Stupid Stupid Question

[Demons1964]

The 304 is actually a 4.9L introduced around the time of the VN so that the commodore still complied with the V8 supercars (can't remember what it was called then) rules. It is commonly refered to as a 5L

I believe the word you're looking for is "homologation" and was to do with the International Group A Touring Class. The reason for the capacity change was to drop the car down to a different weight/engine displacement class so the old 308ci (5044cc) was destroked by 1mm down to 304ci (4987cc) to take it below 5 litres.

 

[tropical^fish]

The VN/VP V6 is around 229cu in (3.8 Litres)
i read that from the GM web site some time ago

 

[Mark]

the vn-vp-vr is actually 231. the 304 is 4.9...... its closer to 5 litres the 4.9 thus why we call it a 5 litre.. 5.7 gen 3 is a 346. not sure about the ls2.. carbie engines... 253 4.2 litres 308 is a 5 litre and the 350 is around 5.7 hope that helps a bit!

 

[aa23]

Wasn't the 304 the 1st holden v8 that was designed to run on unleaded fuel? Sure I read something like that years ago.

And to the thread starter. If it was a stupid question, it sure did generate a lot of good posts.
Just keep on being stupid.

 

[habro]

can do aa23!
those answers were great, pretty much get it now.

 

[perkins]

The 304 first came out for the VK Group A in '85 but it ran on leaded fuel. The 304 in the VL was the first to run on unleaded.

 

[VS Omega]

That's also why the VL had a Nissan RB30/RB20 engine, the V6 wasn't ready yet and the laws introduced that year made the 202ci illegal (to do with emisions I think) so Holden had to find an engine and having done deals with Nissan in the past again went to them

 

[perkins]

The 202 could've been reworked for unleaded but Holden rightfuly decided it wasn't viable. The Nissan deal was done in the early 80's once the government ruled that unleaded would be introduced into Austalian built cars as of 01/01/86. It's also why the 304 was delayed in being released when the VL came out.

 

[FPVT6]

The reason the Rb30 was dropped after VL was that is was becoming to expensive to import the nissan engines in so they sourced the GM v6 from the states to fit into the VN.
Should have left the motor back in the states were it belonged.

 

[perkins]

Actaully when the VN was in planning stages they allowed for the possibility of using either the RB30 or the 3.8 Buick V6 right up to a few months before the first cars were due to roll off the line!!! They were right in using the V6. Sure the intial batch might have been harsh and rough but if you look at how well the engineers have developed it in regards to power and economy they made a good choice. What else were they going to use? Take some time to read Barry Lake's 25 year history of the Commodore and you will see what they were up against in trying to find a replacement for the old 202. And if VN vs EA sales figures are anything to go by, the definitely got it right.

An interesting side note to all this is the fact that early on they tried fitting an alloy head that Honda made for Fords 4 litre 6 cylinder onto a 202 block.