Turbo X-Trail

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMM!!!

I still stand by my comment about owning a Holden (or not owning one I should say), you will most certainly become a bogan meathead, it's contagious... Haha but seriously, I know not all Holden drivers are like that, I just couldn't live with myself if I drove a V8 ute. More importantly i couldn't handle being beaten by a car with an engine half the size I.e. Skyline/silvia, rotor, supra, etc

My friend has a VZ SS ute, 420rwhp, all the fruit (unfortunately including the chev badges) and he's selling it to buy an F6, he can't stand the shocking fuel economy. Thats the problem with simple pushrod V8s, there's an exponential link between power and (lack of) fuel economy, at least with modern engines, one can drive like a nanna and still return half decent economy, the same theory doesn't apply with Holdens.

Hank Scorpio hit the nail on the head, rest assured $30k worth of Lexus is always gonna be 10x the car of a $30k Holden...

You have a good point Cam, and normally I'd agree with you, but have you had anything to do with either of them (Not trying to have a go here btw). The Holden V8 is actually a very nive motor. I'll bag out the pushrods til I'm blue in the face, but the truth is, they're not that bad. Sure its not the BEST technology, but GM has invested the money into it to make a bad idea actually work. They arent the only people do it, either! Porsche did exactly the same with the rear engine. Everyone knows a mid engine is better for weight distribution, but Porsche has invested enough money into it to make it work.
So back on topic, GM has developed the L-series motor into a very nice piece of machinery. The Ford V8s, however, are using new technology, but have NO IDEA what they're doing! I have a few mates who work for Ford, and they pretty much hate them.
If I wanted a performance car thats less then 5 years old, I'de get a Commodore V8. If I wanted a 6-cylinder to get my family around, I'd buy the XR6 Turbo. Build quality wise, the Holden wins (for me anyway) everytime. Having said that, build quality is important for me, and there is a reason why I own jap cars.

Yeah true LSx motors are a decent piece of metal actually... But I just laugh at the thought of a performance Holden. The new E-series HSVs are a joke. Just put a big V8 in and add more frilly bits to the front and rear bar, she'll be right. At the end of the day its a RWD pushrod V8, it's been done a million times before, and its been proven about the same amount of times that there are better alternatives i.e. forced induction, sequential/dual clutch gearboxes, AWD etc...

And on top of that I'd never own a Holden for all the bogan wankers who give the brand and bad name by driving like they own the road and are all Mark Skaife...

I dunno why anyone would wanna buy a Commodore...

Holden engineering motto: Just put a bigger V8 in it, it'll keep the bogans happy. Look at the last 15 years of Holden 'performance'; 5L, then 355 stroker, LS1(5.7L), LS2(6L), L98(6L), and most recently, W427 (7L).

Every other car manufacturer (inc Ford)'s motto: Lets spend some money and engineer our cars to driver better, cheaper more efficiently, whilst being fun and exciting. Look at Ford's performance range over the last few years; xr6 turbo (4L making more power than most V8s), 5.4 dropped for a 5L and 5L supercharged, and now the Focus RS (2L) and XR5 (2.5L)...

GM has had financial issues for the last 50 years, so their cars are ALWAYS gonna be less engineered/refined/tested/tuned that their counterparts. Hence why they STILL use a pushrod V8

my $0.02...

FKN IIIN!

Soo keen, finally a cruise I can attend!

I shall see all o' y'all there!

Cam.