Anyone got a VE Commodore SS or SSV?

[TAS1981]

Or similar???
Hopefully selling my Mazda and looking at these for the extra carrying capacity as a single do everything car, fast comfortable, modern (compared to 2000 mx-5), quite cool looking, V8 power!

I test drove one and liked it but at 33k was a bit out of my price range. I am now looking at SSVs of the 2007/8 vintage for about $20-25k? May look at tweaking power up toward 400bhp as well.....

Any thoughts?

Tom

[james280779]

Not exactly but I have a 2002 VX SS, nice little ute and plenty of power.
I hired a 2012 VE SV6 when I was down in Adelaide last year . Very impressed compared with the VX and just as quick despite being only a v6. It had a great sound and was well built- handled very well. Also had the full SS bodykit with decent OEM alloys and looked great. The family liked it too.

I wouldnt hesitate to get the V6 but have no experience in the V8 version. I think I would struggle to justify spending the extra personally on the V8 as I already have two v8's, a flat six and 4 pot turbo among others.

I think the Falcon xr6 is a better looking car and they both pretty much the same for size/ handling/ power etc.

I did see 2012 ex demo model falcons with delivery mileage being sold for as little as $23k earlier this year!!!!

I have seen 6 cylinder turbos (2011) under $25k too

Edited by james280779 on Wednesday 3rd July 04:19

Edited by james280779 on Wednesday 3rd July 04:26

[TAS1981]

I think Falcon's look like they were designed by someone called Norris.....with a wonky eye....who has not been outside since 1983....

Aaaammm oooot!

[motomk]

Ok, maybe, see profile!

This might come out all over the place as I think of stuff to write.
VEII V8 and VE V8 with AFM have slightly less power in the Autos 260kw
VEII V8 manuals and VE V8 without AFM have 270kw. The AFM logo sticks out on the back!
The VE SSV is worth trying to get as it has leather and the better stereo.
A lot of it is retro-fittable but the Stereo/Climate would not make it worth it. The steering wheel from an SSV is not too hard to switch over into a SS, if you like the chunkier leather one.
Some of the early cars have massive rear spoilers, they then settled on the medium sized one, larger one being optional. Some SSV cars have way-out there leather.
Some VE SS cars are ex police but generally not the SSV cars. There are good and bad points to that.
VE Calais V has the similar luxury stuff to an SSV. One think you do notice with the Calais is the way over assisted steering, no resistance.

I highly recommend if you get an SSV to spend $1500 on ebay at Thompson Motor Group in Shepperton and pickup some Redline Brembo brakes and the matching wheels. (wheels aren't fantastic looking, but they are cheap and the 19 tyres from the stock SSV wheels fit them) The Redline wheels are needed as the brakes don't fit under stock 19 wheels. Caution here as they don't fit under some optional 20 inch wheels either.
I have driven an VEII SSV sedan, that was about $45k, but they are loaded now, nearly get a new VF SS for that. One I drove is a friend of mines and it had been lowered a little. Still trying to confirm the springs, but the ride was still very good. (might have been Eibachs)
I ended picking up an ex-GMH VEII SS a couple of months ago. Only missing leather, SatNav and 19 inch alloys, stereo is the same as VEII SSV in the series II. Thinking of putting the SatNav on it.

Beware the A-pillar on roundabouts and the rear spoiler hiding cars too.
Tyres are also a cost as they are big and not cheap. Stock front brakes are about $300 for discs and pads from Holden. Ebay has a lot of spare parts on there if you want to gauge prices including the USA as the Pontiac G8 is the same car underneath. I have a friendly parts man who I can email and he looks after me. If you find a good parts place, they will look after you on price, sometimes trade price. There is the "Holden" club or something that will get discounts too. I setup carsales to email me cars in the required range.
Fuel about 500km a tank around town, 700km in the country. Ute has a 70 litre tank.
Of course, if you in Melbourne, you are quite welcome to take one for a spin!!!

Any questions, ask away.

Edited by motomk on Wednesday 3rd July 05:44

Edited by motomk on Wednesday 3rd July 07:29

[TAS1981]

What about the clutch on the manuals? A problem area? Sticking or squeaking or something? Made of chocolate?

I tried a coil overed SSV with black mags a while ago which was pretty nice. Not much to tell, the forums don't give much as things to watch out for?!

I am going to look at a black SSV 2007 100k kms, aiming to pay between 20-22k, tow hitch that's unused (I want one) leather dual climate, black, standard. What can go wrong?! :/

I think these come with 270kw and without the AFM stuff they are easier to mod? I would be looking at an intake, potentially exhaust, then brakes, then headers and a light ECU tune....leaving the MAF as part of the equation, no cams.

Thoughts?

[Bibbs]

TAS1981 said:

I think Falcon's look like they were designed by someone called Norris.....with a wonky eye....who has not been outside since 1983....

