Following leaks earlier this week of the new Corvettes identity, GM has finally unveiled its 2008 Chevrolet Corvette C6.
The engine of choice to power this American cult car was picked to be the brand new and highly anticipated LS3 V8. Displaced at 6.2 litres (376 ci), the new generation of LS series power plants delivers 36 more horsepower than its predecessor and offers a substantial torque increase. With the base model power figures coming in at 430 horsepower, the up-spec model featuring dual sports mode exhaust system bumps power levels up to a very healthy 436 hp.
GM has stated that there have been a number of enhancements over the previous LS2 series engine such as higher flowing cylinder heads, an enhanced valvetrain, higher flowing intake manifold and structural enhancements aid in block strength. The news of the new LS3 block is no doubt to send waves of uncontrollable drooling fits throughout the LS-series fan bases here in Australia, it might be some time however until the Commodore range gets an option box of this kind to be ticked.
30/04/07 Holden Epica offers money back guarantee
The new Korean built Holden Epica is fresh meat on the new car market. Priced to compete with some of the most best selling models on the market, it’s going to be a tough job to sell against the likes of the Camry, 380 and Accord. Holden have done their homework and thanks to the people in the marketing department, have come up with a complicated little money back guarantee. Holden have offered to refund in full the purchase price of their Epica if any customer is not entirely satisfied with the drive.
Of course there is a few catches. Customers must do so within a 30 day period from purchase and must have clocked up no more than 1,500 either. Now here is the kicker. Customers must purchase a new vehicle within 30 days of the purchase price at equal or greater value. Seems like a good deal, even if many customers are not going to be able to afford to new car loans in less than 30 days apart.
30/04/07 BOOSTN does it again, smashes old record
The TRP Calais Turbo just gets quicker and quicker. At a test and tune held on the weekend for the up and coming Nitro Champs at WSID, BOOSTN smashed of a blistering 8.762 @ 159 MPH with a neck snapping 60-foot time of 1.41 seconds. The un-tubbed Tony Rigoli built RB26/30 combination smashed his previous record by over two tenths of a second and is well onto his way at claiming the Australian VL Turbo record which still stands at 8.38 @ 162.98 MPH.
The WSID Nitro Champs are held over Friday the 4th of May until Saturday the 5th. Check www.wsid.com.au for more details.
27/04/07 Emerging engine technologies due in 2015
Experts participating in a power train discussion forum at last weeks SAE World Congress held in Detroit conclude that conventional gasoline engines could rival the efficiency of diesel engines by 2015. Continual development of emerging key technologies are vital for the target goal which include advances in direct injection methods, variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation, plasma ignition and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI).
HCCI engines have a great potential to eventually providing a higher efficiency than their diesel counterparts while still producing very low emissions. HCCI engines rely on a diluted pre-mixed air/fuel charge to auto ignite and burn volumetrically due to a high, diesel like compression ratio. The air/fuel charge can be diluted through either a lean charge mixture or even being recycled with exhaust gasses.
Several technical boundaries must be broken through in order to make HCCI engines commercially viable, variations of this technology featuring other ignition systems are currently being prototyped in the hope to overcome any of these initial barriers.
27/04/07 New electric car achieves record breaking performance
With many companies hot on the heels on building the best vehicle to combat the petrol crisis, many models claim to be the most efficient and environmentally friendly.
Where does that leave the performance conscious motorist? Well it’s a good thing that a few companies out there are thinking about us.
Meet the Velozzi. The Velozzi is an electric powered vehicle that features a gasoline fuelled micro turbine charging system. Basically, the vehicle utilises a highly efficient generator to power the vehicles charging system fuelled by regular gasoline rather than the conventional electric car. This allows for much great versatility as the vehicle can be charged at home using the residential electrical system or on the go. Ok, so that sounds pretty impressive but the real question here is how does she go? Lined up against a Ferrari F355, this thing will put the Italian stallion to shame day in day out. Think 0-100km/h times of three seconds flat while on your way to a 320km/h top speed. That’s right, she’s damn fast!
Under normal driving conditions, typical fuel economy is expected between 100 and 200 mpg, which is a lot better than the Ferrari could ever dream of. One of Velozzi’s goals when creating the vehicle was to try and curve the public perception that all electric cars were un-inspiring lookers with lack-lustre performance.
“We want the public to want to buy alternative green power cars. We want to change the public perception that environment-friendly cars look like boxes and that they are under performing. It is not so!” says Velozzi.
