HSV W427 vs other high powered V8 and turbo 6 cylinder sedans

[seedywagon]

Originally Posted by crymoarpls

some people feel the same way about any falcon or commodore - regardless of price. they are idiots.

Yeah, but given the choice between being labelled a bogan or a snob based on my choice of car, I'd choose the snob any day. Nobody likes a bogan, there's a song about it.

[crymoarpls]

Originally Posted by seedywagon

Yeah, but given the choice between being labelled a bogan or a snob based on my choice of car, I'd choose the snob any day. Nobody likes a bogan, there's a song about it.

that song is lame and so is the band (and i use that term loosely) that plays it.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think you're confusing the W427 (the VE based HSV) with the Monaro-based HRT427, which there was only one made and was entered in the Bathurst 24 hour. And yes I agree, it was a rort.

Whoops...you're right. Yes it was a rort wasn't it...if that was allowed, then the companies could build any race car with licence plates they like and enter it as a "production car"...

[FG50T]

I'd still take a W427 in a heartbeat and void what warranty might be left on it. Ultimate HSV to mod.

[GTP owner]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Wildly over-priced and I agree with jpd80 time and technology moves on.

W427's claimed 0-100 was actually 4.70 and I think only one reviewer ever achieved that. Best time i've heard of for real world acceleration, 80-120 k.p.h. is 3.1 seconds by Wheels or Motor can't remember which.

OTOH well respected N.Z. Auto car achieved these 80-120 times
FPV F6 2.64 seconds
SC GT 2.51 seconds
Jaguar XRF 2.50 seconds

W427 is only a supercar in the minds of whoever wrote the extremly creative marketing blurb that went with its release. Motor has just achieved 4.83 seconds for the new SRT8 and the engine is probably not even run in properly yet and that's with 245 rear's !! The SRT8 comes with truck loads of technology and goodies that make the W427 which retailed for well over double the money look like nothing more than a cheaply tarted up Commondore.

A simple $1500 tune on SC FPV puts anything the W427 could do into the catagory of yesterday's news.

The w427 is the best australian muscle car built, period. If you tune the Sc GT, it is no longer a factory car, so can't be compared.
Yes they were expensive, the interiors horrible, and they did not perform as well as some other cars in the same price range (read: M3, RS4 and GTR), but they are still king of the hill.
Anyone who doubts this needs to put their F6 against it on the track, where it was designed to go. 3 laps in and you will see where the money went.

[XRDeeze]

cmon who wouldn't want a W427!? :P

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Ford_XR603

cmon who wouldn't want a W427!? :P

me - they are butt ugly, and i don't really need to drive the closest thing to a v8 supercar that this country has produced

i do appreciate what has gone into it, even if i don't like it

[deesun]

Originally Posted by Ford_XR603

cmon who wouldn't want a W427!? :P

Me, they look like they fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. 155K with stick on plastic bits pffffffft.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by deesun

Me, they look like they fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. 155K with stick on plastic bits pffffffft.

Wow...you think it is just stick on plastic bits?


You need to learn your W427!

[LMW]

Originally Posted by loftie

But lets run the same 2 cars around Eastern Creek or Phillip Island ALL DAY on a track day and see who ends up with more laps, consistently, and without issues. It hurts to say it - but the W427 would win that battle hands down.

Just don't let Garth Tander drive it. he drove it into a tyre wall when motor or Wheels first tested it lol.. FAIL.......

[jpd80]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the W427 had a lot to do with HSV making good on a promise
after they backed out of going forward with road going versions of the HRT427 that was
built to win a production race by exploiting a loop hole.

HSV admitted that doing all the proposed upgrades on a V-Car when much better VE was just
around the corner, didn't make economical sense...I think it became a mission to them and
the cost of providing a gun ZO6 Corvette engine in a highly upgraded suspension package
was always going to cost serious money.

In the end, the people who have a W427 probably love them and that's all that really matters.
It would be like if FPV built a lunatic Falcon with AWD and track suspension ect,
the price would be a killer but man.....what a ride.

Like I said earlier, time and technology move on.

[RAPID_BA]

The wd40 hsv at $155k is way overpriced. Its a nice package, big stonking V8 but compare it with a hsv gts ve with 6.2. looks the same, bit more performance and add $75k??. Add a cam to the 6.2 and the performance is the same. Looks same too and about $70k left in the back pocket. Ridiculous isnt it. Or supercharge the 6.2 and you still have $60k in your pocket.

The value proposition should be compared only to a ve gts. Is the wd40 a $75k better car?

But the people who bought the old vt hsv stroker 220kw gts for $75k would think the wd40 hsv was a good buy at $155k

[Shonky.]

to hate the W427 is to hate Australian muscle cars period

It ain't pretty, but it is as far as Australian built cars will EVER go

Like the Aust muslce car scare of the 70's we are in one locally now, but it is one of economics, not government intervention, which unfortunately is always more powerful and pervasive

that car is as good as it is going to get

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by HULK_BA

The wd40 hsv at $155k is way overpriced. Its a nice package, big stonking V8 but compare it with a hsv gts ve with 6.2. looks the same, bit more performance and add $75k??. Add a cam to the 6.2 and the performance is the same. Looks same too and about $70k left in the back pocket. Ridiculous isnt it. Or supercharge the 6.2 and you still have $60k in your pocket.

The value proposition should be compared only to a ve gts. Is the wd40 a $75k better car?