Aaaammm oooot!

Or like they should be in KISS.




I'd still drive one though.

[TAS1981]

What year are those? I doubt they are in my budget. I had a quick look at my budget. Does nothing for me. I like a more aggressive look. They might be technically a better engine but dunno...doesn't float my boat.

[Bibbs]

TAS1981 said:

What year are those? I doubt they are in my budget. I had a quick look at my budget. Does nothing for me. I like a more aggressive look. They might be technically a better engine but dunno...doesn't float my boat.

From 1973 onwards, tickets were about $50 on the last tour.

Oh.

Technically they are FPVs .. so $35k for an FG.

[motomk]

TAS1981 said:

What about the clutch on the manuals? A problem area? Sticking or squeaking or something? Made of chocolate?

I tried a coil overed SSV with black mags a while ago which was pretty nice. Not much to tell, the forums don't give much as things to watch out for?!

I am going to look at a black SSV 2007 100k kms, aiming to pay between 20-22k, tow hitch that's unused (I want one) leather dual climate, black, standard. What can go wrong?! :/

I think these come with 270kw and without the AFM stuff they are easier to mod? I would be looking at an intake, potentially exhaust, then brakes, then headers and a light ECU tune....leaving the MAF as part of the equation, no cams.

Thoughts?

If it is the one I can see on carsales, it looks ok. ie not modified in anyway. Mudflaps give the impression it has been cared for. Check underneath the front to make sure the front subframe is not bent like the one I had was, where it had hit a kerb or something similar. Similarly at the back too. You could look at the front bumper bar at the bottom, that is normally scratched, but that is not the end of the world, pretty normal.
The early cars had a knock from the front suspension, pre 2008, but they worked out it was a roll bar suspension bush which costs about $10 to buy and a few hours to fit.
Not too cluey on the manuals, LS7 clutch is talked about a lot where I normally live. It might even have the LS7 clutch in it as it was a fix that Holden used if there were complaints. My ute can only tow about 1600kg with the standard tow bar.
75,000km or 90,000km is major service time. Did the spark plugs myself on mine, courtesy of Amazon.com! $50 for 8 iridium stock plugs. They take close to 8 litres of oil so you need two 5 litre bottles. (Holden sell the synthetic ACdelco stuff which can be on discount, Castrol edge stuff can be exy, Supercheap and repco have sales for this stuff.)
Mods sounds sensible but be careful as once you start, you can't stop!

This is a used Ute buying guide but same would apply to a sedan
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/used-car-reviews/us...
SV6, so related.
http://www.carsguide.com.au/news-and-reviews/buyer...

Edited by motomk on Wednesday 3rd July 07:22

Edited by motomk on Wednesday 3rd July 07:30

[motomk]

I like the FG XR6 and G6 Turbos, but found them hard to find, when I was looking. The XR6 turbo is nice but the interior can be basic unless it has been optioned up. The G6 Turbo fixes that but doesn't come in a manual. XR50 Turbo would be ok.
The Turbos are easier to mod than the FG XR8 which are getting rarer and rarer.

[TAS1981]

Yeah one at 22 one at 27.9.

Will check subframe, suppose just look under front bumper bar and slam plate under bonnet? Will check general condition, will ask about gearbox/clutch but doubt they'll know as owned it a year and a half.

Major service entails what? I just did 100,000kms service on MX-5 with waterpump, belt, pulleys, cam seals...whats involved in a L98 major service? Its a non-servicable timing chain isn't it? Oil and plugs no worries.

Seems like there really is not a lot to look at on these.

Also I had a Classic Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the uk....so I am not new to the dangers of modding! I just know when to stop!

I cannot see any downsides other than the depreciation is there on these...don't think I will escape that as I did on the MX-5!

Edited by TAS1981 on Wednesday 3rd July 07:58

[Reardy Mister]

I've just run a 2007 VE SSV manual Ute (NB) for 3 months.

Quick thoughts:

