HSV track test: VL Group A SS v GTSR W1

You’re looking at the bookends of three decades of hot Commodore production by Holden Special Vehicles.

On one side is the 30-year-old VL SS Group A, on the other the brand-new GTSR W1.

We’ve united them together at Sandown International Raceway, the place in August 1988 where the Group A SS was launched alongside the factory racing car that was based upon it.

Back in those days the base production car was being assembled by Holden at its now defunct Dandenong plant and being shipped up the road to a small factory in Notting Hill to be turned into a Group A SS by newly established Holden Special Vehicles, the company created by Scotsman Tom Walkinshaw to build officially sanctioned hot Holdens following the Polariser-driven split with Peter Brock and HDT.

HSV -- as it was renamed in 1989 -- is still owned by the Walkinshaw family and long ago moved a few suburbs south to Clayton, where the first of 300 W1s are now being built.

Before we go any further, there will be HSV fans already up in arms, or at least keen to present us with their version of history.

Yes, it is correct to say August 1988 was not the first time the VL was seen. The first reveal was of a timber-cut exterior in October 1987 at the Sydney motor show, where the first 10-year deal between Holden and Walkinshaw was also announced.

And sure, once assembly began early in 1988 the occasional example was driven by the press before the August launch.

And to complicate things further, you could argue the SV88 was really the first HSV. That’s because the Group A was a contract car, which effectively meant it was a Holden Motor Sport project to which Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) contributed the controversial ‘Batmobile’ aerodynamic design.

Incidentally, it was one of only two contract cars that HSV ever built. The other? The VN Group A SS.

But HSV’s first and longest-serving managing director John Crennan has no doubts about the legitimacy of the VL as the first of the HSV breed.

“That was the signature for the brand getting established. That was the statement post Peter Brock everyone was looking for,” he told motoring.com.au.

Priced at $43,500, the VL Group A SS was initially built in a batch of 500 to comply with FIA touring car regulations. A further 250 were later added to the build and an extra $2000 added to the price in an attempt to recoup losses on the original build. It was a move Crennan admits backfired.

“We had a very hard time,” he grimaces. “It was one of the best lessons I ever learned; if you declare you are going to do a limited edition of a certain number that’s what you should do.”

The W1 is raring to go of course, but the VL needs some respect paid to it. Owned by the Walkinshaw family, #555 is painted in the requisite Group A SS Panorama Silver and is in decent condition – well-kept rather than concours – and the request is to drive it with some care. Even our hardcore pro driver Luke Youlden says he will comply with the request.

“I grew up watching these cars take on the mighty Ford Sierras and it's almost a bucket list thing for me to drive it,” he reveals.

The Group A was a sensation when it was launched. It was powered by the first electronically fuel-injected Holden 5.0-litre V8, its progressively linked twin throttle bodies forcing the appearance of that huge cold air intake on the bonnet. It made 180kW at 5200rpm and 380Nm at 4000rpm. Top speed was 235km/h and it could accelerate to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds, driving its rear wheels via a Borg warner BT5G five-speed manual transmission.

Shift forward 30 years and the $169,990 W1 has the ground-shaking supercharged LSA 6.2-litre V8 under its bonnet, making a mega 474kW at 6500rpm and 815Nm at 3900rpm. Top speed is electronically-limited to 250km/h and the claimed 0-100km/h time is 4.2 seconds. Its gearbox is a close-ratio heavy-duty version of the six-speed Tremec TR6060 manual.

Sitting alongside each other it’s apparent these two cars are from different eras. The W1 dwarfs its older relation. It is almost 300mm longer, 80mmm higher and 160mm wider. Its wheelbase is more than 200mm longer and it weighs in more than 400kg heavier.

Yet the VL still looks wild. Its fibreglass aerodynamic kit earned it some less than poetic nicknames including as the ‘plastic pig’. But it’s also known more affectionately as the ‘Walky’ and the ‘Batmobile’.

Under the skin the VL relied on Bilstein sports suspension (struts and a live rear axle), four-wheel disc brakes, variable ratio hydraulic-assist power steering and 16-inch Bridgestone RE71 rubber (our car is fitted with Expedias).

The W1 employs Australian-developed Supashock dampers to go with its combination of struts and multi-links, massive AP Racing brakes with 410mm floating front discs and six-pot callipers, variable-mode electric-assist steering and incredibly-sticky staggered 20-inch Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres. Both cars get a limited-slip diff but the W1 adds torque vectoring.

