A runway with no planes, a man with a radio, four guys, four monster sedans… what did you think was going to happen?
The Top Gear Oz boys were like kids on Red Bull running riot at Temora in NSW, racing the mighty HSV GTS against the best four-doors on the planet; the bodacious V10 BMW M5, the silken but savage Jaguar XFR and the raucous, rambunctious Lexus IS-F (the fandangled new update version).
So how does Australia stack up in the horsepower Olympics? The results are a sight to behold…
For the full story, pick up a copy of the new Top Gear Australia magazine, on sale…NOW!
Nice there was a fair bit of smoke coming from the gold one so it must have been a cold day.
Oh sorry i mean the blue Audi
Let’s not kid ourselves, HSV didn’t do justice to this new E-series.. looks more like a really badly done kit car.
who cares where parts came from fact is holden is a good company not having the best run at the moment.has lasted longer in this country than anywhere else.i dont kid around
i dont recal that there is a audi in this video i recal in the november issue of the tga mag that that blue car is a jaaaag not a audi. but so what the hsv arent the fastest but i think that its probably the most fuel efficient oout of all of them and i know it is the cheapest
Why did the gaps between the cars change so much when the camera angle changed TGA? One was clearly in front in the first angle just before it changed but in the next shot the whole lot were spread out all over the place. The angle was quite similar & from a similar distance, so why the massive descrepincy? Have you fudged the footage perhaps?
Also what would you expect from the GTS? It isn’t the most powerful Holden in the range so why put it up against the most powerful from the other manufacturers? Are you guys trying to prove you arn’t sponsored by Holden are you?
Even if it’s slower, I’d still take a Holden over anything european. Euro cars suck for price, reliability, availability of parts & price of repairs. With the money I save by not buying euro I can modify the Holden to flog the exhaust of the others.
ALRIGHT SO THE BEAMER THRASHED THE HOLDEN ON THE STRAIGHT
BUT THROUGH THE CORNERS I BET THE DRIFT MACHINE HSV WILL KICK THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINES BUTT
I HOPE IT STILL HANDLES LIKE A HSV.
none of u guys except wazup sed anything even remotley true about anything to do with motoring…
conman, you know nothing, coz the gts IS the most powerfull holden. infact its the most powerful car made in australia
finally someone with some real sense.holdino sooo true.and who won bathurst this year and put the wind up the fords.HOLDEN
hey speed demon..its not an audi..its a jaaaaguar
Hmm, I think the W427 might be more powerful.
And you must be joking about the HSV being better through corners than the M5, the BMW eats it for breakfast, regardless of whether you want to go sideways in smoke, or flat out fast.
As far as the video is concerned, it was a standing kilometre race with one camera at the start and the other at the finish line, the discrepancy is in the middle 600m you can’t see, which is where the BMW accelerated away.
holdino, the next time you try to tell me that I know nothing, you might want to make sure your right first. Looking a bit silly in the corner with the dunce cap on isn’t my style.
Just to hammer that home abit more the E2 GTS produces 325kw against the W427’s 375KW.
TGA – That is the aussie version of the GTS without the supercharger, isn’t it? Why don’t you run the Euro cars aginst the Euro model GTS that comes with the supercharger? I think the results might be a bit different.
The Bathurst? We can’t get one, sadly.
well for one holden is a decent car but you cant compare it the the m5 cause its got alot more power its quicker has a v10 ans is just better. the is-f is shit what car needs 8 bloody gears for a start and the jag well what can you say about that its good all round
ji1021 oh yeah my bad mate i only looked at it the once and thought it was a audi.
But in the end of the day even if the Euro cars are faster on a run way who cares if thats how you determin what car you want to buy then your a idiot.
what was the point of this???
to show that a $200.000 car is btter than a hotted up taxi?
of all the drags/races i have seen on here that was by far the most rediculos..
i have to agree with black dog…
comparing a matchbox car to $200000 cars,
its a bit obvious that the HSV wouldnt win.
booooring
corby i went to the newsagent and picked up a copy of the tg mag and started reading it,no plastic sealed bag,great,but the newsagent still told me to buy it or get out.
Black Dog, very valid point. Dollars buy performance & quality.
WAZ UP & … you two are in la-la land. There’s no way any HSV will outdo an M5 around corners. BMW M5 is one of the best handling cars on the planet & you want to say a HSV will outdo it? I think you two have been into my JD stash as well.
connie ,your right,opel will always be an opel,doesnt matter if its a opel kadet or a opel hsv.
Buy one, you tight git. It will change your life and make you more attractive.
