Brettly-2008
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2013
- Messages
- 725
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Vasse
- Members Ride
- SS Commodore - Ford Territory ... both camps
From the outset, let me say that I respect the Aussie Barra engine and really admire the horsepower it can achieve in turbo form -especially modified.
What I struggle with though, is why the turbo Barra brigade think this engine is untouchable -certainly nothing Holden ever made can touch them. This is where the argument starts to lack a bit of logic. From all the reading and general research I've done, a stock XR6T and stock SS pretty much all run similar numbers. Sometimes the Ford will get the jump in a comparison and sometimes the Holden. The VE-VF stuff was always a much better car for getting power to the ground and handling, but that's another argument...
But because the Barra has a turbo, no LS-engined Commodore can touch it -and that's literally the attitude these guys have. You try to explain that a blown 4.0-litre engine roughly equates to a N/A 6.0-litre engine, hence why an XR6T and SS have near-identical outputs, but then the argument usually turns to modifying the Barra and it will destroy anything. It's like they've got their blinkers on to the world of HSV (later stuff had 430-484kw etc as we all know ), or the fact that, you know, an LS can be modified very easily to basically wipe the floor with a 4.0 Barra. But, no, that turbo beats anything Holden can offer or modify.
I guess the final straw for me was a debate yesterday where someone from the Barra brigade had 'blown the doors off' a VF series 2 (LS3) with a stock XR6T.
Is it a Ford guy thing? Are they trying so hard to prove a point after two+ decades of disappointment where Holden outclassed and outsold them (80s-90s)?
Just an open discussion here, no agendas.
What I struggle with though, is why the turbo Barra brigade think this engine is untouchable -certainly nothing Holden ever made can touch them. This is where the argument starts to lack a bit of logic. From all the reading and general research I've done, a stock XR6T and stock SS pretty much all run similar numbers. Sometimes the Ford will get the jump in a comparison and sometimes the Holden. The VE-VF stuff was always a much better car for getting power to the ground and handling, but that's another argument...
But because the Barra has a turbo, no LS-engined Commodore can touch it -and that's literally the attitude these guys have. You try to explain that a blown 4.0-litre engine roughly equates to a N/A 6.0-litre engine, hence why an XR6T and SS have near-identical outputs, but then the argument usually turns to modifying the Barra and it will destroy anything. It's like they've got their blinkers on to the world of HSV (later stuff had 430-484kw etc as we all know ), or the fact that, you know, an LS can be modified very easily to basically wipe the floor with a 4.0 Barra. But, no, that turbo beats anything Holden can offer or modify.
I guess the final straw for me was a debate yesterday where someone from the Barra brigade had 'blown the doors off' a VF series 2 (LS3) with a stock XR6T.
Is it a Ford guy thing? Are they trying so hard to prove a point after two+ decades of disappointment where Holden outclassed and outsold them (80s-90s)?
Just an open discussion here, no agendas.
