SPECIAL INDEED
IN CREATING THE SPORTSCAT, HSV HAS DONE MUCH MORE WORK THAN MEETS THE EYE…
HSV MADE its name off the back of Commodore V8s but with the demise of the locally built Commodore in late-2017 it turned its expertise to the Colorado and came up with the Sportscat. Given the Colorado was Holden’s best-selling vehicle, and Australia’s love affair with dual-cab utes, it was the obvious thing to do…
Now you might think that the HSV makeover would mean more engine power but that’s not the case. HSV has looked to bring more ‘performance’ via a better chassis where the changes run far deeper than just a new tyre/wheel package and a lift kit.
POWERTRAIN AND PERFORMANCE
BOTH SPORTSCAT models, the more expensive ‘SV’ we have here and the ‘V’, come with a standard Colorado powertrain, a VM Motorisourced but Gm-massaged 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel backed by a GM six-speed automatic. There’s also a six-speed manual on offer.
This engine lives up its claim of 147kw backed by its solid 500Nm of torque and gets on with the job nicely, all helped by a very proactive and sporty automatic gearbox. The taller overall gearing brought about by the Sportscat’s bigger tyres and the marginal increase in aero drag from what is a wider and taller vehicle knocks a little off the performance compared to a stock Colorado but it still feels relaxed and effortless in general driving – a little more so than the Warrior – and eager enough when asked to give its all.
With its midlife MY17 revamp, the Colorado’s powertrain became smoother and quieter than before but it’s still not the last word in refinement, but neither is the engine in the Warrior, so no real winner here on this count. Points however for the Sportscat’s gearbox, which seems to always pick the right gear at the right time, something that the seven-speeder in the Warrior doesn’t do as well.
ON ROAD RIDE AND HANDLING
WHILE THE obvious changes – the taller and wider AT tyres and 45mm ride-height increase at the front – are aimed at improving the Sportscat off road, less obvious are the changes that make the Sportscat better on road.
These run deep and start with bracing the top mounts for the front springs and dampers. The standard pressed-steel top mounts for the front ‘struts’ are welded to the chassis rails behind the struts but are effectively open at the front.
What HSV has done is brace the front of the strut top-mount back to the chassis via a steel tube looped up and around the strut, which helps eliminate flex in this critical area and thus achieve better suspension control, especially given the increased loads induced by the 30mm wider track (via wheel offset), and firmer front springs (110N/mm) and specially tuned and firmer MTV dampers.
The SV model we have here also gains a real anti-roll bar that cleverly ‘decouples’ automatically when you engage low range. HSV engineers have also retuned the Electronic Stability Control to suit the heavily revised chassis. The end result of all this is, and despite the extra ride height, the Sportscat is more dynamically engaging
THE SV MODEL ALSO GAINS A REAL ANTI-ROLL BAR THAT CLEVERLY ‘DECOUPLES’ AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU ENGAGE LOW RANGE.