2009 HSV R8 Tourer Review

The Europeans have been at it for years, building high performance wagons, but that never really seemed to catch on down under. Yes, there were a few special editions of quick wagons, but the performance staple has always been a sedan. That's why the HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer is such a breath of fresh air.

As you would expect, HSV has shoehorned all of the good stuff from the R8 sedan into the body of the Holden Commodore Sportwagon. That means 317kW (425 horsepower), enough torque to weld continents together and enough space to carry all of the family's gear on a particularly frantic journey.

Interestingly enough, this particular press car is the NZ$82,090 manual version, which means more fun, even if though you still need a rather strong left arm to change ratios in the six-speed gearbox. It's also good that, like the sedan version of the car, the stability control system lets the tail hang out just a little before smoothly moving back into line.

This is a good thing, because it makes you feel like a driving god. If you turn the stability control off, all you do is scream around in circles polluting the environment with vaporised rubber. It's up to the individual driver's taste I suppose.

You get four pot brakes front and rear on ventilated discs which is reassuring when you're in a car that will have the family dog bouncing off the inside of the tailgate even when you're not trying to accelerate hard, and yes, this car is very quick and very loud.

And that's a problem, because every other road user who has attached an aftermarket exhaust to their car, regardless of make or model, automatically assumes you're trying to race them. That sort of comes with the territory though when you're in a car that just happens to have a 317kW/550Nm 6.2 litre V8 under the bonnet.

It would be even worse if the car had more than just a hint of its potential in the styling. Sure, from the front it's all snarling HSV driving lights and big air intakes, but from the rear the only real sign that this car is more than your run of the mill Commodore Sportwagon is a set of quad exhausts.

The rear bumper isn't even all that exciting, but we assume that HSV designers thought that the buying demographic for the wagon wanted something a little toned down, and since they couldn't do anything to the front end they concentrated on dulling down the back end.

But to conclude, what you have here is the perfect family car - assuming you can pay the fuel bills which we assure you will be very, very high. It takes the performance of the latest HSV range and adds a very useful big boot. The rear seats fold down for a flat loading floor in case you need any extra room and the ride quality is actually quite good for something that is intended to be a very sporty car.

Given the choice, I'd take the Tourer over an R8 sedan any day.