Older V8s, do they still have a place?

[HULK_I6T]

Driving about you still see a fair few older cars fitted with V8s. People with newer cars poke fun at them as performance standards have moved a long way in modern times.

When considering basic family cars like the Toyota Aurion, many of these older V8s (without major modification) perform mediocre by comparison. An aurion will show most these older V8s a set of tail lights and just keep pulling away whilst returning 10L/100km economy.

V8s were always associated with being a performance offering, but when considered against Today's standards of performance the older V8s seem to be little more than gas guzzling tanks that are well behind on performance

For Holden the LS1 and on seem to be strong by today's standards and from the holden 5.0v8 backwards seem lacklustre.

for ford anything Windsor V8 and back seem mediocre and from the b series 5.4 (boss/3V) are probably the cutoff for still pretty strong by today's standards.

Do these older V8s still have their place? Or are they now mocked and ridiculed by other drivers as well behind the times.

[Franco Cozzo]

I think that the Windsor from the 1990s has a hard time justifying its existence as its pretty damn average.

[Brodes]

Originally Posted by HULK_I6T

Do these older V8s still have their place?

Yes, they're called, or at some point will be labelled, classics.

Or are they now mocked and ridiculed by other drivers as well behind the times.

Not sure who you've been talking to, but it sounds like they have their heads up their a**. New cars will (should) always be an improvement, some prefer previous models, often as a hobby. I can't say I've ever met anyone who's laughed at me because I still own a '96 Falcon with an "outdated" Windsor, or a '76 GT with a "mediocre" Cleveland, if I did I'd laugh straight back at them.

[Nikked]

Yep, they haveaa place. Right between the place of my AU's chassis rails. Only a 5.slow, but who cares. More to life then worrying about a aurion traffic light races!

[Brodes]

I will also mention that a vast number of the population cannot afford a new performance V8 but still desire to own one so they purchase an old model. This is also where they have their place. Shame on those who laugh at these people too.

Pointless thread IMO.

[chopstar87]

the GTHO Phase III.. is an older V8... is now easily beaten by a FG XR6 N/a.... but is worth $500k+ or a Stock XC Cobra... old school V8, slower then HO III and again a good one is worth $100k+.. so obviously they do have a place. because people are welling to pay a lot for these vehicle.. even thou the car world has moved on from their tech and performance. cars aren't all about speed.. cars are different things to different people.

Myself.. I admire Fast cars, would love one but at the moment, Tech, Luxury and features are my requirements of my car, as its my daily drive.. but that doesn't stop me looking at an old school V8 for a toy down the track. it probably wouldn't be as fast as my Current 210kw V6 (depending on what I get of course), but it still would be a hoot to drive and I would get a lot of enjoyment out of it... so yes, there is certainly is a place for them... and if you have to ask the question, then you don't get or understand the attraction of an old school V8 and probably never will.

I love the modern car and all its benefits, but I still would love to have an old school V8 for a 2nd car/toy for me.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by chopstar87

the GTHO Phase III.. is an older V8... is now easily beaten by a FG XR6 N/a.... but is worth $500k+ or a Stock XC Cobra... old school V8, slower then HO III and again a good one is worth $100k+.. so obviously they do have a place. because people are welling to pay a lot for these vehicle.. even thou the car world has moved on from their tech and performance. cars aren't all about speed.. cars are different things to different people.

Even if its "worth $500K" you would be sitting it on the market for a LONG time waiting to sell it before someone comes around and shells out $500K on a car from the 1970s.

[mik]

Originally Posted by HULK_I6T

Driving about you still see a fair few older cars fitted with V8s. People with newer cars poke fun at them as performance standards have moved a long way in modern times.

When considering basic family cars like the Toyota Aurion, many of these older V8s (without major modification) perform mediocre by comparison. An aurion will show most these older V8s a set of tail lights and just keep pulling away whilst returning 10L/100km economy.

V8s were always associated with being a performance offering, but when considered against Today's standards of performance the older V8s seem to be little more than gas guzzling tanks that are well behind on performance

For Holden the LS1 and on seem to be strong by today's standards and from the holden 5.0v8 backwards seem lacklustre.

for ford anything Windsor V8 and back seem mediocre and from the b series 5.4 (boss/3V) are probably the cutoff for still pretty strong by today's standards.