The technology that powers the Velozzi will be licensed to all automakers, eliminating exclusive rights so that the entire world is able to reap the benefits. Three second 0-100km/h times, mega top speed, awesome economy, low maintenance electric motors. I'll take two thanks!
26/04/07 Eric Bana crashes XB Coupe in Targa
Eric Bana has crashed his immaculate ’74 Ford XB Coupe in the latest stint of the Targa Tasmania rally series. Bana who escaped from the crash without injury had over-shot a corner, striking a rock which had forced the car into tree.
The Coupe had suffered some fairly extensive front end damage which Bana stated hopes to have repaired for today’s round.
The crash, which echoes parallels with Peter Brock’s fatal Targa crash last year, saw Eric’s 600hp Falcon leave the road in similar circumstances as Peter’s Daytona Coupe.
Bana was in 53rd position at the time of the accident.
24/04/07 Volt concept series two unveiled in Shanghai
The Chevrolet Volt concept car was an instant success when GM unveiled it to the world a few months ago. Every automotive blog around the world quickly filled with prospective buys claiming that the Volt is just the vehicle that they had looking for. The big problem was actually building a production version of the hybrid, one that could be actually driven.
In Shanghai on Friday, GM has unveiled it’s second incarnation of the eco-friendly vehicle. This ‘series two’ of the Volt concept featured a hydrogen fuel cell to power the vehicle rather tan the a conventional petrol powered motor. The previous project was said to be able to travel over 240kms to just over 4 litres of petrol.
The new Chevrolet Volt is stated to go even one better and achieve over 450km of driving on combined fuel cells and battery driving without producing a single emission. This version of the Volt also features a battery pack that is half the size of the gasoline Volt without having any effects if the performance and range of the system.
24/04/07 V8’s to axe Wanneroo from the Championship
V8 Supercar organisers have confirmed that amid of variety of safety concerns their Wanneroo track could be axed from the V8’s line-up after 2009. The idea to race on the streets of Perth has been shunned off by the Perth local government with politicians going cold on the idea.
The WA Sporting Car Club had offered to rectify the safety issues surround the motoring complex in which V8 Supercar boss Wayne Cattach responded by stating that the decision reached was final.
Cattach had stated that if no resolution can be achieved then the V8’s won’t be returning after 2009.
The safety concerns addressed by Cattach included a “dangerous” pit area which mixed crowds and race cars, inadequate toilet and media facilities and a large distance between the city and the track.
If the Perth round of the V8’s bite the dust there is no official stand on what location would be used as its replacement. Some suggest that a further overseas round could be implemented, but initial thoughts on the proposal suggest that the idea would be not be one in the sports favour
24/04/07 Rotora announce a 12-piston brake calliper
When it comes to stopping a vehicle moving at a high speed, brakes play a major role in transferring all that movement into heat energy. It’s a pretty obvious theory but there is a lot more in practice to stopping a car than just the brake system. Tyres, road surface and vehicle aids all play a huge role with the brake system itself falling behind on the importance list of bringing a vehicle to a halt.
Having said this, we all know how good it looks when massive brakes are installed on a vehicle. The driver automatically assumes that he is the new Peter Brock, that the car has now got super magical powers that enable him to bring it to a halt in no time at all, time and time again. So just how big do your brakes really need to be? Well that’s question that can’t be answered easily, but just how big can you actually go?
Rotora have just released a new 12-piston braking calliper system that utilises 15” or 16” oversized 2-piece floating discs with t-billet aluminium hats, yes that’s right, 12-piston brakes.
The larger 16” brake discs that work with the callipers measure a massive 405mm in diameter and are 36mm thick. Make no mistake; these are the Gillette Fusion's of the brake calliper world.
Each brake system comes with special Rotora ceramic formulated pads, stainless steel brake lines and S35C carbon steel mounting brackets and hardware.
No word yet if these bad boys will ever fit on a Commodore, but honestly I can’t ever seeing the need to. Mind you trying your mates down at the pub that you have 12-piston callipers on your SS.
24/04/07 Hummer H4 arrival set for 2010
With the arrival of the Hummer here in Australia, it’s interesting to note that the next inclination of the giant ‘lets run things over’ truck is already well in the planning stages. The H4 is said to be produced around the new upcoming GM compact platform which is got people slagging the idea stating that the Hummer has ‘gone soft’.
GM doesn’t see this as a problem however, claiming that as long as customers can get the thing dirty they won’t mind that the beast may have lost a few pounds. The Original Hummers wowed many motorists with is massive tyres and two lane width and instantly became a success. Everyone from actors through to singers wanted one as the ultimate fashion accessory. Loosing that ‘bigger is better’ attitude jut may hurt a bit more than GM is willing to admit, but it’s simply a case of time will tell.
