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As if a Clubsport ain’t enough, HSV has gone and put a blower on the 6.2-litre, high performance V8 engine - upping power to a withering 470kW and torque to a mountainous 770Nm.

That’s 630 horsepower in the old money, or right up in V8 Supercar territory.

It’s part of an upgrade kit for the Clubbie R8 that takes it well beyond the W427 in performance terms. The kit is available at certain HSV dealerships.

Why would HSV do this, especially after just finishing production of 200 “be all to end all’’ W427s?

Obviously they want a hero car on the books all the time and this one certainly fills the bill.

It is one of the quickest cars we have ever driven, eclipsing some “supercars’’, including highly regarded models from Lamborghini, Porsche and Maserati.

German bahn-blasters like the Benz C63 AMG, Audi RS6 V10 and BMW M3 don’t even rate a mention.

“Rubbish’’, the nay-sayers will utter, but rest assured, one drive will convince even the biggest sceptic.

It puts away a 0-100km sprint in about 4.0 seconds, but the real strength is roll-on acceleration - like no other.

The 1825kg Walkinshaw Performance Supercharged Clubbie we drove not only blows plenty of “exotics’’ into the weeds, with all the option boxes ticked like our test car, it costs a “mere’’ $97,160.

The engine is essentially a 6.2-litre Clubsport unit with a Harrop supercharger mounted in the vee and a big-bore stainless steel exhaust out the back complete with a “rolling thunder’’ burble on the over-run.

The supercharger makes an incredible whine when you’re on the gas, competing with the blatting sports exhaust note for dominance.

For the mechanically attuned, it’s music to your ears. Others may find it offensive, but it’s certainly frightening if you’re not prepared.

There’s so much grunt percolating out of that all-alloy, pushrod V8 that it’s difficult to stop the rear wheels spinning under brute acceleration in the first three cogs and there’s no need to feather the clutch to get them going.

The Poms already have a similar car called the Vauxhall VXR8 - also a Walkinshaw effort - but it only puts out 420kW/715Nm.

The red monster we had for 24 hours is a step up again.

It has special equipment to tame all that poke.

There’s adjustable coil-over suspension with 15-way damping adjustment, six-piston front brakes, four on the rear, a special clutch, oil cooler, vented bonnet and other go fast goodies.

The result is a Clubbie like no other.

There is no point at which brutal acceration isn’t available.

It hits hard and fast as soon as you push the accelerator.

The front of the car rises, the rear squats, its emits that blood curdling whine and blatt and the rear wheels scrabble for grip.

After the first rocket thrust, you hit the cut out at 6600rpm, select the next cog in the close-ratio six-speed box and it starts all over again.

It’s a handful on tight roads because of the instant power and torque, but once you spool your driving up to the task and figure out the best technique, the WP Clubbie is devastatingly quick point to point.

The brakes cope OK and the adjustable suspension is best set up firm because it’s easy to bottom out on comfort setting.

Steering? We didn’t pay that much attention because you can nearly get this car around corners on the throttle.

It looks better than a Clubbie because of the 22-inch wheels and large bonnet scoop. But inside it’s pure Clubbie except for the WP badging.

This is a car to be reckoned with and certainly shouldn’t be driven by people with an attitude problem.

It also likes a drink, with the average on our mad fang hovering in the 22-litres/100km area.

It’s no Prius that’s for sure, but you’ve got to have some fun in your life, eh?

The WP Clubbie is for the mechanically attuned with considerable driving talent, oh, and a large wallet.

galahs

May 11 2009, 12:44 PM

Saw another one today. It just looks tough!

Waratah

Feb 15 2010, 12:07 PM

gotta makle a coupe

galahs

Jan 11 2010, 01:38 PM

I saw one of these on the road the other week. It was probably a replica but still it looked and sounded good.

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