W1 vs THE WORLD

Gotta love the wankers who think the cost of a car should come down to a quarter-mile time (Video: HSV GTS-R W1 vs HSV Senator LSA drag race, Wheelsmag.com.au.) What about a half-mile or full-mile time? Or lap times around Bathurst or Phillip Island, perhaps?

What about a good old hill run on Australia’s high roads, as this was built for Aussie conditions and driving styles? We don’t build four-door pocket rockets or high-tech, rapid-fire dual-clutch gearboxes. We produce cars that have character and are fun to drive and listen to.

You might find a big Euro luxury four-door performance car that looks and sounds and goes and stops just as good, but I doubt you would find one for the price of either of these. And as the W1 is our generation’s GT-HO, I doubt you will find a four-door package as nice that will appreciate in value in decades to come.

Paying $100K for a nice LSA is also good bang-for-buck compared with what you will pay for the large Germans.

The W1 needs to be raced for a few laps against other fourdoors; only then will it change opinions on its worth. Look what a GT-HO or Monaro coupe or Torana is worth now – even the Walkinshaw Commodores. In their prime, many of them were nothing more than a beefed-up version of the stock model.

This thing is miles better, and rarer. Dry-sumped LS9, suspension and brakes that come from a factory that produces V8 Supercar hardware; I would love one in my driveway.

Well done, HSV, on having the balls to produce such a weapon. Wheels, hurry up and do a comparison; a three-lap shootout against all the large fourdoor, rear-drive production cars.

Wes Ripper, via Facebook

Unfortunately, Wes, we had only two days and 1000km in which to test the W1, limiting what we could do with it. For now, at least.