Avalanche

[crisis]

Although I have made my feelings for these type of vehicles felt on many occasions, It will be interesting to see how this HSV enhanced Adventra stacks up againts the other HiPo softroaders currently available. I have copied the HSV press release below.

"Prior to the vehicle's official unveiling at the upcoming Sydney International Motor Show, HSV has put a name to its much-anticipated entry into the increasingly popular all-wheel drive wagon segment.

Known as ‘Avalanche', the vehicle promises to bring an all new rendition of HSV's unique performance vehicle strategy to the category.

Appropriately for an HSV model the name is both strong and emotive. It's designed to symbolise the vehicle's outdoors nature and emphasise its aggressive ‘go anywhere', ‘nothing can stop me' character.

HSV is promising that the Avalanche will introduce a number of firsts to the large SUV category, including unprecedented levels of performance (0-100kph time estimated at 6.3 seconds) and superior braking capabilities drawn from HSV's powerful trademark stoppers.

The HSV Avalanche will question everything about traditional AWD performance expectations. It will be unveiled at the Sydney Motor Show on October 16, and goes on sale in December.

Extreme testing essential to the HSV pedigree

Long before the first owner takes to the highway or bush in HSV's new Avalanche all-wheel drive wagon they can rest assured that the exclusive HSV enhanced performance package has already been put through the wringer by HSV engineers.

All HSV models are designed to conform to the same rigorous quality and durability standards used by Holden so, for Avalanche, much of the test and development work was carried out in parallel with its Holden counterpart. That included plenty of outback testing, such as a three-week trip to Kununurra, at the top end of Western Australia, as far back as March 2003.

The demanding conditions the Australian outback places on both men and machines made it the ideal environment to perfect the Avalanche's operational parameters. The engine cooling system and HVAC were evaluated and developed under extreme conditions, as were a wide range of functions including transmission and engine calibrations and trailer towing capabilities.

A variety of gruelling dirt road and off road driving was used to test the combination of the HSV Power-train calibration with the sophisticated Cross Trac all-wheel drive system, as well as prove the durability and performance of the all new Bridgestone S-03 tyre developed with Bridgestone especially for this vehicle.



Final pre-production testing involved a 20,000km stint by two vehicles, in a two and half week period, taking in a mixture of on and off road conditions including mud, sand, rocks and snow. Throughout the development program HSV engineers covered tens of thousands of kilometres to ensure that Avalanche would exceed the toughest requirements of its owners.

[fpv_gtho]

6.3 is a pretty bold claim dont u think. holden is claiming about 1900kg for the adventra and surely avalanche will be heavier, by how much who knows and thats only with an auto transmission

[crisis]

I suppose the will squeeze the 285kw Gen III so the figures may be attainable. Again I fail to see the point but I will like to see a comparison with the Euros.

[fpv_gtho]

well unless they want the c4b that would be the logical step. people have been saying that for a while hsvs performance claims have been fairly off the mark. the only euro i can think of at the moment thats a jacked up version of a current car would be the volvo cx70 cross country. theres probably others but most of the new crossovers are a new body, something holdens strayed away from to save costs

[crisis]

Dare they strap a blower to it?

[fpv_gtho]

well that would require a certain level of extra engineering to make sure they dont get too many warranty claims or reliability claims, and the 285kw is hsv's biggest initiative theyve takensince gettin the gen3 and ecotec v6. capa make some pretty good centrifugal kits that hsv could put on, but manufacturers are afriad of the worse reliability of a centrifugal unit over a screw type blower or roots blower

[crisis]

My brother has fitted centrifugal blowers to a few 5Lt and standard Gen IIIs with great results. Reliability for the whole engine is fairly reliant on how brutally you drive them. Its hard to resist. The output from a 285kw Gen III plus a blower on even low boost would be awesome. Probably a little too much for some. Did I say that?

[fpv_gtho]

well i think good reliability is more consistent with a roots or screw type blower. centrifugal blowers are also no good on small motors because of their more progressive power and torque curves over roots and screw types but capa whilst developing the new xr8 8spi kit had numbers reching bout 310-320kw at the rears, or just over 400kw at the fly. they were so impressed with the results they went on to develop a 5psi kit for the people who dont need a 400kw falcon, they also said that the development costs were much lower than what they were for an equivalent holden and theyre currently developing an 11 psi kit predicted to produce about 440kw. motor will be desperate to get their hands on that one, but if the 8spi kit is anything to go by, they wont get much quicker as they struggled to get the power down and almost every run spun the rear wheels more than intended and recommended upgraded tyres for anyone who bought the kit

[Falcon500]

Is holden trying to attempt to comapre itself to the euro soft roaders or somthing? This is a relativly new product wouldent it be a good idea to take it one step at a time instead of making what could be near a 2 ton missile? And 0-100 in 6.3 seconds for such a heavy vehical that just doesnt seem to stack for me i dont think even their 300kw motor would hope to do that.

