PommieLeague

But who cares what the hoons drive or the boy racers and clowns like that?
Why does one needs a 5.8 litre engine for suburban roads?

PommieLeague

Its Britain actually and it aint boring, try visting there someday ocker!

wafoo1

Damn,forgot reading was an aquired skill,read my address I''m in Geelong,think thats in Australia or am I wrong,have to agree to differ on the cars then,you go for the penis extension,I'll go for comfort and safety and design...

markeh

Hiy Badge,
I've with you on this one, it's all about acceleration!

It's oK to have a little car when there is one, and it will go ok, but if you have a family then you have all the kit & klobber that goes with it!

I used to have a nice new Fiesta 2 door but then I had a family & it had to Go 2 adults, baby & a pram didn't leave alot of room for nappies

Now I have a Rover 800 Vitess, plenty of room and plenty of Go for when it's needed and all the things that you need in a car. PS it's cheep as well!

Bye
Mark

Stormz

Geez. Attitudes against Britain (or `anywhere else that`s not Australia`) makes me embarrassed to be Australian. Same as the chavs in the UK make people here embarrased to be English.

First off, the point of the thread was the cost of Australian cars versus UK cars.... not how big the engine is.

Cars in the UK are more expensive than those same cars bought in Europe, but 2nd hand cars in the UK are still a fair bit cheaper than 2nd hand cars in Oz. Brand new cars in Oz aren`t much more expensive than decent 2nd hand cars. Without doing alot of research, I wouldn`t know how much cheaper new cars in Oz are compared to new cars in the UK.

Basically 2nd hand cars in Oz are over-priced when you`re used to the 2nd hand car market in the UK.

It`s painful when you have to sell a decent 2nd hand car here, and then you have to pay (relatively) OTT prices for something similar in Oz. If only the customs didn`t charge a fortune to bring a car into Aus......

So chill `Superior`. What are you doing on this forum anyway?

pako

are poor wickle superior isn't getting enough attention..he's throwing his toys again so all the other boys and girls talk to him...keep stiring the pot superior..maybe it will make you feel less inferior

bondipom

That is what I have found as well. The import tarriffs in Europe also ramp up the price of Asian cars. European cars in Australia are relatively pricey but people still go for them. Someone I work with has just sold their beamer and bought a brand new Audi for $42000. Apparently there are some regional variations as well. I remember someone posting regarding QLD dealers popping down to NSW for car auctions.

I suggest people look at www.tradingpost.com.au to work out how the pricing will affect them.

Something else to note on the cost of living is that the changes in exchange rates will probably make Australia increasingly expensive compared to when the pound was at $2.7 and up to $2.9 .

4lex

Back on topic: I spent a couple of days of internet time reading up on this, and eventually bought a '93 Falcon EB2. Parts for this are pretty much common '88 to '94 ish, and there are any number in scrap yards for cheap spares. The four litre six is thirsty by comparison to UK cars, and the specific output (kW/litre) is pathetic (about 50bhp/litre - compare this to honda and bmw normally aspirated engines), but due to the capacity it has adequate performance for a large saloon. Small wonder there's no ozone left here...

The Fairmont model has all the gadgetry with it. Mine had 162k on when I bought it from a retired guy, needed new front dampers and a pair of tyres, and cost AUD2200. Decent tyres were a hundred bucks each, and I picked up a full set of XR6 (that's the go-faster version of the same car) shocks and springs for two hundred bucks from eBay. Add another pair of tyres, a set of belts, fluids and filters and the whole thing stands me about AUD3k, I'm pretty sure it'll run another 100k with minimal expenditure.

Economy wise it's fairly poor with a 4sp auto, I've done an average of 12.6l/100km (22.34mpg) over three thousand kms, but at best, cruising at 120ish it returns 31mpg so 750kms can be squeezed from a sixty dollar tankful.

I would say though, it is a twelve year old ford, and annoying things will break if it's not maintained - I'd suggest this sort of car is only a viable proposition if you're reasonably able with the spanners and don't object to getting your hands dirty from time to time. I was quoted AUD185 to fix a split hose recently, the part cost me AUD2 from a motor spares place, plus an hour of swearing & grazed knuckles.

