VCT vs HP

[mik]

gday ole mate ,coupla months ago i put myself in hock for a au xr6 series 2 sedan(vct) i havent had much to do with falcon inline 6s always been a v8 bloke , but i was surprised at how good it is on fuel for a big car (treated with respect on throttle)i did a run up to other side of bright (cant remember the name)mostly highway and a bit of the hilly stuff,it returned about 7.5 litres per 100 k,havent done a test around town yet , but i am happy with it,i do a mixture of highway and heavy traffic to werk each day always get more than 500ks out of a tank, best car ive had , I dont think i could get much better than 7.5 l.p.h.k and i was trying(xrs have performance diff ratio not as good on fuel on highway i think)

[GK]

Originally Posted by old_mate

is it true the VCT though likes to drink a little more juice than the HP motor?

This is a question that interests me also. Under hard driving what will usually happen. Under normal commuting or highway travel, what will be the result?

Cheers

[jonbays]

The VCT is a very nice engine Fords first attempt at buiding up the BA DOHC VCT 6.

The VCT will use more fuel because with the IRS back end they are heavier and the extra weight will use more fuel.

Efficiency wise the VCT could be very good but not that much better than a HP6 except for the fact Ford didn't spend enough time on the VCT ecu to get the best out of it.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by old_mate

is it true the VCT though likes to drink a little more juice than the HP motor?

Highway it is very efficient, just like any other I6. Around town it is a bit more thristy as Jonbays said. Pushed hard it is as thirsty or MORE thirsty that the EB Fairmont V8 I had!

Originally Posted by MickyB

Casper do you know of any dyno results with pacemaker 4499's on the XR6 VCT? My dad has one with those extractors, K&N filter, and XR8 intake, we were wondering what his next mod should be, should he change extractors, or perhaps fit a chiptorque, or unichip chip?

I'm not sure of the exact model number but both Black-XR6 VCT and JC had pacemakers on their VCT's. Black-XR6 VCT called his a complete waste fo money, JC gained no power at all but did get a slight improvement in torque.
My personal belief is that the VCT does not respond to pacemaker headers, I've seen nothing to change my mind on that yet. I have the JMM race headers and they DO WORK. I'd get them first before a chip.

[cArSiK]

Originally Posted by Casper

..........My personal belief is that the VCT does not respond to pacemaker headers, I've seen nothing to change my mind on that yet. I have the JMM race headers and they DO WORK. I'd get them first before a chip.

Casper, i purchased an AU2 XR6 VCT afew months ago and the time has nearly come for an exhaust. With out a doubt i will get a set of JMM RS extractors and some form of 2.5" cat back exhaust. From your experiance did just this mod get rid of the really slow take off (0-35 Km/h) ? As mine seems to be awfully slow to 35 but the top end is fine. I suspect all VCT's are like this as my dads one is the same...

James

[Casper]

Originally Posted by cArSiK

Casper, i purchased an AU2 XR6 VCT afew months ago and the time has nearly come for an exhaust. With out a doubt i will get a set of JMM RS extractors and some form of 2.5" cat back exhaust. From your experiance did just this mod get rid of the really slow take off (0-35 Km/h) ? As mine seems to be awfully slow to 35 but the top end is fine. I suspect all VCT's are like this as my dads one is the same...

James

Slow take off is a symptom of the auto I'm afraid. That said, yes, the race header made a huge difference. As did the Chiptorque. Current 0-100 in road trim (fuel, spare tyres etc) is about 6.8 seconds, thats a fair jump on the stock numbers of mid to high 7's.

[cArSiK]

Originally Posted by Casper

Slow take off is a symptom of the auto I'm afraid. That said, yes, the race header made a huge difference. As did the Chiptorque. Current 0-100 in road trim (fuel, spare tyres etc) is about 6.8 seconds, thats a fair jump on the stock numbers of mid to high 7's.

Holy Crap! What a differerence. 6.8 is not that much slower than an Auto XR6 Turbo is it?

Does the cat back system have to be a particular brand / spec? I want a very quiet system , not much louder than stock. Do you think this will affect flow all that much?

