Last of the Great Australian V8s: The LS9-Powered HSV GTSR W1

HSV sends off the Aussie-built Commodore with huge horsepower and track tuning.

On the Holden Special Vehicles website, HSV starts their section on the HSV GTSR W1 this way:

“Some might ask why we would build a car that brings true race-track performance to the road. It’s simple. Because we’re HSV and we can.”

You need to know little else about the official Holden tuner and their totally bonkers final version of the Australian-built Commodore. CarAdvice gives the scoop on this madhouse 636-horsepower car that is the fastest and most-powerful ever built in Australia.

Holden wraps up domestic production of the iconic Commodore this year with a new, Opel Insignia-based Commodore coming for 2018. Holden will offer that forthcoming Commodore with no V8 option for the first time. With that heading down the chute, HSV went all-out to build a snarling, track-ready beast from their country’s final all-Australian Commodore. Instead of the LS3 in the Commodore SS, however, the W1 gets a snarling 636-horsepower LS9. That’s the same engine from the Corvette ZR-1 with a “dirty-big supercharger.”

The suspension comes from Supashock, who provide Walkinshaw Racing with the corners for their V8 Supercars Holden Commodore. Speaking of Supercars, the W1’s brakes are bigger than those on the 600-horsepower cars that race in Australia’s touring-car series. The tires are track-happy Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo Rs that are ready to eat up some twisty tarmac with 20”x9” (front) and 20”x10” (rear) tires that required wider fenders.

If that sounds like a race car, it basically is that. Pricing starts at $170,000 Australian, though they will likely go for considerably more on the road as a The Last Great Australian V8, which is like the “Last of the V8 Interceptors” but far crazier. While the Australian car industry sits in the doldrums, at least HSV can send the Commodore out with a fitting vehicle.

Here is CarAdvice testing the W1 on the track and comparing it with the regular Commodore SS, which costs about $100,000 less.