So I'm abandoning the Commodore family...

[Immortality]

Ive sat in a new Mustang and Camaro and being a 6'5" guy, youd want a targa top/convertible if you wanted any sort of comfort.

It's definitely one of the down sides of been 6'6" and ~115kg and I quiet like the looks of the Camaro's

 

[Brettly-2008]

Best aircon I've ever experienced in a car was September last year when I drove a 1994 Volkswagen Golf MkIII hatch from Toowoomba to Melbourne. A 21 year old car with 230,000+ km on the clock had the iciest aircon of anything I've been in, except for maybe the fridge at Dan Murphy's on a hot summer day when I'm topping up our drinks fridge.

As for headlights, I think you must be blind! As someone that has owned two VTs, a VX, three VEs and two VE IIs, I can safely say factory headlights are ****! One of the first things I always did was upgrade to some decent Phillips globes. Then they were fine, especially the projectors. But they ALL pale into insignificance on low and high beam when it comes to HID (not HED) lights. Factory spec Euro and even American HID lights out-shine even the best halogen and HID after market driving lights - a bloke from ARB told me when I was ording a bullbar and driving light combo to not bother with anything other than LED once he knew the HIDs I had.

Granted, all the issues you've mentioned about Euro and Asian imports not being up to scratch for the Australian climate and conditions were absolutely true in the 80s, 90s and even into the 2000's. But over the past 5 years, anything from Europe or Asia is FAR superior to anything made in Australia. Kia is the best example that comes to mind. Brilliant cars - and to come such a long way in a short period of time too. 7 year, unlimited km warranty ffs! Guess who was at the top of most warranty issues (and serious warranty issues at that) recently, yup - HOLDEN!

Don't get me wrong. Holdens have been good for decades. But the fact is their product just can't cut it in the industry today. The industry standard moved too fast and the Australian manufacturers simply didn't keep up.



Good statement, and I agree. But you need to not think of it in terms of "replacements" and start to think of it in terms of "alternatives". I seriously doubt that imported alternatives will have any issues with out conditions. There is significant investment in testing and development in Australia from a lot of foreign manufacturers these days.

Yep, the the fledgling car industries from around the world are progressing scarily well but I think saying anything from Europe or Asia is FAR superior to anything made in Australia is a pretty long bow to draw. For the price, the VF is damn nice proposition, even on a world stage. A VF Calais-V would be close to 80% a 5-series for 50% the money. In VF at least (which is way better than VE) it's admirably difficult to find where economies have been struck to keep it affordable. I'd buy one if I wasn't a lowly-paid journalist

 

[SpaceYam]

So just to derail my slightly derailed topic, here is a picture of the shiny new (old) beast:

 

[VS 5.0]

Looks like your bike is in the naughty corner, peering out wanting to come out to play.

 

[Calaber]

As for headlights, I think you must be blind! As someone that has owned two VTs, a VX, three VEs and two VE IIs, I can safely say factory headlights are ****! One of the first things I always did was upgrade to some decent Phillips globes. Then they were fine, especially the projectors. But they ALL pale into insignificance on low and high beam when it comes to HID (not HED) lights. Factory spec Euro and even American HID lights out-shine even the best halogen and HID after market driving lights - a bloke from ARB told me when I was ording a bullbar and driving light combo to not bother with anything other than LED once he knew the HIDs I had.

Granted, all the issues you've mentioned about Euro and Asian imports not being up to scratch for the Australian climate and conditions were absolutely true in the 80s, 90s and even into the 2000's. But over the past 5 years, anything from Europe or Asia is FAR superior to anything made in Australia. Kia is the best example that comes to mind. Brilliant cars - and to come such a long way in a short period of time too. 7 year, unlimited km warranty ffs! Guess who was at the top of most warranty issues (and serious warranty issues at that) recently, yup - HOLDEN!

Don't get me wrong. Holdens have been good for decades. But the fact is their product just can't cut it in the industry today. The industry standard moved too fast and the Australian manufacturers simply didn't keep up.



Good statement, and I agree. But you need to not think of it in terms of "replacements" and start to think of it in terms of "alternatives". I seriously doubt that imported alternatives will have any issues with out conditions. There is significant investment in testing and development in Australia from a lot of foreign manufacturers these days.

