The domestic V8 supercar Championship is moving into the unknown this year - where results will come less from raw performance than from astute management and fuel efficiency.

It will be the last frontier for the environmentalists - cracking the world where horsepower rules and fumes and afterburner flames are irrelevant.

But now the growling monsters with their petrol-gulping V8s and tyre-shredding drivetrains are being dragged into the modern age.

Eco-friendly`ethanol E85 fuel is the new lifeblood of the torque-twisting Holdens and Falcons - and with that comes the realisation that last year's winners might now find themselves more concerned with chase than pace.

The 2008 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup and his Triple Eight Racing Falcon teammate Craig Lowndes will no doubt be at the right end of the grid, along with the better-backed Holdens and Fords.

But the team which is first to understand and exploit the possibilities of ethanol - a clean and renewable by-product of sugar refining - could well be the one which wins through better race management.

The issue is the loss of about 25 per cent in efficiency through the use of ethanol - and how teams can recoup that power by organising pit stop and race strategy intelligently, starting with the tough twin 250km races at the season opener in Adelaide.

 Ross Stone, whose cars took Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall to three consecutive V8 Supercar titles, is now looking at the series from a different perspective.

"I reckon it's looking at this stage like Adelaide will be won and lost on fuel," Stone said during a recent test session at Queensland Raceway.

The use of ethanol is a key step in the survival of the world's best saloon car championship, but expatriate Australian Alan Gow, now boss of the British Touring Car series, has suggested further radical steps might be needed.

Gow, who manages leading 2009 Supercar contender James Courtney, believes the size of the engines will have to be reduced in the future to make the sport relevant and to maneuvre it into line with public trends to smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

Whincup agreed that the teams which best adapt to the fuel issue - and a number of other changes introduced for 2009 - will head the field.

Outright speed is no longer the Holy Grail.

"There have been numerous changes, some minor and some major - qualifying changes combined with a new tyre compound are sure to shake things up," Whincup said.

"The team that best manages these changes will really shine. I believe Team Vodafone is capable of recording back-to-back championships with our camp enjoying very few personnel changes over the break."

Lowndes, 34, a former multiple series and Bathurst 1000 winner, said: "This is the first time we've seen such a dramatic overhaul of the championship."

Holden fans will be pinning their hopes on Will Davison - who takes over the hot seat vacated by the retirement of five-time champion Mark Skaife - and his teammate Garth Tander, the 2007 champion.

Davison understands the expectations but is not letting them stop him eyeing a high finish on debut at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide this weekend.

"I'm going to be learning in the first part of the year but I think we should hit the ground running pretty well," Davison said.

"We're only going to get stronger the further we get into the championship, whether we win Clipsal or not.

"Sure, the pressure's on to deliver. I'm well aware of that. I was well prepared for what it was going to be like mentally, so I'm ready for it."

Then there are the likeable Bathurst-winning Kelly brothers - Todd and Rick (who also won the championship in 2006) - who have combined to drive for an entire season for the first time in a four-car team.

Their father and team owner John Kelly remains cautious about the new team's chances despite the racing pedigree of his two sons.

"We would like to say that we would be up the pointy end but we have a lot of work to do with those new chassis to get up to speed," John Kelly said.

"It's not an easy thing to do. Anyone who gets involved in this sport, it generally takes them a fair few years to get up the front with the amount of work and technology that's used to get there."

The technology has never before presented V8 teams with as many challenges and, as Triple Eight team boss Roland Dane said, understanding the fuel will vital.

"We need to get on top of the E85. It's not just the fuel consumption, it's the whole mapping," Dane said.