VP commos they r quickish!?!? y?

[OzJavelin]

My wife bought a VS Acclaim - ex Comm Car - with about 30,000km on the odo. We owned it for about 5years, did another 140,000km and the only thing that ever went wrong was the battery died. It was regularily used to tow a double horse float (one horse), and never had any problems with oil leaks, engine noises, trans failures, etc .. all the horror stories mentioned above. I suppose we were just lucky?
BTW: My wife picked this car 'cos "she liked it" .. nothing more technical than that .. and it was a great car. All the cars I've studied, poked, and checked have always had something major go wrong. Maybe I just need to get my wife to point the finger at a car and we buy that?
Rod.

[Full Spectrum]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

I found holden lost alot down low torque when they went ecotech.

Beetus, get some real diff gears first!

It had something to do with the Transmission this new electronic tranny was a major restriction on the cars low down, I don't know why they made it that bad, I herd people complained about wheel-spin in earlier models maybe that?.

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

My wife bought a VS Acclaim - ex Comm Car - with about 30,000km on the odo. We owned it for about 5years, did another 140,000km and the only thing that ever went wrong was the battery died. It was regularily used to tow a double horse float (one horse), and never had any problems with oil leaks, engine noises, trans failures, etc .. all the horror stories mentioned above. I suppose we were just lucky?
BTW: My wife picked this car 'cos "she liked it" .. nothing more technical than that .. and it was a great car. All the cars I've studied, poked, and checked have always had something major go wrong. Maybe I just need to get my wife to point the finger at a car and we buy that?
Rod.

I think most of the horror story's are just wild rumours, I haven't seen a commodore pre VS with these major issues, Myn is fine and a very quite ride.
I have herd some in the first VS V6 had some rear main seals go but our old VB done that.
A good friend of my mums bought 2 new VT's when new back in 97, A Exec and Acclaim, They are still going strong today and maybe it's luck they had no issues with them at all. There were thinking of upgrading to a VY i jumped in no no new engine coming, Now I'm saying wait till VE II.
Your wife seems like she just has a nack for picking a good car

[seano14]

Originally Posted by SlickHolden

It had something to do with the Transmission this new electronic tranny was a major restriction on the cars low down, I don't know why they made it that bad, I herd people complained about wheel-spin in earlier models maybe that?.

wouldn't surprise me, i was driving my parents old VP commodore wagon during a rainy time once and i took off from a set of traffic lights with extremely little amounts of throttle (had a car load of people too), but realised i wasn't going anywhere. it was indeed spinning them up stupidly easily - could handle it sure, but it still seemed bloody dangerous too if you ask me!

the old vp seems pretty good off the line, but there is something about the handling which feels really nervous, also the accelerator feels like it only has ~8 different positions only between 0 and 100% throttle.. very weird. rear seals have been gone for years so the old girl spits a bit of oil too.

[plext]

Originally Posted by seano14

the old vp seems pretty good off the line, but there is something about the handling which feels really nervous

All early V6 Commodores I have driven felt that way to me.

I suspect it has something to do with the very narrow track when compared to the width of the body.

Originally Posted by The-ShowStoPPa

vn was the quickest because it had the most low down torque, less weight, short first gear, so much that it was prone to wheelspin and they were supposedly dangerous in rain especially with elderly and other non enthusiasts "lighting them up" by accident ...

It was funny in year 12, almost everyone had FWDs and the one person who had a VN commodore was a very shy timid Asian guy. He would normally leave the carpark fairly slowly and carefully. Once in the rain the VN by itself started lighting it up sideways out of the carpark and fishtailed down the driveway. He must of absolutly shat himself while driving through the passenger window. Was a ****a!

[ON_DUBS]

umm weight of a VP UTE compared to a V8 ED Falcon?????

as one of the first posters said, it wouldnt take much to improve your acceleration. youre only loosing it in the stock driveline.
T5 + improved diff gear ratio will see your V8 put to better use

[Beetus]

Originally Posted by aussiefalcon

umm weight of a VP UTE compared to a V8 ED Falcon?????

as one of the first posters said, it wouldnt take much to improve your acceleration. youre only loosing it in the stock driveline.
T5 + improved diff gear ratio will see your V8 put to better use

apparently i have a after market lightweight tail shaft, and it had a lsd when i bought it, but i dunno what ratio that is but......and as for someone said before, ea-ed- vs vn-vp yeh holdens lose there legs, they punch but tire quickly

[[Tonko]]

VN-VS walk all over the EA, when i drive home from work (11pm) everyone wants to race... so i tell them back in a few and go home to get the XD and its on....but no one wants to race, not even the 5.0's :

[XRated]

It mostly comes down to the gearing. The Falcon's autos are very slow on take-off (excluding the new 6-speeds) and usually have long diff ratio (3.08/3.23 I'd assume you have). This is why they're great for highway cruising and/or towing.