[crisis]

Originally posted by Falcon500
Is holden trying to attempt to comapre itself to the euro soft roaders or somthing? This is a relativly new product wouldent it be a good idea to take it one step at a time instead of making what could be near a 2 ton missile? And 0-100 in 6.3 seconds for such a heavy vehical that just doesnt seem to stack for me i dont think even their 300kw motor would hope to do that.

Why not take them on? Everyone is trying to make a buck out of these things. HSV are not known for taking one step at a time. Sometimes they get burned HRT427 style, but not very often. HRT cars are supposed to be the ultimate extension of the Holden product. As for the claims, they will be put to the test soon enough.

[Falcon500]

I was thinking more of a safety aspect but whatever I hope they dont get burned like ford did exploror style. They also got burned by the VL walkenshaw the very last one they sold was in 97 which still had its factory warrentym after the inital selling like hot cakes they couldent giver them away! They get burned more often then they admit (of course id be lieing if i didnt say other car makers did that) I just hope that with current trends we dont become like americans and become "SUV crazy" its already bad enough having mother cruise around in their pajeros and other such grosly over sized 4x4 which they seem to have trouble parking and 9 times out of 10 when im speeding mind you their up my arse trying to get me to go faster!

[crisis]

Originally posted by Falcon500
I was thinking more of a safety aspect but whatever I hope they dont get burned like ford did exploror style. They also got burned by the VL walkenshaw the very last one they sold was in 97 which still had its factory warrentym after the inital selling like hot cakes they couldent giver them away! They get burned more often then they admit (of course id be lieing if i didnt say other car makers did that) I just hope that with current trends we dont become like americans and become "SUV crazy" its already bad enough having mother cruise around in their pajeros and other such grosly over sized 4x4 which they seem to have trouble parking and 9 times out of 10 when im speeding mind you their up my arse trying to get me to go faster!

As for the saftey aspect there are design rules. Im sure if a 2.3T 335kw 260kmh Porsche Cayenne is ok so will this be. The Exploder is an American designed SUV. Enough said. The VL Walkinshaw was extremely expensive for its day. It is fairly highly regarded none the less. The only HSV failures I can think of are the HRT by way of the fact it was not ever produced and the XU6 which was a way of spending a lot of money on a 6 cylinder when an SS would have done a better job. The HRT 427 would have, if you believe all the carry on in Wheels magazine, sold out its proposed numbers and maybe double. I dont need to tell anyone who reads these forums my feelings about these type of SUVs but as someone who likes and buys Holdens any developement and revenue gained from it can only make the company stronger. The four wheel drive mechanics ie transfer case will also find its way into other Holden designs. 4 wheel drive 300kw HSV Coupe anyone? I agree some women are lethal in large 4x4s. They drive them like any other car with no respect for the weight they are carrying.

[Falcon500]

Originally posted by crisis
4 wheel drive 300kw HSV Coupe anyone? I agree some women are lethal in large 4x4s. They drive them like any other car with no respect for the weight they are carrying.

Im not really bought by awd as ive made very clear before i had one bloke suggest an awd GTHO for the BA HO and i just shrugged. And with the way some of these M.O.Ms drive its almost scary and if holden (and ford for that matter) realease these cars i would almost bet my left nut who the biggest market will be.

[crisis]

Personally I would rather drive a rear wheel drive car/sedan/coupe/sports car but in a shoot out between a AWD 300kw GTS and a WRX it would close the gap. Getting all of that power to the ground out of corners and controlling oversteer would allow something that powerful to eploit its advantage. As far as mums go I rekon they would be more in the standard Adventra. Most HSVs you see are driven by guys. I wouldnt let my wife drive my HSV if I could avoid it.

[Falcon500]

That would a be a close one its really case of horse for courses aroun d a place like winton there the sube would more then likly be at an advantage but around say bathurst the GTS would be far and away (maybey)
And youd be suprised by the amount of HSV driven around here in australias snobish capital were cars seem to be like a satus symbol more bloke yes but still a fair group of women drive them around here. Still your more then likly right more mums would go for the bread and butter range.