HSV celebrates three decades with range update

NOT content with wheeling out the most powerful locally developed production sports sedan in Australian history – the limited-edition 474kW GTSR W1 – as a last hurrah to its homegrown V8 car range, Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) has given the remainder of its line-up a substantial facelift that includes more power on most models, styling tweaks and a broader application of torque vectoring.

Dubbed the 30 Years range to mark the 30th anniversary of the creation of HSV in 1987 as a replacement for Peter Brock’s HDT as Holden’s performance car partner, the late-life renovation to the Gen F2 line-up includes something that HSV fans would walk over hot coals for: a throatier bi-modal exhaust that pays better respect to the big bass notes pumped out by the 6.2-litre supercharged LSA V8 at a wider variety of revs.

But get them while you can, because after December these homegrown muscle cars derived from Holden’s Commodore Zeta large-car platform will be history, replaced at HSV by modified imported cars from General Motors.

The 30 Years range has just gone into production at HSV’s Clayton plant in Victoria, covering all the popular HSV models – ClubSport R8, ClubSport R8 Tourer, Maloo R8, Senator Signature and GTS.

Except for the GTS which retains its 430kW version of the LSA V8, the other models all get an extra 10kW of power, to 410kW, as well as an extra 20Nm of torque, to 691Nm.

Technology-wise, the biggest change to ClubSport, Maloo and Senator Signature is the addition of brake torque vectoring that previously was only standard on the GTS.

The system kicks in when the car’s electronic stability control (ESC) detects understeer when powering through a corner.

It applies braking to the inside rear wheel to transfer torque to the outside rear wheel, thus generating what the engineers call a “rotational moment” in the rear axle to provide a more balanced exit.

Styling-wise, the ClubSport variants and GTS get matte-black accents on the alloy wheels, while the Senator Signature gains 20-inch Rapier forged alloys previously offered as an option.

To make sure everyone knows you are driving something special, the cars will bear a 30 Years logo on exterior badges, floor mats and door sills (except Maloo), and all will carry a unique 30 Year engine build plate.

A price hike of between $500 (GTS) and $3500 (ClubSport R8) applies to most models.

2017 HSV 30 Years range pricing*

Maloo R8 LSA	$79,990	+$3000
ClubSport R8 LSA	$82,990	N/A
ClubSport R8 Tourer LSA (a)	$88,990	+$3000
Senator Signature (m/a)	$95,990	+$3000
GTS	$98,990	+$500

*Excludes on-road costs