Looking at a 2nd safe car for the Mrs, and since the AU's have deprecriated soo heavily, they seem to be a good buy as opposed to getting an Astra or other hatch.
Is the economy on the V8 terrible compared to the V6 ?
Whats a realistic price for a 2002 AUIII Fairmont V8, low k's ?
The V8 is only 175kW - a true boat anchor. having said that it's more than the alternative and everyone I know who has one reckons it is actually very good for day to day driving. Plus buying secondhand you won't be paying the exhorbitant premium that was requested when new.
straight 6 AU doesnt get the best fuel economy around town. highway is good but i cant speak for the V8s. if you want fuel econmoy buy a 4 cylinder...still get good power out of some. for the price you'll pay for a fairmont you can buy a new little car and get better warranty (5 years are most small cars) some even offer free servicing upto 100000km.
The V8 is only 175kW - a true boat anchor. having said that it's more than the alternative and everyone I know who has one reckons it is actually very good for day to day driving. Plus buying secondhand you won't be paying the exhorbitant premium that was requested when new.
Are you sure Pete? I'm not saying I am right, but I thought the Windsor in the AU's especially the III's was rated higher than the EF's / EL's
but hey it wouldnt be the first time i have been wrong, just ask my wife
Are you sure Pete? I'm not saying I am right, but I thought the Windsor in the AU's especially the III's was rated higher than the EF's / EL's
but hey it wouldnt be the first time i have been wrong, just ask my wife
Pete's right. EF's and EL's in non XR models were only 165kw!!! The first signs of Ford doing anything with the 5L was the EL2 XR8 upgrade from 170kw to 185kw.
I had an AU2 V8 and I still have an XR6VCT - the fuel consumption difference is about 0.5l per 100km in favour of the 6. Bugger all really. Go the 8! With extractors and 3" exhaust, you will get some decent power - ie about the same as Holden got from theirs about 4 years ago! lol.
I've said it before and I'll say it again "I miss my V8"
A bit of topic. I had a 165kw in a el fairmont ghia very ordinary power. I had a au1 xls ute (all autos) 175kw that went a lot harder than the 165 engine. Than I got the xr8 au2 ute 200kw engine that honestly you could not pick the differance between that and the xls until you hit 3,000rpm than it was very noticeable and they all used about the same amount of fuel. Now there is my ba xr8 ute that's another story. I always compare my modern day v8's I have owned over the years to my old XC-GS ute 4 speed, 351 ( few mods) and nothing I have owned has ever shaped up to the raw power and accelleration of that old ute. Maybe because I was younger, who knows!!
I just knocked in my AU11 V8 manual average fuel consumption over 58000Ks was 12.5 per 100, country driving mostly, on the highway miles 10 to 11 per 100 & around town------ I didn't want to know, somewhere around 16 per 100. I would recomend the 8 over the six (I have driven heaps of AU 6s) aint that much between them fuel wise but the 8 is soooooooo much sweeter. If you go the V8 make sure it has LSD, stock up on tyres, and fit cruise.
This maybe true to some extent,just add some simple mod's like exhaust,air filter and chip and you've soon livened her up,considering the price's you can pick with these lowly powered V8's these day's these mod's shouldn't break the bank to much.
I notice that you appear to have experience with the old V8 & of course the attributes of said V8, but then you do drive an XH ute I believe. I don't recall AP saying the crap you have. Get a life & talk about what you know for fact not what you salivate over. The old pushrod V8 is a good strong donk that does go better than the I6 (of same model) & as for " use a lot more fuel " , 1/2 to 1 L per 100 extra I would not call heaps in fact it works out at less than 6 bucks difference over 500 odd Ks (bout a tank full) & yes you can get 500 from a tank with the old V8.
Have a nice day.
As a matter of fact I do have a lot of experience with the Windsor, both on and off the dyno, and building them. Yes, that's why I own a I6 XH. Speaks for itself really.
No it does not, up until EL. ALL Windors up until that point produced between 110 and 115rwkw. I6's within the same models produced anything from 100 to 125rwkw.
They also wieghed less, which gave them an even bigger advantage.
EL XR's produced around 130rwkw, as did AU XR 1's, with AU XR 11's producing up to 145-150rwkw, which started to feel quite lively.
All the garden variety V8's however, still only managed around 115 to 120rwkw.
& as for " use a lot more fuel " , 1/2 to 1 L per 100 extra I would not call heaps in fact it works out at less than 6 bucks difference over 500 odd Ks (bout a tank full) & yes you can get 500 from a tank with the old V8.
Sure, and under the same conditions the I6 will get 650k.
In any case, $6 per week is $312 in a year, that's an additional 5 tanks of fuel.
That's heaps IMO.
I don't know how you all drive, but I have an AU Series 3 V8 Auto Wagon, and I get 400kms around Perth, before the low fuel light comes on.Which is the same as my NL I6 did.
I had a Manual EBII S pack wagon, could get 750 to 800 klicks out of a tank
Wagns have a 72 litre tank , mind you i used to be able to get over 80 litres into it
Wow thats nice alright, mine is an auto tho so there is a tiny bit more, but damn wish i could get that, tho in country i get about 650 out of a tank, not to bad.
On the open road I got 28mpg and around 680-700ks. Kept it on 110km and only stopped when I needed to. Aircon was on all the way! That was before any mods you see currently. I was quite happy with that.
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