If you had a 5-speed, I'd place large amounts of money that you'd smoke him convincingly. Getting a shorter diff ratio (i.e. 3.45 or 3.9) and you will stomp him!

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by The-ShowStoPPa

**edit**someone like steffo would most likely have all the figures available for each car to give further insight**edit**

Steffo has standards I hope you know.....

[alesia]

sort of irrelivent but anyway,
My 85 TX3 (has extractors ) absolutly flogged a VK Manual.
the guys goes "That was so weird you were pulling away :P

[Rob]

Originally Posted by SlickHolden

You think VP's don't have much after 60? Tell that to the VQII Statesman V8 that had me in his mirrors. Or my new best mate around the corner in his VN 5LT (sold now to slow:P). man tell my brother he will back these cars up.
If I'm at 60 or even 100 i can kickdown and move very fast. Best thing is if I'm doing 20-30 and it drops back to 1st no 6 will stay with it have you ever felt the kickdown power of the Buick V6. They do 15's even at the ripe old age of 14.
Tell that to the guy the played with his Memcal at home and did a 6.8sec 0-100 time in his VN V6.
Max power isn't until 4800rpm.
You go head 2 head with a VN-VP in a EA-EB all cars stock standard 6's and auto the Holden's will win i put my whole reputation on that for sure.

Meh, mid-range in EL/AU is far superior to VN/VP. As for the 5.0 litres, they're nothin special in stock form. Especially in a VQ, weight hurts it there.

I used to think my VP was a friggin rocket, till I drove my AU. My red blood turned blue, and I found the true path.

Course, that doesnt mean I cant say the VP was a fantastic bloody car, it certainly served me well. Was sad to see it go, I sold it to a kid around the corner. I see him go flying around in it, smokin em up. Least the old girl had it easy with me..

[DJM83]

but all in all they are only VN's lol but yeah they do have a rather tallish first gear which improves acceleraton my old ED fairmont was rather slow of the line but once at about 55-60 km/h it would reel them in and keep up even with a heap of stereo in the boot

[Full Spectrum]

Originally Posted by seano14

wouldn't surprise me, i was driving my parents old VP commodore wagon during a rainy time once and i took off from a set of traffic lights with extremely little amounts of throttle (had a car load of people too), but realised i wasn't going anywhere. it was indeed spinning them up stupidly easily - could handle it sure, but it still seemed bloody dangerous too if you ask me!

the old vp seems pretty good off the line, but there is something about the handling which feels really nervous, also the accelerator feels like it only has ~8 different positions only between 0 and 100% throttle.. very weird. rear seals have been gone for years so the old girl spits a bit of oil too.

That sounds like the bellmouth might have been removed, If removed you get pretty much 100% power on take off it's hard to drive it normal, The VN series 1 was easy the worst of them all. Thats why they jumped series 2 with some extra gear. But as a new car they had 14" rims with 185 tyres. thats way to small.

Originally Posted by plext

All early V6 Commodores I have driven felt that way to me.

I suspect it has something to do with the very narrow track when compared to the width of the body.

To my shock they are a very large car even longer then the newer model commodores. They had small tyres it was bad, I wont go under 215's on the rear.

Originally Posted by Beetus

apparently i have a after market lightweight tail shaft, and it had a lsd when i bought it, but i dunno what ratio that is but......and as for someone said before, ea-ed- vs vn-vp yeh holdens lose there legs, they punch but tire quickly

The VN does a 1/4 in 15.7. The VP 15.5, They don't loose there legs.

Originally Posted by Tonko351

VN-VS walk all over the EA, when i drive home from work (11pm) everyone wants to race... so i tell them back in a few and go home to get the XD and its on....but no one wants to race, not even the 5.0's :

I wouldn't drag you either in that:

Originally Posted by XRated

It mostly comes down to the gearing. The Falcon's autos are very slow on take-off (excluding the new 6-speeds) and usually have long diff ratio (3.08/3.23 I'd assume you have). This is why they're great for highway cruising and/or towing.

