Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Lagondanet on 10 February 2016, 18:01:31
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Just back from Oz. I saw some Omegas & Senators there under the Holden name but with different styling. I understand the Holden factory is closing soon though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore_(VE)
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Common car over there... We saw loads last year when we were there. Where did you go?
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Yup, it's all going. I always envied their independence over Vauxhall with regard to their products. (stuff like Corsas, Astras and Vectras made its way over with a simple badge swap, but the rwd platforms got very, very heavily adapted for local use, and made some great cars. The Dubai Police thought them good enough to use! :) They're going to be just a name now, though, with assembly elsewhere :(
No doubt GM Worldwide will become that bit more poorer without them. They were the only ones making a decent rwd drive platform at all, by the end. Presumably when the current VXR8/Commodore is axed they'll 'replace' it with a new fwd Insignia. After it flops Holden will be wound up, and replaced with Chevrolet and/or Opel.
Holden started out in the 40s by making heavily modified Vauxhalls, odd how things come full circle!
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Now's the time to buy one... The exchange rate is utter shite...
If you're Australian :D 0.48Aus$ to the £ this morning...
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Went to Adelaide last weekend for my mother's 90th. The owner of the Omega, my cousin, came over from NSW and hit a kangaroo en route. Smashed up the front. Seems to run in our family. :y ;D
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Went to Adelaide last weekend for my mother's 90th. The owner of the Omega, my cousin, came over from NSW and hit a kangaroo en route. Smashed up the front. Seems to run in our family. :y ;D
Bring it over... ;D
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The VXR8 is not a practical every day driver as I
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Sorry about the previous incomplete post...operator error ::) just to say that the VXR8 is in no way a practical every day driver, as my shakedown run up to Monkfish...turned in around 18 miles to the gallon at around 60-65 mph.Lovely V8 sound accompanied by the supercharger whine is really reserved for the odd outing to a meet or car show etc and to me the car is a bit of a handful and for a long road trip it's got to be the Omega.But having said that I won't kicking the VXR out of bed, just taking it for what it is,which is a bit of a bruiser and not a comfortable long distance cruiser like the Omega :y
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Yup :y
I wish they'd spent another 18p adapting the Commodore to European tastes, and provided it with a range of more 'normal' engines and trim, choice of diesels, etc... and sold it in 'GLS' / 'CDX' / 'Elite' trim etc... rather than soley the 'Tabasco sauce' flavour VXR.
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It sounds like I'm moaning about something that I should have expected,which is not quite what I meant,I think that because my particular car is quite heavily modified and has been set up possibly for a bit of occasional track day action,it feels to me that the car is a bit to full on and would cost a shed load of money to put it back to its original spec.So I'm happy to live with it and only use it within the limitations that the car presents. ::)
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Yup :y
I wish they'd spent another 18p adapting the Commodore to European tastes, and provided it with a range of more 'normal' engines and trim, choice of diesels, etc... and sold it in 'GLS' / 'CDX' / 'Elite' trim etc... rather than soley the 'Tabasco sauce' flavour VXR.
:o
Wash your mouth out!
In naturally aspirated manual form the V8 would probably give a 3.2 a run for its' money on economy unless driven with reckless abandon and, looks aside, I don't think the VXR8 rides too badly. It's not the water bed that the Elite suspension provides, but that's a good thing, in my view.
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Haha. :D I just mean we never got a proper replacement for the Omega. There was the Signum... no, then the imported Monaro... like the ghost of your sexy ex coming back for one night only, then the VXR8. But nothing in the 'ordinary' stakes. :)
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I could agree and should agree, but this thing is a bit of a handful for normal driving as it struggles to find grip even with the lightest of input.I guess I'm going through a learning curve and I'm not at ease with it as of yet : :o:)because it's about remembering that this thing is pushing out 580+ HP as it's been remapped on top of all the other mods.So I'm tiptoeing around with it at the moment as I don't fancy a trip into the weeds or worse : :o:)Giving it a few more shake down runs (ABS Essex on Sunday) can help to make me a bit more comfortable about taming the beast :)
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I could agree and should agree, but this thing is a bit of a handful for normal driving as it struggles to find grip even with the lightest of input.I guess I'm going through a learning curve and I'm not at ease with it as of yet : :o:)because it's about remembering that this thing is pushing out 580+ HP as it's been remapped on top of all the other mods.So I'm tiptoeing around with it at the moment as I don't fancy a trip into the weeds or worse : :o:)Giving it a few more shake down runs (ABS Essex on Sunday) can help to make me a bit more comfortable about taming the beast :)
The later ones are only available in Supercharged form. The naturally aspirated ones are much better as everyday cars if only by virtue of being slightly less full on.
