The King is dead. Long live the King! RIP Commodore :-(

[Immortality]

If I lived on a farm I would be brewing my own ethanol but been in suburbia it's not really feasible to get any meaningful quantity.

 

[VS 5.0]

Do you mean E85? It is $1.42 at my local United.

Only 6 United servos sell E85 in Perth. Today's price.....$189.9 p/l and rarely moves from there.

 

[abuch47]

Only 6 United servos sell E85 in Perth. Today's price.....$189.9 p/l and rarely moves from there.

pretty much the same in adelaide

 

[Hq King]

pretty much the same in adelaide

Pretty much the same in nz that's the amount of places you can get it not the price very expensive here

 

[Forg]

I wonder if I could get home from the nearest servo that sells E85 with any E85 left in the tank?

 

[Daniel Souza]

No ... Stinger has same power as a manual VF1 V8, is eclipsed by VF2 power.
Stinger does OK-ish compared to a VF, loses in some areas (driving/feedback/handling stuff), wins in others (kiddy stuff - connectivity).

There are some videos of Stingers on dyno and looks like the have lower losses resulting in good number at the wheels.

But dynos are not the real life. I failed badly trying to leave a Stinger behind.
4 seconds of WOT starting from 100 KM/h and I could even see its head lights. Hem I looked at the mirror the guy was basically seating on the wagon boot.

 

[Skylarking]

... But dynos are not the real life...

There are many dynamometer types around. Hub dynos, rather than roller dynos, provide the benefit of direct coupling of wheels. No slip can occur with hub dynos so they allow for repeatable conditions. Heck engine dynos as used by manufacturers are in temperature controlled rooms.

Problem is, dynos can never be better than the operator. At the lower end of the market, the fact that many chase kw’s also puts pressure on them to fudge the numbers a little. Like all tools, a dyno can never be better than the tuner.

Roads are less repeatable but are just another tool that a tuner can use. Just like a dyno, a road can never be better than the tuner.

...I failed badly trying to leave a Stinger behind...

With the stinger, being turbo charged, I’d assume there is lots a good tuner could do in software alone, much more than could be accomplished in a naturally aspirated engine (with only a tune). Obviously, fuel quality would be much more important, post tune, if one also wants longevity

 

[KING46Calais V]

So, anyone have any ideas on how HSV will go in the coming years or what their future plans are?
It will be interesting to see if they hang around much longer.
I can't see there being a huge market for camaros or big wheel 4WD utes. If there is, certainly not in the numbers they previously sold or enough to keep them going I would think.

 

[Heron White KOM]

So, anyone have any ideas on how HSV will go in the coming years or what their future plans are?
It will be interesting to see if they hang around much longer.
I can't see there being a huge market for camaros or big wheel 4WD utes. If there is, certainly not in the numbers they previously sold or enough to keep them going I would think.

I agree. The rebadging of Holden into Chevrolet is probably underway in the background. HSV are good at tuning cars; turning ordinary cars into special ones. Like any business of their nature, their overheads would be high, factoring in R&D costs etc so they need to sell good volumes. They’ll make their money either by selling a greater range of cars in small volume or smaller range but high volume. Pre Holden Elizabeth shutdown they sold vehicles in the $70-$110k average price (leave aside the specials).

At the $60k mark the HSV Sportscat is affordable and may have the HSV cosmetic trickery but it’s still a 4 cylinder diesel. Saving at least $10k and buying the Z71 seems much better value for money. The Ford Raptor will come out with a V8. The Camaro is no where near HSV’s ‘bread and butter’ price range and the Corvette will be higher (if HSV touch the C8).

So what’s the next car in the GM lineup that HSV will work on?

Do HSV go completely independent and rename themselves and align themselves with other manufacturers?

EDIT: Do they start a heritage/works program where HSV owners can take their cars for refurbishment?

 

[Hq King]

I agree. The rebadging of Holden into Chevrolet is probably underway in the background. HSV are good at tuning cars; turning ordinary cars into special ones. Like any business of their nature, their overheads would be high, factoring in R&D costs etc so they need to sell good volumes. They’ll make their money either by selling a greater range of cars in small volume or smaller range but high volume. Pre Holden Elizabeth shutdown they sold vehicles in the $70-$110k average price (leave aside the specials).

At the $60k mark the HSV Sportscat is affordable and may have the HSV cosmetic trickery but it’s still a 4 cylinder diesel. Saving at least $10k and buying the Z71 seems much better value for money. The Ford Raptor will come out with a V8. The Camaro is no where near HSV’s ‘bread and butter’ price range and the Corvette will be higher (if HSV touch the C8).

So what’s the next car in the GM lineup that HSV will work on?

Do HSV go completely independent and rename themselves and align themselves with other manufacturers?

EDIT: Do they start a heritage/works program where HSV owners can take their cars for refurbishment?

I watched a documentary about hsv .since they have moved to there new workshop they have increased there staff and we're doing well . It was interesting how much work they did to the Camaro to convert to right hand drive interior dash and front end all out I can understand the cost of the conversion