If you had a 5-speed, I'd place large amounts of money that you'd smoke him convincingly. Getting a shorter diff ratio (i.e. 3.45 or 3.9) and you will stomp him!

The VN VP have a 3.08. If i got a 3.9 i would gain .08 maybe.

Originally Posted by BLC

Meh, mid-range in EL/AU is far superior to VN/VP. As for the 5.0 litres, they're nothin special in stock form. Especially in a VQ, weight hurts it there.

I used to think my VP was a friggin rocket, till I drove my AU. My red blood turned blue, and I found the true path.

Course, that doesnt mean I cant say the VP was a fantastic bloody car, it certainly served me well. Was sad to see it go, I sold it to a kid around the corner. I see him go flying around in it, smokin em up. Least the old girl had it easy with me..

Yeah a EL AU was what ? 157kw? 357Nm? 1515kg?.
A VQII Statesman 165kw 385Nm about 1563kg with the sports exhaust lowered going sideways onto the freeway and almost hitting me. I'm not a small man and i had 3 in the car with me that night. A VP 127kw 293Nm. 1337kg. But in all fairness they didn't do overtaking power back then like they do now a days.
But i didn't say the VN was stock;).

Originally Posted by 00VenomXR

but all in all they are only VN's lol but yeah they do have a rather tallish first gear which improves acceleraton my old ED fairmont was rather slow of the line but once at about 55-60 km/h it would reel them in and keep up even with a heap of stereo in the boot

I'll have to show you my boot, Got a box the size of the rear seat with subs and amps, Plus a heavy duty tow bar thats built into the rear of the car and goes over the diff it's a big one, I wish it wasn't there.

[schmidty]

About 6 cars ago i had a V6 Manual VN. Cold air intake, pacemaker extractors, high flow cat, 2.5 inch mandrel bent system, would maul any 6 off the line and most 8s. use to smoke vt ss's at the time up to 100 but then get left.

Was definately a fast and brutal car. Did a 14.8 quarter which is pretty good for a 1990 commodore or any holden 6 actually. Its a pretty standard thing between Falcons and commodores. Commodores accross the board have usually been a tad down on power and a fair bit down on torque compared to the falcon, and lighter. The commodores right up to current usually start to run out of puff at 100 where the falcon continues to pull. I've been killed by a couple of VN's in my BA XR6 Ute which is a manual with an LSD, and i've got the launches down pat, but then you leave them for dead at 100, and if you sink the boot side by side at say 140, it'll pull past anything right through to the limiter.

But dont underestimate the next VN or VP u pull up next to at the lights. they'll give you a harder run than a VY. Also had a VS V8 manual ute, if you could actually keep traction, and get some sort of launch out of it they fly cause they are so light! very very dangerous to drive in the wet on a twisty road with an lsd and firm suspension.

[Beetus]

how does the vr compare to vn-vp, low,mid and high

[Full Spectrum]

Originally Posted by schmidty

About 6 cars ago i had a V6 Manual VN. Cold air intake, pacemaker extractors, high flow cat, 2.5 inch mandrel bent system, would maul any 6 off the line and most 8s. use to smoke vt ss's at the time up to 100 but then get left.

Was definately a fast and brutal car. Did a 14.8 quarter which is pretty good for a 1990 commodore or any holden 6 actually. Its a pretty standard thing between Falcons and commodores. Commodores accross the board have usually been a tad down on power and a fair bit down on torque compared to the falcon, and lighter. The commodores right up to current usually start to run out of puff at 100 where the falcon continues to pull. I've been killed by a couple of VN's in my BA XR6 Ute which is a manual with an LSD, and i've got the launches down pat, but then you leave them for dead at 100, and if you sink the boot side by side at say 140, it'll pull past anything right through to the limiter.


But dont underestimate the next VN or VP u pull up next to at the lights. they'll give you a harder run than a VY. Also had a VS V8 manual ute, if you could actually keep traction, and get some sort of launch out of it they fly cause they are so light! very very dangerous to drive in the wet on a twisty road with an lsd and firm suspension.

A 14.8 is pretty dam respectable in any 6.
I'll agree with you on the BA I6 up to 100 my brothers ba isn't flash to 100 but on the freeway it's a ball breaker. And they say 2nd can't do this but he done 170 in 2nd. Then Ford Reset the ECU:( It was a police detectives car.

