hotting up your VL is dangerous

[harry3]

i am alarmed at the number of young drivers who want to increase the power of their VL's
the vl in any version already has plenty of power, the VL suspension cant really cope with the normal power very well as the springs were softened to give a more comfortable ride, the rear suspension especially is at its absolute limit and was never designed to cope with so much power. the german car the VL is based on was a 4 cylinder car

ite easy to have the rear wheels let go when cornering, especially if accelerating round a corner, or with a wet road or no load in the back, the car will suddenly change direction with a head on crash lilely, especially for a young and inexperienced driver

premium quality tyres and shock absorbers on the back will increase safety

[rb26dett]

I have found VN commodores to be worse in the wet.

[rb26dett]

i am alarmed at the number of young drivers who want to increase the power of their VL's
the vl in any version already has plenty of power, the VL suspension cant really cope with the normal power very well as the springs were softened to give a more comfortable ride, the rear suspension especially is at its absolute limit and was never designed to cope with so much power. the german car the VL is based on was a 4 cylinder car

ite easy to have the rear wheels let go when cornering, especially if accelerating round a corner, or with a wet road or no load in the back, the car will suddenly change direction with a head on crash lilely, especially for a young and inexperienced driver

premium quality tyres and shock absorbers on the back will increase safety

Unfortunately anything which is rwd can be dangerous in the hands of a young inexperienced driver.

Thats why I am all for driver educaton a school, a little knowledge is better than no knowledge at all.

[seventh path]

i agree.....the more training you do the better you can handle certain situations.....a lot of people don't know what to do when something goes wrong and make the situation worse than it should be!!!

[Bax]

Yeah, the VL is tragic in the wet. Understeer in the dry. And a hell of alot of oversteer in the wet.

First thing to upgrade on any car would be brakes and suspension I would have thought.

[CALAIS 6]

Found out the hard way with that i learnt to drive in my mum's vt calais and her bf's vx both which had traction control.Scared the shit out of me the first time i went round a roundabout in the rain in my VL.Luckily no one else was on the roundabout.

[jNINE]

Motorkhana's are a great way to come to terms with understeer & oversteer.

I had a VL (abeit we modified the suspension all round) and I found it one of the better balanced cars I'd driven. Was excellent and sharp turning-in with not a hint of understeer of oversteer.

Wasn't the VL based on the same chassis as the earlier commodores, therefore being the same as the Open Rekord which were 6cyl cars? From memory a very similar opel model (the Rekord E) was available with a 6cyl engine?

[Julie]

Unfortunately anything which is rwd can be dangerous in the hands of a young inexperienced driver.

Thats why I am all for driver educaton a school, a little knowledge is better than no knowledge at all.

Well its hardly confined to rwd, any car can be dangerous in the hands of a young-OR old inexperienced driver. People just need to remember when 'hotting' up their VL or any car for that matter they should make all the necessary changes not just the ones that give more HP that means upgraded suspension, tyres and brakes.

[rb26dett]

Well its hardly confined to rwd, any car can be dangerous in the hands of a young-OR old inexperienced driver. People just need to remember when 'hotting' up their VL or any car for that matter they should make all the necessary changes not just the ones that give more HP that means upgraded suspension, tyres and brakes.

I was refering to in wet conditions.

[ucwepn]

if you got big rims and tires on your VL get ready for the fear factor when it starts to rain LOL with the 15's it would slowly lose rear traction and you'd have plenty of time to catch it (relatively speaking), but with the 18's and 40 profile tires it has heaps of grip and then all of a sudden no grip at all, scares the pants off me sometimes LOL, i've never spun in my vl tho *touch wood*

[Bax]

Say what? My 16's even. Compared to my 17's.

16's were.. No traction to, definately no traction. To why do I have tyres.
17's were.. Traction.. Traction.. a bit more traction.. *plants it* no traction.

I have to try with the better rubber
16's all i had to do was turn the wheel.

[burnz]

i dont know what all the whohars about (dont drive a car u cant handle)

[vlv8vic]

tend to agree with burnz.... its certainly not the car. its the driver. i dont think anyone can step in with a lecture like "dont modify your vl".......geez mate were car enthusiasts!!!
most people i know who have modified their VL have done alot of work on the suspension anyway.... it pretty much a given i would have thought.

[Morgasshk]

ditto...

any commodore can lose traction (especially if you're trying to!) and don't see
why the VL's would be a different story, my VK was deadly on corners with a little tap on the throttle... Then again with 4 years driving her and no accidents maybe it is just the driver? :P

[rb26dett]

I think his point is just to be careful, and dont forget about upgrading your brakes and suspension to match your power.

[VLACS]

whats understeer and over steer. and on the subject of suspension. can i get a smoother ride and have it lowered, however that may be achieved

[Boonz]

understeer is when you go into a corner and the front wheels slide and break traction......over steer is the opposite of this.......the only way you can get a car to ride nicely when lowered is to spend good money on high quality shock absorbers and springs (without going too stupid)

[VLACS]

the opposite, you mean it doesnt slide? it slides the other way?? the rear wheels slide??

[Bax]

Yeah... Understeer is when your turning the wheel and the cars still going straight. It just doesn't want to turn as much as you want it too.

Oversteer is when the ass kicks out on you.

[SNY.3LT]

Speaking of that, just got home, my Honda broke down so Ive had to drive the VL around all weekend.....what a shame!.... just raind in Sydney tonight and i tells ya.... loads of fun!!

[vlv8vic]

Speaking of that, just got home, my Honda broke down so Ive had to drive the VL around all weekend.....what a shame!.... just raind in Sydney tonight and i tells ya.... loads of fun!!

sort of blows to pieces what we were just trying to say!!!!

just to add to a comment above, brake upgrades arent really a massive thing, any of the vls with 4xdisc pull up fine without mods, your be hard pushed to get into a situation where the standard vl brakes cant do their job.
I dont know what the vls with the rear drum are like, probably not as handy at stopping in a hurry.

[seventh path]

they're pretty usless....you have to keep on adjusting them cause the self adjuster doesn't work very well

[vlv8vic]

ahh k then... go the discs..... they look prettier too!

[Jules86]

ahh k then... go the discs..... they look prettier too!

I agree with them looking better than drums, how much and can they slap on without changing the axel?

[stock_vl]

i cant believe this thread was started with a bloke saying hotted up vl's are dangerous....... and only backing it up saying that suspencion and breaks are crap on the vl's.

i also know that vl's are hugeo n the plastic and when made there were alot of corners cut with safety to make them lighter.

if you worried dont buy one...
as for hotting them up if your implying there dangerous at high speeds..... =\

there like what 80 kw@rw

something around that area anyways... i forgets i read somewhere...

although the steering and the breaks and sway balance aerodynamics have been upgraded drasticly over the past 18years or how ever old your vl is.

cars are made to do like 260 these days.... thats whats dangerous....

my vl does 180 tops.... so yeh.

and our local park was declared "dangerous" as the wood chip under the swings was too hard...

same sh!t different smell if you ask me...... everything is dangerous these days.......


enjoy my slice of angar..... =) lol