i drove a vy sv8 235 kw 6 spd man 5.7 litre .

[gtfpv]

as the title says . but it sounded like a six . had no balls and was dissapointing to drive . all the hype over the years about holdens having more grunt than fords actually sunk in untill this 235kw mouse changed my mind . a boss 260 would eat it every day of the week and the gt would appitimise it . the xr8 EL 172KW 5 SPEED i owned wasnt far off this and was much nicer to drive . i remember reading about the windsor au 220 not being able to keep up with these things . HOGWASH .
MY 2C FOR TODAY.

[I6corp]

Are you sure, it just wasn't a lemon?

[Grechie]

Interesting feedback on the sv8..., you seem very angry about it too lol

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by I6corp

Are you sure, it just wasn't a lemon?

LOW MILAGE 56000KMS . There is always the chance it was faster than it felt . it had linear torque but not much ion the way of top end .

[poolkeeper]

235kw at the engine, isnt that crash hot to be honest.
Spose your like this when your in a 285rwkw pursuit pretty much everyday

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Grechie

Interesting feedback on the sv8..., you seem very angry about it too lol

no not really i actually like holdens but it made me a touch angryu reading all the mags and thinking these things go like a bat out of hell. not the case at all. not comparing it to a hsv or fpv . but i would think an au xr8 would have as much or more than this and sound much better too.it actually made me think that journos are actually biast towards holden . i'm now reading the same jargon now regarding the new force 8 . and the gt's .

[Wally]

I found the 5.7 to be a very satisfactory power plant. But the 6.0 is something else.

[XRated]

How many other LS1s have you tested?

Some cars feel slower than what they are. There are plenty of people that have the numbers to back them up.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by XRated

How many other LS1s have you tested?

Some cars feel slower than what they are. There are plenty of people that have the numbers to back them up.

I DROVE a stock VX CLUBSPORT AUTO . it was very fast 265kw . much faster than a boss 260. or felt that way anyhow.

[Lukeyson]

when it comes to gen3's in stock form, i find only the 255kw hsv gen3 onwards feel quick and ballsy and make you say 'wow that goes'.
all the mega detuned Holden releases of it were lame IMO

[buickman]

I've driven one of my sons friends VY SV8 6 speed it went hard enough .How fast do you want to go.

[XR8-260]

A stock SV8 235kw can do the quarter in mid to low 14s. Fast enough for me.

[jimmy_c]

yeah they go hard enough. I must admit. 220kw and 470nm enough to keep me out of trouble. and in enough.


But i guess you must of had a weird run. comparing it to a boss is a bit harsh and vice versa. because the power bands are different.

The computer tunes play with your mind too.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

as the title says . but it sounded like a six . had no balls and was dissapointing to drive . all the hype over the years about holdens having more grunt than fords actually sunk in untill this 235kw mouse changed my mind . a boss 260 would eat it every day of the week and the gt would appitimise it . the xr8 EL 172KW 5 SPEED i owned wasnt far off this and was much nicer to drive . i remember reading about the windsor au 220 not being able to keep up with these things . HOGWASH .
MY 2C FOR TODAY.

i think you're just a little desensitised mate ;p

my eb feels normal to me now, and it's pretty nimble. getting in other stock 8's or newer 6's feels like being in a lada samara to me now. it's all what you're used to. I'm guessing the VY you drove was 100% stock ? the fact they're so quiet these days makes things seem slower too. Factory V8's don't sound like v8's!

[jimmy_c]

Tell me about it. when i brought the 3v i thought it would sound crackers like my mates 304 VSII SS. My god how quiet are they now. But that is soon fixed.

even though the exhaust is put on. they dont have the cracking noise of the old school 8s.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by jimmy_c

Tell me about it. when i brought the 3v i thought it would sound crackers like my mates 304 VSII SS. My god how quiet are they now. But that is soon fixed.

even though the exhaust is put on. they dont have the cracking noise of the old school 8s.

yeah the 304's sound awesome with a little work.. having said that, you could get the 3v to sound pretty sweet with a bit of $$$ too. Considered a big extravogant cam ? :

[SpoolMan]

Like a lot of cars stock there not much chop, LS1 edit and exhaust see these things come alive there potential is easy H/P.
G&D Jet owner had one of these SV8's run 11.6 unopened with bolt ons, later with a PWR PD Blower ran 10.9 in street trim a few times.

[OzJavelin]

Well, well, well .. when I purchased my VY1 SV8 it opposition (pricewise) was ... BA XT V8. Sorry, but NO performance comparison. The BA was a nice car to drive, but no fun.

