HSV returns to Woomera with SportsCat

Name some places intrinsic to the history of Holden Special Vehicles.

OK, there’s Notting Hill, where it all started for the factory-approved hot Holden tuner; Clayton, where it’s been based for most of its history, and Mount Panorama, where Commodores from its sister racing division have scored seven victories.

But what about Woomera in South Australia?

It was here in 2006 where local racing legend Mark Skaife set a new land speed record for utes in a Z-Series HSV Maloo R8.

Woomera is the name given to both the village 446km north of Adelaide and the massive 122,000 square-kilometre rocket testing range it abuts.

It was here, on a narrow and bumpy but straight and flat bit of bitumen that Skaife set the new 271.44km/h mark.

“I got there and went and had a look and I remember asking the guys to tell me when we were driving on the strip we were going to use for the record attempt,” Skaife recalls.

“It was narrow and bumpy and there were cattle grids and they said ‘you’re on it’. I said ‘you’re kidding yourselves!’. I thought ‘this is going to be a bit of a challenge’, but as it turned out it was relatively straight forward once we got into it.”

Not only straight forward, but dominating. The new mark smashed the 248.783km/h record set by an 8.3-litre V10-powered Dodge RAM SRT-10 in 2004.

Now, just months after the last Maloo rolled from its assembly line, HSV is back with a very different sort of performance ute, the SportsCat… or the Holden Colorado SportsCat By HSV, as it is officially known. From this point on we’ll call it the SportsCat.

As the official name suggests, the SportsCat is based on the Thai-built Holden Colorado.

But, just as the Holden Commodore ute was turned into a Maloo at Clayton, so the Colorado is upgraded from Z71 dual-cab locally… albeit at a new factory just down the road from the old one.

For us, Woomera simply made sense as the place to sample the SportsCat.

After all, while the Maloo made its mark on the local bitumen, the SportsCat is intended – like the dual cabs it competes against — to range much farther and wider into the Aussie wilderness.

And if there is one thing that you see around Woomera, it’s lots of nothing bisected by gravel roads and tracks that run to the horizon.

Essentially, SportsCat retunes the Colorado’s suspension, overhauls the look with some cool bolt-ons, tickles the interior and leaves the 147kW/500Nm 2.8-litre four-cylinder Duramax turbo-diesel, six-speed auto and part-time 4x4 system alone.

HSV’s aim is to make a tougher looking ute that drives better, both on and off road.

The SporstCat+ we had for the Woomera expedition was the top model, which means it includes exclusive kit such as AP Racing front brakes (still drums on the rear like most utes) and a rear sway bar that decouples in low range for increased articulation.

Our example also had optional Australian-developed Supashock dampers, rather than the standard HSV sports suspension, with cool remote canisters up-front.

All up, the cost before on-roads for our SporstCat+ was a hefty $74,540. That’s up in Ford Ranger Raptor and Mercedes-Benz X-Class territory.

Our plan was to start at Woomera village and head off into what’s known as the Woomera Prohibited Area. Essentially, this spreads north-east, north and west from the village and missiles have been fired over this area for the last 60 years or so.

In the square at the Woomera village you can even get up and close and personal with some of the missiles that have been tested and developed here, and the planes that flew out of the adjoining RAAF base.

Have a cruise around and you’ll find a 10-pin bowling alley and a big hotel, testament to the time when there were lots of US military personnel and a permanent population of more than 7000. It is now is less than 150.

Head north on the Stuart Highway from Woomera towards Coober Pedy and you might be surprised to learn that you are travelling in the prohibited area.

Obviously, anyone can drive here anytime, but head onto the dirt and you’ll almost certainly need a permit. The good news is they are not hard to secure.

Out here it’s mainly crown land covered by pastoral leases, exploration and mining tenements and native title.

You’re reminded of where you are when you pull up at a station homestead and — along with the usual array of houses, sheds and machinery — there’s a deep bunker to take shelter in if a missile goes off-course.

Driving the SportsCat+ out here is an exercise in pleasure and pain.

If the going is relatively smooth and fast – on bitumen or gravel -- then the secure body control and feel-some steering deliver a driving experience better than any other ladder frame ute on sale today. Combine that with a punchy diesel engine and it’s a blast to drive.

On the Moon Plain east of Coober Pedy (yep we’re still in the WPA), the SportsCat+ charged along kicking up a long red plume of dust, gently sliding through 80-100km/h gravel sweepers, responding to small steering and throttle inputs. It’s so good it makes the thought of a comparison with the Raptor drool-worthy.

But get on to the rough stuff and you quickly realise the Raptor would eat it up and spit it out.

The problem is the SportsCat+ is set up like a sports car. It is simply too stiff for Outback roads where severe ruts can shake and pound a vehicle for hours.

If you’ve never experienced them it’s hard to understand just how bad they are. If you have experienced them you never forget.

The SportsCat+ paid the price for its lack of compliance. A plastic cover on the sailplane broke off and the hinges for the quick-release tonneau cover sheared, forcing us to secure it with tie-downs.

To its credit HSV told us they had fixes for the issues, but they hadn’t made it on to our pre-production vehicle before we hit the road.

Engage low range in the part-time 4x4 system and the SportsCat+ also struggles on the really tough stuff. It has a helical limited-slip diff rather than a locker and while the former is preferable in most conditions, it does not deliver the ultimate drive of the latter.

There’s some other issues too; the SportsCat+ is bloody heavy at 2274kg, which doesn’t help payload or real-world fuel consumption. There’s also not that much differentiation from the standard Colorado interior for the money you are spending.

But camped out under the stars, fire roaring and a cold beer in hand, the reality was the SportsCat had taken us somewhere that a Maloo could never hope to.

By the time we’d circled back to Woomera it was pretty clear the SporstCat+ had some substantial plusses and minuses.

If you’re a city-slicker 4x4 driver then it will be fine, but in this tune you’ll be looking for respite soon after you head off the bitumen.

But there’s no doubt that, on the right road in the right conditions, the SportsCat+ is really enjoyable to drive. In that at least, the common lineage with the Maloo is obvious.