Is it worth upgrading VF2 SS to 375 or 400 kw?

[Rikes]

Drivability, drivability, driveability..........
That's what it's all about. A cam is a cheap way to get a larger dyno figure....but choose the wrong one, and you loose that smooth acceleration and driveability.
Cammed cars can be a nightmare in heavy traffic unless you enjoy that type of stuff.
This is the main reason HSV don't throw cams in their cars.
A supercharger retains a cars driveability, the acceleration is instant and smooth and power at your finger tips. However, the cost is a lot higher.

 

[panhead]

Cammed cars can be a nightmare in heavy traffic unless you enjoy that type of stuff.
This is the main reason HSV don't throw cams in their cars.

Not being able to comply with emissions outputs is an even bigger reason.

Our emissions laws are very relaxed compared to most of the western world and these stricter emissions requirements is the reason is why forced induction is now the go to solution for most overseas manufacturers who are producing performance vehicles.

As far as driveability goes, in the aftermarket world a good tuner can control a cam a lot better these days due to the electronic aids that are available to them unlike the old school fire breathing beasts of yesteryear that were always pigs in traffic.


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[monstar]

Not being able to comply with emissions outputs is an even bigger reason.

Our emissions laws are very relaxed compared to most of the western world and these stricter emissions requirements is the reason is why forced induction is now the go to solution for most overseas manufacturers who are producing performance vehicles.

As far as driveability goes, in the aftermarket world a good tuner can control a cam a lot better these days due to the electronic aids that are available to them unlike the old school fire breathing beasts of yesteryear that were always pigs in traffic.

+1 Spot on re emissions (from petroleum fuel) used in small smoggy NA engines in the EU has driven change.
Coz V8 needs more overlap, more overcamming, more overrated branded bolt-ons, and voilá you are more a sucker to be more stickered. But nowadays it's perfectly feasible to pass over the pits with a NA cam that idles at 550 RPM in city traffic tickling the thermostat, gets low fuel consumption, and still reign holy vengeance upon all within earshot with a mere tap of the right foot.
Having said that I doubt any of the ridiculously expensive performance enhancing packages above meet the November 2016 emissions requirements which saw the end of HSV's SV340 tune as a legal offering, hence the last of legal NA V8 performance tunes via mass retail in Australia.
Would you like fries... sorry, peace-of-mind-for-the-risk-averse with that? Forget these shrink-wrapped non-compliant sterile performance packs, do the research else organise an expert to match Cam, CAI, Calibration and Cat and headers to suit you.
Golden Warranty Ask your insurance broker for a quote to insure against mechanical failure with a liability cap of say $30k... (of course don't mention your budget is about four times the premium you would normally pay for business public liability, house and contents, car fire and theft, etc. combined). Tell him you want to pay for three years cover and all premiums upfront. You'd might be surprised most will take a bet on anything, send you a jargon-ridden quasi-legal disclaimer to sign that surreptitiously hides several "out" clauses, else refer you to a dodgy mate who "specialises" in this sort of bet. Still a way cheaper than buying your performance enhancers Amway-style.

 

[Paulie81]

It's supercharged and cammed. Not the easiest car to drive

who did you use to add the Magnusson and tune?

 

[PeteSS]

We bought the car with the magunson already on. I believe the yard used a mob in Thornleigh

if i were to do the mods myself, i would've left the stock cam, as the cam that's in it now has made it a bit of a dog to drive in traffic

 

[Zeke Topanaga]

375 real kW is more than just a tune, that's camshaft & intake & exhaust as well.
400kW is into supercharger territory (ref. quoted Clubsport R8 LSA power ... which would be ~390kW if measured the Holden way).

Of course there's nothing stopping a "tuner" from selling a "375 kit" which really has 320kW (at the flywheel & hence about 250 at the wheels), because you'll assume the number refers to power & those assumptions are allowed to percolate without a lot of correction.
So don't focus on just the number, it's just marketing & the seller often doesn't really know what it'd put out if you measured it properly on an engine-dyno; focus on what it's like to drive, as well as history of not blowing engines up I guess. Certainly, Bob's Tuning with their 350 kit could easily go harder than Ted Performance and their 380 kit.

Any reputable seller/installer of kits & tuning-services must have an example you can test-drive, surely?

A mate has a new VF SSV ute with the so called Walknshaw 375KW up grade from Holden right from new as he got it from the dealer, he took me for a run up to 230KM/H and I don't think it had 375KW at all and I said what fuel are you using, because I know it's not Shell or BP because it running like mine does on Caltex, crappy sort of slight miss firing, and he said it was Caltex and I said take me fro a run when you put BP or Shell in it, as it will perform much better and he said it's not run in ! that's BS these engines are run in by 3000 to 5000KM and you don't loose that much power because they are not run in, and he is like I will get another 50 HPRW out of it when run in, BS ! I say.
I have run in a lot of new cars and the last engine that was tight was a ecotec V6 that only totally freed up at say 30.000KM and that's just to do with the piston design as to why.

Forg you are saying that the power that 375KW Walknshaw is rating at is in SAE Gross figures ? and that the fact is it's truly 320KW in ECE Figures that Holden rates it's engines.

