantly adjusting the angle of attack and the Maloo seems to thrive on harder driving, as we found from tootling along roads up to Marysville, which sits at the base of Victoria's Lake Mountain.

During that harder driving, the seats held us securely and remained very comfortable. Trimmed in Glore suede and cloth, the seats look to be both prestigious and hard-wearing. Striking that sort of balance is no easy feat.

The presentation of the interior generally was attractive and functional. White-faced dials for the major and minor instruments were easy to read and not at all garish. Abundant use of charcoal trim (including the headlining) might be excessive for some people and -- as already mentioned -- makes the cabin feel just a bit smaller than it actually is.

It was not all beer and skittles in the Maloo. The shift quality of the Tremec six-speed manual transmission remains an obstacle to swift, smooth motoring. Pay the extra $2000 and get the auto... It's just easier and can accomplish pretty much the same ends as the manual and in a fraction of the time it takes to find the right gear with that porridge stirrer of a thing.

The 'positive torque' feature -- in which the engine management CPU revs the engine to match revs to road speed on a downshift -- has been introduced to the HSV range with the Maloo auto and is a good thing. BMW had it years ago, so we Aussies are a bit late to the party, but it works well with the sequential shift and really makes a manual box redundant.

There are the usual gripes that apply to any VE-derived car: A-pillars are too thick and are detrimental to the field of vision, the handbrake is just wrong but we're gradually getting used to it and the switches for the electric windows and mirrors are in the centre console, not the door armrests, where they should be.

But, it must be said, the Maloo is a tonne (well, 500kg) of fun. In his presentation on the day, John Clark described the Maloo as "the first Aussie coupe with a damn big boot."

To us, the boot is irrelevant. Buy it for any reason and you'll love it for years -- but don't buy it for the boot.