Supercharged Vauxhall VXR8
September 4, 2007 by George Skentzos
GM’s UK division are offering a supercharger kit for the Vauxhall VXR8 – or more commonly known in Australia as the HSV VE Clubsport R8.
The kit is set to go on sale in the UK next month, and being an official option from Vauxhall, comes with a full three-year warranty.
The blower increases the horsepower of the 6.0L LS2 V8 engine from the standard 420hp to a scorching 540hp (397 kW).
Expect the 0-100km/h times to dip well below the 4.9 second benchmark set by the naturally aspirated model.
Furthermore, current owner’s may also retrofit the supercharger kit to their VXR8’s whilst still maintaining the car’s warranty.
Listening, HSV?
Print it: 
hmmm 400kW HSV… yes please!
Holy hell. The list of aussies already waiting to order this must be growing by the second.
Hah! There’s blokes at work already on the phone/email to GB, time difference boys?
Woah 400kw that is impressive. But I wander how reliable the engine will be pumping out that much power… not that this would be an issue for anyone planning on taking up this upgrade.
Maybe Vauxhall should start exporting this car back to Australia :) I’m guessing Ebay is going to be taking some hits today.
Q: Has HSV ever had a supercharged car in its line up Alborz?
It seems everytime Holden/HSV exports a V8 to the UK, the brits have a s/charger kit for them. The old GTS, Monaro and now the Clubbie. Why can’t Holden/HSV offer something like that here. Just imagine a s/charged SS. What a bargain.
Yes Lazybones.
Remember the XU6?
This isn’t new. 5th Gear tested a supercharged Vauxhall Monaro VXR500 last year. Great car but how do you keep the power to the ground. You do need shares in the tyre companies and fuel companies. A bit of fun.
“Remember the XU6?”
Nope, pre-dates my arrival in OZ. So after reading this:-
http://www.hsv.com.au/cars/xu6/xu6press1.htm
I raises the question, why don’t they do it again? Was the XU6 a flop?
XU6 was a massive flop. It only had 180kw from a supercharged v6, and it was auto only.
This is why HSV thought there was no market for a 6 cylinder product in the performance car lineup. Now F6 Typhoons are everywhere.
Holden is good with their v8’s and Ford has always focused more on the six cylinder market, thanks to Geoff Polites who said yes to the 1992 Falcon S XR6, so ford has been focusing more on six’s than v8’s in recent years. That XU6 was a flop because a XR6 with VCT had 172kw and 372nm compared to the XU6 of 180kw and 380nm, despite having a little better power i cant see the why massive premium. Around 41k for the XR6 and the XU6 was 52k. Explains why you will see many more XR6’s around.
Oh i think holden will not give a supercharger kit because that would stop people from buying more expensive holdens, this VXR is what? the only v8 vauxhall model being sold over in the UK so there is no more powerful vehicle. If holden did a vauxhall they would be shooting themselves in the foot as people would see no reason for buying a HSV, they would be buying a SS and supercharging that.
I agree with Tony a bit of fun to play with,but without other changes to the car how do you get the power to the ground? It already has 275s on the rear,some serious traction control needed I would think . I recon the standard R8 will out launch it and depending on your reaction time may even beat it down the quarter mile. Maybe some TA drag slicks would help it .HAHAHA
any idea of how much the kit will set you back? a kit isnt cheap to start with let alone buying it from a factory dealer (oh my god id hate to think)
great idea but the questions to raise is how do you get an extra 100kw to the ground in a vehicle that wasnt designed to have it?
Its ridiculous..
Holden continues to “power pack” their cars by adding superchargers on 5,6,7,8,9,10 liter engines (i exagerated of course)… thats all they care for.. power..
I wouldnt have a problem with it, to each his own after all… but with the road rules in Australia?..
haha, anyone who drives a lot should know the amount of speed cameras, high way patrol cars and the budget the government spend and MAKE from speeding motorists… 400kW road cars are just teases…. in Australia anyways… not to mention petrol prices… haha… just to satisfy that urge to be King D*ck driving in the highway… can’t even speed pass 100…. its ironic.
Yeah it is kinda useless… not to mention as others have touched on, gettomg 400kw and god knows how many Nm of torque through one set of wheels would be a nightmare. At the end of the day I think its novelty value, knowing you have such a powerful beast under the bonnet, something the other half pay hundreds of thousands for (albeit with far far far superior quality)
Those of you who want a supercharged Commodore, check these:
http://www.capa.com.au/kits_holden_ve_v8.htm
9PSI supercharger kit with 500Kw? Yes please!
Not factory admittedly… but…
Tom
Yes Paul, nothing like… say… a Toyota producing 240kw/400Nm through the front wheels. Putting 400kw/650+Nm through a RWD car would be simply crazy and never achieved before…
Yeah on a race track with the right tyres there are no issues, thats called V8 supercars. But for a road car thats going to come into trouble with traction powering only the rear wheels, I would think any real benefits from that power increase wont be felt until you start hitting triple figures in speed and all that power can finally make it down without a loss of traction.
Im also suspect of reliability, GM V8s are inheritantly unreliable in standard form, adding an extra 100kw isnt helping the cause.
But each onto their own, I would still admire it because thats alot of power but practicality is the issue.
anything that holden seems to supercharge always ends up in a disaster so wats the point in doing it again its new billion dollar baby has already been dubed a billion dollar lemon so y would they be dumb enough to bring out a new supercharged ve, at least ford has a steardy ground with knowing that v8’s will be a dinosaur in the future, the reason for this is because v8’s are getting owned by skylines and things like that and the only cars on the road that the jap cars fear are the xr6 turbos and the fpv range of turbos, so y would holden bother?
But you just cant beat the rumble of a nice V8 under the hood! If I want to listen to a skyline or XR6 Turbo Ill Go Mow My lawn. LOL
Why doesnt Australia get thre supercharged 397 KW engine!