V8 Falcon and Commodore utes have been the curtain-raisers for the V8 supercars for many years, but there is a new segment coming: Superutes. Most of the usual suspects are going to be there: Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50 and Isuzu D-Max. And Holden have just revealed their Colorado Superute.
This is a reaction to the fact that utes like the Colorado are accounting for 20% of new vehicle sales in Australia, replacing the sedan-based utes that have all-but dried up. But, there’s a problem with all of this. All of the utes are rear-wheel drive and will be sticking to bitumen the whole time. In a segment where 4WD utes outsell 2WD almost four-to-one, what kind of relevance and resonance does a lazy front end have?
The engines are all going to be turbo diesels, limited to a fairly stonking 254kW and 678Nm each, with a minimum weight of 1,800kg. At least, punters can get an idea of how well an engine can put up with getting thoroughly thrashed. But beyond that, the segment seems to miss the mark.
All of the important stuff, in my opinion, is skimmed over: Off-road capability, load carrying, towing and mechanical toughness. How quickly a lowered 2WD ute goes around a racetrack bears almost no relevance to a prospective buyer. Imagine if the race was setup to include on-road, off-road and low-range sections, with utes dropping into the pits for a 1-tonne of hay or a 3-tonne trailer to keep racing with … now that is something I would watch.
What do you think? Will the Superutes be a successful new breed of racing category? Or has it missed the mark completely?
12 comments
Super utes a sure cure for insomnia
I would love to watch a race with 4×4 dual cabs on road, off road, with load and then with load in tow… there’s a great range of vehicles that could compete in the race and there are so many people I know- myself included, who would have a go… what a great idea. I would not bother with one of these super Utes if they weren’t 4 wheel drive or v8 petrol Utes either, I am happy with my fx4 power, abilities etc. and to jump in one of these seems like a backward step
Memories of the caravan smash up derbies. As a support category I think the logistics of 2×4-4×4-load-tow would be too difficult and expensive at most tracks and the category would not support it’s own events….unfortunately. This is purely spectacle racing.
Bring back the rally cross events from the late seventies. Mixture of bitumen and mud/gravel in a stadium.
Calder PArk had a permanent track in the infield. great spectacle.
These days, most 4×4’s don’t go off-road and are used so their drivers can be seen in a 4×4 while dropping the kids off at school, or pulling up to the bottle shop.
The desire for tough 4×4’s that will still be on the road in 20 years disappeared at the same time that personal debt began to rise. Small, highly-strung, engines are the new norm. “Don’t add CC’s, add ANOTHER turbo, some more sensors and another couple of computers”!
Once upon a time, you got in your 4×4, wrestled it along a track and felt proud. Now, electronics takes the vehicle along the track, with little skill from the driver. The new skill id deciphering the “check engine” light and working hard enough to fix the latest electronic stuff-up.
A 4×4 ISN’T the right vehicle for the road unless you carry stuff. Often, if you carry stuff, a van is more appropriate.
I much prefer the concept suggested by the anonymous writer of the article above than ANOTHER try-hard session, track racing offroad vehicles.
Or, just maybe, the manufacturers are finally admitting their 4×4’s are more appropriate for the road than the dirt.
I think its a great idea to replace the current Holden ,Ford racing. It puts all the utes that we drive against each other. It shows what Kilowatts you can get out of a diesel. And when its all said and done its just a bit of fun. The best driver will be the winner,no matter what racing your it
Don’t they have a ute series in NZ using these vehicles?
More interesting is how we get the 254 kw from my run of the mill Colorado. I’d be in that
Reality check people. With the end of manufacturing in Australia, V8 utes are dead. Supercars rescued the franchise by purchasing it to support the Supercars events. To say that 2WD is not representative is rubbish, most 4WD Daul cab utes will rarely if ever have the front axle engaged, as they serve most of their time as on road tow vehicles and traddies (with families) work trucks.
The cost to run an event that tested a stock dual cab on and off road would be more than the cost to run the entire Supercars series, and that will never happen for a support category.
As it is the only people that will see the races are those with pay tv subscriptions or who attend the events, as commercial channels currently do not even show all of the Supercar rounds.
I’m sure a lot of people would like to see street legal vehicles fitted with aftermarket parts to improve performance demonstrating what they can do and how reliable factory engines and drivelines are. Even better if they were towing 2 or 3 tonne 6 metre long trailers with a high centre of gravity, like most caravans. Then more people could see exactly how unstable typical caravans are and how they behave, which hopefully would encourage more research, development, education and safer designed caravans to save lives.
Sounds like a great idea but if channel 10 has the rights to show it on free to air tv you never get to see it .it will just be on foxtel
the most boring race class ever. and i mean ever!