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Attributes of the ZB that make it Special

07GTS

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Except that I paid less for my FPV BF2 Typhoon $60,700 in 2007 and FG F6 $65,000 in 2010 than a Holden V8 at the time so on a cost basis I am comparing apples with apples but getting a much faster car with Brembo brakes. In terms of whether the 5.0 supercharged FPV's were any good, here's the definitive dyno test and we see HSV GTS makes a maximum of just 306 rwkw's on Rob Herrod's mainline dyno, this from a car alleged to make 430 kw's at the crankshaft and costing over $120K new here. https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/fpv-beats-hsv-in-definitive-power-test
My stock standard FPV GT-P (cost $91K new) with a somewhat dirty stock air filter made 297 rwkw's on CTB's mainline dyno https://www.ctb.co.nz/ and 312.9 rwkw's, (nearly 7 rwkw's more than a GTS) by simply fitting a new K&N air filter. (I can email you the dyno charts if you like, send me your email by PM) My GT-P was very, very fast. I met up with Rob Herrod for a few beers when he was over here. Nice guy. ZB is a good car but 0-100 is 6.1 seconds is only "okay"
If I make it through this Covid 19 thing okay, first order of business is to get another really fast car, (keep the Calais V as a daily driver)
u dont know how dynos work do u ? this is the worst dyno comparison as they use the IAT sensor in the engine for the dyno calibration SO the LSA has cooler IAT so makes more power but gets corrected lower, the FPV dosnt have an intercooler so it has much higher IAT so it gets corrected higher reading (opposite happens in the real world), so in reality the LSA is much higher rwkw they just had to put the IAT sensor at the front on the vehicle with the fan air going over it to get a consistent air temp for the dyno calculation for both vehicles, ooh and they do more runs just so they use the over boost feature in the FPV
 

Immortality

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Except that I paid less for my FPV BF2 Typhoon $60,700 in 2007 and FG F6 $65,000 in 2010 than a Holden V8 at the time so on a cost basis I am comparing apples with apples but getting a much faster car with Brembo brakes. In terms of whether the 5.0 supercharged FPV's were any good, here's the definitive dyno test and we see HSV GTS makes a maximum of just 306 rwkw's on Rob Herrod's mainline dyno, this from a car alleged to make 430 kw's at the crankshaft and costing over $120K new here. https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/fpv-beats-hsv-in-definitive-power-test
My stock standard FPV GT-P (cost $91K new) with a somewhat dirty stock air filter made 297 rwkw's on CTB's mainline dyno https://www.ctb.co.nz/ and 312.9 rwkw's, (nearly 7 rwkw's more than a GTS) by simply fitting a new K&N air filter. (I can email you the dyno charts if you like, send me your email by PM) My GT-P was very, very fast. I met up with Rob Herrod for a few beers when he was over here. Nice guy.

You can't compare vehicle prices from here to aussie as we get ripped off. I don't disagree that HSV's come at a great premium, especially here in NZ. I don't disagree that the last of the FPV cars built were some of the best ever by Ford/FPV. And as for the dyno results it's not uncommon to see huge variation between dyno's even the same brand and especially between here in NZ and in Aussie due to the very different weather conditions even though they use correction factors.

A few years back I was at the Father's day drags where some of the latest HSV's were out with the LSA blown motors. Those things were fast but not that fast because they kept blowing the tyres off so ET's weren't great but MPH wasn't bad.
 

Badgerdog

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u dont know how dynos work do u ? this is the worst dyno comparison as they use the IAT sensor in the engine for the dyno calibration SO the LSA has cooler IAT so makes more power but gets corrected lower, the FPV dosnt have an intercooler so it has much higher IAT so it gets corrected higher reading (opposite happens in the real world), so in reality the LSA is much higher rwkw they just had to put the IAT sensor at the front on the vehicle with the fan air going over it to get a consistent air temp for the dyno calculation for both vehicles, ooh and they do more runs just so they use the over boost feature in the FPV


No use crying foul now. They had their best technical representatives from both HSV and FPV there.
 