23/04/07 Rick Kelly ties with Garth Tander for the Round 3 win
Holden are off to a flying start in this year’s V8 Supercar Championship with the Toll HSV Dealer Team racking up another Round win for the year. Rick Kelly and team mate Garth Tander have tied for the Round win with Ford driver Jamie Whincup in the Team Vodafone Falcon taking out the number three place.
The weekend was far from accident free with Paul Morris on the Sirromet Wines Commodore slamming into a barrier and flipping the car onto its roof. Morris escaped uninjured despite the 190km/h impact speed into the barrier.
Rick Kelly leads the Championship with a total of 173 points over team mate Tander on 160 points. Brother Todd Kelly is sitting in third position while Jamie Whincup sits in a tied position with Mark Skaife both sitting on 104 points.
The next race of the Championship will take drivers to Winton Motor Raceway on 18th -20th of May.
23/04/07 Unmolested XU-1 could fetch up to 100k
The Supercar craze is certainly among us with some classic Aussie muscle going under the hammer and fetching prices well into the six figures. The humble XU-1 Torana has escaped a lot of the craze spotlight. Brock Commodores and classic Monaro’s have stolen the show while to many collectors the XU-1 remains one of the unspoken sleepers of the collector world.
Shannon’s are auctioning off an unmolested GTR XU-1 finished in the rare Juniper Green metallic fitted out with Doeskin and Chestnut upholstery which has travelled a mere 15,000kms since it rolled of the production line 1973.
The XU-1 has had a respray and a full interior re-trim since then but the rest of the car remains completely as it was when it was built.
Shannon’s are expecting the Torana to sell in the price range of $65,000 to $80,000 but Shannon’s believe that this price could blow out to as high as $100,000.
20/04/07 It’s all about the numbers
We all know that Holden are one of the top selling car manufacturing companies in Australia, but just how good are they really? Well, seen as how everybody loves statistics, here are some that will give you an idea just how your favourite set of wheels fairs up against of the rest of the competition.
Market Leaders (month)
Toyota 18,602 Holden 13,083 Ford 9,110 Mazda 6,365 Nissan 5,947 Mitsubishi 5,066 Honda 4,357 Hyundai 3,078 Subaru 2,848 Kia 1,513
Market Leaders (year)
Toyota 34,840 Holden 24,341 Ford 16,611 Mazda 12,992 Nissan 11,032 Honda 9,792 Mitsubishi 9,620 Hyundai 6,145 Subaru 5,945 Kia 2,989
20/04/07 World opens their arms to embrace the Lion
Holden have certainly been pleasing the new car buys overseas, with Holden announcing that sales have multiplied by a factor of 10 in less than 10 years on the offshore market.
Sales figures had increased over last year by 591 units which were spearheaded by the new VE and WM ranges. It was the longer wheelbase WM series that had the punters drooling with the luxo-barges making up 64 percent of the total sales figures.
Holden boasts the largest and longest running vehicle export program in Australia with the company spanning 50 years of distribution which has amounted to over 770,000 cars sent offshore.
19/04/07 V8 Supercars prepare for tomorrows practice
V8 Supercar teams are gearing up and preparing for tomorrows practice session ahead of round three taking place at the Pukekohe circuit in New Zealand. Drivers each take part in the 50 lap practice session which commences from 1:15pm tomorrow.
Qualifying will take place on Saturday arfternoon followed by the first of three 43 lap races. Mark Skaife is going into the round as favourite for the win, with Skaife having past success at the New Zealand track.
“I always feel confident at Pukekohe as it’s a circuit I’ve gone well at,” Skaife said.
New Zealand’s own Team Kiwi Racing will be making their Ford debut. Paul Radisich is confident of a top three finish at the end of the 2007 season, beginning his serious assult on this weekend.
"TKR has the strongest Kiwi connection out of all the V8 teams," said Paul Radisich.
"The public would love to see the TKR car running at the front and that's exactly what we'll be trying for this weekend”.
Currently Rick Kelly sits on top of the point tables with 115 points, leading his closest rival Garth Tander by 13 points.
19/04/07 Ford V8 production halted, total plant shutdown immanent
The Ford Australia Broadmeadows plant has from Monday this week ceased production of all V8 Falcons following failed talks between part supplier Coghlan and Russell.
The meeting was to see Ford shore up for the cash-strapped parts company which supplies many key parts in the production of new Falcons and Territories. V8 Falcon has already ceased with production, with other parts imperative to the production of other models expected to run out by the end of today (Wednesday).
