MOST of us might be reeling from record petrol prices, but soaring sales of Holden Special Vehicles suggest that Aussie muscle cars are, so far, immune to such pressure. As many brands down-size, HSV is going the other way and increasing the size of its engines from 6.0 litres to 6.2 litres. The new engine is called the LS3 and it replaces the LS2 on all V8 HSVs including Maloo and ClubSport, GTS, Senator and Grange. This is a different family of engines to the Gen IV than runs in Holden models and is more performance orientated. The new HSV engine lifts power by 10kW to 317kW, but the torque is capped at 550Nm in order to protect the gearbox and rear differential. Some revisions have been made to the automatic gearbox, which now has a new, larger, oil-cooler and new mapping. Other than that, and the availability of 20-inch rims across the range and some new colours, there is little else different.
HSV E-Series range
Released: August 2006
Ended: April 2008
Family Tree: ClubSportHolden Special Vehicles launched its VE Commodore-based range in 2006. With unique styling, world-class new technology and improved performance from its upgraded 307kW LS2 6.0-litre V8, the E-Series HSV included the ClubSport, ClubSport R8, GTS, Senator Signature and Maloo and Maloo R8 models. HSV claimed of a "four-second club" sprint to the speed limit, making them the fastest Australian production cars ever built.
Super Test
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