HSV W427: Australia's First Supercar?

[motorsportnerd]

The HSV W427, previewed back in March at the Melbourne Motor Show, has been officially released and the latest issue of Wheels magazine (August 2008) has the first drive story.
The magazine goes as far as to call the car "Australia's First Supercar". Their reasoning? "with its attitude, vast performance, that intimidation factor, and a dose of heritage (surely 60 years of Holden and 20 of HSV count for something?), the W427 can claim to be Australia's first supercar."

But, is the W427 really a supercar? Well, first it has four doors, whereas every other car regarded as a supercar is a 2-door. Second, its top speed is limited to 250km/h, whereas any other supercar will see 300km/h plus. Third, it is well over a second slower than the Ferrari F430 to 100km/h - and its debatable whether a F430 is a supercar.
If the W427 can be called a supercar, than older Australian cars like the Bolwell Nagari or the Giacottolo can also lay claim to the title of "supercar".
What the W427 is, is the quickest ever Australian production car, taking the title of Ford's Falcon FG XR6T/FPV Falcon FG F6 which held the title for just a month or so. Without the top speed limiter, there is little doubt it would also be the fastest ever Australian production car.
And I have little doubt the W427 will appreciate very quickly in value due to its rarity and the fact that it is unlikely HSV or Ford will produce anything quicker for some time.

For now, I personally feel the W427 is due big respect for the numbers it has achieved. However, considering its closest Australian rival achieves 0-100km/h times within half a second with 3000cc less and at less than half the price, it is a costly way to get the performance. Also, until I see a W427 lap the Top Gear track in a time that rivals the Nissan GT-R, I'm not sure that it can be truly mentioned in the same breath as genuine supercars. I do think it warrants comparison with Europes fastest sports sedans however, including such cars as the BMW M5, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and Audi RS6.

So, what do others think? Can the W427 be called a supercar, or is Wheels merely trying to sell magazines via a catchy, if inaccurate, cover headline?


For the sake of argument, here's some numbers (all except the GT-Rs times come from Wheels magazine for consistency).
HSV W427: $155,500, 0-100 4.7s, 0-400m 12.8s.
BMW M3: $157,000, 0-100 4.8s, 0-400m 13.3s.
Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, $139,500, 0-100 - 4.8s, 0-400m 13.0s.
Porsche 911 Carrera, $201,000, 0-100 4.9 secs, 0-400m 13.2s
Nissan GT-R, $150,000 est, 0-100 3.5 secs, 0-400m 11.7s (est)

And its two closest Australian rivals.
FPV Falcon FG F6, $65,990, 0-100km/h 5.2s,0-400m 13.3s. Note times for the manual were slower.
Ford Falcon FG XR6 Turbo, $46,990, 0-100km/h 5.2s, 0-400m 13.4s.

Also see: Wheels - August 2008 - at some point in the next few weeks they will provide the article online.