Why do P Plater/Teens love Commodores so much?

[BradZ]

Whenever i see P platers around my town about 99% are Commodores. Which makes me wonder why do so many of them not just dislike, but HATE Fords?? A quick google search revealed every single model of Commo and Falcon of the same year, the Falcon has MORE power and torque, every single model! It has me beat as to why they all despise Falcons so much. Is it watching V8 Supercars when younger or what?

[nstg8a]

i wouldnt be trusting googles figures...

[AcidTrip]

Some have valid reasons and get down to mechanical points but these sames one are the guys who say "but Ford's are still nice cars, I just prefer Holden." The most common reason I hear guys like this use is the fact the the Holden is a TRUE Aussie car, with a lot of Holden stuff being used overseas. Whereas Ford use a lot of stuff from overseas, and next to nothing from Oz gets sent over there. Like the BOSS engine for example, from the Ford trucks ...

The majority are just inspirations for birth control with responses like "coz its fully *** cuzzzzzzzzzzzz! ford r jus krap" and when pressed for why, "jus coz bro." I repeat: inspiration for birth control.

[BradZ]

Yeah thats what i mean, but im mainly talking the 6's though. And I've been searching on it for ages, on a lot of sites and they all say the same thing.

[Auturbo6]

The commodore revs harder and are more involving to drive, wheras the falcon is more lazy in it's driving delivery. The falcon is not slower than the commodore by any means, but just feels slower and more relaxed, which isn't what a young driver wants in a vehicle.

[bobthebilda]

Its just a perception. Its just like when you see every car high speed chase, that involves a stolen car that has been used in a hotel / service station robbery. Its always a commodore. Or when you look at the centrelink car park, its filled with 10 year old commodores. People pick cars that match their personalities.

[BradZ]

The Commo and the Falcon redline at the same, around 5,500rpm. That being said the Commo does make its peak power slightly higher rpm's than the Falcon.

[vztrt]

They wrap themselves around power poles better then the Falcon??

[Coyote mk3]

Have a gander through here and make yourself feel happy
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...=platers+tough

(halfway down pg21 is nice )

[Ford_The_Win]

There's a few reasons why I think

-Holden has a long, ill-founded reputation as being "Australia's own car". It's culturally tied into the Australian dream of a white picket fence, 1/4 acre block and a new Holden in the driveway. The Holden is seen by many as the obvious choice when picking a car, whatever your needs (why else would the diabolical Barina sell so well?).

-Commos can be bought really cheaply and provide much more bang-for-buck than a Corolla or other Jap car, which are usually the twice the price in used car yards, but half the car.

-Their dads are Holden fanboys - mine is a Holden diehard and for years he's been trying to get it into my head that Holdens are king.

-Their mates all drive Commos - consciously or subconsciously they buy Commos because they want to fit in, and their mates won't give them ***** for driving one.

As for why Holden fanboys hate Fords, and why Ford fanboys hate Holdens?

Both the red and blue team have a massive inferiority complex to each other.
-The Falcon has, in most cases, been a more refined, better built, more advanced and a better choice than the Holden equivalent. This goes right back to the sleek and very trendy looking (at the time) XK Falcon and the FB Holden that had fins, which were way out of date at the time.
Most Holden fanboys know that Ford make a better product. Also, they see the Falcon as a kind of invader to their Holden-owning Australian dream territory. This creates insecurity within the Holden team, and they come to dislike the Falcon.

Ford boys are just as bad, except there aren't as many of them. Despite the Commo being an inferior vehicle to Falcon, the Commo has outsold the Falcon for a long time. It has a great reputation as the all-Aussie family hauler, a great car that it's owner can be proud of, always gets good write-ups, whereas the Falcon has a reputation for being a big thirsty unreliable boat (even though they aren't). People are always hanging ***** on the Falcon, because it hasn't got the golden reputation of the Commodore to counteract poor quality and reliability issues which have plagued several models of Falcon and Commo (EA, BA, VN, VT etc). This makes the Ford boys upset, thus they learn to hate the opposition.

Sorry to get all psychoanalytic on ya

[TheInterceptor]

Ended up at LaPa two nights ago, not by choice..(most sydneysiders know this place).

