Give me the wagon over a Ka anyday!

The stock alloytec in the VZ is s**t (or maybe I got a bad one at work - it was one of the first, delivered Oct04), the alloytec190 is better, but the torque of the barra182 is much better (more driveable). Internally, the VY/VZ interior is good for the most part except all that 'sparkly' metallic coloured plastic, and no tint means sometimes driving alog you get blinded by the sun reflecting off it.

At work we always get commos because the fleet manager is a holden nut. Last order I put in was for a BA Futura, ended up with a VZ Acclaim (least it was an exec like last time, no power windows in this day and age ).

It's probaly a comfort thing, but I always enjoy my ride home in my EL (mind you it's been worked on, so maybe not fair).

Wouldn't you be better qualified to give reviews to ricshaws buyers, m'young China?

i have had the pleasure of driving both cars, The Holden was a nice car to drive and felt good, the features and the overall appearance was good. However The BA was tighter to drive and have more stopping power. it was finished better then the Holden and had more responsive steering. I dont mind Holdens but in my eyes the Ford was a better car

A mate from ireland whom has driven cars from all over the world that now lives in oz, he used to be an engineer at HSV in melbourne. He has driven both the BA and VY and simply said the BA is superior. Its steering was more responsive, the ride was smoother and handled better than a VY. he knows alot about the design of holden and they have fallen behind a little due to the launch of the BA.
The VY has basically only had cosmetic changes apart from a lighter engine that revs more.

Well I have havent driven either and I just reckon you should get your Mum to go for the BA. Cause if she gets the VY and it stuffs up on her she is probably going to get a lot worser service at Holden rather than Ford

I was going to buy a VY Commodore. I was at the Holden dealer looking for one, and I ended up buying a BA Falcon from the Holden dealer instead

I now have a BA and am very happy with it. My dad has a VY (company car), and the BA is much better. I've driven a few variants of both the BA and VY (base models, XR8/SS) and the Falcon is better across the board. I do like the Commodore interior better in the up-spec models, but the Falcon's drivetrain is much nicer. That pushrod Commodore engine is *harsh* above about 4000rpm, sounds like it's going to explode. The Commodore also has a horrible gearbox, and the Falcon doesn't

Too good Mate! Thats a classic though buying a Ford at a Holden Dealership. Becareful though they might of thrashed the life out of it, thinking its ,"Only a Ford"

Hasent the VY got the old (from 1988) pushrod engine and the VZ got the new 175 kw alloytec engine.

If you are comparing the VY (not the VZ) to the BA don't even bother, theba wins in every aspect.

The VZ is a much better car overall to drive than the VY but I believe still not as good as the BA, but thats for your mum to decide. If you can buy the VZ or the BA and please forget the VY.

I have been driving every model of the holden for the last 6 years at work and the VZ is by far the best, but when i drive home in the ba it handles, stops goes better and is much quieter than the VZ.

But as everyone suggested get you mum to drive both

To be honest, I felt like bit of a twit buying a Ford from a Holden dealer, but meh. It gave me the opportunity to be rude about Holdens to a Holden man, too



Yes, same basic engine as the VN from 1988, and it was already old back then. From memory, it was Buick V8 introduced in the late sixties/early seventies that they lazily chopped the last two cylinders off to make a V6, and it's a terrible engine. The automatic gearbox, however, is even worse. Also from the VN and is unbelievably industrial in even a new VY - I imagine a lot of those boganish VN Commos would be feeling very clapped out by now.

I've not actually driven an Alloytec V6, but by all accounts it's bit of a letdown. The 175kw version still makes do with the ancient gearbox, and even the 190kw is lacking somewhat. It looks good on paper with ticks in all the right boxes, but in the real world - meh.

i get all the brand new cars into work before they hit the dealers, holdens, fords, toyotas, BMW's, etc, and there's sometimes those new alloytec engines 175 and 190 KW, they just don't like starting, and it's only got a few km's on it!, in the next few years you will most likly see that engine become worse, just as the Gen 3's did (sorta if you know what i mean), i have looked at the alloytec engine, and alot of the engine has been designed like the Gen 3 engine with how some of the things they have setup like em, just minus 2 cyls, but not saying they are going to be that bad, but still not as good as what the ford's I6's are.

Me, i have always said i'll never buy a holden 6, if you look in the past all of the 6's from VB up have had alot of problems with them, i hear so many stories off people that have owned VR/VS's, they are having so many problems with them, which is near the same engine as VY(well VS is, vr and under's 3.8 is same thing just with different manifold), like im not going to go though everything coz it'll be to long, but alloytec's are yet to prove themselfs to me they can hold up as long as the fords can.

Not saying fords don't have problems, coz they do, all cars do at least once in thier life, but comparing ford vs holden i'd go ford, they drive better, look better(not to much better then VY, but IMO alot better then VZ, SV6's and SS's do look a little better tho), and fords will most likly last longer.

And all that is from someone that has been a Holden fan most of his life up until about 4 years ago when i didn't know anything about fords what so ever, and really i didn't want to know anything about them!, i hated everyone that liked fords and i just didn't talk to em, then i started to look into fords for goss to pick on ford people with, but i ended upfinding nothing but fords better then holden, then got into fords a little bit (but didn't tell anyone), and then ended up knowing the real goss about holden instead and realised how dumb i was to like holdens, lol, and over then last few years i've noticed alot of holden lovers know nothing but fords just like i didn't, but when you talk to ford people they normally know alot about both, don't get me wrong there is people out there that are full on holden lovers that know a bit about fords, but i've just noticed alot of people that are stuck on holden don't, and i've even asked alot of people that are stuck on holden people at work anything about fords or said something about fords, even if i say XE falcon or something they don't know anything about em, lol

but anyway i just noticed im going way off track and didn't notice how much i was writing..., but im very bored but i'll stop.

(sorry if you don't understand something i said out of all of this, im not good at explaining things....)

Its good to see a Holden fan that saw the error in his ways and logic and is now with the Blue Oval Brigade. Yes I have to agree comparing the Holden 6 and the Ford 6 is no Comparison as Ford didn't skimp and use old US technology(BuickV6 3.8) and instead built a proper AUSSIE made Engine(Inline 4.0) to suit the AUSSIE environment and conditions.

At work we have a VY and BA. The BA is the nicer beast to drive IMO. It goes better, handles better and is just more comfortable on a trip.

As for the stock alloytec in the VZ, I will agree that it is sh*t. My Magna and Falcon can both outdo them easily as sh*t.

The new 3.6L is another US invention.

Well there you go I thought they made it here in Oz. So holdung are still outsourcing their Donks again.