My, how the badges lie. To anyone else on the road, this black Holden Commodore is a regular HSV GTS, the 6.0-liter V-8 sport sedan built by GM's Australian hot-shop, Holden Special Vehicles (HSV). With its 20-inch wheels, big brakes, and tied-down suspension, the HSV GTS previews the 425-hp Pontiac G8 GXP we'll see here sometime in late 2008.
Under the hood, though, is a little secret -- a 7.0-liter, 505-hp LS7 V-8 lifted straight out of the Corvette Z06. Yup, it basically bolts right in. And it's taken an outsider to do the operation many Aussie musclecar enthusiasts have been waiting for GM to perform. The work has been done by Corsa Specialized Vehicles (CSV) in Melbourne, Australia, a tuner with no small amount of experience in turning out some wicked Commodore-based projectiles over the last 15 years or so.
We've driven the car: Run it down the drag strip, through peak-hour traffic and out in the country, so can attest that the engineering, the finish and most of all the performance work beautifully. All it needs now is a new badge.
It's worth cutting straight to the chase and talking about acceleration. There's a six-speed automatic involved but experience on the road suggests that, even with a rubbered-up track surface, traction off the line won't just be difficult, it'll be virtually non-existent. Chevrolet's figures show the LS7 grunts out 470lb-ft, but this example, with a better intake and exhaust system, is certainly producing even more, so what chance do a pair of standard, 20-inch Bridgestones have when that lot is unleashed in anger?
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