Monster W427 a 20th Anniversary 'Walkinshaw'

HSV is expecting the W427 to be the fastest road-registerable car ever built in this country. Fitted with the 7.0-litre LS7 V8, the W427 will feature unique styling elements including a new front apron, rear spoiler in carbonfibre and entirely new 20-inch alloy wheels.

The engine develops 370kW of power at 6500rpm and 640Nm of torque at 5000rpm. As expected, the engine runs dry-sump lubrication, comprising a two-stage pump and a hand-made aluminium reservoir with baffles to overcome high G-forces.

Other features of the new engine include a high-flow air filter for the over-radiator-style cold-air induction system, 13-row engine oil cooler mounted at the front, ceramic-coated 4-into-1 extractors, high-flow catalytic converters, sport exhaust system with bi-modal rear mufflers and active exhaust management system.

The engine drives through a heavy-duty clutch, a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual transmission and a limited slip differential.

HSV has lowered the ride height of the W427 and fitted springs that are 30 per cent firmer than those installed in the company's GTS. The Magnetic Ride Control (MRC) system has been recalibrated for the W427 application, mostly as a consequence of the revised ride height, firmer springs and stiffer rear suspension bushing.

Brakes feature a six-piston set-up at the front, sweeping a 50 per cent larger area than the brakes of the standard HSV models. Measurements for the two-piece, floating front rotors are 380x35mm, versus 365x32mm one-piece rotors of the GTS. To ensure optimal braking effort, HSV has specified high-friction pad material.

Inside the car, HSV has gone with Performance seats in 'Red Hot' leather, specific trim panels and Red Hot leather trim for the gear shifter knob, gaiter and centre console lid/armrest.

HSV settled on the vehicle's name from '427' for the engine's displacement in cubic inches and 'W' for 'Walkinshaw' -- to commemorate the original VL Commodore-based Group A race car as much as company owner, Tom Walkinshaw.

Although it sounds like a simple, straight-forward packaging exercise, the W427 is a vehicle for which, in the words of HSV's MD, Scott Grant: "We've had to overcome some pretty extraordinary technical challenges to get to this point".

"It's quite unique work and in fact, Mark Reuss [Holden MD], coming to visit our facilities a couple of weeks ago, was quite amazed. He didn't think it was possible that we could have [made] that particular accommodation, so we're pretty proud of it."

The accommodation to which he refers covers such things as the exhaust development, dry-sump lubrication system and the actual production process, by which HSV rips out the standard GTS engine and fits the LS7, in-house.

The company plans to build a limited run of 200 units, based on six cars per week, although the company is keeping it "open-ended".

"200 is the current plan," Grant told the journalists at the launch of the LS3 upgrade for mainstream HSV models.

Price is not finalised yet, although for the present, the company is forecasting a figure somewhere between $150,000 and $170,000.

If that seems a long way beyond the $125,000 plus figure suggested at the Melbourne International Motor Show where the car was unveiled, HSV's MD refutes any suggestion that prospective buyers have been lured with a price substantially lower than the actual price once deliveries commence.

"We are throwing out a price and testing the market acceptance at that point," he admitted.

"These programs have to make sense from a business point of view. We've got a substantial investment in that program. It's not going to be a high volume car, it's going to be quite a unique car.

"And I think there's a place for that type of car in the market. But what price we finally launch it at will also depend on what our final costs are. And our final costs, across all components -- assembly, manufacturing-type inputs, if you like -- are not in at this point in time. So we're unable to lock in on a firm price position, but we expect that in three to four weeks, we will be able to do that.

Challenged as to whether the difference between the original sum and the current forecast was due to an unforeseen cost blow-out, Grant refuted the inference.

"There's no blow-out. We prefer not to have spoken about price at all, but we knew [from] the basic costs that were in at that time, that it would not be under $125,000, so our position is that it is '$125,000 plus'."

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