Review of HSV Clubsport LSA and Maloo LSA 2015
Meet the fastest and most powerful family station wagon ever made in Australia: the HSV Clubsport LSA.
Those last three letters may not mean much to the uninitiated, but LSA is the model code for the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine previously used in high-performance Cadillacs and Camaros in the US, and the flagship HSV GTS in Australia for the past two years. .
Talk about quitting with a bang. The Holden has clearly come a long way from the limited-edition 1980s Commodore "Vacationer" station wagons with sunblinds.
Better late than never, a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 has been added to the Clubsport sedan and wagon, as well as the Maloo ute, as the automaker empties the big guns before ending local production.
It's been less than two years before Holden's car plant in the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth goes silent and the closure marks the end of an era for its performance vehicle partner, Holden Special Vehicles.
Although HSV, a separate organization from Holden, plans to move on, it will no longer work miracles with locally built cars.
Instead of making design and engineering changes to domestic models and then adding the finishing touches after the cars have been trucked from Adelaide to the HSV plant in Melbourne, HSV will turn to imported vehicles.
What HSVs of the future will look like, no one says.
After about five tries each, we hit 4.8 seconds on both machines.
But it's fair to bet that nothing will be as exciting as the current HSV lineup, given that General Motors has confirmed there will be no V8 sedan in Holden's future.
Here is a slightly detuned version of the 430kW/740Nm supercharged V8 engine found in the HSV GTS.
The result in Clubsport and Maloo is still a healthy 400kW of power and 671Nm of torque.
HSV thinks GTS buyers (who didn't get more power with this model update) still have something special because Clubsport and Maloo customers will have a hard time putting their car in aftermarket tuning and finding more power.
At Clubsport and Maloo, HSV engineers removed the GTS sedan's unique "dual-mode" air intake, which allows it to suck in as much air as possible.
We ran acceleration tests from 0 to 100 km/h using our satellite timing equipment to find out the difference.
After about five tries each, we hit 4.8 seconds on both machines.
It was much easier to get time on the Clubsport than on the ute because the rear tires have more weight and the automatic transmission accelerates strongly (from 0 to 60 km/h in 2.5 seconds, compared to 2.6 for the manual transmission).
By comparison, we previously posted times of 4.6 seconds on the HSV GTS and 5.2 seconds on the new Commodore SS.
For reference, HSV requires 4.4 seconds for the GTS and 4.6 for the Clubsport LSA and Maloo LSA.
With the usual "don't try this at home" and "race track only" caveats, it's worth noting that these statements are about ideal conditions: grippy road surfaces, low air temperatures, hot rear tires, and an engine that's not running. too long.
While the supercharged V8 draws attention, the Clubsport LSA and Maloo LSA also get heavy duty equipment from the GTS to handle the extra load, including beefier gearboxes, tailshafts, differential and axles.
HSV says currency pressure and extra equipment are behind the price hikes for the Maloo, Clubsport and Senator to $9500, to $76,990, $80,990 and $92,990 respectively.
The GTS is up $1500 to $95,900, making it a $15,000 gap from Clubsport. Auto adds $2500 to all models except the $85,990K Clubsport LSA wagon, which is car-only.
On the way to
There's no doubt that the Clubsport LSA is the fastest station wagon ever built in Australia, but you can feel the computer wizardry rob it of power below 4000rpm before the engine springs to life.
Almost instantly, you need to hit the 6200 rpm rev limiter (same as the GTS).
Once the LSA boils, nothing seems to stop it. Luckily, it is equipped with the largest brakes ever fitted to a Clubsport.
Another impressive thing about the Clubsport is the ride comfort over bumps. How HSV managed to make these big animals feel lithe is quite an engineering feat.
But one thing that is too subtle is the sound. The HSV may have the biggest gun in town, but the latest Holden Commodore SS-V Redline sounds tougher and more powerful, even if it isn't.
