before cutting the rear
guards for those massive
GTSR and W1 20-inchers.
Yes, they’re the same width
as the GTS, but further offset, and in W1-spec wrapped
in 295/30 rubber. Some 20mm more than a GTSR.
But they don’t just start waving an axle grinder. A
3D-printed jig is mounted on the bodywork before
it’s trimmed, sanded, galvanised into a smooth new
lip, then drilled with holes for the splash guards. This
unlocks 3-4mm clearance for the new bags.
It’s a challenge. There are sometimes 130 people
busy on these beasts, almost double the number in
late 2016. Plenty have never modified a Commodore’s
guards like this before.
The cafeteria line isn’t the only one trying to cope,
cars sitting idle leapfrog to less time-intensive stations.
Some arrive at the first with steelies on the front and
20-inch wheels on the rear, as if they’ve come from
Sydney Dragway. And as we frantically pinball between
stations, the colours of the W1s we document change
from Light My Fire orange to Heron white.
The upside to extra manpower is the more
experienced can dote on the W1, like Jack Nichols in
electrical, who installs lighting, the enhanced driver
interface, a dial, and magnetic damper hardware for
other HSVs after vehicle strip.
Because the W1 doesn’t have adjustable suspension
or an automatic transmission, the process is quicker
than usual, freeing Nichols to select only the finest
Alcantara. “I’ll go through five, 10 [steering] wheels if
I have to,” Nichols tells me, “[it’s the] same sort of deal
for the gear knob.” GTSRs get the scraps.
We next meet Mike Priest’s baby. Well, one of them,
which sits on a crate in a far-flung corner of the facility.
His name goes onto LS9 superchargers after he hand
builds them in GM’s Wixom Performance Build Center
in Michigan, USA, almost 16,000km away.
“There are three of four guys that do all of them”,
Dave Reid tells us, after we undress an LS9 from its
plastic cover. He oversees this section dedicated solely
to the W1’s engine swap, which hasn’t existed since
HSV last installed the W427’s powertrain itself in 2008.
As he takes us through what’s involved, I can see
why Holden shook its head at helping. The LS9 is
ordered two weeks in advance from Holden’s Spare
Parts Operation, then fitted with custom pulleys, air-
conditioning pump, and new headers with catalytic
converters. The old pipes end “in the rubbish, mate”,
he says with a laugh. It’s then shrouded in a labyrinth
of cooling lines and t-pieces,
plumbed to the sump’s own
oil cooler and the blower
intercooler radiator.
A removed sub-frame and
TR6060 six-speed manual
await the LS9. The ’box
arrives custom-built from
Tremec in America with
special gears strong enough
for 815Nm. They’re married
by four people, including
Alex, a tall, softly spoken Spaniard who joined the W1
program after acing an aptitude test building a wheel,
brake and suspension assembly. He tells me he left
motoring journalism at home in search of more dough
Down Under.
Alongside his crew, another buzz around the W1
to drop the LSA powertrain and anything that might
get in the way. When the project started this took
three hours, now it takes less than one. After both
teams finish, and a mid-arvo smoko break, the LS9 is
wheeled to the gutted shell as if on a platter, ready to be
ingested. It’s lined up by eye, tightened by hand, before
voila: Australia’s brawniest muscle car has a heart.
Next, they wedge a carbon-fibre intake between the
radiator and its support, before the engine’s flooded
with oil and started for first checks. With more power
than Kim Jong Un, the engine now seriously outguns
the rest of the package.
Next, the suspension’s standard ZF units are swapped
for Supashock engineered coilovers, which are built on
site. Body bits, including those pumped front wings
made from ketchup-lid plastic, are painted separately
EndOftheLine
programming happens
at station eight, where
theW1’selectronics
are updated with the
rightmodules.The
processisautomated
and takes about 22
minutestoreflashstuff
liketheTPMSandABS
softwareThe LS9 iswheeled
to the gutted shell
as if on a platter,
ready to beingested
as its new heart
Toe to Toe
Lining up those big boots on the W1
HSV’s literally
re-engineered the GTSR
fromthegroundupto
create the W1.
As we learnt during
ourtimeonthefloor,
thecar’swiderfootprint
sports unique camber
and toe settings with a
much stricter tolerance
on how much they vary.
With those Pirellis
generating so muchmore drag on surfaces,
theW1isgivenmore
positive toe.
Frontcamberis
identical between the
twocars.Butwhile
therearcamberon
theGTSRacceptsa
variance, the W1’s are
strictly locked.
Every car is aligned
on laser-based wheel
alignment technologythat takes two people
20 minutes. The only
challenge for the W1 is
finding somewhere for
theclampstodiginto
the Pirellis. End-of-line
inspectors will try to feel
any error during their
sign off drive.
Once done, the W1’s
dampers are blocked so
itdoesn’tbottomout
during shipping.–LCd motorofficial f motor_mag^77