It is expected that Ford will be closing the doors to its Broadmeadow manufacturing facility from Thursday until further notice.
It is alleged that Ford and Delphi has offered close to one million dollars in order to keep the company afloat, and wipe clean a debt that the company had wrapped up when Ford overpaid a supply bill by $2.5 million.
The deal was rejected on the grounds that Ford Australia would front up for the workers’ entitlement obligations due to the massive industry precedent it would set.
19/04/07 NSW now has two 8-second VL Turbo’s
At last night’s Wicked Wednesday held at Western Sydney International Dragway, the single cammed RB30 powered VL Turbo of VLGOD thundered down the quarter in an amazing 8.96 @ 146MPH with the car’s gearing appearing to be maxing out in the later stages of the pass.
This now makes VLGOD the second NSW VL Turbo into the 8-second bracket, the first being the Rigoli prepped BOOSTN
19/04/07 A Jeep for all you LS1 lovers out there
A few days ago we bought you a couple of images of a Pulsar GTi-R with a 3.5-litre Ferrari V8 crammed into it. Well it seems every body around the world wants to get into the engine conversion fad, so why not grab an old Jeep and ditch the 4-litre six in favour for some LS1 grunt? One Jeep owner thought it would be an awesome idea to get that only clunky heap of metal to move a lot quicker.
Also as an added bonus, this wild and wacky Jeep is also for sale. Too bad it resides in the US so good luck in trying to get it to wear number plates over in Aus. Not a lot of information about the transplant is written in the ad, but I’m sure it’d be a hoot to take off road!
18/04/07 Project Seagull nearly flies over the 200rwkW barrier
It was time to take another trip to the rollers in order to find out just what gains the new 3” exhaust system had over the single 2.5”. After a quick trip down to Powerhouse Race Developments in Campbelltown, the VS was strapped down and ready to ‘roll’.
After a few runs the little Ecotec managed to muster out 196.1kW’s at the rear wheels, or a gain of 8.1kW’s at the bags.
It’s now time for the incooler to the piped up and a search for a better diff which should get the relatively light VS down the quarter in the low 13’s – high 12’s.
Anyway, watching a video is much for fun than just reading about it so here is a clip of the dyno run plus some extra skid pan footage from Oran Park.
18/04/07 Powerhouse Race Developments is hosting a launch party
Friday the 27th of April, Powerhouse are hosting a massive launch party to celebrate the opening of their new workshop in Campbelltown. It’s all taking place at the RoofBar at Skygarden, 77 Castlereagh St Sydney.
There will be a mass of DJ’s such as Mike Hyper, Moto, Biggie and plenty more. There will also be over $5,000 worth of giveaways in the night so make sure you come down and have a great night out.
17/04/07 The Bruise Brothers go aim for a VE record
The fun never ends for some of us. According to a reliable source, a gentleman who shall be named only as Salem (think issue 124) has dropped off a brand new VE R8 at HPF where it will be subject to some top secret plans. We don’t know how and we don’t know when, but the above Salem will hold the keys to Australia’s first 1000hp VE, because you know, a 607rwkW VX GTS is just not enough.
17/04/07 GM produces their first ever purpose built NASCAR engine
Chevrolet are rubbing their hands together in the wake of the release of their new R07 racing engine, approved for competition in the NASCAR series. The engine is debuting in the weekends Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Chevrolet produces and supplies all the major components of the engine such as the block, cylinder heads and intake manifold which still leaves teams to customise further aspects of the engine which include oil pump, valvetrain, fuel and ignition systems and all other accessories.
The engine, which displaces a NASCAR limit of 358 cubic inches, retains the classic two-valve pushrod design which has been the backbone of American Motorsport for the last 50 years. The R07 surpasses the previous generation, the SB2, in a few important key areas such as the bore spacing dimensions. The R07’s features a 4.500-inch cylinder bore centre vs. the SB2’s 4.400 inches, a raised camshaft to improve valvetrain dynamics and six-bolt heads to reduce cylinder bore distortion.
The new engine adopted many advanced development tools which helped accelerate the production testing of prototype R07 components. Computer-aided engineering, computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis where all called upon to help make the R07 a reality and the Chevrolet engineering team are confident the entire process was more than worthwhile.
17/04/07 Ditches HR Ute sold?
Those readers out there that managed to make their way to Summernats this year would remember this awesome show stopping blown Holden six HR Ute. While the Ute has had many hours of blood, sweat and tears poured into it, reliable sources have leaked back to the Street Commodores office that the Ute has in fact been sold at a recent Adelaide car show. No price for the transaction has been mentioned, but one quick look at the shots below will but the level of detail this Ute has into perspective.