J

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by Casper

Hate to tell you that the VCT was grossly toned down too. It had to be as the AU XR8 at the time was only putting out 185kw. The VCT is, with an ECU override, capable of similar numbers. We had a good hard look at the ECU on mine during the chip challenge and it was appauling how much it was hobbled.

Yeah, the VCT was very toned down from the V8. Originally, its output was slated to be 186kW 397Nm... but the V8s 185kW 412Nm wasn't enough for it to stay ahead.. so, I dunno what they did... but the VCT was toned down.

[EFFalcon]

Originally Posted by useless

The JMM extractors race series will work well on vct or non vct.In fact they are the only extractors I have ever noticed a difference on.

just wondering what others you've tried and what was the actual outcome??

[Casper]

Originally Posted by cArSiK

Holy Crap! What a differerence. 6.8 is not that much slower than an Auto XR6 Turbo is it?

Does the cat back system have to be a particular brand / spec? I want a very quiet system , not much louder than stock. Do you think this will affect flow all that much?

J

LOL, a turbo BA would be noticably I would assume.

I have a redback cat back system and a JMM high flow cat. It is noticably louder than stock. I guess if you added some more mufflers and resonators it would quieten down but I dont know how much this would effect performance.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Steffo

Yeah, the VCT was very toned down from the V8. Originally, its output was slated to be 186kW 397Nm... but the V8s 185kW 412Nm wasn't enough for it to stay ahead.. so, I dunno what they did... but the VCT was toned down.

Where did you get that info from Steffo? I'd love to have a read of it as I wasnt aware that was its original output specs. This is the first I have heard of it but it sounds about right given the mangle job they did on the ECU.

[Mark351]

Originally Posted by Casper

True, the VCT got a different and slightly better exhaust system but from the cat forward was identical to the HP/Forte. Same horrible manifold and little pipe. Adding a cat back exhaust may have freed up a few kw, but not much.

The HP was the quicker car of the 2, no doubt about it. Still is. It also is easier to modify and has far more options for getting big power.
All I'm saying is that the VCT is also a very good engine and, combined with the IRS and a few little luxuries, makes for an excellent daily driver. It can also go a lot harder than many people thought it could for what is a relativly small amount of money.
I'm afraid the VCT is far less of a "grandpa's XR6" than many people would have thought a few years ago.

You're too defensive Shane. :evil3:

I wasn't saying the VCT exhaust was the absolute difference between the two in terms of power, I'm just saying that it was just a part of how they sold the VCT as a more powerful car on paper. We both know the VCT is a good engine.

[buickman]

Originally Posted by MickyB

Casper do you know of any dyno results with pacemaker 4499's on the XR6 VCT? My dad has one with those extractors, K&N filter, and XR8 intake, we were wondering what his next mod should be, should he change extractors, or perhaps fit a chiptorque, or unichip chip?

I have that pacemaker p/n on the AU fairmont VCT mtr with 21/2 with redback middle muffler and stock rear as noise intrustion got the better of me with the rear hot dog.So had the fitter replace my old rear muffler.

With a dirty BMC filter and T snorkel running Safeway premium and the car in need of a good tune it pulled 123rwk.

That pacemaker extractor is a good h/way performer with fuel economy and very good top end overtaking. If you are looking for a few more KW. I would agree with the others that the JMM extractors are the way to go for performance.

buickman

[buickman]

Originally Posted by DeathXR

You're too defensive Shane. :evil3:

I wasn't saying the VCT exhaust was the absolute difference between the two in terms of power, I'm just saying that it was just a part of how they sold the VCT as a more powerful car on paper. We both know the VCT is a good engine.

I have a copy of wheels october 1998 and the HP XR6 5 speed ran a 15.9 and the VCT 5 speed ran a 15.7 for the 400m. The difference is the HP had very slightly better overtaking figs.The series1 XR8 5 speed ran the 400m in 15.2 but had buggar all in the overtaking performance to the 6 mtrs in the test ran by wheels magazine.
As a overall package the VCT with IRS was a better car to drive with less diagonal pitching no wheel hop and superior traction according to wheels testers.

buickman

[MickyB]

Originally Posted by buickman

I have that pacemaker p/n on the AU fairmont VCT mtr with 21/2 with redback middle muffler and stock rear as noise intrustion got the better of me with the rear hot dog.So had the fitter replace my old rear muffler.