Remember though, compared to a four pot auto, the 3.2 might seem utterly outrages...
So it's all about perspective ;)
I am certain that as you get used to it, you will become more confident... :y
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I agree Al,just a big jump up from the Omegas....no regrets about getting it and as you say,soon get used to it :y
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:y
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I could agree and should agree, but this thing is a bit of a handful for normal driving as it struggles to find grip even with the lightest of input.I guess I'm going through a learning curve and I'm not at ease with it as of yet : :o:)because it's about remembering that this thing is pushing out 580+ HP as it's been remapped on top of all the other mods.So I'm tiptoeing around with it at the moment as I don't fancy a trip into the weeds or worse : :o:)Giving it a few more shake down runs (ABS Essex on Sunday) can help to make me a bit more comfortable about taming the beast :)
Interesting, obviously the torque making it feel a bit lairy. :) By comparison, my daily commute is in a car with similar performance figures but it is really nice to drive. Can be an animal when pressed but a pussy cat when dawdling along, but still really easy to drive at all speeds. It has nowhere near the numbers of the VXR8, with a measly 640Nm of torque and a piddling 313bhp in standard form, but it does move it from 0-60mph in a smidge over four seconds and hits the limiter at the agreed 155mph in the blink of an eye. Mid range torque is monstrous, although a tad less montrous than the VXR8, but still very quick.
The penalty for this performance is an abysmal 48mpg average consumption ::) and having to wear silly gloves when you fill up, as yes, it's a diesel. :)
Just me making an observation really, as the Holden's/VXR8's are lovely looking beasts, whereas mine is just run of the mill that you see every day out and about. :)
Apologies to the OP for going off topic. :y
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VXR8 yesterday... average speed 62mph at 18.2 miles to the gallon OUCH!! :o used half a tank to go to the ABS Essex meet,I guess around 9 gallons,car's going to be spending a lot of 'parked time'. Drove the 3.2 this morning...such a lovely, quiet,smooth,comfortable place to be,by comparison 8))Just can't stop loving those old Omegas :-* :-* :y
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I could agree and should agree, but this thing is a bit of a handful for normal driving as it struggles to find grip even with the lightest of input.I guess I'm going through a learning curve and I'm not at ease with it as of yet : :o:)because it's about remembering that this thing is pushing out 580+ HP as it's been remapped on top of all the other mods.So I'm tiptoeing around with it at the moment as I don't fancy a trip into the weeds or worse : :o:)Giving it a few more shake down runs (ABS Essex on Sunday) can help to make me a bit more comfortable about taming the beast :)
Interesting, obviously the torque making it feel a bit lairy. :) By comparison, my daily commute is in a car with similar performance figures but it is really nice to drive. Can be an animal when pressed but a pussy cat when dawdling along, but still really easy to drive at all speeds. It has nowhere near the numbers of the VXR8, with a measly 640Nm of torque and a piddling 313bhp in standard form, but it does move it from 0-60mph in a smidge over four seconds and hits the limiter at the agreed 155mph in the blink of an eye. Mid range torque is monstrous, although a tad less montrous than the VXR8, but still very quick.
The penalty for this performance is an abysmal 48mpg average consumption ::) and having to wear silly gloves when you fill up, as yes, it's a diesel. :)
Just me making an observation really, as the Holden's/VXR8's are lovely looking beasts, whereas mine is just run of the mill that you see every day out and about. :)
Apologies to the OP for going off topic. :y
Nowt wrong with that,I love diesel torque :y :y
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I could agree and should agree, but this thing is a bit of a handful for normal driving..
Not unusual for a forced induction car that has been remapped in the aftermarket. Often, tuners are chasing maximum "pub figure" and "shock and awe" driving characteristics where the boost all comes in with a bang and the car "feels" fast.
If you concentrate instead on achieving a smooth transition into full boost by mapping the boost pressure carefully, you can make a car much more drivable even with silly levels of power output. This was demonstrated by a mate with a 400 BHP turbocharged Westfield some years back. That didn't feel fast at all, but by god it was!