But the people who bought the old vt hsv stroker 220kw gts for $75k would think the wd40 hsv was a good buy at $155k

Its not overpriced, not when you consider the work that went into it for such a small production run.

Because it got nowhere near the originally projected 427 build number, HSV probably lost quite a bit of money on the project.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by HULK_BA

The wd40 hsv at $155k is way overpriced. Its a nice package, big stonking V8 but compare it with a hsv gts ve with 6.2. looks the same, bit more performance and add $75k??. Add a cam to the 6.2 and the performance is the same. Looks same too and about $70k left in the back pocket. Ridiculous isnt it. Or supercharge the 6.2 and you still have $60k in your pocket.

The value proposition should be compared only to a ve gts. Is the wd40 a $75k better car?

But the people who bought the old vt hsv stroker 220kw gts for $75k would think the wd40 hsv was a good buy at $155k

So, put a GT body kit on a BA XR8 and a supercharger, some GT-Ho badges and....


There is my Factory GT-HO!

[RAPID_BA]

Originally Posted by Nikked

So, put a GT body kit on a BA XR8 and a supercharger, some GT-Ho badges and....


There is my Factory GT-HO!

I think that is the point of the OP. where is the value for the $155k. Grab a ve gts add a cam and they are on par.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by HULK_BA

The wd40 hsv at $155k is way overpriced. Its a nice package, big stonking V8 but compare it with a hsv gts ve with 6.2. looks the same, bit more performance and add $75k??. Add a cam to the 6.2 and the performance is the same. Looks same too and about $70k left in the back pocket. Ridiculous isnt it. Or supercharge the 6.2 and you still have $60k in your pocket.

The value proposition should be compared only to a ve gts. Is the wd40 a $75k better car?

But the people who bought the old vt hsv stroker 220kw gts for $75k would think the wd40 hsv was a good buy at $155k

I am usually one of the last to defend such a car but yes 155k was expensive for what the car was but underneath, the engineering that went into fitting that engine into the car was a big cost. No other HSV or Holden offered that engine. There were also suspension and braking upgrades along with a host of other changes.

So it looked like another HSV. So what? FPVs look like any other Falcon. AMGs look like any other donor Mercedes, M BMWs also look like any other donor car. These cars are not about flamboyance, they're modern performance sedans.

Sure you can modify any car for a fraction of the price of what some of the factory cars offer but these cars offer a warranty, have been extensively tested for durability and most people couldn't care less about modifying their car.

[duaned]

I certainly would not say no to that occupying the driveway. The reliability of N/A grunt should be taken seriously. All I would do to the W427 is chuck in some fluffy dice on the rear vision miror and toss an Akubra hat on the rear parcel shelf to rid of some of that ugly interior.

[Cashie]

Those saying that the $150k ask for the W427 was unreasonable should google exactly what was done to a GTS to build this.
It wasn't 'just' a 7.0 litre bolt in, the suspension was changed, height and MRC settings, brakes were changed, wheels were changed, gearbox was changed, diff was changed, and of course all the dry sump engineering and even the OTR cold air intake.
Of course HSV had to also setup a side production line to pull out the LS3 from the cars arriving from Holden to slot in the LS7.
The 'engineering' to produce such a car and then slap a 3 year warranty on it costs more than a few peanuts.
Anyone comparing this car to a GTS with a cam or blower has totally missed the point.
Would I pay $150k for one? No, not when a C63 or GTR is able to be bought for similar money.

[Brazen]

The W427 shows fundamentally the difference between HSV and FPV.

[strobe]

It's still a holden...

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by strobe

It's still a holden...

And the relevance to that is?

[strobe]

I'd rather kiss my sister.

[duaned]

Originally Posted by strobe

I'd rather kiss my sister.

Pics ? ( of your sister that is!) Why do you hate Holden so much?

[strobe]

Same reason I don't like Collingwood.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by HULK_BA

I think that is the point of the OP. where is the value for the $155k. Grab a ve gts add a cam and they are on par.

What a load of rubbish.

[tex]

Originally Posted by HULK_BA

I think that is the point of the OP. where is the value for the $155k. Grab a ve gts add a cam and they are on par.

you actually believe that ***** eh.

[mcnews]

The W427 is the wet dream Aussie modern day muscle car. So much about it is so just so awesome when it comes to the components.

[NX74205]

Originally Posted by Cashie

Those saying that the $150k ask for the W427 was unreasonable should google exactly what was done to a GTS to build this.

Yes, but then there's the old adage that just because they can doesn't mean they should. It seems to me that the folks at HSV didn't carefully weigh up the return on investment before they decided to produce the W427, but rather they did so "because they can". It may be a fine car, but it's a poor business case.

I'm not surprised that they haven't sold as many as they had originally intended. If I had $155K to spend and wanted a performance car, I'd be heading to my nearest Mercedes-Benz dealer.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by NX74205

Yes, but then there's the old adage that just because they can doesn't mean they should. It seems to me that the folks at HSV didn't carefully weigh up the return on investment before they decided to produce the W427, but rather they did so "because they can". It may be a fine car, but it's a poor business case.

I'm not surprised that they haven't sold as many as they had originally intended. If I had $155K to spend and wanted a performance car, I'd be heading to my nearest Mercedes-Benz dealer.

Poor business case? FPV spent 40 mill on a new engine and yet HSV outsells FPV 2:1. It's because of the reputation built with cars precisely like W427 that HSV can sell the amount of cars it does.