Rob’s Blog

It Saturday night and you’ve just finished your latest project so you head out to show it off to the world. It’s a slammen VR Commodore with a surprise under the hood. There’s no fitty cent pumping though the subs, you’re more than content listening to the sweet dulcet tones of the new V8 under the bonnet and every now and then you just have to give the throttle a dab to re-assure yourself its still there.

As you pull into the Maccas car park, all your mates are hollering and quickly surround the car to see what you have been up for the last month. You pull up and one of them is already pointing at the bonnet and gesturing in an upwards motion, you pull the latch, walk around and slowly unveil the “piece to resistance”. They all stand there staring in amazement at the spank’n new L98 6.0lt sitting in the engine bay as if it was always meant to be… Then the questions start flying, how did you do it? Was it hard? You must be a friggin engineering genius?..You smile, nod and soak it all in. Then THE question gets dropped, why go to all that work wouldn’t it be easier or cheaper to just build a bitchen 355ci ….

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Rob’s Blog

Their is no doubt that supercharging is back in fashion with manufacturers like Yella Terra, Walkinshaw,  Harrop and CAPA  not only producing kits to suit our local vehicles but they have made them more affordable and more effective by utilising the latest supercharger technology.  A common question we get asked nearly every time we talk to a customer who is looking to supercharge their car, is what options do I have and what are the differences between them? I thought it might be worthwhile giving you a brief snapshot of the different types of superchargers on the market. Keep Reading

Rob’s Blog

A question we get asked at HPF nearly every day is what cam should I fit to my engine and is it worth upgrading my heads in my Commodore?

Whether you have a 5.0Lt Holden V8 or a VE with A new 6.0lt L98 V8 there is no doubt a carefully selected head and cam package can give you a significant power increase and excellent bang for your buck. While other cam technologies have taken the spotlight when it comes to making the most power, the old pushrod power plant survives and I believe today more than ever the potential to match the OHV engine’s capabilities “lifter-for-lifter” is within our grasp simply by choosing the correct camshaft and cylinder head package. Keep Reading

Street Commodores 5/3/2009

Dynamometer, rolling road, the pump! There are many names for what people know as a dyno, just as there are many questions about the figures they produce. I have written before about dyno’s , their history and uses, however it is becoming increasingly frustrating dealing with the misinformation and fiction of the dyno figures that are bandied around on internet forums or when talking to customers that have been quoted figures by their mates or other workshops. Keep Reading

Street Commodores – 5/02/2009

Another Summernats has come and gone with mixed emotions for the team at HPF, as a lot of you will know Lyle lemon passed away early last year and it was with his wife Cheree’s consent that we decided to campaign MR PSI at this year’s HP Heroes competition at the Summernats in his honor. It was Lyle’s goal when he built MR PSI to win HP Heroes competition and I felt it was the least we could do to honour his memory.

Apart from the numerous customer cars up at the Nats, we took along three cars in particular, MRPSI to compete in HP hero’s, our blown blue XR8 Ute which we set-up for the burnout comp and a Chrysler 300C SRT8 with a stroked 426 Hemi topped with a Whipple 3.4litre supercharger and although it wasn’t completely finished we had to take just to show it off.

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Street Commodores – 11/11/08

In this time of green technology and high fuel prices it amazes me and at the same time excites me that car manufacturers and in particular General Motors are still committed to producing larger capacity, more powerful engines for their customers. I am sure it’s partially driven by the marketing hype and the “mines bigger and faster than yours” syndrome. It really does make you ask the question. Is the writing on the wall for the V8 or is their always going to be a V8 engine offered to us power hungry Holden owners? To answer that question I think we need to look at what is on offer now and what’s in store for the future. Keep Reading

Street Commodores - 27/10/2008

It seems like there isn’t a day goes past that we don’t hear how much financial doom and gloom we are faced with but don’t fret, there are still some great modifications you can do to your ride that are going to give you an increase in performance without breaking the budget. It really comes back to the basics which to be honest people often overlook when first modifying their car.  I have put together my top 10 tips for getting more out of your ride without breaking the budget. Keep Reading

Street Commodores – 29/08/2008

Forced induction is a fantastic way to increase the power of your engine but it is obvious to me that people are a little confused about this subject as on a daily basis I get asked the question What is better – a supercharger or a turbo?” the truth is they both have advantages and disadvantages so it really depends on a number of factors and the most important is what type of power delivery will suit you and your vehicle? To help you answer that question we need to start with a basic understanding of both options. Keep Reading

Street Commodores – 11/08/2008

I don’t think there is a piece of equipment in the Automotive trade that creates as much debate or invokes the reactions that a chassis Dynamometer or “Dyno” as it is commonly referred to does and although there are plenty of people ready to label a car as a “Dyno queen” there is no doubt that there is just as many that respect cars based on their rear wheel figure.

It may come as surprise that the first Dyno’s date back to the early 1800s, more recently companies like Dyno dynamics started to manufacture world class products right here in Australia and the Australian car enthusiast quickly saw the benefits of this equipment with its ability to simulate the load of what your car sees on the road or track, it not only became a powerful tuning tool but an important diagnostic tool. Keep Reading

Street Commodores – 01/07/2008

The year is 2030 and here at HPF we have just finished a DC/DC converter and fuel cell stack upgrade on the new ZZ Commodore, featuring the latest HydroGen9 power plant delivering a whisper quite 300kw of fuel efficient power to the driver with nothing more than a little water exiting the exhaust.

Sound like Sci-Fi fantasy? Maybe or maybe not? On Holden’s website there is a graph showing the predicted evolution of vehicle engines up until the year 2030, they suggest that vehicle engine types will be a considerably different mix over the next 2o years with conventional petrol powered engines making up less than 5% of all cars on the road, fuel cell technology being used by more than 50% of cars on the road and diesel powered vehicles maintaining their market share of around 20%. Keep Reading