2007 HSV E series ClubSport R8 Road Test
29 Jun, 2007
11 Comments 
INTERIOR COMFORT
- Intro
- A bit of history
- How it goes
- How it handles
- Behind the wheel
- The Look
- Safety Features
- Cost of ownership
The R8 ClubSport is not a luxury spec model, wasn’t meant to be. You can buy the Senator Signature if you want all the trimmings.
That said there’s not much you miss out on in this base model HSV as far as creature comforts go. Standard kit includes:
- Rain Sensing wipers
- Automatic headlights on mode with variable off delay
- Rear parking sensors (a necessity for cars of this size)
- Blaupunkt 230 watts 6-disc in dash CD/MP3 with 11 speakers (with sub- woofers)
- Direct input for MP3 players
- Dual Zone climate control for driver and front passenger
- Auto express windows (up & down) for driver and front passenger
I know companies like HSV have to work to a budget (even more so with a canny Scott like Walkinshaw controlling the purse strings) but that doesn’t stop me asking for some additional goodies such as; Xenon lights, folding exterior mirrors when you activate the remote locking (added protection for those ridiculously small shopping centre parking spaces) and auto dimming rear vision mirror. I wouldn’t call these luxury items, but rather driving aids.
Where the R8 really shines in the comfort department is ROOM, and lots of it.
Rear seat legroom is similar to that of an S-Class Mercedes and there’s ample width for three adults in comfort. Up front, it’s just as good. For those of us short people, that is, less than six feet, you can fully extend your legs in the front passenger seat while still maintaining limousine style legroom behind. Extraordinary.
The boot is on the large side with a capacity of 496 litres and the rear centre back folds forward to allow skis or long narrow objects to be carried. Surfboards will need to go on the roof though, as the rear seats are not split fold due to chassis rigidity issues.
I’d like to see HSV bin the use of the traditional key when starting the car, in favour of the keyless start, push button system, similar to that found in the new Corolla Levin. Far more convenient and obviously quite inexpensive, Tom.
- Intro
- A bit of history
- How it goes
- How it handles
- Behind the wheel
- The Look
- Safety Features
- Cost of ownership
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(12 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)
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June 29th, 2007 at 8:40 am
G’day,
That low mounted red light in the rear diffuser of the UK version of the car is not a stop light but a rear fog light. I understand all new cars sold in the UK must have rear fog lights.
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June 29th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Lucky we don’t have that foglight here then. There are already too many tools here that drive around with their rear foglights on (think Hyundai drivers)
Just found your site the other week. I’ev now added your RSS feed to my home page. Awesome website. This site is exactly what the Aussie online car community has been lacking. Autospeed has gone downhill, and FullBoost is mostly oriented towards drag racing. The other, more commercial sites are a pain.
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June 29th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Thanks Matthew - that makes more sense but nonetheless, a race car-like stop light would be a nice touch on the R8!
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June 29th, 2007 at 9:43 am
thanks for your positive comments Daniel!
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July 3rd, 2007 at 11:26 am
I actually dislike the look of the HSV from the back.
If you look at it from dead on, there’s too much expanse of metal, and the taillights are very small in comparison.
I think that HSV should have stuck with what they used to do, which is take taillights off a Commodore. They could have taken the taillights off a Calais or something.
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July 4th, 2007 at 7:09 am
To each his own JW, but sales of the E series cars are way ahead of previous years sales already and export sales are equally spectacular.
Most folks think the rear of the car with the LED tail lights is the best angle of the new car, so you would be part of a very small group of people.
It’s a great drive.
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December 21st, 2007 at 9:37 am
JW,
You hate the rear look at the back that is a wonderful butt!
HSV spent 3 million dollars alone on the taillights!
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March 16th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
GET REAL! THATS NOT A SUPERCAR! its a holden! i hate holdens. FORD RULE! The tyhpoon orion has the equivalent power to this v8 although the typhoon is only a V6.
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March 17th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
ford falcons dont have a v6 “yet” its a straight 6….
and what ever.. its only a holden.. it looks better however
the TWR supercharged version offered in the UK is a mean peice of kit. TWR have made some seriously amazing machines.. XJ220s for example
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April 2nd, 2008 at 9:58 am
Simba Loves Skylines is an assclown, fords suck chocolate salty ballz as do skylines
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October 13th, 2008 at 10:23 am
gday
i.d like to see some evo lancers
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