Originally Posted by Beetus

how does the vr compare to vn-vp, low,mid and high

The VR has the same engine as the VN II and VP's. If i wanted to i could drop a VR motor in my car right now. But the VR had the new Electronic GM 4 speed, And it's job is to restricted the cars power at launch, but at speed they are pretty much the same. The Series 1 VN was a monster off the lights, The VN II and VP's were tamed a touch thats why they do the 1/4 faster they have move speed after 1st.
8.9sec 0-100 i think the VR was. not sure of the 1/4 times. People that own VS Commodores are pretty happy if they get into the 16's 1/4's.

[Beetus]

so how would my ed v8 go against a vt/x 6? any good u rekon? i got pacys and hiflow and k&n?

[qwigybo]

Originally Posted by Beetus

so how would my ed v8 go against a vt/x 6? any good u rekon? i got pacys and hiflow and k&n?

my EF 6cyl has pod filter and exhaust, i haven't lost to a vt/x 6 yet
only lost to a VN 0-80 by 1/4 bonnet
on that note it also owned my BA ute by a good car length

[Full Spectrum]

You know whats funny the VT is slowest and the VX was maybe the 2nd slowest, But god knows what they did in the VY cause it had a little more speed. It might only be Series 2 VY where they did something to the transmission but they could get it to 60 faster then the BA MKII's. Still lost to 100 but. But the VY would have been faster then the VT-VX Series.
But the VS should have been the quickest Commodore with the Light body and power it had.

My brother had a race with a BA XR6 mkII in his old EFII Fairmont, All he had done or did to the car was cat back Redback 2.5". XR6 5 speed and LSD. He pulled away from the BA XR6 and did it a little easy, He thought no he isn't really trying hard here. Pull up at the lights off the freeway and the guy comes up window down and says them old them things still go plenty of zing pal whats it a V8? Nah mate just a stock 6, He says I'll trade it in for a turbo:P

[Beetus]

good good, well my ed v8 had a half car length behind a mkII and the vp manual ute was just on my tail end.

[gozza]

to whoever was talking about the handling of vp's i know that too well lol

i had to drive my mates mums vp auto home in the rain one day...was going round a corner with nearly no throttle application at what i thought to be a safe speed.....the bugger was out side ways before i even thought possible...then every time driving up and steep hill id be spinning in 1st with the lightest feather on the throttle

[GEE 87]

mate had a VN
got sidewards easy
accelerated fast
weighed **** all
and felt like a bloody big boat at any speed over 0 km/h

actually, it always felt like a boat.

[Doctor Sodways]

The Vns dont handle all that well, all they want to do is step sideways, ask anyone thats been in mine, with the LSD they are a deathtrap. Once they are lowered and ride on stiffer springs with stiffer swaybars it only get worse, they handle slightly better, but geez do they step out, and in a mental manner as well

[Beetus]

so they r quick but handle like bmx bike with a flat tyre.........

[Doctor Sodways]

Yup. deathtrap with a buick motor

[macca_779]

Originally Posted by Doctor Sodways

The Vns dont handle all that well, all they want to do is step sideways, ask anyone thats been in mine, with the LSD they are a deathtrap. Once they are lowered and ride on stiffer springs with stiffer swaybars it only get worse, they handle slightly better, but geez do they step out, and in a mental manner as well

In the garage i have a VN SS that when it was standard it had a fair bit of understeer and like all commodores handled like a barge. When i got it lowered i went all out and purchased a fair bit of good hardware to make it more nimble with a hell of a lot more oversteer dialed into the setup. Bassically I transformed it to the point where it's a 5 litre Go Cart that will give lift off oversteer to rival a 200SX but with enough power to carry it as long and as far as i like. Spent about 2 grand to get it this way. And yes it is sketchy but very stable at constant load.

[5L]

bah ill still say that i have never been worried when going up againt a vn-vp

[Joes_meat]

My stock as a rock VS auto definately feels dead in first gear. Especially compared to the VN/VP's. It definately accelerates quicker once it's going, bit it just doesn't get off the line properly. I wonder if a manual conversion would do the trick?

It feels like it doesn't start making any real power until higher in the rev-range in second gear. Between 3500rpm and redline it really is quite quick.

Still does 0-100kmph slightly faster than the figures say it should.

The other strange thing about my auto box, is it will not upshift if the wheels are spinning - and I've had a few other people tell me the same thing about their VS's. May have something to do with Holdens desire to reduce wheelspin.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Joes_meat

My stock as a rock VS auto definately feels dead in first gear.

Yeah my VL manual feels like that.

Well not exactly dead, just not that quick in first, but once I go into 2nd, it really wakes up.

Thats what everyone has said, that has driven it.