For those about to ute, he salutes you!
Earlier this year Chris Harris took some time off and came to Australia. Turns out he got himself a little bit of play time at the wheel of a 430kW/740Nm HSV GTS Maloo while he was here. All that power being sent to an unladen pair of rear wheels, an empty race track, what do you think happened next?
And Chris, for next time, a male sheep is called a ram. Of course, he would be a wether if his ghoulies had been snipped.
[Thanks to Stu for the tip]
It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but already the limited-edition HSV GTS Maloo ute with an $85K+ price tag has reportedly sold out. With only 150 examples of the you beaut ute to be made (or is that 155?) it’s no surprise to see the enthusiast market has mobilised quickly after news of the GTS Maloo broke late last week.
In basic terms the GTS Maloo is the coupé ute version of the Gen-F GTS sedan, which brings with it the 430kW/740Nm 6.2 litre supercharged V8. It’s going to be totally obnoxious, but also very, very cool.
At least five AUSmotive readers have got their name on the buyers list and hopefully one of them will be nice enough to let us have a fang when their new toy arrives.
[Source: news.com.au | Thanks to John for the tip]
The Holden ute is an Aussie icon, and while its passing will be a sad day, HSV is going to send off the ute by creating the greatest and fastest show pony it has ever made. The exact model name is yet to be confirmed but the working title of HSV GTS Maloo seems to make sense.
We’ve known about this you beaut ute for some time but have been sworn to secrecy. Thanks to news.com.au who have broken the ice we can now share news of the GTS Maloo and perhaps a little bit more.
The GTS Maloo will be limited to 150 units and despite the expected mid-80s price tag it’s likely to become one of the most collectable HSVs of all time. Only 120 of those may be sold in Australia with up to 30 being allocated for New Zealand buyers.
It’s an HSV ute, right, so its closing party trick has to be big power. Big, big power! Essentially the ute will simply knock-off the drivetrain from the GTS sedan, including its 6.2 litre supercharged V8. That means it will bring a mighty 430kW/740Nm to the table. For the old skool readers among you that’s 576hp!
Predictions for the GTS ute’s 0–100km/h time are in the mid-4 second bracket, but it’s the in-gear acceleration that 740Nm of torque will bring which should bag the biggest smiles this ute has to offer. Oh, aside from the silly sideways stuff that is.
HSV’s Magnetic Ride Control will be fitted standard and will help ensure all that power can get to the ground with some degree of decorum, while massive racing-inspired AP brakes will help to slow things down.
There will be a choice of manual and automatic transmissions and if you want the slushbox you’ll be getting flappy paddles for the first time in an HSV.
We assume Torque Vectoring and Launch Control (manual transmission only) will also carry over from the GTS sedan, although our source has not been able to confirm this.
Cosmetic enhancements for the GTS Maloo will also follow the lead from its four-door counterpart, both inside and out.
We’ve been told that the HSV dealership network has already been notified of their allocations, colour choices and options. So even though there has been no official announcement, if you just want one, we suggest you act now.
In other VF ute related news it’s understood the end of Commodore ute production will be brought forward to 2015, rather than 2016 as previously reported. This is due in part to fact the ute is one of the most expensive products in the Commodore model range to manufacture.
[Source: news.com.au | Thanks to Shaz for the tip]
Australia moves one step closer to the loss of its automotive manufacturing sector with News Ltd reporting the Holden ute will face the axe by 2016. We already know that’s the year Ford Australia will stop making the Falcon and the long-term future of the Commodore is on shaky ground, too.
A decline in sales is the main reason for the cut, with traditional ute buyers now favouring models such as the Toyota HiLux made in Thailand where wages are a fraction of those paid in Australia.
But the real meat of the News Ltd article is this paragraph:
News Corp Australia has been told that if Holden continues manufacturing beyond 2016 it will adopt two new “global” cars, one of which is a large front-wheel-drive sedan that will not be made into a ute.
The demise of Australian icons the Commodore and Falcon is inevitable. We know that for a fact with the Falcon and it only appears a matter of timing for the Commodore, despite a boost in sales since the launch of the VF.
And we’re all responsible for their fate, by choosing to spend our motoring dollars elsewhere. In truth, neither car will probably be missed for any great length of time. It’s still a bit sad, all the same.
[Source: News Ltd | Pic: GM Corp | Thanks to Adam for the tip]
When we first saw pics of the Holden VF ute circulating at the Nürbugring we sensed it was little more than a marketing gimmick. And it looks as though we were right. With the VF SSV Redline ute Holden is claiming the title of the world’s fastest utlility vehicle at the Ring, a title which, until now, never existed.
Holden test driver Rob Trubiani was at the wheel during an industry pool test day and posted a lap time of 8:19.47, around 11 seconds better than their 8:30 target time. Holden says the car is a “product-correct engineering test vehicle” with its speed limiter removed and increased negative camber at the front wheels.
You can expect to see and hear a lot more about this lap when the VF ute goes on sale. For now there’s a decent gallery of pics and four videos for you to watch.
The main video shows the full lap with commentary from Trubiani, it’s actually quite a decent effort we have to say. Despite Trubiani’s claims that the ute’s electric power steering is the duck’s guts, to our untrained eye it looks a touch light and requires too much turn to reach full lock.
A quick shout out to Holden for going to the trouble of sending their VF Commodore ute to the Nürburgring for final chassis tuning ahead of its imminent release. Of course, with the car being so close to market launch you’d expect there won’t be too many opportunities to tweak the set up in any meaningful way.
Hey, you don’t think this was a marketing exercise by Holden just chasing a few clicks and publicity do you? No, they wouldn’t do that, there must be more to it than that.
[Source: Carscoop | Pic: CarPix | Thanks to Matt and John for the tips]