HSV's final, finest Australian-made V8 flagship cranks out 474kW and 815Nm for $170K

HSV has announced the re-introduction of its GTSR range this week, including a staggering W1 flagship version that will lay claim to the title of Australia’s most powerful – and most expensive – homegrown production car.

Minus the hyphen, the GTSR badge revives a nameplate last seen on the overt ‘XU-3 Yellah’ painted VS Commodore-based GTS-R of 1996.

More importantly, it will officially produce 474kW of power at 6500rpm and no less than 815Nm of torque at 3900rpm, easily eclipsing the existing standard GTS (430kW/740Nm).

They’re not the only big numbers. The GTSR W1 tops HSV’s final all-Australian model range at a whopping $169,900 plus on-road costs.

That’s about $15,000 more than the most expensive Australian-made model previously offered – HSV’s VE Commodore-based W427 of 2008, which produced 375kW from its Corvette Z06-sourced 7.0-litre V8 and was priced at $155,500. Unsurprisingly, just 137 examples of the planned 427 were built.

As scooped by motoring.com.au last Sepetmber, the W1 badge delivers a nod to HSV’s Walkinshaw family ties and tops the MY17 GTSR line-up, which begins at $96,990 plus ORCs and comprises three vehicles: the GTSR Maloo ute and GTSR and GTSR W1 sedans.

Performance figures for the limited-edition W1 swansong flagship — powered by a Corvette-sourced hand-built 6.2-litre LS9 all-alloy V8 — remain provisional owing to “excessive wheel-spin”…

At this stage HSV says it expects a 0-100km/h number better than 4.2sec and a 0-400m time of less than 12.1sec. In the hands of Warren Luff, the W1 lapped Winton Raceway in Victoria 4sec faster than the regular GTS, recording a lap time of 1:33.2.

Engineered in just 11 months in close conjunction with General Motors and Holden engineers, HSV says the W1’s “lower, wider, more muscular stance, reinforces its track heritage, the all-new front fascia and extensive use of matte black accents bringing a clean, aggressive look that not only delivers a distinctive, race-inspired appearance, but to also maximise cooling of the engine and driveline”.

Shoehorning the ground-pounding V8 into Holden’s Commodore sedan required a wider front track (+3mm offset), front guards (+12mm per side) and unique close-ratio gearbox.

The larger wheel-arches house all-new five-spoke 20×9.0-inch front and 20×10.0-inch SV Panorama forged alloy wheels. Finished in Dark Stainless on GTSR Maloo and GTSR and Matte Black on GTSR W1, the alloys are half-an-inch wider than the balance of the MY17 range, and feature “waisted” spoke sides to aid weight reduction.

Regular GTSR variants are shod with Continental ContiSportContact 5P tyres while the W1 sports road-legal Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R semi-slicks measuring 265/35 (front) and 295/30 (rear).

GTSR Maloo and sedan variants continue to offers HSV’s Magnetic Ride Control semi-active damper system, while the W1 adopts all-new SupaShock suspension, similar to used in Walkinshaw Racing’s Supercars.

The track-focussed W1 set-up delivers a tune comparable to a street-circuit tune of V8 Supercar racers, and is unapologetically firm. Linear-style damper pistons are said to deliver the lowest frictional losses of any commercial damper available while the front coil is rated at 2.2 times the stiffness of the current GTS.

Braking is courtesy of AP Racing six-piston monoblock callipers and 410mm discs up front. The fully-floating rotor is gripped by Ferodo 4488 brake pads and cooled by ‘S-shaped’ internal vanes (to increase the air path through the disc). Rear discs measure 390mm on all variants.

The GTSR Maloo and sedan feature an enhanced version of HSV’s 6.2-litre supercharged LSA Generation IV all-alloy V8. Now developing 435kW (up 5kW) and 740Nm (unchanged), it’s the most powerful LSA engine HSV has offered. The increase is the result of a recalibration of the engine management software and the addition of a hi-flow K&N air filter.

All three variants benefit from a recalibrated bi-modal hi-flow exhaust system which now opens earlier in the rev range.

The ceramic-coated stainless steel 4-2-1 system with integrated catalytic converter “loosens the boundaries a little” when heard alongside regular HSV models, and is a quarter-inch larger in diameter at 2.5 inches. HSV stresses its exhaust meets all Australian regulatory and drive-by noise limits.

GTSR variants are recognised by quad exhaust outlets with dual diamond-shaped tips.

Diamond-quilted stitching and leather bolsters appear on new HSV Podium seats on GTSR and GTSR Maloo, replaced with full Alcantara upholstery on W1 models. Striking red herringbone twin-needle highlights also feature extensively throughout the cabin, while an Alcantara-wrapped, sports-profile steering wheel and gear selector are standard on GTSR W1 (and optional on both GTSR and GTSR Maloo).

All three GTSR models include torque vectoring (by brake) and HSV’s Enhanced Driver Interface (EDI) screen. The familiar driver preference dial remains. This controls traction and stability settings, launch control, torque vectoring, bi-modal exhaust and electric steering weighting.

As was the case with the MY17 HSV range there are also three additional paint colous — Spitfire (lime green), Son of a Gun (deep grey), and Light My Fire (burnt orange) — which takes the colour count to nine.

The GTSR range also includes driver assistance and safety technology that includes automatic park assist, reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, head-up display, forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, auto headlights and wipers, and six airbags. Creature comforts include dual-zone climate-control, nine-speaker BOSE audio (six-speaker on Maloo) and sat-nav. The range is further identified externally by unique LED daytime running lights, quad exhaust outlets, and LED tail-lights (excluding Maloo).

“With the MY17 range being the last of the Zeta platform product, our intentions were always to send the platform off with a bang and the content we have delivered is central to that plan,” said HSV managing director, Tim Jackson.

“The GTSR name was last used nearly 20 years ago, and as we built this range with a view towards current market expectations and trends, we couldn’t help but feel the GTSR nameplate was the logical fit for this family of product.

“We’re confident we’ve delivered our best product ever, and the greatest performance cars ever produced in this country,” Jackson enthused.

Production of the GTSR range commences in April and while all vehicles will be available in limited quantities, the GTSR W1 will be limited to approximately 300 vehicles. HSV says it already has more than double that number of order requests.

Our advice? Get in quick!

2017 HSV GTSR and GTSR W1 pricing (plus ORCs):

GTSR Maloo — $96,990 (man), $99,490 (auto)

GTSR (sedan) — $109,490 (man), $111,990 (auto)

GTSR W1 — $169,990 (man only)

2017 HSV GTSR and GTSR W1 options pricing:

Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel and gear selector (standard on W1) — $1590

Car cover — $990

Car cover with customised build number — $1090

Electric tilt/slide sunroof (sedan models only) — $1990

Phantom black-painted roof (sedan models only) — $550

Six-speed automatic transmission with Active Select and paddle shifters — $2500

Related reading:

HSVs swan song Aussie range from $80k

Official HSV slams down 474kW GTSR W1

HSV GTSR W1 Review

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