mattlea1

Deciding it was time to look at buying my wife a new car i thought it was a no brainer series1 BA XR8 in either Citric acid or Blood orange as her previous cars have all been Fords EB XR6, ED XR6 and her current AU XR8, which have all been great cars.
When i went to look at an 03 Citric acid XR8 at a local car yard $39,999 with 43000k's, just what i wanted after sitting in it and looking around the interior i thought it was a bit ordinary but thinking that our AU XR8 is fitted with race seats i thought it would grow on me.
Sitting next to the XR8 was an 03 Commodore VY SS in Hothouse green with matching trim 45000k's $35999 and just out of curiosity i jumped in and i have to say i loved it immediately great seats impressive dash layout i drove both cars and they both went great but i think i still like the SS better as i am keeping the XR8 for myself i thought it might be good to have a Holden and Ford product in the garage what do you guys think ????

BA_XR6

Why not an XR6 turbo? - cheaper, faster, better handling.
Or keep the AU.

mattlea1

I forgot to mention that i test drove a Blueprint BA XR6 it was very fast but i just love V8's and i am keeping the AU as well

prdreilly

I'm surprised at the price difference between the XR8 and SS. For the kays, the SS price seems right, but the XR8 seems rather expensive, perhaps try elsewhere.

Having had both, I find the Xr8, a lot more refined. At first I liked the SS's more rauchous sound, but after a while it just sounded course and uncouth.

Ride quality is much better in the Xr8. I don't mind firm suspension, but hit a big bump or pothole, in the SS, and it sends an almighty crash sound back through the cars body.

The other worry with the VYSS is that it leans very heavily on the outside of it's front tyres, one track day will wear most of the front edge of the front tyres, which is going to be expensive, and frustrating having to replace tyres that have lots of tread 80% of the tyre, but bald edges.

Benefits in favour of the SS, are better standard equipment, 6 stack CD, side airbags and 18" wheels standard. Series 1 VY's, even come with an 18" alloy rim.

Also, the Gen 3 is a surprisingly frugal device for a V8, whereas the XR8 tends to like to drink.

So good luck with your decision.

mattlea1

Hmmmm decisions decisions Ive spoken to a few SS owners and one said he is on his 4th engine in 45,000 k's but the rest were quite happy with their cars i looked at an 02 Monaro and the engine seemed to be pretty noisy (rattle noise) for the first 5 mins or so, but our dream car has always been a BA GT which i thought was out of reach but after looking at carsales.com i reckon i can get one for around $50,000 so i think i might save a bit more cash and get the car my wife and i really want.

Swordie

How about a Monaro. A Series 2 can be found with less than 40,000 Km for around $37,000.

palex xr6

You did say this car was for your wife didn't you? Get her a 1500 VeeDub Beetle. It'll be cheaper to repair.

3984cc

I'd suggest to purchase a BA MkII XR8 because Ford offers you with heaps of support and you will pull up in one feeling amazed of the forced down-shifting (kickdown) in auto.

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conan

I have just gone through the same process for the missus. We found the ss to be cheaper in apperance, rougher, coarse, and really did go bang when you hit a pot-hole. We even put the steering alignment out with one hit. Sure, it may feel racy, but the ride gets tiring pretty soon. We tried the XR8, but the handling and performane was no match to the XR6T. You miss the v8 rumble, but you can always put a cd sound track on. Go the turbo - smoother, faster, uses less fuel, easier on the bumpy bits, more moddability, and you forget about the burble when the turbo starts to whisle.

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BA GT-P owner and loving it!

mattlea1

Huh???