Hope some of this is helpful,
Alex

Piscivorus

"Ask any American (whose country is the home of performance cars), they think the same thing and thats why most of our cars are based on their way of thinking."

I'm an American (who has lived in Australia & will be moving there again soon) & I couldn't disagree with you more. I drive an Audi because American cars are crap & haven't been well-built in 30+ years. The Audi's transmission & all-wheel drive is light years ahead of anything in the US. (Unfortunately German cars seem to be unaffordable in Aust.- my Audi was US$39K and the same model goes for AU$83K in Aust.) Furthermore 'muscle cars' haven't been remotely popular here in the US since the 70's (which is what Australia feels like to most Americans from a fashion/style perspective). Huge SUVs (4WDs)with horrible gas milage and high accident rates are what are popular in the US at the moment. I can't comment about Holden because we don't have them here & I've never driven one, but German cars (Audi/Mercedes/Porshe) blow American models out of the water when it comes to quality. The Japanese are even making better cars and are pummelling Ford/Chevy/GM in US marketshare. If it makes you feel any better plenty of rednecks who live in the sticks in the US might agree with you.

4lex

I don't know a great deal about Au market vehicles, but a quick google tells me a HSV Clubsport R8 is a reasonably competitive vehicle in terms of performance here? I get 7.4 to 100, 225kW, returning 19l/100km. Yours for AUD75k apparently. On the other hand, there's something like the Audi A8 - the middle order AWD 4.2 v8, which gives 6.3 to 100, 246kw, returning 17l/100km and costs EUR56k in Belgium. That's about AUD88k, a fair chunk more, but then it is superior in every respect, and that's not even their W12 6.0 high performance derivative. Then there are similar offerings from Merc, BMW, Jaguar, Saab, VW etc etc etc. In fact even the very modestly priced Seat Leon Cupra R with blown 4cyl 2.0 will comfortably outperform the R8, and that'll set you back the equivalent of AUD31k.

I'm not interested in arguing the toss with you on this, the simple facts speak for themselves. All very well preferring a home-grown product, but it's not reasonable to swear blind that it's universally better than all of the European manufacturers output, it just isn't.

No doubt you can pull out some impressive numbers for performance Aussie vehicles, but frankly top of the tree in the performance saloon market is the BMW M5, and probably will be for a good while. I've been lucky enough to drive the MY05 v10 M5, and an '04 Monaro, there is no comparison.

brisnick

the astra over here can be bought for around £4000 cheaper than in the uk, with a more powerful engine (1.8 is standard).

funny how one of the most popular cars in autralia, the holden astra, is actually made in poland and belgium.

the commodore and falcon will, sadly, always sell well amongst the bogan population of oz due to the whole ford/holden rivalry - which is a sad thing anyway. performance cars on suburban roads are a waste of time. the purpose of a car is to get you from 'a' to 'b'

Badge

ahh a man after my own heart. Just gets on with it...not afraid to improvise..I like what you say, the Fords and Holdens may not be efficient, but they're cheap, easy to fix, and have enough power to drive a big sedan with no problems. Enough for me.

Badge

brisnick

so tell me. what's the purpose of your car then if it isn't for transport?

Devlin

Superior,

Why don't you go and have a wank over your souped up VL Commodore and quit spouting your drivel here?

You are an embarassment to all Australians.

4lex

Are you a bit simple? Your arguments have no basis in fact.
VW's 6.0 W12 Phaeton. Saab do a 300hp, 260km/h 9-5, I can't be bothered to dig up a link. I'm not going to claim either are 'the best', but they are world class.

It is no coincidence that all the leading European manufacturers sell cars all over the world, most notably in the lucrative US market, whereas Holden and Ford Australia struggle to sell a single car outside of the comparably tiny Australian market. The Monaro was recently offered for sale in the UK, and was met with a very lukewarm reception.

Being a small island, in the UK we like importing cars. Personal imports from mainland Europe, Japan & Dubai have increased dramatically in recent years, but do we see any Australian cars on the road? None.

I really ought to do some work.