Word has it than an unknown collector walked into the Adelaide car show armed with a wad of cash in the vicinity of $1million dollars. A variety of cars were purchased, including Ditch’s awesome HR.
Stay tuned for more information!
17/04/07 Calling all VK lovers!
Recently while browsing through the millions of pages of cars for sale in eBay I had noticed one that stood out a little from the rest. That’s when I laid eyes on this Monaro green coloured blown and injected 355 VK.
Sporting some hot 20” chrome wheels, this tuff looking beast has certainly got the goods hiding underneath its bonnet. The motor is a COME built 355 stroker running some full house internals consisting of massive solid cam, adjustable roller rockers, JE forged pistons and H beam rods. Sitting on top of this wicked combo lies a Group A twin throttle body manifold getting fed from some sort of intercooled Vortech blower.
How much you ask? 12 bids later and the total is up to just over the 20k mark, which is not too shabby for 620hp at the treads. Be sure to check out the ad HERE if VK Commodores float your boat.
16/04/07 Victorian Highway Patrol gets new colours
Holden and the Victorian Police have come together to design a fleet of 20 new SS Commodores to help curve the road toll and increase road safety awareness.
It just wouldn’t be anything to do with the Police department if it didn’t have an acronym, so the wallopers have dubbed these new beasts as the Special Mobile Anti-Road Toll Cars, or SMART cars.
Despite all the hype surrounding these 20 SS Commodores, I’m still finding it hard to determine exactly how 20 funky painted Police cars are going to turn around the states roll toll.
Assistant Commissioner for Traffic and Transport Noel Ashby publicly unveiled the new SMART fleet.
“The Easter period has been one of high road trauma in the past and the SMART cars help highlight the presence of police on our roads during this time," A/C Ashby said.
"Police will be out in force right across the weekend and we urge people to take every precaution when using the roads, whether you are traveling just in your area or across the state.
"The SMART cars are a highly visible aspect of our operations and serve as an excellent reminder to drivers that the police are out there and if you are doing the wrong thing, you will be caught."
Despite the new colour scheme looking more like a Matchbox car than a Highway Patrol, I’m thinking there would have been more effective ways to seriously reduce the holiday carnage.
16/04/07 Many tyres die as the Oran Park Skid Pan gets over run!
It wasn’t long for the word to get out and all 30 positions filled for the Street Commodore’s second trip to the Oran Park Skid Pan. 14 pages in our online forum were filled with messages from toey drivers angling to give their right foot a workout and to push their car’s cooling system right to the limit.
There was a steady stream of cars that eventually flooded the entire car park with trolley jacks, wheel braces and mountains of sacrificial tyres. Forum member Dave_VS bought along his ‘drift spec’ VL specially made for the event complete with custom modifications such as a PVC pipe roll cage, gaff tape cold air intake, welded diff and a five-speed gearbox with only two pedals.
“It cost me a case of beer, at the end of the day I’ll sell it for a case of beer”, Dave the madman himself said trying to hold back laughter.
The VL was the first out on the pan and his attempt of the first motorkhana track was probably one of the day’s best.
The first few cars that made their way onto the pad gave it their best to slide their way around the plotted out course, but it was Hilly_Dawg in his VY SS Ute that set the freestyle trend with the Ute giving the spectators a massive display of smoke of rubber.
Where there are burnouts, there is Craig in his awesome VK-671 ready to give it all it’s got and that's exactly what he did. The black with blue pearl painted beast destroyed tyres in specatular fashion with newly added side pipes providing the crowd with a fantastic symphony of a Holden V8 with the whine of a 6/71 peaking at 18 PSI.
Casualties of the day were fairly minimal with two entrants including the immaculate SV300 of Jeff Briffa lost their rear bars as they drifted too far out of the circuit, making contact with the grassy edges. Briffa’s car also suffered the symptoms of hard day thrashing with under bonnet temperatures getting a little too hot which saw Jeff reach for the Street Commodores ice bin in an attempt to extinguish a few stray flames. The ex-Fibremaster VX was the other Commodore on the casualty list with damage to the rear bar and drivers side side-skirt as a result of contact with the circuit edges and blowing a tyre in a big smokey burnout.
As the day came to end, entrants did a few last laps of the pad and then prepared their cars for the trip back home. The full thread of the day including photos taken by fellow forum members can be found by clicking HERE.
Keep and eye out for future skid pan days in your local area!
.jpg)
