FORD: Just for those who do give a shit

[Motu]

The Starfire was in a Toyota Corona,hooked up to a Cortina gearbox.Tax incentives to use made in Australia components.The Starfire engines were used as the base model Commodore in the New Zealand market,they were not as common in Aust.When the VN came out they used the Camira engine as the economy model,but that was a lot of body for a little 4 cyl to haul around and they were dropped pretty quick.

[Maha]

as a boat anchor

The 351 could could get up and boogy like CMNTD on speed....

[MSTRS:Me]

...The Blue 6 cylinder 3300 was also replaced with a 3.0 Litre Nissan unit....

Can someone confirm (or not) my long-held belief that Holden desperately wanted to go fuel-injected and couldn't get it to work right in their 202, so used the Nissan 3L in detuned state as a stop gap measure?

[Motu]

Mainly emissions I would say,the 7 bearing motor was very old and just not capable of meeting modern emission requirements.The last of them were fuel injected and seemed to run ok.I don't think the Nissan was detuned,but they made a 2 litre version which was certainly less powerfull than the 3 litre for some reason.

[MSTRS:Me]

Mainly emissions I would say,the 7 bearing motor was very old and just not capable of meeting modern emission requirements.The last of them were fuel injected and seemed to run ok.I don't think the Nissan was detuned,but they made a 2 litre version which was certainly less powerfull than the 3 litre for some reason.

We had a Nissan GXE Skyline, 'same' motor...similar sized vehicle to the Commodore, but the Nissan would eat any of the Holdens. Not unusual to light up the back in third...

[Motu]

The 2 litre was the base NZ model,the 3 litre was not very common,it was an option,and came with other options as well.You were cleaning up 2 litre Commodores with your 3 litre Skyline.Sorry to burst your bubble.....

[ynot slow]

Damn straight, I had a 3.2 Legend a few years back, bloody quality car unlike Ford/Holden. Bring back the Godzilla's to Bathurst

Agree with the honda cars.

BUT Fuck Off with godzilla's at bathurst.P/T.

Bathurst has to be a v8 only and ford/holden the aussie v8 consortium have that sussed,ever watched anything other than a supercar(v8)go around the mountain,mate they are slowwww,the year I was there,the 3hr race on the saturday had detuned fords,holdens,vipers,ferrari even a lambo and Jim Richards won in a porshe,his time for fastest race lap was 2 seconds slower than the slowest supercar qualifyer.

Yep holden may have won more races but during the late 70 and 80's the holdens either torana,commodore were essentially running ford 9" diffs.

Owned a Fairmont XBV8 on lpg,good power and economy, trans cost $1400 to rebuild back in 1989,an XA 200 and good except for rust,mind you both had rust issues.There are pros and cons for both,me ford for ages fan and will be,doesn't mean I wouldn't buy a commodore though,if I was granted either a SS or XR8 I'd drive them both and make the choice,the ford would have a slight edge due to parochialism,but if the holden was better,i.e finish,comfort,handling economy(yeah right for both)I'd have no probs owning it,shit would still cheer the fords in races.Mind you I wouldn't say no to a Euro Honda v6 Accord,the last two Hondas' owned have been great.

[onearmedbandit]

Not trying to argue with you Motu, but in my time in the car industry I came across more RB30 powered VL's then RB20. And the RB20 was a slow sack of shit alright.

[yungatart]

The 2 litre was the base NZ model,the 3 litre was not very common,it was an option,and came with other options as well.You were cleaning up 2 litre Commodores with your 3 litre Skyline.Sorry to burst your bubble.....

It cleaned up 3L Commodores too, (as well as damn near every model of Ford!)
We asked our mechanic about it and he said the motor was detuned for the Commodore.

[Mully]

It cleaned up 3L Commodores too, (as well as damn near every model of Ford!)
We asked our mechanic about it and he said the motor was detuned for the Commodore.

The Commodore probably weighed twice your Skyline as well.

And using the V8 supercars to justify one as better than the other is bollocks. You can't buy a new 5l V8 in either car any more, they run homologated diffs, gearboxes, brakes, suspension and AVESCO mess with the aerodynamics to level the playing field.

As a spectacle, sure, why not. But as a comparison (some hard-core people I know) not worth the energy.

Oh, and BUY MY COMMODORE YOU BASTARDS. I want a bike

[RT527]

The new commode ain't so flash.
An 'A' pillar wider than my T-birds 'C'-pillar leaving you with a forward vision blind-spot from hell. (Maybe that's why the Buller cop didn't see the bikes until too late?)

EDIT: They made the 'A' pillar that thick to house the air-bags -- they put air-bags in to make the car safer for the occupants - but made a larger blind-spot for the driver and created a hazard.....go figure!!

