V8 Supercar power for your Commodore

UPDATED: 10/09/2014 10:00 PM

Final pricing and performance figures have now been announced for the Walkinshaw Racing Limited Edition Supercharger Package. Below is an edited version of the news we first published yesterday.

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For less than $90,000 brand-new, or a lot less second-hand, you can now have a Commodore with even more performance than a V8 Supercar, fitted with one of the most powerful V8s on the planet.

That's the word from Holden tuner Walkinshaw Performance Products, which has just launched the Walkinshaw Racing Limited Edition Supercharger Package -- complete with lumpy cam for the first time -- that belts out up to a staggering 550kW and 980Nm of torque, making it Walkinshaw's most powerful creation yet.

Walkinshaw says it's not designed to rival HSV's 430kW/740Nm GTS, but we can't think of many other direct competitors for the near-750hp beast, which out-powers the average 485kW/650hp V8 Supercar racer.

Indeed, the hottest WP V8's power peak eclipses anything from Mercedes-Benz -- including AMG's outgoing atmo 6.2-litre V8, its latest 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 and the new twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 -- and its torque max is bettered only a select few production engines including the 1000Nm twin-turbo 6.0-litre V12 in the $470K--plus SL and CL 65 AMGs.

Priced at $24,490 (supplied and fitted), just 50 vehicles will be fitted with the monster power pack, from October 15.

The tyre-shredding package is claimed to be the first supercharger/camshaft kit available with a full driveline warranty,while each vehicle will also come with an individually numbered engine cover and fitted with a plaque carrying the signatures of Walkinshaw Racing's current V8 Supercar drivers.

The upgrade is offered for all HSV models fitted with GM's 6.2-litre V8 (E Series-GEN-F, 2006-2014), and all 6.0-litre Holden VE/VF Commodore models (also 2006-2014), for which performance outputs are lower (500kW/800Nm).

"From the beginning of this process, our goal was to engineer the most powerful upgrade to date for a road car from WPP without compromising driveability,” said Walkinshaw Performance Products general manager Tony Harris.

“Whether fitted to a 6.0-litre or a 6.2-litre V8 engine, it produces a level of excitement never felt before from a WPP-enhanced vehicle. It evokes passion in a way that few can relate to -- unless perhaps you drive a V8 Supercar."

The kit includes the same WPP230 supercharger upgrade featured on the hard-core W457 and W497 packages ($18,990), comprising an Eaton Twin Vortice 2300 Series (TVS) supercharger with Gen VI rotors, large high-flow injectors, water-to-air intercooler, injection-moulded cold-air intake, 12-inch intake runners, heavy-duty serpentine drive system with Goodyar 'Gatorback' belt, custom moulded heater hoses, cast aluminium coil covers, ceramic-coated headers and dual active cat-back exhaust system.

But the Racing Edition kit also includes "cracking the cases" to fit an OEM-spec camshaft and upgraded beehive-style valve springs, plus valve spring retainers, valve stem locks, cam sprocket, crank bolt and camshaft bolt set.

It also includes full dyno tuning at an authorised Walkinshaw Performance Centre, SP2245 Tool Kit with WP Racing Decal, Walkinshaw Racing Limited Edition Certificate of Authenticity and Walkinshaw Racing Edition Decals.

WPP has not released claimed 0-100km/h times nor top speeds and seldom does, but last year motoring.com.au managed a 4.5-second 0-100km/h run in the W497, which has 53kW less power. So although it's significantly heavier, it could be as quick as a V8 Supercar (1400kg, with driver), or at least join the exclusive group of sub-four-second production super-coupes. 

Spokesman Tom Reynolds told motoring.com.au the company's most powerful road-legal V8 to date was created to coincide with the build-up to next month's Bathurst 1000 endurance race.

"We've wanted to do the racing edition for a long time. We've got our racing heritage — everybody knows about it," he said.

"It will be at Sandown and probably Bathurst. We're trying to hot lap this car around Bathurst. We think it'll do a ridiculously good lap around Mount Panorama. Put [Walkinshaw Racing team driver] Nick Percat in it, and we're talking about a seriously fast lap," he said.

Like all WPP packages, the Racing Edition upgrade is guaranteed for "the balance of the normal manufacturer warranty", with the WP warranty covering all driveline-related issues.

"The simple way to describe it is this: if the power windows fail, your standard warranty takes care of it. If you have a driveline failure, it comes to us.

"That said, we've never had a failure. It's not a problem we've had thus far," he said.

While many tuners insist the driveshaft and gearbox require reinforcing or replacing to deal with supercar-like power, Reynolds says the standard GM six-speed manual and automatic transmissions can handle the extra loads.

WPP also offers brake and suspension upgrades should customers require them.

As for fuel economy, which is unlikely to worry many prospective customers, Reynolds says the 500kW-plus 'Walkie' uses around 12L/100km on the freeway with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Although Reynolds said the sub-$25,000 asking price may be viewed by some as expensive, he stated that Walkinshaw focuses on perfecting the engineering over thousands of development hours rather being the cheapest.

And he confirmed WPP will offer an even more powerful package for owners of HSV's supercharged GTS flagship.

"We don't compete on price. We do it properly, we back our product and we offer a warranty with this package. This is why our GTS package is delayed, because we're not happy with it. The engineering is rigorous."

The media vehicle motoring.com.au is currently testing is finished in a carbon-matt black wrap with gold accent striping. While the latter will be a no-cost option, the wrap is merely to make the press car stand out.