Supercharged HSV? - Part 4

Got to check mine out at the dealer today.
Turns out somehow the order went through incorrectly and they put the SV wheels on but did not fit the spare.
Was there with mjrandom and his son and we managed to take a look at another GTS with the GTS standard wheels and I agreed with their preference for the SV wheels, so will get the dealer to leave these on. Sort of a blessing in disguise I suppose. In the back of my mind I always preferred the SV wheels anyway. The salesman would have been happy to swap either way.
Here are a couple of pics of it and a quick video. Sorry the video is so short. It's filthy at the moment and will be prepared for me to take delivery on Monday. Has 20Km on it and I sure hope won't be gaining any Kms between now and Monday. Sounds great for a stock exhaust and lovely to drive. Clutch is light and shift slick. Once I get a chance to drive it properly I'll post a review like Michael has.

http://youtu.be/CZqN10NxTfE

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Silver one

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Nice work Simon, you can almost taste it :goodjob: looks great pity you can't have it for the weekend instead of Monday !!!

Simon which dealer has the black W427 might go and have a look ?

Zupps Aspley John.

Brakes look even bigger in real life.
Was great to get a look at Micheal's GTS. It surely is a classy weapon that's for sure.
Totally different look from mine all. A good thing that they can be configured to taste.

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Interesting you didn't mention your tanty at not being able to take it home today. ;) Joking of course.

Good thing you got the back of my head, walking away is my best feature!

The three colours I have seen so far look great, red with the big spoiler is certainly the business and I suspect the SV spoiler would be a bit lost on the darker "make my day punk" colours; though on the white I prefer the SV spoiler as the big one seemed too big if that makes any sense. The nitrate looked classy too, I originally ordered silver and would have been happy with that but went back to white since we have had a string of silver cars lately including #1's Cruze.

I had a good look at the W427 while waiting for Simon. I don't ever recall having the opportunity to sit in one before or being able to have a detailed look. The engine bay sure is special. The black one needs some tlc. Looks as though it hasn't been detailed yet and sitting for a couple of weeks has taken the gloss off it. Not a fan of the crime scene interior on the E series but could live with it on the GenF because there isn't the same splash of colour on the dash and wheel. Everyone is different of course just doesn't appeal to me.

The highlight of this morning was seeing Simon's face light up when the engine started in sport mode. Just like mine did and does.

EDIT: Guys make sure you order or ask the dealer for a slimline plate for the front, the standard size is ok but doesn't look as neat and the support is set up for the slimlines. I have ordered some for mine, nothing special same standard Queensland against Transport number. White on black though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ratsmow

C,mon mj, how's the car going, this threads come to a stop since you took delivery, no more to speculate about I guess.

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More information later with a few more km. So far all I can say is I love it. I had the auto tuned in my E2 and to me it wasn't far off the ZF in the FPVs. Could still fool it occasionally especially if granny had been driving for a while. The GTS auto is nothing short of amazing. Smooth, positive and always in the right gear. And if the bimodal is open a nice snarl on manual downshifts.

The engine is obviously torque limited in lower gears and revs and the nature of the supercharger gives a more natural torque curve too. Off the mark it is quicker than my E2 but not that great a difference. As the speed picks up so does the acceleration. The engine keeps on giving. You guys with 320 or more rwkW would already know that feeling I only had around 280 with the E2. The suspension bites the road and it really blasts off so traction is better straight up. I had #2 son in with me today (obviously) and we found a bit of unimpeded and uninfected 100 zone so did a stop start run, not timed but it is waaay quicker than the E2 which was just a sub 5 second / flat 5 second sprint to 100. How much faster? No idea but obviously faster. I do know that half a second at that end of the scale feels like a week so I will need to do a proper run.

I have also taken the car through some of my favourite twisty bits and quick observation is that it handles better. Could be simply new tight suspension with sticky Continentals vs 4 year old R8 dampers and Falkens but it sticks much better. Turn in is brilliant and that is without invoking the tricky diff gods. The steering is maybe the second best feature behind the gearbox.

Still not enough km on board but it is a huge step up. Tyres have lost their initial soft rubber and they are noisy on coarse chip bitumen. No real surprises in that, it is the price you pay for grip. The Bridgies and P zeroes were noisier than the Falkens but had a bit more grip.

