4 cylinder commodore on the cards??

[au2000]

in todays h/s cars guide there is a comment that holden will look at the market over the next 4 yrs & is considering a 4 cylinder again for the next commodore....

holden boss has not ruled out the return of a 4 cylinder commodore...
holden are likley to have 4 cyl products maybe 6's & 8"s...

i don't have the article in front of me any more but it may be that they will look n see how the 4 pot falcon goes..

[Powdered Toast Man]

They have the cruize, why would they need a 4cyl Commy?

[GT69]

Ford have the Mondeo and the focus, so why do they need a 4 in the falcon?

Sorry Powdered toast man, I had to.

Answer, choice!

[Supercharged]

Bet it isn't that dud engine they had before, the star fire four, what was that engine was it simply a 186 with 2 pots cut off.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by GT69

Ford have the Mondeo and the focus, so why do they need a 4 in the falcon?

Sorry Powdered toast man, I had to.

Answer, choice!

Could just be the were gonna do this stuff. You know the usual.

But if they do bring one out I hope its a better motor then the 3L.

[2011G6E]

Yep...we had one. The Backfire Four (sorry... ) was a blue motor with two cylinders lopped off, more or less.
The good bit was that it had massively strong conrods, and you could simply put a Weber on an adaptor plate and if you were a bit ingenious like a mate of mine was, you could cut down a set of second hand Commodore Blue Motor extractors and make a set of pipes for it...he knocked me up a set in a day. This is what we did with our VC Commodore Four SL. It was, unfortunately, backed by the dismal old Traumatic auto gearbox...would have been much better with a five speed manual.
The car was comfortable, rode very well (even though the Four had unique to the model Torana-pattern 13" wheels (so you couldn't easily whack on a set of 14 or 5 inch Commodore wheels), and it steered nicely too...probably because of the lesser weight over the front wheels. It was pretty economical as well.
Some years later I often wondered how it would have gone with something like the excellent Nissan SR20DET and a five speed manual fitted to it...

If they could get the weight of the new Commodore down a bit, there's absolutely no reason why a turbo four cylinder wouldn't work.
Given the predatory and frankly criminal registration costs nowadays, people would jump at a sizeable car that had a four cylinder, even at the cost of some performance. Economy is a very big selling point, so they would have to give a substantial saving over the 3 liter six to be economical to produce.

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by vztrt

But if they do bring one out I hope its a better motor then the 3L.

Now, that's not really saying very much if it is a better motor

[Powdered Toast Man]

Originally Posted by GT69

Ford have the Mondeo and the focus, so why do they need a 4 in the falcon?

Sorry Powdered toast man, I had to.

Answer, choice!

I actually thought of that and thats true as well. The 4cyl Falcon will steal sales from Mondeo. Focus is in a smaller class, competition for the Astra or whatever rebadged Daewoo Holden are selling in the small car class now.

The Commode is selling a lot better than the Falcon though so I wouldn't think a 4 pot is really needed since they have the 3.0L V6. Ford are battling the common misconception that the 4.0L 6 is a guzzler (well it still is thirsty compared to a 4 pot but is very competitive fuel usage vs power output).

The other thing is the Cruize is Aussie made, the Mondeo isn't. So any scheme that sells more aussie made cars should be sought out. (I know Ford global, all manufactures really, don't actually really care where the car is built as long as its turning a profit)

But hey I'm all for choice. And like vztrt said it's all just media pandering anyway. A 4cyl Commodore was supposedly on the cards back in the VX days, anyone remember the Commodore hybrid show car?

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man

I actually thought of that and thats true as well. The 4cyl Falcon will steal sales from Mondeo.?

Not so sure about that, barring enthusiasts most people choose cars now based on size and economy, not engine power, though I believe we still have a stigma in society on whether there is a 4,6 or 8 under the bonnet, regardless of its power output.

Many may still want a Falcon sized car to cart the family around in, but couldnt give two hoots about how many seconds it takes to get from 120 to 140km/h. Im guessing any 4cyl motor they size up for it would have a power output in the 120kW+ reigon, contrast that with the average 6cyl had ~80kW 35 years ago.

It would have to end up more economical, there isnt as much difference now as there used to be between small and bigger motors, but its still there, the weight advantage on city cycle being relevant as well as hopefully less moving parts = cheaper too.

[kpcart]

they have a 2.8 direct injection v6 turbo in the pipelines so dont need a four cylinder. teh 2.8 commodore will have 225kw, 400nm and 8.0L /100km.

[ivorya]

Holden will have Malibu soon enough to take more sales away.

[TUF_302]

Originally Posted by GT69

Ford have the Mondeo and the focus, so why do they need a 4 in the falcon?

Sorry Powdered toast man, I had to.

Answer, choice!

Good point mate, it does make you wonder why do they need a 4 in everything?, I do think a 4cly Falcon will help but to what extent i'm not sure

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by kpcart

they have a 2.8 direct injection v6 turbo in the pipelines so dont need a four cylinder. teh 2.8 commodore will have 225kw, 400nm and 8.0L /100km.

That engine has been available to them for years, they already build it for SAAB, and they haven't bothered to use it yet, so its probably unlikely they will use it in the future.