HSV W427

What environmental crisis? When you’re driving a beast like this you don’t care if the whole world burns. The word "powerful" is woefully inadequate for this car.

• Comfort

  HSV's GTS has very, very firm springs, but the W427's set-up is 30 per cent stiffer. Good for racetracks, bad for your teeth and soft tissues on actual roads.

   

  

• Performance

  Do you like kilowatts? Well, you've come to the right place because this rabid puppy's got 375 of them, and all of them are in a bad mood. Does 0 to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds. Say. No. More.

   

  

• Cool

  Things that are exclusive - and only 427 will be made - are, by nature, very cool, but HSVs are, by nature, for bogans. So, a question of personal taste, this one.

  

• Quality

  A cruel person might describe this as the most expensive Commodore ever made, which suggests that its quality might not be quite as high as its price tag. A cruel person might be right.

   

  

• Handling

  Surprisingly, wonderfully, lairily good. The steering isn't exactly Euro-good, but it's sharp, and the Magnetic Ride Control is pretty damn trick, too. Does good powerslides too, unsurprisingly.

  

• Practicality

  Most sub 5-second cars have less useable room than the W427's boot, but here you get a genuine five-seater. You could actually live with this car, which is why it's a shame most will end up in cotton wool.

   

  

• Running costs

  Seeing as you've obviously got a lot of money if you're buying this hairy HSV, why not pop out and buy a small oil company while you're at it. Might help.