About to go outside and remove the spare so I will post some pics later. And give her a wash! Stay tuned. I reckon I will need to write something this weekend because Simon will take over the white words on blue background from Monday on!

Bath time. I had the dealer just wash the road grime off and do nothing else so today I had a chance to check the paint out.

First up snow foam. Didn't really need it but anyway it helps loosen anything so that was step one.

I know there are some deviants out there in internetland so here is a dirty pic. Enjoy.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps11154009.jpg

Then a rinse and wash with duragloss shampoo (I use Car Care stuff so a shameless plug) and rinse. Then I gave the body a light claying. First time ever the clay was 99.9% clean and picked up nothing. I still folded it over and over but there was nothing to pick up. I did find a blemish on the driver's door which is some contaminant that was on the panel and painted over. Quite small and I will talk with the dealer about it, not sure though that I want to lose the car for a week to have the panel redone. Anyway will see what they say. I did not find it with the wash through the mitt but felt it with the claybar.

Then another wash and rinse and dry off with some microfibre towels.

I had forgotten what it is like to apply 601 polish base with a new foam applicator on fresh clean paint. Let's just say I pulled off a couple of spectacular slips catches and one at gully as well.

It was too late to get decent shots when I finished but here are a couple anyway.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps81988266.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psb6a45a07.jpg

White isn't the best colour to show off a deep shine but it is clean and smooth and slippery nonetheless. I found another mark in the paint on the bonnet, again not sure what to do so I will note it and see where to go from there.

Otherwise the paint is pretty good. The fit of the HSV parts is also pretty good, if I was being picky I would say that the front bar is a couple of West African bee's dicks narrower than the guards but that is only something you notice when going over the bodywork in detail. The gap is even so not an issue in my view.

Just thought I would add as to cleaing the SV wheels there is good news and bad news. The good news is there isn't much bad news. I hand washed these with the car wash since the few hundred km I have done hasn't generated much brake dust. Clean quite easily and the tightest spot still lets the mitt fit in the groove albeit fingerless. The paint seems harder and tougher than the usual HSV clear coat so that is a plus. The only issue is there is so little clearance between the caliper and the inside of the rim that washing the caliper is fiddly and it you are a pedant you will need to either rotate the wheel or take it off. I will leave them ON!

The tint is tintacar 'octane' which is the blackest legal tint. Looks very good with the basic white and black theme.

That's it for now.

:goodjob: Mick come up really nice....I see what you mean about the front number plate needing to be slimline. I have slimline on the front of mine and it looks so much cleaner lines...

Awesome pics , love the video played it a few times sounds good , The spoiler looks bigger than I expected might just be the angle of the picture though
Great to read a bit about them but its just making the wait even harder
Might just go and have another listen to that vid
Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mjrandom

Bath time. I had the dealer just wash the road grime off and do nothing else so today I had a chance to check the paint out.

That's it for now.

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Your pictures gave me wood, and I'm 65. Kidding, I think... :lol:

Looks sensational mate, white paint , black wheels , small spoiler awesome. Tell me , when you've used the clay once you throw it away do you, cause its contaminated.

Will be interesting to see how many opt for the SV wheels, appears to be quite a few. Personally I've stayed with the standard GTS wheel and love them, think it is the best wheel they've ever had, but horses for courses, I guess the option wheel does show off those monster brakes better.....couldn't get over how large the brakes look in the flesh, that and the exhaust tips just look so much better in person.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ratsmow

Looks sensational mate, white paint , black wheels , small spoiler awesome. Tell me , when you've used the clay once you throw it away do you, cause its contaminated.

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Thanks. Not sure if you asking a question about claying or not. I break off a piece, soften it in my hands and thin it out to about 1/3 palm size. Lots of lube and you can feel contaminants. In any case I fold it over on the exposed surface each panel (more often if the paint is dirty) and keep going like this until the car is done. If I drop the claybar then it is ditched and I grab a new piece. After I have done the car I chuck it away. I only leave unused clay in the box. Light pressure using finger tips only so the clay glides over the paint.