| Project VN |
[Jan. 6th, 2009|12:21 am] |
Got myself one of the most awesome documentary styled books ever.... unassumingly called "Project VN". It's about an Australian car and to be precise the Holden Commodore VN.
Now for a quick history lesson here....
The Holden Commodore VN is an Australian car built during the late 1980s through to around 1991. The chassis is based on the Opel Omega, but just widened a bit here and there and of course rear wheel drive. Armed with a 3800cc fuel injected V6 GM engine, it was one powerful beast. Another variant was the V8 5000cc fuel injected engine, and that one was awesome so to speak of. The 3800 pumped out 125KW of power and came with either a 4 speed MD8 Hydromatic transmission or a 5 speed M78 manual tranmission. The same transmissions were offered for the V8 variant.
The Commodore came in sedan and station wagon formats as well. The series had different model classes as well, starting off with Executive as the very bottom level. Then Berlina was the next one up. S was the sporty edition. and the SS was the next class up from 'S' and that one was armed with a V8 engine. Top of the line was the Commodore Calais, which had full power options and alloy wheels, colour coded bumpers and an electric antenna as well.
Enough with my ranting now.....
But yes, the book cost me $1, and it was something I was looking for as well; seeing as I am a Holden enthusiast. I can still remember the days (2003 ish) when my father still owned the Commodore before selling it for another car. The one we had was the Commodore VN Executive BT1 edition. The fact was that our car was the undercover police edition, and was blue in colour as well. It really had a lot of cool features. It has FE2 sports suspension, which was unfortunately lower than the normal ones that the VN had to climbing over humps or kerbs posed an issue. Ironically it also had a thick piece of metal lining under the engine to stop it from impacting into kerbs and stuff if the police needed to climb kerbs etc. Air conditioning was one thing we had which the others didn't have on board (unless they paid for it of course). Dual radiator fans, one for the radiator and one for the transmission, which meant it was suitable for towing. The radiator had two reservoir tanks as well so that was cool. Coolest of all it came with a Tachometer, something which the regular executive didn't have. 15" Interceptor styled alloy wheels were a cool feature as well.
Though we did have some teeny problems like oil leakage here and there and a leaky boot (both of which were fixed in the end), it was a really good car. Though it did rattle quite a bit if you drove over potholes. But that wasn't a big issue I guess.
The engine was a real beast because of the way the tranny was tuned. 125KW of power from a 3800 is the same as the Honda Accord we have now using the 2400cc straight 4. But obviously the accord is front wheel drive and has traction control and newer technologies, and even has a 5 speed tranny. But it isn't as "powerful" as the older 3800cc Commodore which pumped out the exact same power, go figure.
They are unfortunately getting rarer and rarer these days (due to old age, rust etc.) but still seem to be a hit with the young P-platers. Honestly, for a first car I think the VN would be a good car, but you've gotta learn how to control it first. Apparently the 4 disc brakes on it are *just* enough to stop it in emergency cases, so yes don't play stupid with the Commodore, and most importantly don't speed because it ain't got airbags to save you like the newer cars seeing as it was from the 1980's/ 1990's. Youtube seems to be a hit with the kids doing burnouts and donuts in these VN Commodores, in one case even drifting due to the RWD configuration.... total stupidity in my view.
Anyway, guess I'll be off to ebd as it's kinda late. |
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