Badgerdog

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You can't compare vehicle prices from here to aussie as we get ripped off. I don't disagree that HSV's come at a great premium, especially here in NZ. I don't disagree that the last of the FPV cars built were some of the best ever by Ford/FPV. And as for the dyno results it's not uncommon to see huge variation between dyno's even the same brand and especially between here in NZ and in Aussie due to the very different weather conditions even though they use correction factors.

A few years back I was at the Father's day drags where some of the latest HSV's were out with the LSA blown motors. Those things were fast but not that fast because they kept blowing the tyres off so ET's weren't great but MPH wasn't bad.

Makes me wonder if Giltrap didn't have his hand in the markup chain as the distributor ? Opps sorry SIR Colin Giltrap. I guess if you price gouge enough people they give you a knighthood :)
 

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**** knows but when you compare prices between aussie and nz allowing for the exchange rate there is still a huge discrepancy.
 

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u dont know how dynos work do u ? this is the worst dyno comparison as they use the IAT sensor in the engine for the dyno calibration SO the LSA has cooler IAT so makes more power but gets corrected lower, the FPV dosnt have an intercooler so it has much higher IAT so it gets corrected higher reading (opposite happens in the real world), so in reality the LSA is much higher rwkw they just had to put the IAT sensor at the front on the vehicle with the fan air going over it to get a consistent air temp for the dyno calculation for both vehicles, ooh and they do more runs just so they use the over boost feature in the FPV
That doesn't make sense. The dyno should use ambient air temp where the car is dyno'd for correction, not what is happening inside the motor. This is how all dyno's work and are calibrated. Something dodgy going on there...
 

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Overboost is like oversteer, a lot of fun...anyway we should all be buying different cars with Carona Virus
 

Tezza's ZB

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Who knows what the future holds but I can tell you it doesn't involve a Camry or a Mazda 6. I drove both before deciding on my Calais V and they're not in the same league, not even remotely close.
totally agree
 

Tezza's ZB

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I didn’t have to look far...currently the very next thread below this one...Matt’s ZB wagon review eg post#158 where RedlineJimmy has more concerns than just the rattles in the dash.

The rattling dash was quite widely covered in the media following the ZB release with Holden saying they traced it back to German production and were working with Opel on a fix...not sure if they did fix it or not as admittedly more recent examples possibly relate to old, slow selling stock.
 

Tezza's ZB

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Who knows what the future holds but I can tell you it doesn't involve a Camry or a Mazda 6. I drove both before deciding on my Calais V and they're not in the same league, not even remotely close.
totally agree
The way the ZB is so often talked about on here that its not a real commodore makes me wonder what it is that the sceptics simply aren't getting ?

So after owning one for a bit more than a year here are some of the nuances that I think the masses of people who think "If its not made in Australia its not a real Commordore" don't understand.

So here's quick tour of the ten things I think the die hard Aussie blokes don't get about the new ZB.

1. The engines are stronger than the numbers suggest. Although the peak torque number is not huge, the amount of torque delivered at low r.p.m. is significantly enhanced by the engines being both port and direct fuel injected. Port direct injection really enhances very low down r.p.m. and makes the engine perfectly happy to toddle around at as little as 1200 r.p.m.
The engine gearbox combination means the ZB is never found wanting in any given situation. Simply apply the amount of throttle you want for the intended purpose and it goes about its business with so little fuss it makes a hot knife going through warm butter feel like hard work.

2. The gearbox is a world class bit of kit. The first 6 gears are very closely spaced, (I can toddle around town in 7th gear at 55 k.p.h. and about 1200 revs quite happily) which really enhances the ability to get the most out of the engine. Gearbox changes are super smooth and very quick and its in a completely different and vastly better league that any gearbox equipped on any Commodore before it.

3. Upper end models have 95%+ of the technology in a high end European car that sells for 3 or 4 times the price. They want for nothing.

4. The AWD system is a honey. Its on demand so most of the time you have the efficiency of a 2WD car but when there's slippage of any kind the haldex system kicks in and you're in 4WD.