That’s not what I meant Spandau Tango. I’m a Holden fan & used to own a very nice Clubsport thank you very much. I’m just mean that if you pay 200k for a car it damn well better out perform a 80k car. I would have said the same thing if it had been a FPV instead of HSV. I’m not under any illusion that a HSV is going to out perform an M5 around corners or in a straight line either. For a car designed for the aussie market though you will be hard pressed to find better, especially for the price. I agree with Stephen, get one. At least take one for a test drive. You don’t know what your missing & when you find out what has been missing in your life, you will never look back.
Love the attitude Stephen. Most HSV’s are life changing to those who have never had some real power under the right foot & women do seem attracted to them.
Conman,
I think SC trying to sell a mag, not an HSV
So true, I meant buy a mag. I don’t make a habit of encouraging people to buy HSVs.
Good grief!! – now hsvs attract women and change lives!!!
Holden chick34, Ford has been around since the 1910’s-1920’s.
corbsy,i will only buy the mag with my post published in it,my other personalety had one,so i bought that one,oh i did get the fridge magnets,but i sent them to annemarie in spain.
Just curisous Spandua why is it so inportant to get your name in a magazine we all see your point’s and idea’s here so why does it matter if someone put’s it in a magazine or not?
I’ve only been reading these blogs for a couple of week Spandau Tango so I can’t speak for all of your posts but most of them seem to have nothing at all to do with the topic of the blog.
I know that everyone goes off topic, including myself, but maybe that’s why you don’t get your name in the mag.
I’m not picking on you, so don’t get upset with me. I’m just pointing out that your not likely to get published if your not talking about the subject at hand.
well ,,,,,being such loyal fans that we are,and we go to all this effort to guide tga and the mag as well in the right direction,we all should be given a subcription to the mag at least,if not a kia or a porsche,speedo wouldnt you like to be rewarded with some fridge magnets for all your contributions?mmmhhh.
With the switch to channel 9 I think it’s pretty clear that they are not listening. I don’t think this is about getting accolades & rewards though, just giving our opinions on all things motoring. Personally, I hope they don’t print anything I have to say. But that’s just me. I don’t like my photo being taken either.
conie tg just had an ad for a cd for driving music,which they are selling now,i bet they plugged the songs out of the driving music blog a while back,but im sure my suggestion[waterloo by abba]isnt in it.so im not buying the cd either.
crist,i just read my own posts,i think iv got a.d.d,or is it a.a.d
A.D.D. Attention Deficit Disorder. Also stands for Arrogant D@ckhead Driver & As@holes Driving Disorder.
I think about 90% of the population have one form of the driving disorder or another.
so im ok to post still?
Why wouldn’t you be? I don’t give a rats if your not on topic or not in the mag. I’m not that anal. In fact I find many of your posts to be quite entertaining. The last thing I would want is for you to stop posting, your pretty funny at times.
what about an f6? it would smoke the hsv!
what about an f6? it would smoke the hsv!
Ford rules!
Your dreaming there Sibbo. The F6 is down on horsepower, up on weight & is a full second slower than the old R8, let alone the new E2. I got the information from Ford websites & forums by the way so don’t try to tell me it’s bias. Check out the drags on youtube & you will see the F6 sucking down Holden exhaust fumes. I admit that the F6 is pretty quick for what it is but it’s no match for the Holden V8’s.
HMM a good reward would be for to be let to drive a super V8 around a race track or to at least go for a ride in one.
Sorry Sibbo old Ford’s rule new Fords Suck and a F6 would be left in the dust by a standard HSV E2.
Guys i dont think we are talking about the same cars. the FG model f6 would be a match for it (and Probably win). yes, a BF Typhoon or even a BA would get kicked around, the new one rules. don’t believe me? go on youtube
I am talking about the FG Sibbo. I suggest you have a look at some of the Ford forums as well as the direct comparison results from Wheels magazine. The FG is also the youtube clips I was refering to. Only one of them show the HSV being beaten & even then that was the FG against the VZ. Check your facts. The FG is heavier by over 100kgs. It has severe turbo lag & is 20-30BHP down on the HSV. There’s no way that it can win. Like I have shown before, I’m not in the business of being made to look like a goose, so check your facts, not just BS youtube vids, then come back here & try seriously telling me that I’m wrong. You won’t be able to. Unless your going to say that Wheels have no idea either. Or that the Ford fans on the forums that have run the tests & comparisons for themselves are wrong as well. They are Ford fans admiting that the HSV is faster. It just does not get anymore conclusive than that.
