For two weeks now, I've been a gas-guzzling, eco-gangster. And it felt pretty good being so bad.

For sure, rumbling around in Holden Special Vehicles' riotous R8 Clubsport and Maloo when the spot price of oil has been more or less an hourly headline event did seem to be asking for trouble. And therapy.

Knowing these were the latest versions, with a 6.2-litre V8, hardly made me feel any less of a phwoar criminal. The strength of these eight cylinders of meanness was as plain to feel, and hear, as the obvious big weakness was as easy to see.

Yes, 'see'. An instant fuel consumption computer is the one ordinarily-handy device HSV really shouldn't have bothered to include in its cars. There seems to be way of deactivating what must be the hardest-worked instrument facing the driver.

Any sort of stab at the throttle sends the digi-meter into a fruit machine spin; a light touch might put the reading up into the realms of 30 litres per 100km consumption. A full boot-load at least double that.Try really hard and you can strike the maximum 99.9L/100km count. Whether it's actually supping this hard is unlikely, but all the same...

Logic suggests any car with this much of a drinking problem is as dopey as the late Steve Irwin was facing a croc with a baby in one hand and a dead chook in the other.

Yet logic and HSV rarely travel as one, even during these uncertain times.

Maybe buyers are simply getting in before petrol becomes even more expensive - or runs out - but at a time when sales of 'regular' Commodores are falling, HSV's going great guns.

It's not only selling as many cars as it can build, but is also accruing a hefty order bank for a new flagship, the as-yet-unreleased 7.0-litre V8 W427, that'll go for gold in the guzzling games.

For all that, the brand's true phwoarhorses this year will be the 317-badged models on test, which look good value by comparison. Dollar-wise, we predict it'll be these two for the price of one W427, with change to spare. Performance-wise, the 'sux-point-two' is currently still the biggest and most powerful mill ever fitted to an Australian car.

What's the point? Two reasons. First, in replacing a 6.0-litre V8 (LS2) used since late 2004, this engine further distances HSV from the Holdens they're based on.

Second, it's now gruntier than Ford's rival FPV range. The increase in engine capacity yields 10kW (3 percent) more power, which is a teensy 2kW power advantage. But it's still more. Torque (pulling power) has not increased at all, remaining at 550Nm.

And - don't laugh when you read this - HSV also claims better economy. Well, for the manual models, such as the Maloo. It's 0.2L/100km thriftier. The auto, as tried in the R8 Clubsport, becomes 0.1L/100km thirstier. Can't say I noticed, and you shouldn't bother to, either.

To use the word "economy" in association with any HSV is to be ironic. Drive these cars the way they're meant to be driven and you'll be spending a lot of time at petrol stations. Frankly, you might as well cane them. They move the earth and sound fabulous, especially the ute.

Which is important, because outwardly the 317 cars look just like the previous 307s. New badges to signify a new heart - and that's the extent of this 'running change.' Not that it needed to look any different. The VE-derived HSVs are Stallone-styled cars, awash with visual cues to show they mean brutal, bovver boy business.

On the road, they're not quite alike. In the sense, at least, that a big bald nightclub bouncer handy with his fists is different to small, squat one who enjoys putting the boot in. With or without a back seat, these are violent cars.

Still, the way this new engine goes about its wheel-smoking, horizon-blurring work does impress. It revs higher (6650rpm), sounds throatier and dumps down more torque, earlier in the rev range. Pick a gear, any gear, and the 317s haul in the horizon as if capable of defying the laws of physics.

Which to choose? Logic - that word again - says it absolutely has to be the ClubSport R8, which as an auto is now settling in as HSV's biggest seller. It is obviously a family-friendly package, with all the safety and luxury equipment you'd want. On a dark night, it almost looks normal. And friendly.

So it has to be the Maloo, no more a proper utility than a g-string is proper underwear. One reason the company characterises this as a two-door sports car is that there's minimal payload ability.

It's a car that demands much of its driver. Few cars are as harshly-sprung (no Magnetic Ride Control at R8 level). With all those plastic add-ons atop the deck and a "sail plane" addition to the B-pillar to give a coupe-like effect (er, not really), fewer still offer such a limited over-the-shoulder view. Just as well it takess reversing radar, else that old lady at the supermarket would have become brand-aware in entirely the wrong way.

You'd imagine those V8 racing utes were the ultimate traydeck speed machines, but fact is the Maloo simply leaves them behind. Zero to 100kmh in 5.4 seconds. And not only is it frighteningly fast, but also decidedly lairy. Even when the skid-control is fully activated it does, well, really big skids. Push the off-button and you'll see that expensive rubber go up in smoke. I'm told. But at least now it can be brought back from the edge. Usually.

This machine is a beast built, if not quite for animals, then at least for people with whom you might not necessarily want to associate. It eats raw steak and drinks bourbon and coke. And that's breakfast. Which, of course, makes it pretty much the epitome of everything that HSV stands for.

The ultimate Maloo moment came I revved it up for a pre-schooler who loves V8 Holdens because her dad does. She hid behind mum's legs and sobbed. I shouldn't have laughed, but I did anyway. I need help, obviously.

What this means to you: One of life's guilty little secrets.