This place is a P plater zone, after dark 9 out of 10 cars are P platers.

Guess what drove around, some doing laps, most with subwoofas....they were either commo's or 4cyl buzzboxes like pulsars...There was one silver fairlane, pretty sure it was a full car, all windows down...they looked like normal human beings. Cant say the same for the other cars and occupants...

[te250]

its because when they were at school all the cool kids decided they liked holdens and all the other kids who knew bugger all about cars copied them to fit in, thus producing a generation of holden fans. this also explains why they cant tell you why they like commodores.

[Polyal]

Explains most of their sales, new, second, third....thirtieth hand.

[BradZ]

That is true. My main problem with it all are Holden fans that refuse to admit Ford have made a single good car, it shits me to no end. "What do you think of the new Xr6 Turbo?" " F***king **** Ford" They have no information to back their claim and that is the most annoying part. I for one can admit, as much as i love Fords and Falcons, I like a couple of the Commo's. The VE SV6 being one, nice to drive and relitively quick. The R8's are a really good looking car, yes id prefer an F6 or GT but i do like the R8. I have noticed that the Holden forums are a LOT worse for Ford bashing as we are for Holden bashing.

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by BradZ

That is true. My main problem with it all are Holden fans that refuse to admit Ford have made a single good car, it shits me to no end. "What do you think of the new Xr6 Turbo?" " F***king **** Ford" They have no information to back their claim and that is the most annoying part. I for one can admit, as much as i love Fords and Falcons, I like a couple of the Commo's. The VE SV6 being one, nice to drive and relitively quick. The R8's are a really good looking car, yes id prefer an F6 or GT but i do like the R8. I have noticed that the Holden forums are a LOT worse for Ford bashing as we are for Holden bashing.

But why does it bother you so much? You know they're a good car, and your opinion should be more important to yourself than what some pimply baseball-cap-wearing bogan that drives a VR Commo thinks.

[pottery beige]

well they keep a heap of dh's out of Fords......

[BradZ]

My sisters boyfriend drives a VR hahahahaha. And i guess it's just their ignorance that annoys me.

[OzJavelin]

Could be second generation knock on affect from Ford losing their way in the mid 80s dropping the V8 and using the Sierra as their Bathurst Special. Guys my age didn't think much of contemporary Fords at that time and a lot favored Holdens (I bought old XC 351s). those people kids are getting to drive age now.
Plus Ford does their best to sabotage themselves in all forms of advertising; it's like they fear directly competing with Holden so just don't bother.
I drive a Commodore and like it .. It was the best tool for the job at the time. Like wifes FG ute (and my old AU ute) .. You don't buy a Holden ute to carry or tow anything.

[block58]

I can recall last year in the year 12 car park at my school, there was a very biased mix of cars.
One Falcon - My brothers which is an EL Futura Sapphire in immaculate condition and about 4 Commodores (and one Lexcen).
- 2 VSes, both in a poor contition
- 2 VTs with crappy mismatched fiberglass body kits and bald tyres on their 18s
- and one VY, which was the only one in a decent condition.

So if you are a p-plater, and you wanna be the coolest kid on the block, then you should buy a poorly maintained Commodore.

I have myself a BA now, and when I am in year 12 in 2012, I'm fairly sure I'll be the only p-plater with a Falcon - and proud of it!

[zdcol71]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA8gJ...eature=related
Sorry, I know it's not the place for utubes...

[Brazen]

I laugh when people say 'its because they think its Australia's car' I can guarantee you that is one of the last things an under 25 thinks of when buying a car.

Commodores have a better reputation and are more fun to drive. They feel lighter, perkier and more chuckable. Falcons feel heavy and lazy in comparison. Falcons are the better car but Commodores suit a young person better. So it comes down to image and driving feel, nothing more sinister than that.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by Auturbo6

The commodore revs harder and are more involving to drive, wheras the falcon is more lazy in it's driving delivery. The falcon is not slower than the commodore by any means, but just feels slower and more relaxed, which isn't what a young driver wants in a vehicle.

this.

