The sport, or art, of drifting conjures up many different responses. Those who’ve seen the pros do it live are blown away by the speed, control and ability of the drivers. Those who’ve never witnessed it first-hand either don’t get it, or sadly, often respond with “oh yeah, we used to do that, but it wasn’t called drifting back then”.

I hate to burst your bubble if you fall into the latter category, but I highly doubt that what you used to do was anything like what today’s professional drifters do.

Drifting is not sliding out of a corner, far from it. It’s more the (more…)

I can’t even remember who said it now, it was that long ago,” Lee Wilson comments on someone’s statement that Holden 308 motors couldn’t make any power. That was all it took to tip him over the edge and set him on a quest to prove them wrong… whoever they may be!
Lee had owned the car for a few years, just with a 3-litre straight-six in it, but the plan was always to drop a 308 in so it had a bit more power and street cred. If he looks back now, he would surely have noticed the signs that it was spiralling into a full-on build. One of those signs should have been when the decision was made to give the car a quick paint job before the motor was dropped in…
As you can tell, that quick paint job turned out to be a quality job, and it looks just as good now as it did all those years ago when it was first sprayed. It was around the time that the build began when Lee started hanging out with a few other guys and girls who had supercharged engines, and through helping them out with their builds, he soon met Al Shadwick from Al’s Blower Drives. Over the years Al and Lee have become good mates, helping each other out on various projects (Lee’s a fabricator by trade, so comes in handy).

As you can imagine, having a relationship with New Zealand’s top supercharger expert can come in handy when you’re trying to build a big power street motor. Al and Lee devised a plan that would see the 308 block retained, but a 304 crank installed, along with Scat H-beam rods and Wiseco pistons. While the capacity may be small in comparison, the emphasis was put on making the engine breathe efficiently to make the most of what it had to offer. To do this, Yella Terra Dash-9 CNC ported heads were chosen and fitted with roller rockers from the same catalogue. Add some Ferrea stainless valves, a blower cam and a port-matched intake and you’ve got a combo that is almost unbeatable with a Holden block. Of course, it’s what sits above all this that makes the power and makes the car into a head turner. That setup consists of a billet Blower Shop 6/71 supercharger and a pair of 650cfm Demon carbs.
Currently the blower is three percent overdriven, which should make the combo good for around 600hp. The exact figure is unknown as, since an oil pump drive failed resulting in the end being chewed off the camshaft, a new more aggressive cam has been fitted. With the old cam, it made 530hp, so it’s fair to say that Lee’s not stretching the truth at all with those numbers.

Since the plan was only ever for the car to be (more…)

While not as famous as HSV the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) will be familiar to many Holden enthusiasts. HDT was the go-to tuning division for Holden in the 1980s and was run by Kiwi race legend Peter Brock – the nine-time Bathurst 1000 winner.

The wheels came off the partnership partly because of Brock’s belief in a component called the “Energy Polarizer”, which he began fitting to special performance Holden Commodores being built by HDT during the 1980s.

The Energy Polarizer was a largely unproven device said to align the various energies of the car to give it a boost in performance. It never really became an accepted performance modification.

Sadly, Brock died while driving in a rally in Australia on September 8, 2006.

Now as a contemporary tribute to Brock and his motorsport legacy, the crew at HDT have built a limited run of retro-styled Holden Commodore sedans designed to reflect the performance models launched during the Brock days. HDT have named these cars the Heritage Series and have design cues taken from the legendary VL Group A Commodore. (more…)

For those who love a bit of NASCAR the name Darrell Waltrip will be well known. This legend of the sport is a three time Winston Cup champion and has a huge 84 race wins at the pinnacle of stock car racing.