With a dirty BMC filter and T snorkel running Safeway premium and the car in need of a good tune it pulled 123rwk.

That pacemaker extractor is a good h/way performer with fuel economy and very good top end overtaking. If you are looking for a few more KW. I would agree with the others that the JMM extractors are the way to go for performance.

buickman

Thats not too bad, probably explains how Dad gets around 650km's out of a tank. He tells me he boots it a bit, but somehow i doubt it with that fuel consumption. His car also has the T series snorkel, a K&N filter and is a manual, so 130rwkw might not be out of the question then.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by buickman

The difference is the HP had very slightly better overtaking figs.

Yes, mucho fun, very well setup for doing that.

MickyB that 650 km out of a tank your old man is claiming, is that city or highway driving or a combination of both?

[loxxr6]

As a overall package the VCT with IRS was a better car to drive with less diagonal pitching no wheel hop and superior traction according to wheels testers.

I can only imagine. I know my HP isn't overly fond of bumpy surfaces, especially since the lowering.

[MickyB]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Yes, mucho fun, very well setup for doing that.

MickyB that 650 km out of a tank your old man is claiming, is that city or highway driving or a combination of both?

Thats probably 75% Highway/Freeway driving, as he drives from Frankston to Wonthaggi 3 days per week, the other K's are mainly around Frankston region, so suburban driving. I know he said he gets better economy out of the XR6 than his old AU2 Futura, which is kinda strange considering how bad everyone else's VCT's seem to be on fuel.

[ehast13]

MOTOR always produce better figures. In 1998 the xr6hp pulled a 15.33 and the VCT 15.57. VCT was an attempt to produce a smooth premium six for fairlanes and ghias and filled a niche for a supercharged six cyl commodore competitor in the XR6 VCT. I guess it gave ford aus a bit of practice with VCT b4 the BA

[cm335]

correct me if im wrong but there was a sr1 or 2 xr6 au with a snail off the side of the motor that was running in the high to low 11s a couple of years back i think that it was a vct motor in it. the motor was stock apart from a decomp plate i heard. the only thing holding it back was the auto it kept chewing them up!

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by ehast13

MOTOR always produce better figures. In 1998 the xr6hp pulled a 15.33 and the VCT 15.57. VCT was an attempt to produce a smooth premium six for fairlanes and ghias and filled a niche for a supercharged six cyl commodore competitor in the XR6 VCT. I guess it gave ford aus a bit of practice with VCT b4 the BA

Tickford actually started developing a VCT engine for the XR6 only, when the Ford guys liked what they saw they offered to pay for the development. This then allowed them to have a premium engine for the Ghia's , as you mentiond. I've always had soft spot for the VCT. Not in the same league as the DOHC , but I liked it anyway

[The Monty]

God, hasnt this been done to death. And who decided to resurect a 2 year old thread anyway?

[XR6Stu]

Had a quick flick thru this thread, and sorry if Im asking a stupid question.... I have an XR6 VCT, and if it has been tuned down from factory, if I get it flash tuned, will that up my rwkw figure? Its already got exhaust, extractors, CAI and filter.

[The Monty]

A flash tune will give it power no matter what.

[GSH]

i drove a manual VCT and i was fairly suprised at the grunt....but drove a different one the other day and it was gutless as :S

[ayeyew]

Originally Posted by XR6Stu

if I get it flash tuned, will that up my rwkw figure?

Yup

Would prolly do wonders for your economy too!

Since my flash tune (still not quite complete) and addition of a stg2 cam I have gained nearly 25rwkw, nearly 100Nm and about an extra 100-130km on my DTE (Around 550 now)

[XR6Stu]

Wow. I can already push most s1 and 2 xr8's, and pretty much all v6 commodores including VE. If a flash tune is going to help me with a bit most snot, could be interesting to see how it drives. Who are the people to go see, and how much am I roughly looking at?

[sikford]

i think its around $500 or so to buy the flash box then you have to get it tuned so prolly another 500 to get that done if your getting the custom tune done but its the only way to go as it will reflect the mods done to your car alot better than a standard tune

[Day-mow]

I have the pacemaker 4499 headers. Would the 4480's be a better chode. Or deff go jmm

[DJM83]

I think i can see china with this mine.