Which commodore/falcon models are the most evenly matched?

[SteveJH]

What are we comparing them on?

Looks?
Safety?
Performance?

Lets compare the VR/VS with the EF/EL

Remember that the VR/VS commodores while lighter then the EF/EL, got that lightness at the expense of the passenger cell rigidity (from memory), the VT which got the stronger structure, was much heavier.

From a performance perspective though, the decreased weight probably more then compensated for their less powerful motor.

Looks? Falcon has 'maintained' its looks better over time, possibly due to not having lights on the boot that can lose alignment, however properly maintained, both cars can look awesome. Some really good example's of E-series XR's in the photo section, and i've seen some really good looking VS commodores around.

[EF-MattyB]

Hey all,

I had an EF GLI which was lowered etc and my mate had both a VT berlina (which he wrote off about 4 hours after i spent a whole night driving him around in it) then a vt Spac. My EF shat all over them. It just felt so much more planted. The steering was nicer, interior (even though it was 4 years older) was nicer and it went quicker and sounded nicer too.

My dad has a VY as a work car and i must admit my Fairlane (even though its in a higher class, but still somewhat resembles a falcon) is also much nicer to drive. The commo has to have the pedal flat to get anything out of it, has about 100rpms worth of power than has to change. The steering in the VY is heavy and gearbox isnt the greatest (changes when it wants for no reason) where this isnt the case in the fairlane.

My parents in law had a VS wagon (up unitl last week) and the same goes for it. Interior was shocking, steering wheel was squidgy and falling apart. Gearbox was terrible and there was no feeling between the wheel and the road.

Another mate of mine had a VP Calais (with mandatory cannon exhaust) that i drove a fair bit......not much more needs to be said really!!!!

Have also driven a VE SV6 as a hire car, was nice inside, but gearbox was shocking and didnt have that "kick" a falcon does.

I would take a ford variant over pretty much every commo model.

[JG34JA]

Most evenly matched:

BF-VE. I was driving many of these for work at this time, and VE seemed to catch up. It was testament to Ford's engineering that the 'million dollar baby' was not noticeably a leap ahead.

XY-HQ. Ford were winning points then, way back in the Dreaming, for developing very comfortable and rapid highway cars with good NVH. V8 Fairmonts of this era were still competitive with Kingswoods/Prems I drove from any year of the '70's, until HZ with its RTS suspension.



As for the whole VR-ED/F thing, we ran both the ED and VR model simultaneously as near new cars in the family. The VR was a nightmare, crank angle sensor would fail to read, shutting down the whole motor, power steering and brakes while on the move. My poor father once mounted a round-a-bout in this fashion. Every visit to the dealer, "Sorry, it's an intermittent fault, we can't find anything today." Dad once had a farmer swap a horn chip to get him home in the country. And then there was the engine coarseness and tinny feel. The ED, in comparison, was flawless. Much nicer ride, more comfortable, torquey, more reliable, at the expense of fuel economy. It was the last of the EA body, so they had refined it, doing things like putting foam in the A pillars. It's head gasket never gave us trouble, although others did.
The VR gave way to a VY, which was much nicer, and did ride particularly well although the drivetrain could not match the contemporary Ford.

[castellan]

I would say non are really.

But some combinations maybe sort of similar.
Both had the same 5 sp manual box once and the same Diff.

Looks like people are begging the holden 4 SP auto the VS auto got better the main thing i did not like was that it would not go back into 1st gear over 50 km/h.
The falcon auto 4sp 1st gear is a bit to high due to the Falcon 6 being gutless right down low.

falcon mainly had better seats. the VSII got better then VN-P junk.

[spvd02]

Anything before the VE, Holden wasn't aware of the term 'refinement', as pretty much all Commodores were terribly unrefined (at least every version I've been in).

The VP Commodore transmitted so much road noise into the cabin it wasn't funny, and your bones just shook as the thing took off (some actually may enjoy this as it feels fast). Hopping into a VS Wagon things hadn't improved as much as they should have. The throbbing/beating sound (like driving with only one of the rear windows open) that developed when climbing a gradient at light throttle t around 70km/h was just stupid for its time! And when accelerating the thing made the sound of two grinding stones being rubbed together, with a weird 'buzzing' exhaust note to go with it.

The EF Falcon had it all over the VS in terms of smoothness and refinement. My EF sedan used a similar amount of LPG over 400km as the VS Wagon used petrol on the same 400km trip. It was also one of the best looking Falcons ever, especially in base model form - the design of those tail-lights was just beautiful, much nicer than Commodore with its rear lights weirdly split in half by the boot, or previous Falcons. Add to this it was a much nicer car to be in, it's no surprise it easily outsold Commodore in its time.

