HSV Gen-F2 Maloo R8 review: The humble ute is now a supercar slayer

[Express]

A tow away because of a flat tyre on a lazy Sunday, my, my.

HSV Gen-F2 Maloo R8 review: The humble ute is now a supercar slayer



13 December, 2015



Not a bad looking ute.


Harry Tucker
news.com.au


HOW the humble Holden ute has changed in its 54 years of existence. What was previously designed for “the man on the land” to be a small delivery vehicle is now a full-blown sports car. It even has maps for race tracks in its navigation system.

HSV’s final dig at the Aussie ute is now far less ute and far more sports car than ever. While you still have a tray on the back, you also have a supercharged V8 engine that puts out 400kW of power and 671Nm of torque. To put that in context, Ferrari’s F430 Scuderia which was only discontinued in 2009 had 375kW of power.

This humble ute is more powerful than a darn supercar.

That engine itself is sublime, from the lower rev range right to red line there is always an abundance of power. The automatic gearbox with which our review car was fitted with worked well enough, and while it was no AMG dual clutch, it still felt sporty and fast.




That tray can fit a lot. Source:news.com.au


After driving the Clubsport R8 with the same engine and exhaust set up though, it felt like the automatic in Maloo compared to the Clubbie’s manual took away some of the V8 roar you got from revving it when taking off. Lucky that initial pop, crackle and big soundtrack is still there when you turn it on.

Once you’ve hit a straight, the big supercharged V8 has more power than you’ll ever need on tap, with buckets of it coming on from fairly low in the rev range. If you take it from a standstill and want to launch it off the line, the 671Nm of torque sends those rear wheels spinning before propelling you off the line with serious pace. But really, if you turn the traction control off, it turns into a burnout machine whether you like it or not.

But with all that power, comes some serious fuel usage, and premium 98 unleaded petrol at that. After a week with the car, with a mix of city, highway and spirited driving, I finished with figures of 17.2l/100. But if using lots of fuel bothers you, a big V8 is never going to be the right car for you.

Having never driven a Maloo before, the way the car handled around corners was genuinely mind-boggling. This thing ate corners up, despite being a wide, long ute that had a barbecue stored in the tray. I was having a blast transporting goods — who would have thought!

If you’ve ever been inside a VF Commodore, the inside of the new Clubsport will be very familiar, with only a few little HSV inserts and sports bucket seats to set it apart. It’s not a bad interior, and is certainly very comfortable, both in the front and back seats, but it is by no means up to the same quality as European rivals.




Race tracks included. Source:Supplied


However, one feature I was able to review with the car which I never thought I would have to is Holden’s Roadside Assistance. I became stuck in the unfortunate situation around 20km outside the Bathurst CBD with a flat tyre and a car with not only no spare tyre, but no tyre repair kit either.

I was forced to ring Holden’s Roadside Assistance then, where I was stuck on the phone for nearly two hours trying to get help. They were very friendly, but didn’t quite seem to know how to handle my situation. I eventually got a tow truck to take the car away, which because it was a Sunday was taken back to their depot. After numerous attempts to try and get a hire car on a Sunday afternoon failed, I had to get myself back to Sydney. But that was after hours of waiting to hear back from Holden Roadside about the status of a hire car, which if I was a paying customer, I would be very disappointed.




Always remember a spare tyre. Source:news.com.au


But really, the lesson here is to always make sure you have a darn spare tyre.

It’s a shame my time with the last Maloo got cut short, because it’s truly the quintessential Aussie car. It’s a bloody ute that has a 400kW supercharged V8 under the bonnet and I think that’s fantastic.

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