2018 Holden Commodore Supercar: First images of new turbo racer on the track
The new-generation 2018 Holden Commodore Supercar has been properly revealed this week ahead of its racing debut at the Adelaide 500 next year.
Snapped at the Gold Coast’s Norwell Motorplex for a 60-kilometre shakedown, it’s the first time we’ve seen the upcoming racer in the flesh, though its design was first revealed in June.
The shakedown on the Sunshine State follows a 10-month design and development program undertaken by Holden and Triple Eight Race Engineering, with the process claimed to have taken around 20,000 hours.
“So far it feels fantastic. The work that they’ve done behind the scenes to this point, in my opinion we’re 99 per cent there. There’s just some fine-tuning that’s got to go on in the next few weeks and the next few months until we unleash the full version in 2018,” said Jamie Whincup, six-time Supercars champion.
“The team’s been burning the midnight oil behind the scenes for this moment when we finally get to bring the brand new Commodore to the track and test it for the first time.”
Due to the hatchback shape of the new Commodore, the development team had to work a little harder using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) to make the Opel Insignia-based liftback ready for competition.
“The overall look of the car is quite different from anything we’ve had before, so it’s been a big but exciting task, and we’re relishing the opportunity to get on track to see how we’ve done,” said Roland Dane, managing director for Triple Eight.
“We are very privileged to have been given the responsibility for developing and producing the new Commodore as a race car. We’re excited to see the results of the work that we’ve been carrying out.”
Powering the new Commodore Supercar will be a turbocharged V6, which was previewed in July – watch racing legend Craig Lowndes taking a prototype for a spin here.
Interestingly, the performance version of the next-generation ‘ZB’ Commodore, the VXR, will be powered by a naturally-aspirated 235kW/381Nm V6 sending drive to a Twinster all-wheel drive system via a nine-speed automatic transmission.
VIDEO: Craig Lowndes tests turbo V6 Commodore Supercar
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