Do these older V8s still have their place? Or are they now mocked and ridiculed by other drivers as well behind the times.

Its not always about kw`s , its also about torque and smoothness , i can only assume you have not been in many old school v8`s, because what ever their quarter mile figures where/are , they are still very nice effortless cruisers even in this day and age.

[mik]

Originally Posted by chopstar87

the GTHO Phase III.. is an older V8... is now easily beaten by a FG XR6 N/a.... but is worth $500k+ or a Stock XC Cobra... old school V8, slower then HO III and again a good one is worth $100k+.. so obviously they do have a place. because people are welling to pay a lot for these vehicle.. even thou the car world has moved on from their tech and performance. cars aren't all about speed.. cars are different things to different people.

Myself.. I admire Fast cars, would love one but at the moment, Tech, Luxury and features are my requirements of my car, as its my daily drive.. but that doesn't stop me looking at an old school V8 for a toy down the track. it probably wouldn't be as fast as my Current 210kw V6 (depending on what I get of course), but it still would be a hoot to drive and I would get a lot of enjoyment out of it... so yes, there is certainly is a place for them... and if you have to ask the question, then you don't get or understand the attraction of an old school V8 and probably never will.

I love the modern car and all its benefits, but I still would love to have an old school V8 for a 2nd car/toy for me.

An XY easily beaten by an fg na6 might be an exaggeration i think ?

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by chopstar87

the GTHO Phase III.. is an older V8... is now easily beaten by a FG XR6 N/a.... but is worth $500k+ or a Stock XC Cobra... old school V8, slower then HO III and again a good one is worth $100k+.. so obviously they do have a place. because people are welling to pay a lot for these vehicle.. even thou the car world has moved on from their tech and performance. cars aren't all about speed.. cars are different things to different people.

N/A XR6 aint beating a GTHO Phase 3

A Phase 3 will do a flat 14 second 1/4 mile...a B Series GT, 32 years later stuggle to match it.

It's only in the last 5 years we have surged ahead in performance, but a N/A XR6 ain't doing flat 14 second quaters.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Stefan

N/A XR6 aint beating a GTHO Phase 3

A Phase 3 will do a flat 14 second 1/4 mile...a B Series GT, 32 years later stuggle to match it.

It's only in the last 5 years we have surged ahead in performance, but a N/A XR6 ain't doing flat 14 second quaters.

FG XT kicked a GTHO Phase IIIs *** around Top Gear Australia's test track.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by HULK_I6T

Do these older V8s still have their place? Or are they now mocked and ridiculed by other drivers as well behind the times.

Funny thing is older V8's are now classics, no one is moking them because most wished they owned one.

The only ones would say are being mocked for irrelevance be a B-Series Falcon, like a lime green XR6-T, the owner obviously can't afford a new car, or a classic.....just a tired old falcon.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

FG XT kicked a GTHO Phase IIIs *** around Top Gear Australia's test track.

Who cares? no one is racing around a track, but you might just blow one off from a 0-60 in a traffic light dual.

Plus its a small tight track around a few witcheds hats...so probably a pointless test, I also recall them not thrashing a $500K collectible.

[OffRoadFalcon]

A 5.0L Windsor I hope to make a place for in my engine bay in future years. They're a pleasure to drive, and sound magnificent.
Couldn't care less if it's got less guts than newer cars with smaller motors, and if I drive nice, it'll still return acceptable economy. The overall experience is going to be better with a V8 in my wagon, than an Aurion can even get close to!

[marty351]

Originally Posted by mik

Its not always about kw`s , its also about torque and smoothness , i can only assume you have not been in many old school v8`s, because what ever their quarter mile figures where/are , they are still very nice effortless cruisers even in this day and age.

After owning a old school 351 torque monster, effortlessly pulling up steep hills at
1400rpm still accelerating, hearing the much smaller V6 reving its guts out to achieve the same... we can live in both worlds, just not at the same time.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Who cares? no one is racing around a track, but you might just blow one off from a 0-60 in a traffic light dual.

