Thinking about getting my first Commodore VL

[Thorpsy]

Alright peeps,

Just been reading all about the Commodore VL on the internet and can't find anywhere what MPG i should expect.

Firstly, I should explain that one is a pom and the thought of running a 3.0l v6 is slightly terrifying. Especially, when my car back home is a Renault Megane CC 1.5 diesel.

My Australian friends have one that has been in the family from brand new and has been cherished. Although, they want next to nothing for it, I'm scared to death that it's going to do less miles to the gallon than a London bus!

I really would like to own and drive a slice of Australia whilst I'm here, no better way of seeing this wonderful country than in a home made Commodore!

[seans VL Calais]

well first of all its a straight 6 not a v6 and second of all we dont use miles to the galon we use km to litre you can expect to get from anywhere between 200-450 ks out of a full tank which is 63 litres. depending on how the car is running, obviously it would have to be running way rich and have some other problems to only be getting 200ish ks per tank but ive heard of it happening ive recently sold mine and i use to get around 350 ks per tank and that was with exhaust and extractors, and 5 speed, apart from that pretty much stock, hope this helps abit, at thye end of the day mate its not gonna be anywhere near as good as your renault but its not to bad for a 6 cylinder

[Thorpsy]

well first of all its a straight 6 not a v6 and second of all we dont use miles to the galon we use km to litre you can expect to get from anywhere between 200-450 ks out of a full tank which is 63 litres. depending on how the car is running, obviously it would have to be running way rich and have some other problems to only be getting 200ish ks per tank but ive heard of it happening ive recently sold mine and i use to get around 350 ks per tank and that was with exhaust and extractors, and 5 speed, apart from that pretty much stock, hope this helps abit, at thye end of the day mate its not gonna be anywhere near as good as your renault but its not to bad for a 6 cylinder

Hi Sean,

Thank you for the reply and the information.

I understand that the Commodore is going to do less that half of what the Renault, but with the cost of fuel here I'm not to worried about it. Long as it's reliable and reasonable fuel efficiency I will be happy.

To be honest I've always wanted to have a big engine car, the cost of fuel in the UK means that the biggest engine you find is a 2 litre (4 cylinder), and that's considered to be 'anti=social'.

I will be honest I know nothing of 'V-6' or 'Straight 6', but thank you for pointing that out, I will look it up on the internet this evening.

Once again, thanks for your help Sean it's much appreciated.

[STEALTHY™]

Scrap that, get a VXR

[ImAHoon!]

I believe mine does 12 - 13 litres per 100kms

[Paiste402]

Hi Sean,

Thank you for the reply and the information.

I understand that the Commodore is going to do less that half of what the Renault, but with the cost of fuel here I'm not to worried about it. Long as it's reliable and reasonable fuel efficiency I will be happy.

To be honest I've always wanted to have a big engine car, the cost of fuel in the UK means that the biggest engine you find is a 2 litre (4 cylinder), and that's considered to be 'anti=social'.

I will be honest I know nothing of 'V-6' or 'Straight 6', but thank you for pointing that out, I will look it up on the internet this evening.

Once again, thanks for your help Sean it's much appreciated.

Hey mate welcome to Aus. Here most of our cars are 3+ litre 6's. Most Ford Falcons here run 4 litres and i drive a 5 litre V8 get used to it man its here to stay in Australia!

The VL commodore is a good little bus, the straight 6 is quite good on fuel when new sadly though most have been flogged to death by hoons since they are cheap to get. I would reccomend atleast a VN commodore mate, its got a V6 in it (basically when u look at a V6 u will see 3 pistons each side making a Vee shape. A straight 6 is all the pistons are in a row in a longer shape). Ive had 2 VL's and one VN and my bro has a VN. I reckon the VN wins outright i must say.

The VN is great on fuel, newer than the VL, bigger than the VL, much more power available with many parts easy to get hold of (since they used the V6 for years and years with interchangeable parts). I havent seen many rusted out VN's either and ive seen quite a few VL's like swiss cheese. Also a VN is quite cheap to pick up and u can find many on LPG to save on fuel if u dont mind losing an edge on performance.

See wat u can find mate and let us know with some pics,

Best of luck mate!

Paiste402

[ImAHoon!]

get a 2 litre, 4 cylinder, early 1990's Camry.

[soop]

I'm getting 450km's out a 75ltr tank.
This is from a 5.7ltr v8. It does do better than that, when I'm not silly.

Try and find a VL-t if you want some real go out of the old girl.

The RB30 is the a similar motor to whats in the Skylines. If that makes it anymore familair to you.

[Thorpsy]

Hey mate welcome to Aus. Here most of our cars are 3+ litre 6's. Most Ford Falcons here run 4 litres and i drive a 5 litre V8 get used to it man its here to stay in Australia!

The VL commodore is a good little bus, the straight 6 is quite good on fuel when new sadly though most have been flogged to death by hoons since they are cheap to get. I would reccomend atleast a VN commodore mate, its got a V6 in it (basically when u look at a V6 u will see 3 pistons each side making a Vee shape. A straight 6 is all the pistons are in a row in a longer shape). Ive had 2 VL's and one VN and my bro has a VN. I reckon the VN wins outright i must say.


Paiste402

Hi there fella,

Well the thing that got me thinking about this particular car is I know it's complete history from new. One of my friends here in Australia, well it used to belong to his Grandad before he took ownership. I dare say it's been very well looked after and cherished.

