Remember back when you needed a big balloon slick to make enough grip to grab the track to make a single-digit pass? Now you’ve got folks with nearly stock tire sizes and no tubs whatsoever running hard and gripping the track like a scared cat on shag carpeting. Some of that is due to suspension tech, some of that is due to advancements in tire compounds, and a lot of that is due to competition. If one guy can make a Fox Mustang dance with only a 275 radial, then surely that program can be applied to other cars. It’s a race to be smaller and more efficient, and that’s what draws us to this Holden Calais. It’s mean enough with a built Nissan RB30 motor (Holden used Nissan inline-sixes for the VL series) but how mean has to be seen. You could ditch the parachute mount and the race-ready rolling stock for a more subdued setup and nobody would be the wiser. Or you could let this thing spool up, making the kind of unholy howl wicked-up Skylines are known for, and watch it use two 255-series contact patches to their full potential. We prefer the latter…obviously.
Holy crap this thing moves out!
The VL Turbo has always been the one to watch out for. Us Ford boys would gladly have given a 5 litre Commodore a run back in the day, but if it was a Turbo Calais you’d sit a little lower in your seat…..
The Ford Turbo 6 (Barra) of recent years as changed all this… as too have our Supercharged Coyotes (Miami’s) in the GTs and GS’s…. but…
Respect