2016 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship - Results and TalkTouring Cars 

  • Thread starter Cap'n Jack
  • 4,422 comments
  • 99,379 views
The thing that always stood out to me about Steve Johnson was he was extremely consistent in his placement and barely ever crashed out of a race (most of his retirements were due to mechanical faults). I always admired him for that, he also is doing amazing work in the Touring Car Masters championship
 
More information on the 2018 Commodore Supercar after the recent reveal
holden-supercar-425x260.jpg

Pic that was briefly on the RBRA FB page
HOLDEN has confirmed that its new Opel Insignia-based imported Commodore will fly the company flag in Australia’s premier racing category, Supercars, from 2018.

However, the rumbling V8 engine that has become a hallmark of Holden racing over decades will become a thing of the past, most likely replaced by a twin-turbo V6.

The move will bring the Holden racecars into line with the German-made production Commodore that also will ditch the V8 option when it arrives in showrooms in February 2018 – only a few weeks before the all-new racecar is expected to debut at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

Although a normally aspirated 3.6-litre V6 has been confirmed for Holden’s next Commodore, along with four-cylinder petrol and diesel variants, a turbo V6 hot-shot is yet to be mooted.

Perhaps that is where Holden Special Vehicles comes in, although no one is talking about that.

The rules governing V8 Supercars were changed to allow other engine configurations such as turbo fours and V6s. As well, the name of the series and governing body was also modified, dropping the V8 to become Supercars.

While hardened Holden racing fans will mourn the passing of the American-built 5.0-litre racing V8 that has served them so well with numerous championship wins and Bathurst 1000 victories, it is not the first time Holden has pitched a six-cylinder engine into the touring car fray, having stuck it to rival Ford with an inline six-cylinder Torana GT-R XU-1 in the hands of Peter Brock and Colin Bond in the early 1970s.

The fact that the new Commodore – like the 2017 Insignia of which it is a clone – is not rear-wheel drive is immaterial to Supercar racing, as all cars in the class sit on a bespoke racing chassis with a rear-mounted sequential transaxle driving the rear wheels.

The development lead will be taken over by Queensland-based Red Bull Triple 8 Racing, which is about to take over the mantle of official Holden Racing Team from Walkinshaw Racing.

Holden is the first car company to formally announce its intention to give the V8 the slip, and others might well follow. Nissan has an eminently suitable twin-turbo V6 that powers its GT-R super-coupe.

This engine has already been adapted to racing in several categories around the world, including the Swedish touring car championship.

While Holden’s racing fraternity is looking forward to getting on with the new era, Australia’s police forces are apparently also in no sweat about the imminent demise of V8s in their highway patrol cars.

Holden says it recently had representatives of the police forces from across Australia and New Zealand for a quick drive of its prototype V6 AWD 2018 Commodore, and they went away impressed.

Holden fleet sales representatives work closely with the blue-light brigade to ensure that new Commodore models cater for the changing needs of modern policing, including new computer equipment and other electronic aids.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
05XR8
More information on the 2018 Commodore Supercar after the recent reveal
Click to expand...
Speaking about the road car, no rear wheel drive, no V8, no manual option & no SS variant. It's a Commodore in nameplate only :yuck: Holden should've called it something else.

As for the race car, how long will it take 888 to develop this into competitive, race winning car?
As far as I'm aware, a Holden running team has the option of continuing to use the current car into 2018 do they not? I haven't come across anything that says VASC will make it compulsory to update.
 
McNamara said teams will have the option to run the VFII if they wish. Don't know how efficient the 'NG' will be. Maybe a new aero rule would make the NG the better choice in 2018. No doubt low down grunt from the TT will help the NG over the VFII.

RBRA did have a little trouble with the COTF out the gate. So, I think they may have some issues, but Holden and RD will make sure the car wins at least one race at Clipsal. Does make me wonder what Walkinshaw will do, having to buy parts from RBRA.
 
05XR8
McNamara said teams will have the option to run the VFII if they wish. Don't know how efficient the 'NG' will be. Maybe a new aero rule would make the NG the better choice in 2018. No doubt low down grunt from the TT will help the NG over the VFII.

RBRA did have a little trouble with the COTF out the gate. So, I think they may have some issues, but Holden and RD will make sure the car wins at least one race at Clipsal. Does make me wonder what Walkinshaw will do, having to buy parts from RBRA.
Click to expand...
If that's the case, were it my call, I'd stick with the VF II, especially if I had a competitive package during the '17 season.
Yes, the low down torque from the twin turbo V6 will probably exceed that of the current 5.0 V8 but, it won't be instant like you get in a NA engine and, how smooth & drivable will it be? On cold or worn tyres it could be a real handful.
I hope we get to see them both run together for a while anyway.
 
Pete05
If that's the case, were it my call, I'd stick with the VF II, especially if I had a competitive package during the '17 season.
Yes, the low down torque from the twin turbo V6 will probably exceed that of the current 5.0 V8 but, it won't be instant like you get in a NA engine and, how smooth & drivable will it be? On cold or worn tyres it could be a real handful.
I hope we get to see them both run together for a while anyway.
Click to expand...
I honestly liked that, when bigger teams ran the new models while some lesser teams ran the older models, it made it interesting, especially if there was a rule change that gave the lesser team some benefits competition wise.
 