5. Torque vectoring really works and makes the ZB a real back road weapon with superb handling. There's a real difference between normal mode and sport mode in terms of how quickly the torque vectoring kicks in

6. The 190Kg's weight advantage of the 2.0 liter powered version, just over (1500 kg's) makes them far lighter on their feet and more nimble handling than any commodore before them. The 2.0 liter version really is a great drive and needs to be experienced to understand how especially good it is.

7. The 2.0 engine is a fuel efficient car with genuine performance credentials. There's not much in it in outright performance between the 3.6 V6 and the 2.0 turbo and many independent reviewers have stated they prefer the 2.0 engine which in my experience is so smooth its like a turbine.

8. Its German assembled with typical German assembly quality significantly tighter and better assembled than any Australian assembled car I have owned.

9. The shape. I really like it and it grows on you. Its incredibly fuel efficient too with a coefficient of aerodynamic drag of just 0.26, so its very slippery through the air.

10. Its the last Commodore. A lot of people, (myself included) are not into driving old cars and can't be bothered with any of the deep cycle maintenance involved with that. If you're not going to upgrade to a ZB but want to upgrade to a newer car, none of the alternatives are any better in this price range, most are not even close.
I found out that the v
The way the ZB is so often talked about on here that its not a real commodore makes me wonder what it is that the sceptics simply aren't getting ?

So after owning one for a bit more than a year here are some of the nuances that I think the masses of people who think "If its not made in Australia its not a real Commordore" don't understand.

So here's quick tour of the ten things I think the die hard Aussie blokes don't get about the new ZB.

1. The engines are stronger than the numbers suggest. Although the peak torque number is not huge, the amount of torque delivered at low r.p.m. is significantly enhanced by the engines being both port and direct fuel injected. Port direct injection really enhances very low down r.p.m. and makes the engine perfectly happy to toddle around at as little as 1200 r.p.m.
The engine gearbox combination means the ZB is never found wanting in any given situation. Simply apply the amount of throttle you want for the intended purpose and it goes about its business with so little fuss it makes a hot knife going through warm butter feel like hard work.

2. The gearbox is a world class bit of kit. The first 6 gears are very closely spaced, (I can toddle around town in 7th gear at 55 k.p.h. and about 1200 revs quite happily) which really enhances the ability to get the most out of the engine. Gearbox changes are super smooth and very quick and its in a completely different and vastly better league that any gearbox equipped on any Commodore before it.

3. Upper end models have 95%+ of the technology in a high end European car that sells for 3 or 4 times the price. They want for nothing.

4. The AWD system is a honey. Its on demand so most of the time you have the efficiency of a 2WD car but when there's slippage of any kind the haldex system kicks in and you're in 4WD.

5. Torque vectoring really works and makes the ZB a real back road weapon with superb handling. There's a real difference between normal mode and sport mode in terms of how quickly the torque vectoring kicks in

6. The 190Kg's weight advantage of the 2.0 liter powered version, just over (1500 kg's) makes them far lighter on their feet and more nimble handling than any commodore before them. The 2.0 liter version really is a great drive and needs to be experienced to understand how especially good it is.

7. The 2.0 engine is a fuel efficient car with genuine performance credentials. There's not much in it in outright performance between the 3.6 V6 and the 2.0 turbo and many independent reviewers have stated they prefer the 2.0 engine which in my experience is so smooth its like a turbine.

8. Its German assembled with typical German assembly quality significantly tighter and better assembled than any Australian assembled car I have owned.

9. The shape. I really like it and it grows on you. Its incredibly fuel efficient too with a coefficient of aerodynamic drag of just 0.26, so its very slippery through the air.

10. Its the last Commodore. A lot of people, (myself included) are not into driving old cars and can't be bothered with any of the deep cycle maintenance involved with that. If you're not going to upgrade to a ZB but want to upgrade to a newer car, none of the alternatives are any better in this price range, most are not even close.
Indeed indeed ... all so true as everyone knows how much I raved about my ZB LT 4 petrol turbo which I have had for 12 months.. It truly is a goldilocks car ... I have never driven any other car that has been an absolute joy to drive every single time I get in and drive off as my ZB sedan 4 cyl 2 Litre petrol is... all for a mere $27880 drive away demo with 5000 klms on it... but looking a day old when I picked her up.
 
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