Turbo Territory vs Caprice- My Experience

[lamborghinifan]

Well further to my previous thread, I ended up buying an 07 Caprice with the 6.0 L V8 to replace my turbo Territory. (Buy me in the sales yard!!!!!)
To Sum them up:
+ Caprice build quality is better than territory (although still a few 'aussie car' niggles
+ Ride, noise/NVH and Refinement is stunning- the territory is good but this LWB is better
+ Boot is more useable day to day, it's enormous, but the territory is still more versatile for odd shapes and split/fold seat configuration. although two baby seats have sort of made this difficult anyway.
+ V8 sound
+ Headlights are magnificent
+Comfort and tech is exceptional, seating position highly manouverable
+++ Sound system-I didn't know they could sound so good
+ Dvd in the back for kids
+ Long distance driving is great
+ Sub 10's on the highway for fuel usage
+programability (?) of individual key users such as reverse mirrors, trizone climate sound settings, trip computer, etc etc
+looks the part with newly tinted windows and 20" rims


and the bad
-auto gearbox is miles behind the ZF. It's harsh, and if you dump the throttle, it never picks the right gear. I found the ZF always did what I wanted
-cruise control on the stalk is a pain in the butt. after the wheel mounted arrangement in the fords, this is a nuisance and cruise gets used less as a result. its gone from nearly a sub-conscious twitch to a full arm movement
-a few weird electrical gremlins- put in a massive battery (950CCA and 200RT) which has helped a few of these. I'll always have charge issues due to our driving patterns
-usual quality oversight issues resulting on 'common' problems, such as split hose for washer bottle, a few trim issues that i'll eventually repair, etc. (but hey its a used car so I can't expect too much)
-massive A pillar (like every other review) takes some getting used to
- standard exhaust note doesn't complement the V8 until you're at "arrest speed"
-feeling paranoid about every gutter and edge with "ridiculous" rims. after years of utes and territories, this is a big change
-lack of flexibility in cargo loads (compared to terry but still good really)
-needing to use the key for the boot after having buttons on other cars, again just something to get used to
-the "fog" lights are nowhere near as good as the terry
-surely GM could design a key-fob that doesn't fall apart after a few years by now...
-because of its refinement, it doesn't feel anywhere near as exhilarating to drive as the turbo. the rush from the turbo and the noise is lost, although the speedo needle moves a lot quicker in a very linear fashion. The gearbox has a large part to play in this too. although admittedly the cars aren't quite aiming at the same market... I'm thinking a switch-mode exhaust will fix this

With the same driving patterns I'm about 1l/100 or roughly on par for round town driving. Our driving patterns are not good for economy with multiple start stop short distances, in between periodic long distance trips. Highway consumption is 2-4 L/100 better. Haven't fully tested this though.

overall i'm happy enough with my purchase. changeover between the cars will be about $5000, which I think accurately reflects the depreciation of these "unpopular" large cars from their respective new prices. The caprice was 76k new, and considering how little has really been changed up to the current model presents excellent value for money. Hope to get back to the Ford camp when I don't need as big a boot!

ed.