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- ferrari_chris
So, summer has rolled around again and the test track is ready for action. The winter snow has cleared away, and its bathed in sunshine waiting to have some rubber laid down in anger. And today well get the chance with the best Australia has to offer in the way of street cars from Holden and FPVs 04 model lineup.
Lined up in the pit lane are Holdens SS Commodore and CV8 Monaro, and FPVs GT and F6 Typhoon. Theyll be tested in all aspects of acceleration, top speed and handling, to find the best
First to blast out of pit lane is the SS. It looks good in its Redhot paintwork, and the wheels work nicely with this car. It runs a 5.6litre V8 engine making 257kW at 5600rpm and 480Nm of torque at 4000rpm. These numbers dont seem bad, however they dont quite seem enough to really propel the 1658kg car around. Straight away the car doesnt accelerate as quickly as expected and this creates a very heavy feeling. This feeling is only compounded when the first corner is reached chronic understeer. While this is mostly down to the suspension setup it only compounds the feeling that this is a big, heavy car. The technique for driving quickly here is to ensure all the braking is out of the way early, then turn in towards the apex. Once the apex is reached, the temptation is to pour the power on and accelerate out of the corner, but this only succeeds in bringing back the understeer and a wide corner exit. So the throttle must be balanced until the car is near the exit before full power can be applied. But when full power is used, theres little chance of losing control through oversteer its not available at all unless really provoked. This suspension setup has a lot to answer for, however it does work very well at soaking up bumps, big or small. At any speed bumps and depressions affect the car little. The shift points of the six speed gear box are also setup well, and with a wide torque range, shifting a little early doesnt hamper the forward progress too much. A more aggressive noise from the engine would be nice, at present it sounds a bit muffled. A less than impressive car, the SS runs a 1:25.666 lap.
After returning the SS to the pits, we tried our luck with Holdens other entry, the CV8 Monaro. It runs the same 5.6litre V8 engine making the same numbers, and surprisingly tips the scales at the same 1658kg too. But turn the key at this car has the angry, throaty V8 roar we wanted in the SS. First gear in and were away. While physically not much faster (just over five hundredths quicker to cover the 400m) it seems faster because of the added noise. And into turn one its instantly noticeable that the understeer has been dialed out and oversteer is dialed in. Now this is much better. Affording much better control over the car both approaching the apex and leaving it behind, this car is a lot better and a lot more fun to drive. With matching numbers to the SS its no surprise that its four tenths quicker around the circuit (it runs a 1:26.216) and this is all down to the handling. Again, the suspension soaks up small and large bumps without much trouble. Oversteer is available if its wanted for a bit of fun, but if outright pace is trying to be found, its simple enough to keep the rear-end in check. Through turns the throttle can be used to balance the car and adjust the line, something sadly lacking in the SS. The Monaro is certainly the pick of these two as its so much easier, fun and rewarding to drive. Back into the pits and its time for the FPVs.
Of FPVs two cars, theyre both based off the same Ford Falcon design but go about making their power in different ways. The GT sticks with the tried and proven root of displacement, but the F6 has gone with turbo power. The Winter White GT is out on the track next, and complimented with its blue stripes, it looks nice. The bonnet bulge helps to make the car look bigger, and give it a dominating appearance on the track. The bulge is needed to fit the V8 engine to the GT, which displaces 5.4litres and has quad-overhead cams. Much healthier numbers than previously seen, it makes 304kW at 5500rpm and 546Nm of torque at 4500rpm. But its quite a bit heavier at 1825kg. Instantly the suspension feels firmer and the exhaust has a different sound to the notes provided by the Generals cars. This one sounds a little muffled down low, and sounds best when spinning hard in the upper reaches of the rev range. That heavy engine up front and the extra weight of the car make for understeer again, but not at the dramatic levels of the SS. On corner a lift of the throttle can tuck the nose in to prevent running off onto the grass. If the mood allows oversteer can be had at the flex of the right foot, but its best kept in check for pace and safety reasons the snap back can send the car pointing towards a wall all too easily. Around the track it feels faster and stronger everywhere, and the fact that it beats the Holdens but such a small margin is surprising. It runs a 1:25.975 lap.
So, the last car out of the stable is the F6 Typhoon. Dressed in Mercury Silver its a wolf in sheeps clothing. The only hint at it performance is the small intercooler visible through the front grill. It uses a turbo-charged six cylinder engine to get its motivation. A 4 litre straight six developing 283kW at 5250rpm. Whats really impressive is the torque with a whopping 577Nm from 2000-4250rpm. Getting out onto the track its evident that the turbo only boosts very low, so theres no peaky power associated with turbo engines, just one big surge more like a supercharger. It does run out of energy at the top of the rev range though, struggling to even reach the 7000rpm limiter. For best results short-shifting at 6000rpm drop the engine down into that meaty torque and propels it forward. The handling is neutral, with oversteer available if its wanted. But thats to be expected with this much torque. Understeer is there again too, but its not too much of a problem in this car, even though it is a little beefy at 1776kg. On the whole, if driven sensibly, its very easy to drive and almost uneventful. All the parts work together to get the job done, and thats it. A very easy car to drive fast, it blasts out a 1:26.073 in the simplest of fashions.
So, with all cars tested and sitting back in the pits, its time to rate them. The SS suffers from understeer to unbearable levels, however the Monaro ups the game in this department with a very fun car to drive. The GT shows its hand as the heavy hitter belting out quick times, and the F6 just humbly gets the job done without fuss. The pick of the bunch today is the F6 Typhoon. For a street car it fulfils on two fronts it looks as subtle as a taxi yet has the potential to embarrass a lot of cars around it. As a track car it gets the job done easily, yet hat the capacity to allow the drive to have a lot of fun. Theres also reasonable scope to turn it into a real rocket ship as theres a lot of undiscovered potential in that engine.
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