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Holden Commodore Magnum:: New record breaking Nurburgring lap time still on the cards

In June 2013 Holden set a world record — the fastest ute to lap the famous Nurburgring circuit. The time set was 8:19:47, making it not only the fastest ute, but one of the fastest cars to lap the German track. Now, Holden is saying a new record could still be on the cards.


Using a Holden Commodore SS-V Redline ute with the previous generation 6.0-litre V8 engine that produced 270kW of power, the blistering time was set by Holden's lead development engineering Rob Trubiani.

Now, four years later, with a more powerful 6.2-litre LS3 V8 engine fitted, producing 304kW of power, Holden is looking to better that time before local production of the Commodore ends.

Speaking to CarAdvice at the launch of Holden's three new limited edition models, Rob Trubiani says that he'd love to be the man responsible for the new record.

"God it'd be good. I'd love to do it again if it was available and the opportunity showed itself," Trubiani said.

"Yes, certainly it'd be faster. When we went there last time we had the 6.0-litre V8. Going into MY16 we went to the LS3, so it's a significant power upgrade. The Magnum with the suspension revisions gets the power down even better than what the Redline does."

"One of the features of the Magnum is that we had to drop the payload a bit because we had to go with a softer rear spring. The softer rear spring allows us to get the power down a little better and cleaner, but also helps with the big jumps where the spring doesn't have as much energy built up off them. Around a punishing circuit like the Nurburgring with all the undulations, the spring rate would help the car."

Trubiani is a talented guy and one of the few people within GM that's allowed to drive prototype vehicles at speed and even fewer guys that are allowed to drive at speed on the Nurburgring.

"GM has a fairly strict ruling about who can go to the Nurburgring and who can't. I had to get my level 3 license in North America first. Once I was accredited level 3 there, we went to the Nurburgring," Trubiani said.

"To drive during the industry pool time, which is when the track is shut for manufacturers, you have to then get your license through an approved trainer at the Nurburgring. I think there's one of two companies that do that. Basically it's a two and a half day course and by the end of it, they take you from not knowing anything to knowing every corner. "

"As you're going along they'll say to you, what's coming up in three corners time and you need to talk them through what's happening. It's intense, but awesome."

With a shipping cost of around $50,000, it'd be a big expense, but one that would be entirely worth it.

Would you like to see Holden hit the Nurburgring again with the Magnum ute and set an even faster time?

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