HSV GTSR W1 v BMW M6 Gran Coupe: Comparison Verdict
Australia's finest and final homegrown muscle-car takes on one of Germany's greatest sports sedansWow, what a couple of great days these were!
It simply doesn’t get much better than thrashing the HSV GTSR W1 and BMW M6 Gran Coupe at Sandown race track and then heading into Gippsland to sample some of Australia’s best roads in two great sports sedans.
We’ve chronicled what we experienced on the road here and here on the track at Sandown on, but held back the conclusion and our video reviews until now.
But without further ado we’ll confirm what many of you probably already suspect; on both road and track the Aussie iron gets the gold medal.
At Sandown the gap between the two cars was narrow but clear. Make no mistake, the W1 is a track-oriented weapon set up to go super-fast. Yes, the engine is mega but so are those fabulous Supashocks, AP Racing brakes and Pirelli Trofeo R semi-slicks.
That this car can record times within 10 seconds of the Supercar lap record speaks volumes. And that it can do it lap after lap simply underlines that capability and adds several exclamation points.
“What impressed me about the HSV was its ability to put its power down,” noted our pro driver Luke Youlden. “I expected with 800 Newton-metres of torque that it would be loose and oversteer and just carry on.
“But it isn't. It's quite the opposite. It's neutral and its repeatability under brakes is equally as impressive.
“Lap time always wins. I am going with the HSV.”
On the road, the M6 closes the gap to almost nothing. Its engine is a thing of beauty and its driver-adjustable multi-mode chassis more comfortable than the W1’s ultra-focussed set-up.
The brakes, tyres and auto transmission that hampered the M6 on the track showed their true worth and quality on the road.
But still, there’s a level of interaction between driver and W1 that the M6 can’t match. The steering connects more directly, you sit within the experience of driving the HSV. In the BMW, there is a sense of being one step further removed from the core of it all. There are more filters.
“Personality differences aside these two are both phenomenally capable cars..."
Maybe that’s ethereal bullshit. Maybe it’s just because we have grown up with raw Aussie muscle-cars and they connect with us at such a deep level. Maybe this being the last locally-developed and engineered Holden Commodore sways our judgement.
But what we can say with certainty is Holden Special Vehicles deserves credit for sticking to its guns and making its last Commodore V8 its greatest achievement.
As road test editor Matt Brogan summed up after a memorable day behind the wheel of both cars:
“Personality differences aside these two are both phenomenally capable cars. Whether you go for Aussie brawn or German stealth they’re both really quick, they handle really well and they do stop on a dime.
“But for me, choosing from the heart, I’m going with the W1. It just speaks to what we are as a muscle-car nation. It’s quick, it’s loud, it’s agro; and as far as HSVs go, there’s no doubt this is best thing it has built in 30 years.
"More than anything else, I just want one, and I'm not the only one.”
So victory to the W1, but its challenges aren’t over yet. Next up is a fight against a whole fleet of rivals in Australia’s Best Driver’s Car 2017. Stay tuned.
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