• Interior is good, as good as many European cars Ive seen and in some areas better
• Climate control good
• "Premium" stereo had some good functions but was basically crap, speakers are crap-crappety-crap
• Front suspension on VEs is known to go all to cock around 80-100k kms, costs 800 - a grand to put right (in Perth) and they chop the inside front out due to excessive negative camber
• The clutch is 'difficult'. Reversing up my brother's driveway, I could smell clutch lining almost every time with minimal slip. Eliminating any slip meant laying two black lines up the drive and upsetting my sister in law; and on my 100,000km example, the clutch was slipping on up changes to 2nd, and 3rd if pressing on
• With a stock exhaust, the engine sounded brilliant from in the cabin, but all very subdued and ordinary from outside. I was inclined to think Holden had deliberately done this to discourage owners from putting big exhausts on, in an effort to better manage the image of the car or something, so acute was the effect.
• Brakes are ste
• SSV means 19" tyres. Cheapest ditch-finders I could find when the rears were on the canvas were $210 a corner. Standard was Bridgestone RE050, same tyre and size as my old E92 325i BMW. You WILL be replacing rear tyres...
• Gear shift was slow. It was a good 2 months before I could reliably "snick" 2nd or 3rd with any speed or accuracy, but got there in the end.
• The engine doesn't wake up until 4k rpm +, really. You find yourself effectively short shifting 95% of the time and for the odd occasion you give it the beans, are surprised to find what a decent surge of power you get high up.
• Not as thirsty as I expected, especially on the highway. 14l/100km around town was typical, and I was going through tyres. 110kmh = around 1600rpm IIRC
• In the wet, the manual ute is downright unsociable. The TC is actually quite nicely balanced, allows a tiny bit of slide but isn't too obtrusive if you just want go quick - but you tend to get the feeling it is rather needed and is covering up for a pretty ordinary chassis and suspension set-up in the dry. On Perth's comedy road surfaces in the wet, with the TC off, some corners are literally like ice (as much about the road surfaces as the car). Don't tint the front windows, you will need to see out of them a lot. Which is no bad thing....
• The ignition key design is ste, if it breaks its $350 to replace

Overall I liked it. If I hadn't wanted a 4x4 capability, I would definitely have spent 21k on one instead what I did. I think the design is brilliant too, especially the wheel arch proportions and the back lights.

[TAS1981]

Wow thanks Mister!

Big question - What does teh infotainment system on the series one do? How is it different to the series 2?

Does it have bluetooth / Ipod and all that jazz? Satnav built in?

[motomk]

TAS1981 said:

Wow thanks Mister!

Big question - What does teh infotainment system on the series one do? How is it different to the series 2?

Does it have bluetooth / Ipod and all that jazz? Satnav built in?

No it doesn't have that, the series 2 has all that. Series 1 can play mp3 CDs and you can put 6 CDs in the headunit. You can get cables to connect an itelephone or other media device to them.
Satnav was available as an option and there are a few clever shops out there that can wire in aftermarket ones. I had the stock satnav in my Calais which was a 2007 and that was pretty average to try and use, updates were a ridiculous price. I do know of someone who put a Garmin version in his own car for about $800. Some of the aftermarket ones work with the buttons on the headunit but not the steering wheel.
Some links.
http://www.asllogistics.com/catalog/VE-Series-I-or...
http://jhp.com.au/holdenve/
Speaker upgrade. US website.
http://www.g8board.com/forums/showthread.php?p=105...

Regarding major service, I reckon you could do most of it yourself, looking in my service books, major service isn't that major, or it is actually around the 150k mark. There is a Haynes manual that recently came out. There are sellers on ebay of excerpts of the service manual, normally enough topics to get you by. The full one is only internet accessable. My ute did the rear brakes after about 70,000kms, I have read it is connected to the Stability/traction control using them a lot. I replaced them myself.

[TAS1981]

So what about power realted mods? Anyone done any? I read that a VCM intake can unleash as much as 30kw at the wheel?? That seems like a lot for an intake only?

[Jader1973]

A quick google for OTRCAIs found one for $600 that claims an extra 30 kw , doesn't say if that is rwkw though.

Remember that from factory they are tuned for a balance of power, fuel consumption, noise, driveability, shift smoothness etc, so provided you are prepared to compromise those there is more power to be had.

Get a copy of Street Commodores or similar - they are stuffed full of ads for exhausts, superchargers, OTRCAIs etc etc. They quite often do articles on "how to get the most from your V8" as well.

[motomk]

TAS1981 said:

So what about power realted mods? Anyone done any? I read that a VCM intake can unleash as much as 30kw at the wheel?? That seems like a lot for an intake only?

I would say 30kw would include a tune too. I haven't modded my VE but have done my VT and my old VY. It does depend how far you want to go, I am normally very conservative as I drive my cars on the road a lot more than a track.
I was trying to find an old episode of Gasolene from about 2009, but it isn't online anymore. It was a good rundown of what Bolt-on mods you could do to them. Perth street car magazine is very commodore based if you can find one.
The tuning is the important bit or finding a good tuner. Two main bits of software used are Hptuners and EfiLive.
When the VT LS1 came along, it was exhaust, intake and tune and it hasn't changed too much. Diff gears too, depending how far you want to go. Diff gears probably only really applies to those who go straight lining. Cams are sort of next and bolt on superchargers, then engines apart and turbos.

[TAS1981]

[motomk]

TAS1981 said:

Nice!

[Bibbs]

motomk said:

TAS1981 said:

Nice!

Agreed. I still prefer this front end over the later ones. The DRLs just seem too fussy and an afterthought.

I really don't understand why they didn't throw in a 2.0 TD engine and flog them in Europe.