I'm told that 200km on a car of this kind really isn't much at all, so not so much concerned about that. However, the air conditioning pump flywheel has seized and that really is the thing that's putting me off.... being a pom anything over 25c is a killer and the thought of driving a giant glasshouse around in the Australian summer sun isn't appealing at all.

Has anyone else had problems with the air condition? I'm guessing that i'm looking at a massive and very costly job.

[soop]

Not really.
$25 for another pump from a wreakers.
$200 to regas it, which would probably need doing in any VL.

You're going to die this summer. 40c+ anyone?

If budget isn't an issue, Maybe look for something newer. It'll have less issues. That said the VL's are pretty reliable.

[VL Berlina 5speed]

pritty reliable car and simple to work on, being one of the first efi system in the commodore its pritty basic

for summer just keep a eye on the coolant system, if you change the coolant make sure you follow the directions exactly on bleeding the system

fuel usage depends on condition,
my manual berlina was pulling about 600km a tank, and a few occasions over 600
just make sure all sensors are functioning perfect, all the usal plugs lead etc are good and timing is fine,

ac just get a new pump or s/h for $20 most wreakers will give a month warrenty or what not, then regas the system,
prob solved


a good practice is to run the ac for a few minutes every week no matter temp, keeps all the seals and pump lubricated well
also never stop the engine with the ac on, turn it off a few minutes before you reach the destination and never start th car with it on

[Thorpsy]

Thank you guys, that's much cheaper than I thought for a replacement air conditioning pump. I think that might just seal the deal, and the fact that they are practically giving the car to me, so I really shouldn't complain if I have to spend a few dollars getting it just right.

I took one look at the engine and thought 'bugger me' it's a bus engine. Saying that looks pretty simple and straight forward to work on, unlike most modern cars.

[soop]

Engines are all the same..... Except french cars. They're weired and scarry.

It's a bus motor eh?


Thats almost twice the size :P.
You have a baby motor.

[Thorpsy]

Well back home I drive a Renaut Megane 1.5 DCi, I know what you mean about being very scary. You should see the repair costs at the dealership. One of the mad things about my Megane CC is the headlights, only the dealers can change the bulbs and it involves taking out wheel arch linings and bits of bumpers.... cost £200 ($430).

I have to say I'm very excited at having a big engine car, it's something that we don't have back in Europe.... something about the sound and the smooth take off... wonderful

[soop]

1.5 diesel!?
Jesus, why not walk?

Don't get ahead of yourself. 3liters is entry level in average cars. 6.2 liters is the biggest currently being produced.
With the 3.6ltr V6 being the smallest option in a new holden .

The RB30's go well in the Light VL though.

[VL Berlina 5speed]

you will so discover the vl (rb30 is the engines name) is a baby compaired to most commodores
3ltr seems big to you but 6ltr is the size of are v8s

the rb30 is a good motor, it was bought of nissan and used only in the vl.
it orignally came out of the r31 skyline, the skyline did not have a factory option of turbo on it were holden did

you will soon discover the vl is quite a cult car, there seems to be a big following of the turbo vls, they are caperable at making huge power and quick times with a little help of boost

one advatage of the the rb30 is it is a straight 6 (the engine is straight , all pistons in a row) it will idle at the light and you will hardly beable to tell the car is running, its that smooth

compaired to the later commodore motors v6, (pistons are in a V shape, 3 pistons each side) these are know to be rough and rattly, you can fell the engine bumping and shaking

[soop]

The RB30 is simply a better motor than the later Buick V6.
It was just to expensive for holden at the time.

Having said that, a set of extractors and a 2.5" exhaust system on it and you'll know its there...

[ImAHoon!]

Having said that, a set of extractors and a 2.5" exhaust system on it and you'll know its there...

or just pull the rear muffler off, and enjoy the exhaust fumes in the car haha

[Thorpsy]

1.5 Turbo Diesel which is still good for 193k, but delivering around 71mpg (3.3l / 100k). The problem in the UK is we pay around $2.83 a litre for unleaded petrol. There are also huge penalties on road tax the more co2 your car produces, for example I pay just $101 a year anything over a 1.6 petrol would cost you up to $850 a year!

[ImAHoon!]

1.5 Turbo Diesel which is still good for 193k, but delivering around 71mpg (3.3l / 100k).

cool, well, from a 3 litre petrol, expect 3 - 4 times the fuel consumption

[soop]

10ltr/100kmh is the norm out of them.

I really wonder why people bother with them considering what the old aussie 5ltr is good for.

[ImAHoon!]

I really wonder why people bother with them considering what the old aussie 5ltr is good for.

a boat anchor?

sorry, I'm a little confused by that statement

[VL Berlina 5speed]

1.5 Turbo Diesel which is still good for 193k, but delivering around 71mpg (3.3l / 100k). The problem in the UK is we pay around $2.83 a litre for unleaded petrol. There are also huge penalties on road tax the more co2 your car produces, for example I pay just $101 a year anything over a 1.6 petrol would cost you up to $850 a year!

plant more trees, prob solved ha they will bring tax down as trees will solve the pollution prob.... in theiry
last time i was over there i noted a lack of trees compaired to here, unlease it was just were i was at (yorkshire area)

[soop]

a boat anchor?

sorry, I'm a little confused by that statement

Haha.

I see lots of stooges around this area with NA 3ltr VL's.
With the usual 4.5" exhaust and fully sik steel rims.

It was a strange post now I read it :P.
Oh well, you'll live.

[Sabbath']

Don't get ahead of yourself. 3liters is entry level in average cars. 6.2 liters is the biggest currently being produced.


.

7.0 actually