Monaro makes a move

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Holden has unveiled the latest products from its extensive four-wheel-drive development programme, this time from its high-performance HSV stable.

One is an all-wheel-drive version of the Monaro, called the HSV Coupe 4. The other is a hot-rod variant of the soft-road Adventra, called the Avalanche.

Both are expected to go on sale in limited numbers in New Zealand next year.

Price? Holden Special Vehicles boss John Crennan was talking around $A95,000 for the Coupe 4 and $A75,000 for the Avalanche at the Sydney motor show last Friday.

So New Zealand buyers could pay perhaps as much as $120,000 for the two-door and around $90,000 for the wagon.

Production of the Coupe 4 will be limited to around 400 models a year. Avalanche output will be higher.

The HSV two-door was unveiled almost five years ago to the day after the Commodore coupe concept appeared in 1998 to such acclaim that it was put into production as the Monaro.

It also appears as Holden prepares to export the first shipment of Monaro-based Pontiac GTOs to the United States.

The Coupe 4, weighing 1802kg, is the first Australian-built, all-wheel-drive two-door.

The first Australian-built four-paw was the four-door Mitsubishi Diamante AWD, which went on sale here this year.

Holden design chief Mike Simcoe, who penned the Monaro, said the Coupe 4 was necessary to demonstrate that the all-wheel-drive system could be used in lower-riding sedans and coupes as well as higher-riding soft-roaders like the Commodore wagon-based Adventra and Avalanche.

The all-wheel-drive system in the Coupe 4 and Avalanche is known as Quad Drive, but it is almost identical to Holden's Cross Trac used in the Adventra station wagon, where torque is split 38 per cent to the front wheels and 62 per cent to the back for a rear-wheel handling bias.

The Coupe 4 and Avalanche are powered by a 270kW/475Nm version of the 5.7-litre Gen III V8 engine mated to a four-speed gearbox.

HSV originally tuned the engine for 260kW but liberated an extra 10kW during final development work.

Holden managing director Peter Hanenberger said the 270kW output, certainly modest by recent 300kW HSV developments, was to "ensure the durability of the drivetrain".

The Coupe 4 and Avalanche are restricted to 270kW partly because the all-wheel-drive system limits the diameter of the exhaust near the engine. Hanenberger said development of the drivetrain would continue.

But the Coupe 4 still gets the power down. Holden claims it sprints from zero to 100km/h in 6.6sec on a gravel surface and 6.1sec on tarseal.

The car has beefier wheel arches than the standard Monaro to accommodate 19-inch (48cm) wheels and Pirelli P-Zero tyres.

It has six airbags, anti-lock ABS brakes, and an automatically braked differential to boost traction.

Holden has been working with HSV on the Avalanche for the past two-and-a-half years, at a cost of about $5 million. It borrowed the name from a Chevrolet pick-up in the United States.

HSV says the Avalanche is designed to appeal to HSV owners who need a second lifestyle vehicle. But it insists it doesn't dilute the company's reputation for performance sedans and is not a departure from core values.