Raj

You need to give people credit and room to hold their own opinions. Just because their opinions AND EXPERIENCE don't match your own doesn't make them wrong, so lighten up a bit.

Blind because my VY had truly brilliant lights? Fair go. I can clearly recall driving along the M1 about five years ago late at night on high beam. The motorway was brilliantly illuminated for hundreds of yards ahead. A truck about half a k ahead of me kept putting on his four way flashers, then turning them off, then on again. WTF? Then it occurred to me. My high beam was too bright in his mirrors, even at that distance and he was trying to alert me to drop the high beams. As soon as I did, the four-ways stopped. No mate, those projector lights were superb - easily the best I have ever had (and yes, they were properly adjusted). The brand new Golf Mk 5 that preceeded the VY had absolutely shithouse high beams and the Captiva that followed it was equally poor. And the HED was simply a typo - I know it should have been HID and didn't I say that it took HID's to outperform standard Australian headlights? But not all Euro's have them and those that don't are in the also-ran category IMO (like that Mk5 Golf).

As for Kia - the brand I would have gladly if the Sportage had not had such a low front passenger seating position allied with a very high belt-line, and the Sorento was closer to my affordability. We tested the last model Sportage and the passenger seat was so low my wife complained that she would not have the car under any circumstances. No probs for me but I'm 6'4". In every other respect, Kia are clearly a major player now and it's easy to understand why. (But I haven't tested their lights at night so can't comment there.)

OP - Apologies for digressing so much. Nice unit. (and it's a Mitsi!)

 

[SpaceYam]

All good! Yes, I was totally surprised that I ended up with it... Two weeks ago it hadn't even crossed my mind to check out any Mitsubishis, then a friend mentioned the quality of the 4x4 system in the Pajero, so I did some reading, and the Challenger ended up ticking all the boxes for me. My biggest hurdle was getting something big enough to throw a big drumkit in, and the Challenger is pretty well on par with the station wagon for boot size - just a little narrower, but apart from that it's roughly the same, with slightly more vertical room. So without my ridiculous sub box in the way, I'm pretty sure I have more room now than before anyway

With regards to headlights, I can also agree that the VX's standard headlights were fantastic when I first had them, up until about 2 years ago when I had to replace them due to the UV deterioration of the lenses.

 

[Sabbath']

Ive sat in a new Mustang and Camaro and being a 6'5" guy, youd want a targa top/convertible if you wanted any sort of comfort.

I have that photo of you in the Camaro at Ari's, somewhere.....should i post it?

 

[VS 5.0]

I have that photo of you in the Camaro at Ari's, somewhere.....should i post it?

Ummm...YES

 

[Garth]

hahahahaha, whats funny is that raj has reported this post for someone disagreeing with his comments. oh how i have missed dear old csp.

Nothing wrong with having a Mitsubishi. after i sold my ute i kinda fluttered around between cars.
1st car was a tj jeep 2 door wrangler, it was a good car, very capable 4x4 and that was about it. would get lousy fuel economy from it, and when things broke it became quite a challenge to find parts for the car. was no good as a family car, and was no good at towing. so i sold it.

2nd car was a Nissan patrol gu 3.0lt turbo diesel. it was also a very capable car, unfortunately it wasn't optioned at purchase with a turning circle, that is probably the only issue with the car. it was passed on as the motor went bang, and i refused to spend 14k on replacing the motor.

3rd car was a Mitsubishi pajero. it was old, it was a dog, and it kept going and going and going. it was the most reliable car that i have had in a long time. no mater what i did to it, she kept chugging along. i found the mitsi to be the cheapest to service and the easiest to get parts for. while it was no where as big as the patrol it still did the job.
the mitsubishi was the best out of the 3 above. i know you got a challenger but i have seen them in action and they do hold their own. depends on what you want to do with it of course, if you feel the need to tow a camper trailer full of bricks chances are the challenger might have some fuel economy issues. i guess it's the old "its a Mitsubishi so why would you" attitude that kicks in some times. once past that they are very good and capable 4x4's

onto the 4th car now, a 100 series land cruiser, so far so good, no complaints, but it's only been a week, so give it some time.

 

[Ian Johnston]

Mitsubishi cars and 4x4s are, and have been for a long time, very underrated vehicles. Yes they have their problems(what doesnt)
You should enjoy it a lot.