[XRGhia]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

well they keep a heap of dh's out of Fords......

quoted for truth and as something that i also think

[93EB_SXR6]

Both Ford and Holden have good and bad models. I was one of maybe three people that drove a Falcon at my high school (the rest were either commodores or jap cars) and for some reason I was the centre of ridicule... "Overheated yet today..?" sort of ****.
My answer: "No, my falcon has never overheated..." *walks away*

Thats all it takes lads, just ignore them. My parents both have VS Commodores and we've never had any major problems with them, my uncle had a few VL commodores and they were pieces of poo.

IMO neither Holden nor Ford is better than the other...

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by BradZ

My sisters boyfriend drives a VR hahahahaha. And i guess it's just their ignorance that annoys me.

i dont drive a commy can i have ya sisters phone number......

[TheZHLANE]

Just thinking about the year 12 cars, at my school (pretty huge) there was only my el, and jap crap

[onfire]

As mentioned time and time again, the Holden has been ingrained as the local hero car.

But you also need to remember a few simple, forgotten details.

1978 Wheels Car of the Year : VB Commodore.
1988 Wheels Car of the Year : VN Commodore.
1993 Wheels Car of the Year : VR Commodore.
1997 Wheels Car of the Year : VT Commodore.
2006 Wheels Car of the Year : VE Commodore.

For every generation of vehicles, lets say 5-10 years, the Commodore has won the Wheels Car of the Year.

So if you were someone between 15-25 years old in the late 1970s / 1980s, chances are you or someone you knew loved the VB-VL Series to death. Same applies to anyone growing up in the 1990s with all the three models to win The WCTY being a face lift on the previous shape.

Then you need to look at each generation's competitors.

The VB Commodore versus The XD Falcon. We're talking vastly about resale and appeal to new, younger buyers. Neither really aged that well, and thats applies to the proceeding models for each car. The VC, VK & VL Commodores & the XE & XF Falcons. The Commodores of the 1980s were smaller and appealed to younger drivers.

Factor in Ford dropping the V8 some where around this point and the inevitable price decrease of the VL and VL Turbo.

The VN ( & VP ) Commodore versus the EA & EB Falcons. The VN's weren't remarkable cars, yet no where near as terrible or bland as the Falcon models. A much better looking example of an early 1990s sedan.

The VR ( & VS ) may have been a conservative design some what, yet still they aged very well. Clean lines and a neat look. The ED was still just an EB face lift, and the Commodore already had the jump on the EF and EL models.

VT versus AU Falcon. Well, we know how this turned out.

20 years of dominance over the Australian buying public. 5 Wheels Car of the Year wins for almost every generation of Commodore.

That, and almost every model of Commodore has won Bathurst.

Pretty simple stuff.

[Ben73]

I don't care why they drive Holdens. I wouldn't want to be associated with half the young Holden drivers on the road, mostly because they are %^$^heads.
So let them stay over at holden. No need for them to bring the crap reputation to Ford.

When I was on my red P's I had a 00' Mitsubishi Magna. It was stock and went ok, I had no desire to rice it out.
One night at 1am I was driving with my windows down. 3 guys about my age sitting in middle of roundabout on milk creates, on a semi-main road drinking beer.
As I am turning around the roundabout they start yelling out. "Aw **** box, that car is ****, get a real car, get a Holden. Fagna's are for losers"
Your sitting in the middle of a roundabout at 1am and your calling me the loser? LOL

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by onfire

The VR ( & VS ) may have been a conservative design some what, yet still they aged very well. Clean lines and a neat look. The ED was still just an EB face lift, and the Commodore already had the jump on the EF and EL models.

As for the VR ageing well, I beg to differ. It was outdated at release - the underpinnings and powertrain were carried over from VP, bar a revised auto box. Inside, everything except the top half of the dash were carried over from VP, and it shows. It looked awkward with '80s squares and '90s curves, with different grains and colours of plastic everywhere, nothing matched. The auto box is clunky, the V6 sounds like it's made of mecchano, and the steering is so light I can do lock-to-lock turns with a pinky finger. I've had to endure a VR Executive work car for the past couple of months and it's abhorrent. How people could have bought those things back in the day is beyond me. The EF, even the ED, absolutely craps all over it, hence why Ford was number one at the time.

[pottery beige]

delete..