For its day the VL was promoted as being quite luxurious, with new sports seats, carpet throughout, air-conditioning, power windows, a four-speaker sound system and a Cobra anti-theft alarm.

Needless to say it’s a short list compared to the W1, which is drowning in gear by comparison. The most obvious disparity is electrics. It has a raft of driver-assist and safety systems that weren’t even dreamed of when the VL was around.

It doesn’t even get anti-lock brakes (ABS), which weren’t introduced to the Commodore until the 1991 VP (although the first locally-made Holdens to get ABS were the VQ Statesman and Caprice in 1990).

“It’s interesting how forward you feel,” confirms Luke. “It sorta reminds me of a 1980s Formula 1 car where you are right at the front.

To survey the squared off dashboard with its 200km/h speedo (despite the 235km/h top speed), unadorned Momo steering wheel and simple set of buttons and controls on the VL’s centre stack is to drift way back in time.

By contrast it’s all going on in the W1, with its head-up display, massive flat-bottomed steering wheel, deeply hooded instruments, high-mounted media screen and Driver Preference Dial that changes various aspects of car behaviour, such as steering and exhaust note.

At Sandown the W1 is a seismic drive. Luke is seeing 240km/h-plus on the back straight and with the assistance of those huge brakes, trick shocks and ultra-sticky tyres is cutting lap times that would have been respectable in a touring car just a few years ago.

“It handles really well -- it’s quite neutral to slightly understeery, which is surprising. You would think it would be a tyre-shredding monster but it’s not,” says Luke.

“It’s got amazingly good power-down. It’s the first time I have seen such a wide tyre on the back and the front of an Aussie-made car and it's such a good tyre it does everything right.

“It’s repeatability under brakes is equally impressive.”

Back on planet plebeian the impact is just as stunning. The W1 gives an inkling of why racing drivers are so happy to throw their grandmas under a train for a drive. It’s an addictive experience, full of sound and fury but underlying all that with a level of control – grip in other words – that turns us all into Supercars stars … just for a few moments.

If the W1 is shock and awe then the VL is light and easy. It grunts into life with that distinct Holden starter motor whine, the clutch pedal depresses without any real resistance and first gear is engaged without the requirement of a bullworker via the long throw – in comparison to the W1 – gearshift.

A firm press of the throttle and we accelerate down the straight at about the same rate as a modern-day hatchback. Throttle response is crisp.

There’s an initial slackness to the steering, yet it's complemented by detailed feel and sharp turn-in. The engine feels lively enough and makes a pleasant noise, albeit miniscule compared to the W1.

The brake pedal has some deadness before biting into its work, and body roll is quite surprisingly pronounced mid-corner. Understeer is mild, oversteer not easily provoked. What was cutting-edge 30 years ago feels like a Sunday stroll through the Botanical Gardens with the kids now.

Luke is as good as his word, treating the VL with respect during his stint. However, he still admits to seeing 180km/h on the speedo and we can hear some tyre squeal as he rocks and rolls his way through the second-gear esses.

“They say you should never drive your dream car because you will be disappointed, but this is probably one of those cars where I am not that disappointed,” reflects Luke after returning to the pits. “It is actually quite impressive for what it is.

“One thing I am surprised about is how light the steering is; it is very, very light. Even in comparison to the newer cars I expected it to be quite a bit stiffer.

“It’s a little bit softer -- you can feel more roll than the modern car. It does turn in quite well though. There's a little bit of understeer mid-corner as you would expect. But power-down you don’t really have to worry or concern yourself with having a smooth throttle application that’s for sure. It doesn’t have the power to light the tyres up.”

“Cars have come such a long way in 30 years,” he exclaims. “The refinement, the grip level, the repeatability. The outright speed is just phenomenal. It’s 1000 per cent different in the modern car!

“I really love driving the old dinosaur -- if I can say that ... I am sure I will offend some people -- but the new one is unbelievable.

“What an age we live in. What a shame we are never going to see an Aussie-built car like the W1 again.”

He’s right of course. The last 30 years have delivered us some great Commodores from HSV and these are two of the greatest. The chapters have all been written, the story is complete, the book is closed. It’s been a great read and ride.