Holden Commodore Problems

THE folks at the Australian LPG Warehouse tell me they have done a number of supercharged V6 Commodores and they are going without any trouble at all in the field. They use injection systems and can offer Eurogas gas-injection or the latest JTG liquid-injection systems.

THE VYII had the old Buick-derived 3.8-litre ECOTEC overhead-valve V6, which dated back to the VN Commodore. It was a pretty tough old nail, with good torque characteristics and good fuel economy. The VZ has the new 3.6-litre quad-cam Alloytec V6, which has more power and torque than the ECOTEC engine, but I don't think its torque characteristics are as good. It's also a little thirstier than the older engine. I don't see a lot between the resale values of the two, but being newer the VZ will command a higher used price for the foreseeable future.

TO BEGIN with, the general experience with the Alloytec V6 is it doesn't handle LPG well without the hardened valves and valve seats Holden installs in its LPG-compatible engines. LPG industry insiders tell me they are seeing head rebuilds at 30,000km, which really means the conversion isn't economically viable. There will be installers who will disagree with me, but ask them to give you the evidence the VZ V6 is OK on gas. The best system is the injection system, but it is more expensive than the old valve/mixer systems. There is little difference in output when running on LPG with the injection system, so there is no loss of performance.

IT'S best to shop around when looking to convert so you get an accurate picture of the current state of play in the LPG arena. The old system will do the job and is much cheaper, but the newer injection system is better and will give you a better driving experience. But because it's 60 per cent more expensive it will take a similarly longer time to recoup your outlay.

ANY modification you make affects the warranty and anyone who tells you differently is giving poor advice. You might have good cause for complaint against Holden if you had got the dealer to put it in writing that your warranty wouldn't be affected, but as you didn't I can't see how you could complain about Holden not honouring the warranty.

THE VW is just a year old, so I would be sticking with it. You've paid the depreciation on it, so why buy another car so soon and suffer the depreciation all over again. There is no reason to be concerned about the life of the VW's engine and it will be much more economical than the V6 Commodore Sportwagon.

THE VX Calais weighs 1620kg, 220kg more than your VN Calais. This will certainly have an adverse effect on fuel consumption. Also, the ECOTEC V6 engine produces 152kW, whereas your VN put out 127kW. So the extra power is coming at the expense of fuel consumption. Perhaps other readers can let us know what they're getting from their VX models to compare with yours, but I reckon what you're getting is about on the mark.

YOU really should decide if you want performance or economy. If you want economy, go for a Corolla, Civic, 323 or Pulsar. You will find they have pretty good performance anyway.

I KNOW of no plans for Holden to built a three-seater ute, and I believe you'd have to go back to the WB to find a bench-seat V8 ute. Ford has a third seat option for the new FG ute, but not with a V8 engine.

IT REALLY depends what your priority is. If it's having fun in a ute, go for the Commodore or Falcon. My recent experience in the new FG Falcon was that the six-cylinder gave about 12.0L/100km on average, but that the XR6 Turbo was a little better on fuel and was heaps more fun to drive. If you need a ute for work and fuel economy is important, I would go for a diesel. But you also need to remember that hauling all that four-wheel-drive equipment around is soaking up fuel and you'll probably find the diesel four-wheel-drive isn't much more economical than a petrol six-cylinder ute.