Plus its a small tight track around a few witcheds hats...so probably a pointless test, I also recall them not thrashing a $500K collectible.

Sorry, wasn't the GTHO Phase III designed to race around a track?

[superyob]

Pointless thread. Whatever tech can be put into new cars can also be fitted to old cars. I remember reading car mags in the 80s whereby small block V8s were doing 8 second quarters (not for street use obviously)

And are you seriously asking me whether I would prefer my Fairlane or a kitchen appliance like an Aurion? If you must continually ask these vexatious questions, you will never get it...

[Brodes]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Sorry, wasn't the GTHO Phase III designed to race around a track?

Yeh... in the 70's with 70's technology. Pointless comparison.

[superyob]

:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Sorry, wasn't the GTHO Phase III designed to race around a track?

Yes! In a straight line...

[noflac52]

I own an aurion and an older V8 and I don't laugh at anybody. As a car enthusiast I say each to their own and even though its not my bag I see a newer generation of car enthusiasts drifting and doing burnout comps and I say great our sport is alive and well!

As to the assertion that v8's were always associated with performance, that's not really correct because a lot of them were associated with big luxury cars and cars for towing caravans etc. These were never built for performance but were built to have lots of torque to do the job they were designed for.

Its still great if you have got a big load to have it behind a torquey v8 loping along.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by marty351

After owning a old school 351 torque monster, effortlessly pulling up steep hills at
1400rpm still accelerating, hearing the much smaller V6 reving its guts out to achieve the same... we can live in both worlds, just not at the same time.

Very valid, when I bought my BF GT, it had no torque off idle, then ramped up from 4,500rpm then hit the limiter at just over 6,000 rpm, so you have like 1,500rpm were you actuall have decent performance, very hard to drive fast and very often you'd be blown away at the lights by a 4 cylinder simply because you were in the wrong gear.

My stock XY GT and XA GT with 351 clevos have power straight off idle everywhere.

The S/C 5.0 is probably good, but everything before has been pretty poor even 30 of 40 years after the original big bangers.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Sorry, wasn't the GTHO Phase III designed to race around a track?

The top gear "track" was not a track... it was 5 witches hats in a Woolies car park.

Bathurst is a track...

It was designed to win Bathurst, which it did.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Stefan

The top gear "track" was not a track... it was 5 witches hats in a Woolies car park.

Bathurst is a track...

Regardless it still beat it, why don't we do our own test?

Who here has a GTHO Phase III?

[superyob]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Regardless it still beat it, why don't we do our own test?

Who here has a GTHO Phase III?

Will my imaginary one do?

[WHYME]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Funny thing is older V8's are now classics, no one is moking them because most wished they owned one.

The only ones would say are being mocked for irrelevance be a B-Series Falcon, like a lime green XR6-T, the owner obviously can't afford a new car, or a classic.....just a tired old falcon.

Don't make me laugh Stefan, are you saying it's sad to own an XR6-T now? Some people don't want to own a classic, or a newer car. The XR6T offers a lot of bang for buck, double standards much?

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by HULK_I6T

Do these older V8s still have their place? Or are they now mocked and ridiculed by other drivers as well behind the times.

Would have to be best idiotic question you ever asked on a car forum.
Not worth answering!!!

[Quasi]

The only people who mock and ridicule older V8s are clueless, and were never really performance people anyway.

[fgpsi]

He has made this thread before

Dat aurion g force

[GT450]

And he has asked a few .......................
GT450

[thefargo]

I fear that Hulk has exposed my secret fear! Every time (it seems) that I drive my XB coupe, with the old school 351 Cleveland, I get approached by people who look and comment. recently I enjoyed a SA cruise with 22 XA, XB and XC coupes, and at each stop we were swamped by people looking and commenting. I waited in fear for someone to ask if I was ever mocked for driving a gas guzzling tank; well behind on performance, in comparison to a Toyota. the day went well and luckily for me I was not embarrassed by such a question.
next time I'm out and about I will duck down a dimly lit side street if I see a Toyota approaching, lest I feel well and truly at a disadvantage.