The GT V8 would be a match oviusly it’s HSV’s Criptinite but no one ever talk’s about that car or comapre’s a Ford V8 against it’s Holden Equivilent. seem’s pointless to compare a 6 against a 8 the 8 will always win of the mark. so on the quater it will always win.
post 29 busby wel der.i have the atuobiography of henry ford and the company.holden’s better by far anyway
I hit 0-100km/h in 4.8secs consistently and run the quarter in 12.83 secs at 183km/h in my standard FG F6.
For the record my car is on average a full second quicker at least then any standard HSV ive raced (a couple of car lenghts in front).
For example my mates run a 14.12sec quarter in his R8 to my 12.83…….thats talking from experience at the Willowbank Raceway.
Dont nock the Ford 6 unless you know what you are talking about because it will eat any standard Holden or Ford V8 for breakfast.
Whatever mate. If you think you know better than the factories themselves, that’s your disability, not mine.
And……my mates standard HSV GTS E runs the 1/4 at willowbank in 13.48secs (thats his best).
I should mention that my FG F6 is not just faster from stand start acceleration but in rolling acceleration as well with that test the HSVs dont know which way my F6 went. Touchee
I posted with youtube links…
it disappeared…
no it didnt
comment 48
I’d belive it FG F6 310 do you have any you tube link’s with you doing a 12 to 13second time so we can see please i did say please.
I really would like to see Ford Turbo the XR8 or GT like they did for the XR6 when that came out every rev head wanted one it was a Turbo Aussie car that could burn of a R34 skyline who knows how much power that would have then you can goodbye Vaxhuall oh i mean Holden Barrrth hurst on 427 thingy.
each has our own opinion on which would be a beast.my dream machine is the walkinshaw r8,black pearl,hot mags,darkest legal tint you can have.and the other opinion i have on driving is that if a car like the r8 has a driver that know’s how to drive and handle it,and takes good care of it,performance will speak for it’s self.treat a car like a racing machine with foot to the floor all the time and you wont get any good performance out of it.
Just to clear the air on this little debate here are some figures on these cars for you:
Tests conducted Wheels Magazine July 2009
310kw F6 GTS LS3
0-60: 3.1 2.9
0-80: 4.2 4.2
0-100: 5.4 5.5
0-120: 7.2 7.6
0-140: 8.8 9.5
400m: 13.5 @ 178kmh 13.7 @ 170kmh
Next test:
Location – Winton
Driver – Rick Kelly
FPV F6 1/4mile: 13.4sec @ 179.4kmh
1 lap Winton: 1:43.5
HSV R8 1/4mile: 13.5sec @ 176.3kmh
1 lap Winton: 1:43.6
FPV GT 1/4mile: 13.8sec @ 174.0kmh
1 lap Winton: 1:45.1
There is so little between the performance of the cars that it really comes down to how well the driver gets the car off the line. They are both remarkable cars that offer great bang for your buck. It all comes down to wether you are a ford or a holden person.
It didn’t put my spaces between th eF6 & the LS3 figures so I hope you guys can make sense of that. First two numbers in the 0-whatever times are for the ford the 3rd & 4th numbers are for the LS3. The 400m figures are fairly easy to understand.
The figures with Rick Kelly at the wheel are the most convincing that there is very little difference & I can tell you he was trying in both cars. I was there personally.
Thank’s for that G.O.M
I would have have the GT i have alway’s wanted a GT scince i was a boy i thought it would have been quicker on the quater mile but thats not that inportant.
Thats settled then, thanks G.O.M. for the wheels comparo. The F6 is quicker in that comparison as well though not as quick as mine judging by the numbers. It could have something to do with the ambient temp. when wheels tested the cars. I take it wouldve been in the afternoon and slightly hotter then when i run my F6 at Willowbank in the evenings when the air is cooler (18C-24C). Motors run better in the cooler climates especially Turbos.
Anyway im impressed with my F6 in standard trim and im looking at modifying it after the Xmas break to run 10,s and still be streetable (beauty of Turbos). Im talking 24-30psi and 600KW with the boost wound up on a budget of $10.000 for the mods. Cant lose
Yes temps were higher but not by much. You have to allow for the odd freak that is faster than the others off the production line. I used to have an old UC Sunbird with a 161 in it that would blow away many standard 308’s also in Torries. There is talk of some of the F6’s running mid 12’s straight out of the factory but I’m yet to see any of them personally. I have personally driven one of the standard GTS LS3’s that ran a 12.375 on a 0.4 reaction time on a 32 degree day. I was that impressed I offered to buy it but the owner, (a mate), had only just bought it himself. Fair enough seeing as I was only going to strip the drivetrain from it & sell the shell. My personal preference would be for the Holden but that is just my preference for Holdens over Fords & that I love my V8’s. There’s no denying that the F6 is quick straight out the box though.