The Best Car in the World (2015)

[commodore665]

Aren't a lot of commodore bits made in Mexico ?

also China , gun to my head is take a Chinese made Mercedes over a Australian build Holden

 

[aussieakito]

The best car in the world is the Tata Nano.

They named a car after me?

 

[monkey]

With that top three this mustve been a close fourth. .

Hey PIR4TE ever consider a job at the BBC? Funny hearing people slag the commodore considering whats in their driveway, hence why most of us are in here, but have you ever owned a merc? The upper spec models look like fun but most of us will never come close to being able to afford one, you never know you may think the commo was better value for money. For the price we may as well all be driving great walls soon. I cant picture one at Grens place though, maybe something more like this ?. .

Everybodys different and we want different things out of our lives and cars. Gotta do the best ya can with what ya got. That cactus though, id rather watch a birth than look at that thing, i think i pulled the same face but.

Hava good day yall

 

[Hertz Donut]

Given the direction of this thread I guess I'll take the opportunity to expand my position.

I have no problem buying a vehicle made in China IF the brand has sufficient oversight of quality control and manufacture AND the workers are employed under conditions that are not dissimilar to those under which workers in the brand's home country enjoy. Basically, if the workers in China are treated and compensated in a manner equivalent to workers in the German factory and the product being produced is as near to identical as practical then it's all good by me. The German factory will be staffed by people of all nations anyway, so the nationality of the worker means nothing to me.

What I do have an issue with is the same product being churned out and sold at the same real price (i.e. retail price increasing roughly in line with inflation) yet the workers being paid less to work in lesser conditions. Maybe Marc is paying the Chinese workers a handsome amount and strictly enforcing a 40-hour working week, allowing 4 weeks' paid leave each year, supplying company perks like health insurance and superannuation, but I have yet to be convinced of this.

I haven't been following the prices of Mercs over the past decade but are they actually getting any cheaper in realt terms since they started assembly in China, India and Thailand? You'd expect them to as the average cost of production drops, but I suspect the marginal cost of maintaining production in Germany keeps the price up, meaning either Merc pays the Chinese/Indian/Thai workers well above local market rate, or Merc are just skimming the extra profit for themselves. Like I say, I haven't been watching that closely so meh.

 

[Skydrol]

Part of the Boeing 787 is build in Malaysia.

If I am not mistaken the GM engines are build in Mexico, the Transmissions in the USA and the rest God's know; except the body, for now.

 

[PIR4TE]

Hey PIR4TE ever consider a job at the BBC? Funny hearing people slag the commodore considering whats in their driveway, hence why most of us are in here, but have you ever owned a merc? The upper spec models look like fun but most of us will never come close to being able to afford one, you never know you may think the commo was better value for money. For the price we may as well all be driving great walls soon.

Yes mate I have owned a 220SE finny and a 1969 300SEL with the air suspension. Maybe you missed my point, not hating on mercs.
Overrated in terms of performance nowadays, at least the naturally aspirated V8s. Our engine shits on AMG V8, and BMW (had two of those as well) for that matter in so many ways yet uneducated wankers (same bunch who think Australia was colonised by the English) crap on about small bore stuff that suits little Euro cars like four valves and twin cams being superior hence Euro engines are better than American / Australian. Utter horse crap.
Spend less than $9k on an affordable GenIV engine in a VE or VF and you have one of the top performing naturally aspirated road car engines in the world, ever.

 

[AirStrike]

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Surprised it's taken this long for you to crown the VE the single greatest piece of automotive engineering in the last 100 years.

 

[PIR4TE]

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Surprised it's taken this long for you to crown the VE the single greatest piece of automotive engineering in the last 100 years.

Nah, a few tweaks and yeah it's up there :yarr:

 

[Grennan]

With that top three this mustve been a close fourth. .


Hey PIR4TE ever consider a job at the BBC? Funny hearing people slag the commodore considering whats in their driveway, hence why most of us are in here, but have you ever owned a merc? The upper spec models look like fun but most of us will never come close to being able to afford one, you never know you may think the commo was better value for money. For the price we may as well all be driving great walls soon. I cant picture one at Grens place though, maybe something more like this ?. .

Hava good day yall 

Dont get me wrong. I love my SSV, but I can be honest about it. I looked at a few other cars before I brought this and was almost 100% certain to get into an XR6T. I also looked at a 300C or two but value for money the SSV was a good deal, I got a wagon for well below market value, I jumped in and loved it. I dont even particularly like Euros. Not many of them attract me. I guess im a redneck bogan at heart. My dream car is a Firebird (would also give a left nut for a CTSV Wagon) for crying out loud.

However, there are some serious quality concerns and design questions that need to be asked around not only the Commodore, but Australian and American built/designed cars. There are MUCH better cars out there and sure, a 120k Merc (much cheaper overseas), youd surely expect that. Im sure the paint matching on the Mercs is a **** load better. Im sure they dont come factory with different colored bumper bars like the VE/F and FG's. Im sure their doors and tailgates dont rattle when you run over a stone on the road. Im positive they dont chew out ball joints or diff bushes every oil change.

Then look at the power output. The LSX is a fantastic engine, its turning into the true cult classic motor. Its a dinosaur though. Its a large, inefficient, dinosaur. For a 6+ litre engine the power output is fairly low when you can get a 2.0L Turbo Focus with the same output as the Auto SS's next year. We as well as the Americans, love muscle and its synonymous with big engines and V8s. However, the trend towards higher displacement in the GM engines is being overshadowed by the Euro V8s which are producing much more power whilst lowering displacement.

I love my Commodore, that doesnt mean I can sit here and say with a straight face that a vechile that has had 42,000++ recalls in 6 months deserves to be even considered for WCOTY, nor does it mean a vehicle being made in China should be discredited.

 

[PIR4TE]

Dont get me wrong.

Yeah i suppose i did.

Then look at the power output. The LSX is a fantastic engine, its turning into the true cult classic motor. Its a dinosaur though. Its a large, inefficient, dinosaur. For a 6+ litre engine the power output is fairly low when you can get a 2.0L Turbo Focus with the same output as the Auto SS's next year. We as well as the Americans, love muscle and its synonymous with big engines and V8s. However, the trend towards higher displacement in the GM engines is being overshadowed by the Euro V8s which are producing much more power whilst lowering displacement.

I love my Commodore, that doesnt mean I can sit here and say with a straight face that a vechile that has had 42,000++ recalls in 6 months deserves to be even considered for WCOTY, nor does it mean a vehicle being made in China should be discredited.

I'm on the road at the moment so can't respond properly, but in outright terms the engine design being pushrod large capacity two valve is very sound, particularly its power density and longevity. Take the chastity belts off with minor mods and compared to other road going engines 500-600 hp our pushrod engine offers the highest power and torque density, along with the best fuel economy. It is also the simplest, lightest, smallest and cheapest engine