Walkinshaw Performance gears up

Hot on the heels of the announcement that HSV owner, Tom Walkinshaw has purchased the Elfin sportscar marque, comes confirmation, the Scottish motor racing identity is lending his name to a new aftermarket performance tuning house.

Walkinshaw Performance opened its doors earlier this year in a temporary set-up just a stone's throw from its 'cousins once removed' at HSV in Clayton in Melbourne's east. Now the aftermarket tuning and performance specialist has moved to its new permanent home adjacent to Elfin Sports Cars in Braeside in the south eastern suburbs of the southern capital.

Headed by ex-HSV exec and now Elfin boss, Chris Payne, Walkinshaw Performance boasts a team with a predominance of V8 Supercar experience.

The new operation is targeting HSV and Holden owners with a range of aftermarket luxury, suspension and performance options ranging from simple suspension lowering and aftermarket sunroof fitment through to high-horsepower forced induction and naturally aspirated engine tunes. It will service VT-VZ customers as well as the latest VE and WM series vehicles.

And it won't only be V8s that the company will be targeting. Walkinshaw Performance already has a rolling showroom for Astra owners in the shape of a modified HSV VXR turbo coupe. It will offer a range of performance goodies for the four-cylinder car in both hatch and coupe variants.

Payne told CarPoint that Walkinshaw Performance is aiming to provide turn-key services to "customers who want a bit more than the volume manufacturers -- even HSV -- can offer."

"We are an aftermarket performance and tuning operation, but thanks to the collective expertise within Walkinshaw Performance we are approaching it like an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] operation," Payne told CarPoint.

"Many of our modifications are ADR compliant and where possible we ensure that our modifications are in harmony with factory systems such as ESP and traction control. For example we offer ADR-compliant six-piston and other brake caliper upgrades."

According to Payne, the company offers suspension and wheel upgrades that work within the standard calibration of the latest VE and E-Series cars' ESP software. The company also offers a 15mm lowering kit for the latest MRC damper equipped HSV models.

Heading towards the more extreme end of the spectrum Walkinshaw Performance also offers track car preparation and even trackside support (WP built the left-hand drive track cars that are used for a one-make race series in Bahrain). It will shortly debut a new positive displacement supercharged upgrade for VE/WM model Holdens that will deliver in excess of 375kW.

Part of the wider Walkinshaw group network, Walkinshaw Performance is also gearing up to provide services in the UK in anticipation of wider availability of Holden and HSV built product there.

Payne is adamant Walkinshaw Performance is a stand alone business and as such will operate at arm's length from HSV.

"HSV is now a volume manufacturer -- we are an aftermarket performance house. That said, our advantage is that our understanding of the platform is significantly greater than most operations. Our engineers have significant V8 Supercar and production expertise and so we understand the implications of the modifications we make. Our customer cars are not our development cars," Payne said.

Keep an eye out for CarPoint's test drive of a range of Walkinshaw Performance fettled cars in early 2007.