The rear is so hard to see out of that there one of those proximity beeper gizmos - which don't work if you haven't let off the handbrake COMPLETELY (the h-brake warning doesn't work at that level) so you risk reversing into things that you were expecting a beep or two to warn you of.

I could go on i.e interior trim falling off etc.

Good point?
The boot hinges now no longer crush/gouge everything inside the boot when you shut it.

All makes have faults, none are a 'Golden Car' - bereft of faults or design error.

Huh I thought they had the Air bags in the B pillar by the driver , and also curtains to drop to stop impact with the road/ glass etc....didn't realize they were in the A pillar..... plus the steering wheel holds one.


B`pillar is the one directly beside the driver......is it that one you meant....Ive never come across one in the A pillar....would be very interested if someone could enlighten me as this would make a huge difference to extricating someone and keeping myself safe at the same time.

[The Stranger:Me]

Owned a Fairmont XBV8 on lpg,good power and economy, trans cost $1400 to rebuild back in 1989.

There in lies the problem. My deep seated dislike for Ford stems not from some whim, but from experience. We operated a fleet for a while, ok, maybe a bad batch (over a number of years), but the problems we had with Ford engines, diffs and transmissions where huge, not to mention things like closing the door and the handle comes off in your hand or driving along and the rear view mirror falls off the window etc etc.
The GM stuff was not what you would call good, but it was no where near as bad as the Fords.

Toyota was a bloody breeze.

I bought a Faclon for myself, NEVER again. It wasn't too bad until it got out of warranty (1yr at that stage) it cost me more in servicing and repairs in 12 months than about 15 yreas of car ownership. Oil leaks - it took Ford 100 years of trying to perfect the oil leak and they aren't about to stop now.

[RT527]

Agree with the honda cars.

BUT Fuck Off with godzilla's at bathurst.P/T.

Bathurst has to be a v8 only and ford/holden the aussie v8 consortium have that sussed,ever watched anything other than a supercar(v8)go around the mountain,mate they are slowwww,the year I was there,the 3hr race on the saturday had detuned fords,holdens,vipers,ferrari even a lambo and Jim Richards won in a porshe,his time for fastest race lap was 2 seconds slower than the slowest supercar qualifyer.

Yep holden may have won more races but during the late 70 and 80's the holdens either torana,commodore were essentially running ford 9" diffs.

Owned a Fairmont XBV8 on lpg,good power and economy, trans cost $1400 to rebuild back in 1989,an XA 200 and good except for rust,mind you both had rust issues.There are pros and cons for both,me ford for ages fan and will be,doesn't mean I wouldn't buy a commodore though,if I was granted either a SS or XR8 I'd drive them both and make the choice,the ford would have a slight edge due to parochialism,but if the holden was better,i.e finish,comfort,handling economy(yeah right for both)I'd have no probs owning it,shit would still cheer the fords in races.Mind you I wouldn't say no to a Euro Honda v6 Accord,the last two Hondas' owned have been great.

Was in a ss holden at Pukekohe last weekend, it was FIV1 (First Incident Vehicle) I was the Firefighter responsible for protecting the Paramedic(who happened to be Qkchicks mum !) was an awesome day.....we had a couple of incidents to deal with due to the wet weather, but back to the topic, I didn't find the ss anything special , Ive driven an xr8 and thought it went better, but I did like the comfort of the leather seats, Plus we had a real good driver too so he made it look like a good car, which Im sure it is....( just to keep you holden fans happy).

All in all I dont think theres much difference between ford and holden, both sport ancient technology in flashed up shells, with aerodynamics no better than a Brick.

[onearmedbandit]

B`pillar is the one directly beside the driver......is it that one you meant....Ive never come across one in the A pillar....would be very interested if someone could enlighten me as this would make a huge difference to extricating someone and keeping myself safe at the same time.

Not sure about the commodores but I've seen plenty of cars with multiple SRS, including in the A pillar. Late model Japanese and Euro stuff.

10 year old article last updated in 2007 making reference to A pillar airbags.

[scumdog]

Huh I thought they had the Air bags in the B pillar by the driver , and also curtains to drop to stop impact with the road/ glass etc....didn't realize they were in the A pillar..... plus the steering wheel holds one.


B`pillar is the one directly beside the driver......is it that one you meant....Ive never come across one in the A pillar....would be very interested if someone could enlighten me as this would make a huge difference to extricating someone and keeping myself safe at the same time.

Yup, in the 'A' pillar (the one wot holds the ends of the window-screen apart) - or so the label says (and why else have a pillar that thick??)

Air-bags also scattered throughout the car.