Old mate has the up grade cop type front brakes with the single piston calliper, and he went right off saying that it's 2 piston job, ok if you say so I said.
Old mate has had the dealer put Pedders coil overs on it as well, I would not do that I will just go for Bilstein all round.
Old mate has the bigger wheels and tyres fitted as well and we had to roll the rear guards as much as we could but it still rubs a bit and that's with nothing in the back of it.
Old mate has turned into a real big sissy with it as well Idolising it, wont drive it on dirt roads for fear of the paint job, f ing hell ! that bastard has sand blasted many of my new cars when I was in hot pursuit. if one comes the fairy with your car, all you get is troubles and end up tearing your hear out and some bastard will most likely smash into it.

 

[NewbC4KE]

May I ask why you would continue to fill up your vehicles with Caltex if you know it runs "crappy"? Is Caltex the only fuel source available where you live? if so, would it be possible to tune your vehicle to run better on that quality of fuel?

Personally, I would not get hung about RWHP / BHP / Crank HP / FLYWHEEL HP

Just drive the ***t and enjoy a V8.

 

[ls3 304]

A mate has a new VF SSV ute with the so called Walknshaw 375KW up grade from Holden right from new as he got it from the dealer, he took me for a run up to 230KM/H and I don't think it had 375KW at all and I said what fuel are you using, because I know it's not Shell or BP because it running like mine does on Caltex, crappy sort of slight miss firing, and he said it was Caltex and I said take me fro a run when you put BP or Shell in it, as it will perform much better and he said it's not run in ! that's BS these engines are run in by 3000 to 5000KM and you don't loose that much power because they are not run in, and he is like I will get another 50 HPRW out of it when run in, BS ! I say.
I have run in a lot of new cars and the last engine that was tight was a ecotec V6 that only totally freed up at say 30.000KM and that's just to do with the piston design as to why.

Forg you are saying that the power that 375KW Walknshaw is rating at is in SAE Gross figures ? and that the fact is it's truly 320KW in ECE Figures that Holden rates it's engines.

Old mate has the up grade cop type front brakes with the single piston calliper, and he went right off saying that it's 2 piston job, ok if you say so I said.
Old mate has had the dealer put Pedders coil overs on it as well, I would not do that I will just go for Bilstein all round.
Old mate has the bigger wheels and tyres fitted as well and we had to roll the rear guards as much as we could but it still rubs a bit and that's with nothing in the back of it.
Old mate has turned into a real big sissy with it as well Idolising it, wont drive it on dirt roads for fear of the paint job, f ing hell ! that bastard has sand blasted many of my new cars when I was in hot pursuit. if one comes the fairy with your car, all you get is troubles and end up tearing your hear out and some bastard will most likely smash into it.

The time i spent reading thid, is time ill never get back. Especially that lat Paragraph. Fuxken Hell

 

[Zeke Topanaga]

May I ask why you would continue to fill up your vehicles with Caltex if you know it runs "crappy"? Is Caltex the only fuel source available where you live? if so, would it be possible to tune your vehicle to run better on that quality of fuel?

Personally, I would not get hung about RWHP / BHP / Crank HP / FLYWHEEL HP

Just drive the ***t and enjoy a V8.

I drive around 50.000KM a year and I own a Commodore VS V6 when they came out and also had a Falcon XG Longreach ute, the Ford loved the Caltex fuel but the Holden did not, now from one town to another that I travel a lot I could get the V6 Commodore out to 218KM/H but on Caltex it would only do 205KM/H and that's when I first took attention to it, but I had not worked it out that it was the fuel, until I conducted more test, because I once thought that 91 fuel was just the same as any other 91 fuel or 95 or 98 for that matter, but it's not one dude here claimed it's the same fuel that's getting shipped here and I agree with that but they do add there own what ever into that fuel and I know a dude that works at the refinery that says that is the case.
Now my wife had a auto VS V6 as well back then and she used Caltex and it would ping from 5000rpm to 55000rpm on hot days and when overtaking on the highway it would always ping for a bit when I flattened it, but I would put Shell or BP 91 in it then never did ping.

I would use the Caltex myself if I thought it was just as good because I can get it discount, but every time I use Caltex of any of there 7 11 Woolworths I can feel it lacks performance on just plodding around and I can hear it's not right.
Caltex E 10 is good and I will buy that any day over it's unleaded.

How can one enjoy a V8 when you know it's not running well, I have given a mate with his VZ SS many a runs out to even 240KM/H in my old VY SS and hosed him off every time but for one when he blew mine away and I was using Caltex that day.
I am not against Caltex in any way, as I will buy anything other that they sell.

When someone knows what they are talking about, they will know the difference between SAE Gross power and SAE Net power and will truly know the difference of what DIN power is and also what ECE is as well, so when some sod comes the raw prawn spinning you with the bigger numbers you will be informed.
So then you know that some fool claiming 375KW could be classed as 320KW but a piss ant will always use the bigger numbers to try to impress idiots.

 

[PeteSS]

I don't think the 375kw claim is far off the mark. Some other mobs who perform similar modifications claim closer to 400kw. If you go by the scenario of an auto VF losing somewhere between 70 and 80kw from the flywheel to the wheels, and the fact I've seen various dyno figures for W375 packs around the 290 to 300rwkw mark, the 375 flywheel kw claims are about right,.