The driving position difference people always love to talk about? In the Commodore it literally felt like I was sitting on the floor, like the seats had sagged or something. Sure, it held you in quite well, so that you feel more 'connected' to the car. This is a bad thing in the Commodore's case, as you could almost feel the grinding going on in the engine bay, and if the car shook under acceleration, so did you. After a long drive, being more isolated from the NVH of a car is better, and leaves you feeling like you could do the whole trip again.

[RAPID_BA]

In my experience the ef/el and vs commy are evenly matched

The 157kw i6 feels more torquey, refined and smooth, overtaking power is superior to commy vs with ecotec v6 147kw.

From a set of traffic lights the ecotec v6 in the vs will slip away from the ef/el i6 especially if both are auto.

Depends at what speed the ford i6 and the ecotec v6 exchange blows and each have advantages at certain speeds.

Looks, performance, interior, handling all nitpicking, they are very evenly matched.

[kpcart]

Originally Posted by FREE02

Haha electric shavers! i love it
But seriously everybody knows the eb v8 was the best by a country mile

i have one, i prefer my old ED 6 cyl. better fuel economy and the ed felt lighter on the throttle, making the drive better.

I think the original EF-EL compare similar to the VR-VS. i think the VS was the best of the lot during the mid 90s. the commodore isnt as big inside, but is a nice snug fit, so you get differing views about interior comfort. i thought the vs drivers seats werent the best, gave a bit of a sinking feeling, while i think the fords was too high. the buik v6 was a very good engine, but servicing couldnt be neglected like on the ford 6, on the ford 6 you can neglect service intervals and the engine would still last forever (except the head gasket), but on the v6 you needed to do your services, if you did, it still runs perfect today 15 years later. the gearboxes of both the cars were similar, but the ford felt smoother because of the extra torque. the v6 was pretty torquey too, bit higher in the revs then the ford, but the engine spun faster. even though the v6 worked higher in the revs, it had better fuel economy by a long way from the ford. it also had better dynamics, the el still felt like a 1985 designed car (when the ea was developed), but the vs, though also an old design, had better dynamics because it was lighter. i dont remember the power figures (i think el 157kw, vs 147kw) but shorter gearing meant the vs was quicker off the line (in normal driving at least, maybe not in a race). the vs also had better styling according to most, even the older EA shape has a more streamlined look then the EF/EL, and the EA proved the test of time (from design in 1985 to 1994), while the EF/EL was just a bad attempt to update . both were great highway tourers. I would have loved to own a VS with the ford 4L 4 spd drivetrain, that would have been a perfect car for me from what i want in a car. I personally preferred the EB/ED over EF/EL,mainly for styling, even interior. would never buy an EA with the crap 3.9 3 speed combo. didnt think much of the first VN, but the VS was a big step up.

[XRSIKS]

so a BF XR8 vs a VE SS? whats the KW / NM differences?

[IEAT8S]

Originally Posted by Zero_PSI

BA and VE.

BA and VY i would say

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by 351fordxc

BA and VY i would say

Have you ever driven both cars, back-to-back? I would say the BA was lightyears ahead of the prehistoric VY in just about every way.

[SSD-85]

VP Executive & EB GLi.

[BradZ]

I have noticed a lot of people compare VX's to EL's, in my town anyway. Because a BA would walk all over a VX, and I'm fairly sure they know it. And they seem to forget about the AU alltogether.

I would say the only even match would be FG vs. VE SIDI.
The rest I would say the Falcons are out in front.

[93EB_SXR6]

I've driven a VT Commodore and was surprised at how shockingly bad it was.
This is coming from someone who previously was all over Holden.

My parents have VS Commodores and they've been great, dependable, easy to drive cars.
I prefer Falcons, as I've always said, "each to their own".

A lot of young guys like the raw feeling of a buick V6 taking off.
It does indeed feel like the whole car is shaking with it's POWAH!
Reality is my EBII XR6 would thrash my dad's VS and mum's VS at the same time, in seperate races.
...figure that one out.

[Antwon]

Dont know what you guys are talking about, IMO any EA-EL Falcon is better then any VN-VS commodore. The whole body in the commodores is just so tiny, especially the doors, and dont even get me started on the interior, the VS interior is so cheap and nasty, even the EA interior is better. Another thing is look in the boot of a VS, then look in the boot of an EL.

I had an EB XR6 and was thinking of upgrading, drove a few VS' and thought

I work at tyrepower so i move around quite a few different cars, VT-VX have a much nicer interior and it feels a lot more solid and better quality, but still constantly fall apart.

IMO VE and FG are the most comparable, but i would still take the FG anyway, especially if im getting a 6cyl. Holdens V6's are still shockingly terrible.

[IEAT8S]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

Have you ever driven both cars, back-to-back? I would say the BA was lightyears ahead of the prehistoric VY in just about every way.

I have driven both and i hate to say it. but i now own a VY S pack as a daily driver, and couldnt be happier. :S

[Smoke Pursuit]

VS vs. EL I reckon.. Simliar V8 figures, both had a high end 6 (ticford / supercharged V6), and equipment levels were pretty much on par...