The SV8 doesn't sound like a "real" V8, but that's fine by me. The VY1 doesn't even look like a pseudo-performance V8, it just looks like an Exec with 17" and a spoiler (like every other car in the carpark). But I like it .. it's kind of stealthy.

I can't say I've ever driven a BA XR8 but based upon the reviews of the time, I don't think an VY1 SV8 would conclusively beaten by a BA XR8? One thing I'm pretty sure of is that despite the "penalty" of pushrods, the 'ole GenIII/IVs will typically out rev the 5.4L easily .. and that helps stirring up thru the gears ..

My 2cents ..

[macca_779]

LS1's due to their linear torque delivery don't feel as quick as they are compared to a BOSS. But rest assured their top end is vastly superior even in a 235kw tune. I think you will find that the car was quicker than it felt.

A bit of trivia for you guys. A VX 225kw tune runs 11 degrees of advance around its peak power mark. And a AFR of 11:1. With a good tune most guys like myself are running about 24 degrees of timing and an AFR in the mid 12's. This gives around 240rwkw's and better economy to boot. Kind of explains how detuned these things are from factory.

[Bossxr8]

You could probably put that down to GM's pathetic build quality. Gen 3's have a reputation for massive variance between them. Some are rockets, some are just gutless. Put 2 identical models on the same dyno and the power differences between cars that should be nearly identical can be quite amazing.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

You could probably put that down to GM's pathetic build quality. Gen 3's have a reputation for massive variance between them. Some are rockets, some are just gutless. Put 2 identical models on the same dyno and the power differences between cars that should be nearly identical can be quite amazing.

no worse than ford's build quality mate.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by mrcrackers

no worse than ford's build quality mate.

Thats where your wrong, i'm strictly talking in engine build variance, nothing to do with the body or electrics. You don't get the huge variance between engines like you do with Gen 3's. Most Boss engines seem to be right on the money with only a few kw's between them. Build quality has to be higher with a partially hand built engine rather than a mass produced GM engine.

[4.9 EF Futura]

235kw?

So this was the Holden "sporty, but not too sporty" version of the engine?

What was the laziest engine that HSV offered in this car? 260?

[Jock260]

i think you must of either had a monday car, or your are just used to your BA. My VY SS is the series 2, so 245KW, when we had it stock, it was stupidly quiet as you said, but i can asure you, after a few bolt on's, EG: headers, exhaust, CAI, it becomes a serious performer, but they are still very quick cars when stock

[Full Spectrum]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Thats where your wrong, i'm strictly talking in engine build variance, nothing to do with the body or electrics. You don't get the huge variance between engines like you do with Gen 3's. Most Boss engines seem to be right on the money with only a few kw's between them. Build quality has to be higher with a partially hand built engine rather than a mass produced GM engine.

You mean like my brothers old EFII Fairmont I6 tipping 170kw factory stock?

[stevz]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Thats where your wrong, i'm strictly talking in engine build variance, nothing to do with the body or electrics. You don't get the huge variance between engines like you do with Gen 3's. Most Boss engines seem to be right on the money with only a few kw's between them. Build quality has to be higher with a partially hand built engine rather than a mass produced GM engine.

No thats right, Ford are so perfect they simply cannot put a foot wrong.
Sheesh, you are more deluded than I thought.

Any excuse for Holden bashing from you.

[mcflux]

As others have mentioned, the HSV LS1s have quite a bit of poke about them.

I was behind a VX Clubby for a few kms in the city last Sunday and it had a LOT of grunt, the driver was having fun making short sharp stabs from 20 to 80. I'm assuming it was stock too because the exhaust looked somewhat small, and it was quiet, I never heard it once the whole 10 minutes I was behind it.

[XR8-260]

I think most drivers would find that the GenIII doesn't have tremdous grunt off the line as peak torque occurs relatively high up. But once it gets going it really "flys". :

[sbutler]

I have driven a mates 2005 SS & I was pretty impressed. I mean it went very well drove very nicely. I dont know if a GT would do it over the 1/4 but It would be a good fight though.
Didn't have the bottom end grunt of the T3, but went well up high..
Overall I thought it was a very nice car..

[chich]

Originally Posted by Wally

I found the 5.7 to be a very satisfactory power plant. But the 6.0 is something else.

Agreed. The 5.7L is a little doughy and needs a few revs to get going, but the 6.0L LS2 is an absolute ball tearer. I had a VZII Clubsport (297kw) for a few weeks and it was fantastic - it pulled HARD from idle right through to cut-out. Wheel chirps shifting into third were also quite common . Admitantly it also sounded quite good and was pretty loud considering it had the factory exhaust, however any Ford V8 would leave it for dead when it comes to the exhaust note.