Walkinshaw launches most potent kit to date

POWER broker Walkinshaw Performance’s latest bolt-on supercharger kit will transform your Holden Commodore from everyday sensible sedan to one of the world's most powerful sports sedans, with up to 550kW of power – more than a V8 Supercar racer.

Only 50 of the Limited Edition kits will be up for grabs priced at $24,490, which includes everything required to almost double the power output of a Holden 6.0-litre or Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) 6.2-litre V8.

Normally aspirated 6.0-litre VE and VF Holden engines get a serious kick up from about 260kW to 500kW and 800Nm of torque, while HSV 6.2-litre donks can produce up to 550kW and a whopping 980Nm – 120kW and 240Nm more than the factory-backed HSV GTS and upcoming Maloo GTS ute.

Although Walkinshaw Performance has offers three less powerful supercharger upgrades – the W497, W457 and WPT30 – for Holden and HSV V8s, the company says this new offering is the first its kind, including a camshaft and related components.

In 2012, a previous WP blower kit boosted 6.0-litre Holden V8 performance to 460kW and 780Nm, and HSV 6.2-litre V8 performance to 480kW and 802Nm.

Walkinshaw Performance managing director Tony Harris said response to the new kit had been “overwhelmingly positive” and that six deposits had been placed within hours of the announcement.

“What people are looking for is a little bit of individualisation and a bit of them in their purchase,” he said. “They don't want to be one of 10,000 Commodores on the road.

“It's really about putting some passion and excitement back in to the market.

“We've had a pretty torrid 12 months with manufacturing announcements and all the doom and gloom, and we just felt like we wanted to put a bit more excitement back in to the market.” The new kit includes parts, installation, full dynamometer tune and even a driveline warranty.

Walkinshaw's holistic approach to the power-upgrade replaces a large number of standard under-bonnet components with an extensive list of uprated parts, from the air intake to dual active exhaust.

At the heart of the kit is a beefy Eaton R2300 TVS supercharger which displaces the same volume as a mid-sized four-cylinder engine, and blows through an uprated charge-cooler with custom-designed hoses.

A dedicated lubrication system keeps the twin-screw charger oiled. The charger – which pulls air from the Walkinshaw cold-air intake – is driven by a Goodyear Gatorback belt and specially designed crank-pulley.

Compared with previous Walkinshaw blower kits, the massive increase in charge-volume required a new bespoke camshaft which is included in the kit with matched valve-springs and drive-sprocket.

Extra fuel is delivered via an uprated high-flow set of injectors, and the associated increase of exhaust gasses is dealt with by a pair of ceramic-coated exhaust manifolds and an active exhaust system, which replaces the standard pipes from the catalytic converter.

A unique toolkit, aluminium coil-covers, Walkinshaw decals and certificate of authenticity provide the finishing touches to the Limited Edition kit.

In addition to the Walkinshaw badging, officially upgraded cars are identifiable by an individually numbered supercharger plaque carrying the signatures of every Walkinshaw 2014 V8 Supercar driver.

Mr Harris said the kit is the company's most powerful to date but it does not compromise a vehicle's drivability.

“WWP continues to lead the way in the performance industry with this latest package,” he said.

“In 2010 we were the first to introduce a national driveline warranty for our supercharger package and in 2014 we are the first in the industry to offer driveline warranty on a camshaft upgrade.” Mr Harris said cars fitted with the kit produced a level of excitement never before felt from a Walkinshaw tuned vehicle.

“It evokes passion in a way that few can relate to – unless you drive a V8 Supercar,” he said.

Walkinshaw sells about 150 to 200 supercharger kits a year from its standard range, which constitutes about 15 per cent of business, with majority of sales coming from W310 and W375 natural-aspiration tuning kits.

The new Limited Edition kits go on sale at official Walkinshaw resellers from October 15.