Last edited:
McNamara is pulling the old, "Newer is better"
In an extensive interview in the latest issue of V8X Supercar Magazine, Holden Motorsport boss Simon McNamara said that the manufacturer’s internal design staff have been working on the basics of the body panels for six months.

Under Supercars rules, the new body panels will be draped over the current control chassis and be raced in rear-wheel-drive configuration.

The company is meanwhile close to finalising its engine program which is expected to see a V6 turbo developed for Supercars’ new Gen2 regulations, based around existing GM Racing hardware.

“We’re working through the engine program,” McNamara told V8X.

“The engine we’ve been looking at for nearly two years.

“We’ve been through all of GM¹s architectures to see what might fit for us, so we’ve whittled it down.


“As for the body, Peter Hughes and the design guys have been working on the packaging for probably the last six months, with the backing of (GM global design chief) Mike Simcoe, who’s a big supporter and big follower of what we’re doing.

“So Mike’s been great and given Pete the resources internally to do a lot of the surface work (designing and shaping the racing body kit).

“So there’s a lot of work going on and the plan is to roll out in 2018.”

While the factory-backed Triple Eight is expected to roll out three brand new cars for the start of 2018, how many privately funded teams also upgrade immediately remains to be seen.

Although only offering direct financial support to Triple Eight, McNamara says that all teams will benefit from the restructured engine and bodywork program.

It is expected that the engines will be prepared through a single local supplier, with teams able to lease their powerplants from Holden.

“What we plan to do with our program from a business point of view with the car and the engine will only help the teams that are underfunded and struggling a bit,” he said.


The new Commodore won’t be sold or raced with a V8

“The engine program alone will save them a significant amount of money. And they all want a Triple Eight car, anyway.

“Now they can put their own bits in it, no drama. But the externals will be common. And it will be at a proper price; it won’t be exorbitant.

“We want to make sure that everyone that wants to run a new Commodore is able to.

“Ideally, we’d turn up in Adelaide in 2018 and we¹d have all of our current Holden teams running new Commodores.

“Whether they all want to do that is a different story.

“I know that most of them do, but some of them probably won’t.

“The ones that do will be very happy with what they have.

“They’ll be in a better position financially by having the car and engine package of the next-generation car.”
Click to expand...
 
I hope DJRTP, GRM and PRA can make some magic happen. Penske will want to take advantage of the new rules and come out swinging. You can see he wants Bathurst wins. We see how good GRM did with Volvo. I have no clue in regards to how Tim Edwards will go about this. Get dealers involved? I just don't know.
 
At this point I think any more engine development on the V8 is a waste of money. They'll just have to deal with it until they can switch to something else.
 
Spacegoat
Find a new manufacturer? Hopefully so, anyway.
Click to expand...
05XR8
I can't call that one. What brand(s) will they produce/customize in their shop? Jag(I don't see any custom Jags out here)? Porsche? Mazda? BMW?
Click to expand...
He's just taken a mega long lease on a new facility that'll house all his operations virtually under the one roof instead of being spread all across Clayton Business Park like it is currently.
So, he must have something up his sleeve.
 
If he can bring something new to series, cool. I just have no idea what it could be and you all knooowww how I love to speculate. :D
 
Pete05
Great Wall :lol:
Click to expand...

Walkinshaw to become the factory Great Wall team in the new Super Utes series? :lol:
05XR8
If he can bring something new to series, cool. I just have no idea what it could be and you all knooowww how I love to speculate. :D
Click to expand...

He's got the American Special Vehicles thing, doing RHD conversions and whatnot with Dodge(?) trucks, maybe they'll stay with something GM related?

Edit: Oops, Dodge isn't GM related though, is it? :dunce:
 
Last edited:
Damn tree'd. :cheers:

He's got the American Special Vehicles thing, doing RHD conversions and whatnot with Dodge(?) trucks, maybe they'll stay with something GM related?
Click to expand...

Don't get me started. ;) *rubs hands anyway*
 
R1600Turbo
Then the question remains, where is he going? Please do not say Nissan.
Click to expand...

If I remember the pre Bathurst interview rightly he said his future was sorted, but wouldn't give any details away, Id say he's on the start of his retirement plan, will most likely spear head the Walkinshaw Porsche GT3 program, or someone else's,

Is Courtney being retained by HRT?
 

Similar threads

Spacegoat
2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship
26 27 28
Replies
827
Views
41K
ScottPuss20
ScottPuss20
Cap'n Jack
2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship
83 84 85
Replies
3K
Views
101K
Spacegoat
Spacegoat
Spacegoat
2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship - Results and Talk
131 132 133
Replies
4K
Views
153K
Com Fox
Com Fox
05XR8
Virgin Australia Supercars eSports events
Replies
0
Views
345
05XR8
05XR8
Uncle Ed
Possible Virgin Australia Supercars Championship game?
Replies
14
Views
1K
05XR8
05XR8

Latest Posts

Back