The Holden Commodore Ute may not have been given the chance for a career in the States as the G8 ST sport truck after the demise of Pontiac, but GM's modern-day El-Camino from Down-Under continues to be offered in markets outside Australia including South Africa were it is sold as the Chevy Ute SS.
LupiniPower, a local tuner from South Africa, has taken upon itself to introduce a hotted-up version sporting a 6.0-liter supercharged V8 with 535-hp and a massive 590 lb-ft (799 Nm) of torque. That's an increase of 173-hp and 200 lb-ft over the stock Ute with the naturally aspirated V8 engine.
Thanks to the added power, LupiniPower's SportUte completes the 0 to 60 mph (96km/h) sprint in 4.4 seconds instead of 6.0 seconds, while 0-100 mph (160km/h) goes by in 9.9 seconds, close to 4 seconds faster than the standard Ute.
Furthermore, the SuperUte reaches 125mph (201 km/h) in 15.5 seconds or over five seconds quicker than stock, boasts a quarter-mile time of 12.7 seconds at 113mph (182 km/h) and runs the standing kilometre in 22.8 seconds at 150mph (241 km/h), while top speed is up 25mph to 175 mph (282 km/h).
The South African tuner also improved the Chevrolet SportUte's stopping power with bigger race-specification front disc brakes and callipers, as well as the suspension setup. Optionally, buyers can add a full Bilstein suspension and a sporty limited-slip differential.
Finally, the supercharged Ute rides on new 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped around Bridgestone Potenza RE050 ultra-high performance tires.
The LupiniPower Chevrolet SuperUte can be had as complete new vehicle in South Africa for R639,900, equal to around US$94,000 / €67,400 / GBP58200 at today's rates.
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