How long is a vn commodore

First, the good news. Buick's port fuel-injected, kW, V6 engine, with no overhead camshaft nor four valves per cylinder in sight, not only delivers exceptional performance, but is far smoother than we expected based on experience with the pre-'88 American V6. It lacked the counter rotating balance shaft now fitted. Power is up 10 per cent over the 3. Significantly, it's developed at just rpm, rpm lower than the Nissan engine. Even this is deceptive, for the V6 develops a stunning 92 per cent of its maximum torque at just rpm!

So, instead of the high-revving character that enthusiast drivers enjoyed with the VL, the new Holden Commodore has more of the low and mid-range torque traditional Holden buyers will welcome. Maximum power of kW is developed at rpm, rpm below the Nissan engine, while the redline is rpm, though there is a sudden cut-out at rpm, which is rpm lower than the redline on the overhead cam Nissan.

If the engine rocks noticeably on its hydraulic mounts as the grinding starter motor fires up, it soon settles down to a quiet idle, with little exhaust note to indicate a "V" layout. Throttle response is excellent. There's enough sheer bottom-end grunt to spin the wheels under maximum acceleration. Independent rear suspension is being developed for the long wheelbase luxury car, due to be released in about a year as the Statesman.

So potent is the V6 that the IRS must filter through to ordinary Commodores as soon as possible, to give the traction necessary to tame the engine's bottom-end muscle. Holden's engineers are still fine tuning the exhaust system to eliminate a short period of resonant harshness evident at rpm on some cars and above rpm on others.

But the engine itself revs effortlessly to a cut-out that seems artificially low, so good does this engine sound at rpm. It's obviously a punchy motor with enormous potential. There are plans, too, for a supercharged US version early in the '90s. For Australians, there will be a more powerful fuel-injected V8 in the VN, expected to be released along with the sporting S and SS models next February.

The V8 will be optional across the range, though in reality, only those who race at Bathurst on the first Sunday in October are going to have a real need for the V8's level of performance. Let the figures do the talking. Standing m: Remember, this is for the basic 3. Until the arrival of the V8, it's the only engine you can buy.

For an equivalent standard of acceleration, you require the optional kW, 3. Through the gears and in the gears, the times achieved by the two rival engines are so close it doesn't matter, though the VN's strength at the bottom end gives it outstanding flexibility.

Unlike previous Commodores, this VN model was almost as wide as its Falcon rivals meaning there was now room for three adult passengers in the rear. Ford's EA Falcon had been on sale for just six months but had already developed an appalling reputation, and the VN raced past it to seize market leadership. The lusty, if coarse-sounding, 3. So strong was the initial acceleration that some unwary customers got themselves into trouble, particularly taking off on a wet road.

Rarely do you hear of a car company moving to tame initial acceleration, but Holden did just that when the VN was superseded by the facelifted VP in October Most problems were sorted out during the warranty period but a few occurred later. Premature front tyre wear was common. The only adjustment in the front suspension was a three-stage top mount, and if one tyre was wearing, you had to adjust the other side by the same amount to keep the car running straight, and then the other tyre would also wear out quickly.

Another rather curious suspension fault was in the rear, largely as a consequence of the jack-rabbit acceleration. The top arm bushes tended to wear out quickly. Universal joints and the centre tailshaft bearing can be other casualties of frequent use of the impressive acceleration. The low-quality standard front shock absorbers were usually past their best by 50, km and replacing them with a set of superior aftermarket items can be a cost-effective exercise which also results in better handling and stability.

We honour Holden in our last story of Is there something on your radar? Let us know what modern classics you would like to see the team review. I was introduced to the lion brand differently when compared to a native Australian.

Unlike some of you, I spent the first 15 years of my life living in the United Kingdom. My family was involved in the automotive industry, which meant cars were a big part of our lives — hobbies, work, extracurricular activities, et cetera. Sightseeing for me was cars, not buildings or places — despite regretting that notion now. Airport runs, the car choices of my international family members, and rental cars, were things that excited me about travel at such an age. On that particular trip, it was just my father and I travelling, which gave us bandwidth for car stuff.

Five point seven, tiger mica, six-speed. It was brand new at the time and shattered what I knew about cars. Five point seven! V8 too, mentioned my father, with an undertone of infatuation. He spent the best part of his youth growing up near Australia, where such cars once roamed free.

In fact, He completed his apprenticeship working on old Aussie Holdens and Fords. Far less naive he was, than I, at this time. As you can imagine, we were both upset when General Motors announced in February it was the end of the line for Holden. Barely three years after shutting its Australian car assembly line, the brand was about to be axed altogether.

Growing up in south-western Sydney as a staunch Holden boy, and witnessing the shift from Group A to V8 Supercars, were both crucial to his upbringing. His father owned numerous Holdens. In fact, his first Holden experience was the family SLR Torana, which plied the family to and from school.

So inspiring this was, that he ended up working in the automotive industry. From walking the pits scouring for drivers and their signatures, to later working on a race team during the Bathurst and the 24 hour, such experiences pushed him into the automotive industry. Well known and respected amongst his peers, Tyson is an anorak — absolutely packed-full of local industry knowledge, and more importantly, the personalities which defined it.

You can trace its roots back to the first-ever Commodore, of Aussie engineers embarked on a vicious cycle of breaking, and fixing the Rekord, until it was deemed suitable for our conditions. Over the years, the architecture was further refined and improved. The current owner of the car purchased it a decade ago, back when decent examples were actually feasible. Opel door trims were not used for cost reasons; nevertheless, the VN contained the first moulded door trims after decades of Masonite boards, while the headlining was the first moulded design in a Holden.

Decimated fleet sales aside, the smaller Commodore had forged a considerable reputation as the sportier alternative against the big Falcon, especially after Ford officially cancelled their V8 option in late Launching in early , the VN V8 ran new heads, inlet manifold, exhaust manifolds, camshaft and more internal stiffening ribs to eliminate bore distortion. The big news was the port fuel injection controlled by a Delco engine management system. Optional across the range and standard on the new Commodore SS, it forced Ford to rethink its lack of a V8 programme.

So was the VN Commodore just a regurgitated Opel? Doors aside, not really, and even less so than its predecessors. Six years, 19 prototypes, pilot production cars and hundreds of stylists, engineers and line workers point to it being a true Holden. The VN Commodore was an imperfect car; it used new Opel doors on a previous-gen Opel chassis, albeit one that had received 10 years of local development.

Niggling quality issues would have been damning had the EA Falcon, released some months earlier, not suffered rampant quality issues of its own. It begat a long-wheelbase luxury sedan, ute and three subsequent update models, each packing an ever-increasing level of tech while simultaneously addressing quality. With a hot cash injection from Detroit far from guaranteed, Holden considered several cheaper, alternative directions for the VN Commodore, including: facelifting the VL as the VM ; plonking the Opel body over the VL platform; or building the Omega on Aussies shores as it was, either with the German driveline intact or using the beloved, Nissan-sourced VL driveline.