But he’s never been in a V8 Supercar – till now. Waltrip was taken on a hot lap of the Bathurst circuit last weekend as part of the American coverage of the great race. Waltrip rode shotgun with Jason Bright in his Holden Commodore up Mount Panorama and it was quite an experience for the ex-racer. Waltrip looks far from comfortable on a course that’s not just an oval, it looks intense. In the video below, if you can put up with Waltrip’s ramblings during the lap there’s an interesting interview that follows. (more…)

Holden’s engineering team is already well into its work on the development of the new generation Commodore dubbed VF, but with the new model still two to three years away, there’s plenty of time for another refresh of the current VE model.

For the 2012 model year, the Commodore will receive two new colours, modest exterior and interior enhancements, plus the introduction of the track-inspired FE3 sports suspension for the Redline variants.

Selected models receive chrome accents to highlight the Series II front fascia, while Omega is fitted with new 16-inch seven-spoke alloy wheels. A new lip spoiler enhances the styling of the luxury focused Calais V. The SS V-Series Redline Edition gets new forged and polished 19-inch alloy wheels plus painted rear brake calipers.

In the cabin, there’s silver stitching on the optional Onyx and Razor leather interior trim while the Redhot trim also receives some treatment. The iQ multimedia system has been updated to be compatible with the latest smartphones. (more…)

Five members of an extended family racing in one competitive class makes for serious rivalry – and some damn good fun!

A driver being supported by his or her family is a common sight at race meetings. The partner and kids in the pit area between races or sitting in the grandstand while the drivers are out strutting their stuff on the track. But a much less common sight is when several members of a family all go racing together, in their own cars, in the same class.

Back in 2004, just prior to what would be the second season of Central Muscle Cars, I got an email from Andrew Sinclair. Andrew and his brother-in-law Paul Urquhart wanted to come and do a bit of racing with CMC. They’d both been involved with the Production Muscle Car series, based in Pukekohe, but wanted to race on a few different tracks south of the Bombays.

Andrew was racing a VK Commodore at the time, painted to look like the 1986 Mobil car of Peter Brock, while Urquhart had a green XE Falcon, which carried a colour scheme replicating Dick Johnson’s infamous Bathurst livery of 1983, which blasted its way through the scenery in that year’s Top Ten Shootout.

Both Andrew’s and Paul’s cars fitted the CMC Group 2 regulations, and the 2004/’05 CMC Group 2 championship turned into a battle between these two, with Paul eventually coming out on top. (more…)

When Mark Tunzelmann needed to shift his dirt bike around, he bought a ute. He just never intended it to cover the quarter in 10-seconds.

The ute started out just as a way of carting my dirt bike around,” claims Mark Tunzelmann. I’m pretty sure he’s having a laugh. Turns out he’s not.

“It stayed pretty standard for the first couple of years of ownership,” he says, almost apologetically.

Figures. There’s no way someone could use a boost-snorting, 10-second-capable 2004 Holden Commodore VZ ute as just a bike carrier.

Small steps

It’s a cliché, but modifying a car generally leads to a lack of coin and an end result you never thought you’d own the key to.

Mark also started with modest intentions. The original changes were low-key by modifying standards, comprising just an air intake, exhaust and a tune. While the gains weren’t ground-breaking, they were enough to have the LS1 mule delivering an easy 266kW at the wheels. (more…)

The Commodore based and Holden developed Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) has begun active service as a Police cruiser in the States.

The Caprice PPV was on trial in a number of American counties and now orders for the vehicle are beginning to be received. It’s set to replace existing fleets of Ford Crown Victoria and Chevrolet Impala models.

American Police departments trialed various makes and models including newer front-wheel-drive Impalas and even Toyota Prius hybrids. But for front-line patrolling, where high-speed driving is common, many officers prefer large, rear-drive models. The Caprice PPV also has specially designed cutaway areas to allow officers wearing a gun belt to sit comfortably. Under the bonnet is a 6.0-litre V8 engine pumping out 355 horsepower.

The Caprice PPV has been ordered by departments in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Forsyth County, Georgia with many more expected to follow. (more…)