Walkinshaw boosts VFII V8 performance

TUNING specialist Walkinshaw Performance Products (WPP) has boosted the power of Holden’s 6.2-litre LS3 V8 powered VFII Commodore by a substantial 80 per cent, from 305kW to a whopping 547kW, thanks to its aptly named W547 Package.

Torque figures also increase from 570Nm to a mountainous 880Nm – a 54 per cent jump – courtesy of an Eaton supercharger, along with other upgrades which include high-flow injectors, a water-to-air intercooler, custom heater hoses, aluminium coil covers, uprated camshaft and valve springs, along with a WPP-designed cold air intake, ceramic-coated headers and cat-back exhaust.

Shelling out $25,990 will see the package fitted to a supplied car, and is compatible with all LS3-powered Holden VFII Commodores including VFII SS, SS V, SS V Redline and Calais variants in sedan, sportwagon and ute styles. The W547 Package is also suitable for all LS3-equipped HSV models.

Although Walkinshaw does not test for performance figures, W547 Package-fitted cars are expected to be much quicker than the 305kW/570Nm VFII Commodore sedan, which will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds, and even quicker still than the brutal 430kW/740Nm 6.2-litre supercharged LSA V8-powered HSV GTS, which can clock the 0-100km/h run in 4.4 seconds.

Walkinshaw is calling the kit “by far the most powerful performance enhancement available for a Commodore that Walkinshaw Performance Products has ever produced”, but Walkinshaw general manager Tony Harris said this new kit is “not necessarily about the power and torque”.

“It is a great number (547kW/880Nm), but it’s not really about the actual number itself, it’s about how the vehicle drives, that’s the most important thing,” he said.

“It’s configured to perform with the standard setup of the vehicle. We don’t do any suspension modifications, there is no need for us to do that. It’s really about how smooth the power and torque comes on, it’s quite linear and quite flat, and that is critically important because that doesn’t impact the way the vehicle handles.

“I’m sure you could make it step out if you really put your foot into it, but that’s not what we’ve designed the package around.”

Production numbers are not limited on the W547 Package, but the first 50 customers will score the launch package, which adds a gloss yellow supercharger top cover and matching aluminium coil covers.

Launch package customers can also participate in a Walkinshaw Performance V8 Supercar ride day and will receive a framed photo of the #18 Walkinshaw Racing V8 Supercar with W547 livery signed by driver Lee Holdsworth.

Mr Harris said that he is expecting “phenomenal interest” in the new package, and chalks up the demand to the company’s transparency and reliability.

“I guess what we’ve done is demystified the industry somewhat by creating these W Series packages, and the customer knows exactly what it is they are getting” he said.

“You can go into the aftermarket sometimes and be overwhelmed and bewildered by what people are producing, but we’ve tried to make it as clear and as transparent as we possibly could, so people have complete piece of mind of our backup and support.

“We have our own driveline warranty. So if any of our parts fitted to the vehicle cause a genuine warrantable failure, we will cover it, no problems, no questions asked.”

W547 Packages are expected to be available from October 30.