Unfortunately, it takes a bit more time (and hence money) on the rollers than simply turning everything up to eleven.
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I could agree and should agree, but this thing is a bit of a handful for normal driving as it struggles to find grip even with the lightest of input.I guess I'm going through a learning curve and I'm not at ease with it as of yet : :o:)because it's about remembering that this thing is pushing out 580+ HP as it's been remapped on top of all the other mods.So I'm tiptoeing around with it at the moment as I don't fancy a trip into the weeds or worse : :o:)Giving it a few more shake down runs (ABS Essex on Sunday) can help to make me a bit more comfortable about taming the beast :)
Interesting, obviously the torque making it feel a bit lairy. :) By comparison, my daily commute is in a car with similar performance figures but it is really nice to drive. Can be an animal when pressed but a pussy cat when dawdling along, but still really easy to drive at all speeds. It has nowhere near the numbers of the VXR8, with a measly 640Nm of torque and a piddling 313bhp in standard form, but it does move it from 0-60mph in a smidge over four seconds and hits the limiter at the agreed 155mph in the blink of an eye. Mid range torque is monstrous, although a tad less montrous than the VXR8, but still very quick.
The penalty for this performance is an abysmal 48mpg average consumption ::) and having to wear silly gloves when you fill up, as yes, it's a diesel. :)
Just me making an observation really, as the Holden's/VXR8's are lovely looking beasts, whereas mine is just run of the mill that you see every day out and about. :)
Apologies to the OP for going off topic. :y
Nowt wrong with that,I love diesel torque :y :y
So do I. :y My post was a polite way of saying that I can hit those performance figures and still achieve a very respectable mpg.... in a standard diesel. :y
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Yes, but your car isn't bright green ;D
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Car is now in storage UFN!! ::) Sticking with the Omegas, much more in keeping for a gentleman of my standing ;)
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Car is now in storage UFN!! ::) Sticking with the Omegas, much more in keeping for a gentleman of my standing ;)
It's a lovely looking motor Ken and I hope you are happy with it. :y Hopefully it's just a culture shock that you'll come to terms with. :y
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Car is now in storage UFN!! ::) Sticking with the Omegas, much more in keeping for a gentleman of my standing ;)
It would be a bit of a shock having all that power in an instant for anyone who wasnt use to it :-\ Maybe just needs a long long drive round some twisty roads to get a better feel for it :y
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Car is now in storage UFN!! ::) Sticking with the Omegas, much more in keeping for a gentleman of my standing ;)
It would be a bit of a shock having all that power in an instant for anyone who wasnt use to it :-\ Maybe just needs a long long drive round some twisty roads to get a better feel for it :y
<sticks hand up!>
Oh, you meant with ken driving? ::)
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Car is now in storage UFN!! ::) Sticking with the Omegas, much more in keeping for a gentleman of my standing ;)
It would be a bit of a shock having all that power in an instant for anyone who wasnt use to it :-\ Maybe just needs a long long drive round some twisty roads to get a better feel for it :y
<sticks hand up!>
Oh, you meant with ken driving? ::)
Slowly :D ;D
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It's not a practical car for every day driving...it's too mad!! have arranged for it to go into storage down in Hampshire,where it will be kept in a controlled environment, as it's sort of in the way at the moment,and there's no real point having here as it is going to piss off our near neighbours as you have to give it a bit of time to run after start up as it's really loud and it's just better to drive once the choke comes off.Looks like a move may well be on the cards to grab somewhere to store the cars under cover...... Lincolnshire is a strong contender the moment :-\
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Nice place Lincolnshire. Some lovely roads up there and property prices are good
Keith ABS
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Yup. They've gone silly on the speeding stuff, which was mainly because there wwas a disproportionately high accident rate. Mainly because you have national speed limit, dead straight road... then hairpin bend...dead straight road to go around the fields. Inattentiveness + speed = bent chevron sign ::)
However, on the nice bits it's stunning and a lovely drive, only problem is the view's so damn nice out the side window!
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However, on the nice bits it's stunning and a lovely drive, only problem is the view's so damn nice out the side window!
If I had a Holden I think that's where I'd spend most of my time looking, anyway... along with bags of opposite lock ;D