The current engines in the Commodore and Falcon? No. Holdens 3L and 3.6L V6s are decent, and Fords 4L inline six is absolutely awesome. Plus, both companies engines are now highly E85 compatible, and have been using LPG for year. And recently with the added LPG Injection, LPG engines make for a VERY good case, and are extremely cheap to run. I dont really know what GM or Ford has right now in terms of diesel 4s? And whether they'd be capable in a 1800kg Commodore or Falcon.
of course they are capable of shifting an 1800kg car. The VW passat weighs around that much, and they are pretty much all 2.0tdi.
yeah, for a well developed VW engine. They've been making diesels for years. What does GM or Ford actually have?
Ford are throwing the ecoboost 4 cylinder in the next Falcon I believe, as an alternative to the bigger engines.
Nah. If I wanted a truck from the blue oval boys I'd buy a real one, like the F-150. If I wanted one that was completely useless as a truck, I'd buy the Lightning version, or Dodge's lunatic Ram SRT-10. If I wanted something fun and practical I'd buy a hatchback. If I wanted something hideously ugly...well, the ute might make a case for itself there.
That ute performs a shit ton better, parks in much tighter spaces, much better fuel economy, and has a payload only 45kg/100lbs less than an SRT10. Do Americans ever use the beds in trucks anyway, or do you think trucks are only for towing? <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/confused.gif"></A> You all always seem to quote the towing. Maybe 5% of workers on a construction site even use a trailer. If you want to tow stuff, like a boat, why do you need a vehicle with a bed anyway? A big SUV makes more sense...
People who buy pickups aren't really THAT concerned with being able to park them. Nor do they bother with car-like handling or blistering acceleration. They'll #%[email protected] about fuel economy, but that won't stop them from continuing to buy pickups. They want a rugged, versatile vehicle with the image to match. Utes don't quite offer that. By and large, most pickups spend most of their lives hauling nothing but air and towing only the substantial egos of their owners. It's kind of like the whole penis-compensation thing. Again, Utes really can't do that, no matter how good their numbers may be. Americans want big, manly trucks. It doesn't matter that they may not offer more capability than something from Oz that looks like smashed ass but goes like stink. I don't get why things are the way they are, I just know that they are the way they are.
Ahh, well, I see. Its sort of the same deal with utes here anyway. I think theres just a different image of what is "manly" in North America, and whats manly in Australia. I think whats perceived as manly in Australia has nothing to do with a vehicles size, but more if its RWD and how easily it can do a burnout. Hence this picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arch_angel/351524321/sizes/z/in/photostream/
The whole love of American muscle cars here does not help clear the matter. People would love to own a tire-shredding beast, but not if it has a bed on it, and they would drive it to work even if they could. *shrug*
chev released a new 4.5l turbo diesel duramax. my mates got a VR statesman with a fubar engine. trying to convince him to do a transplant instead of the LS1 he wants
While the Holden and Ford utes are no oil paintings, they're certainly better looking than any modern pick up truck.
They look like the bastard love child of a sedan and a truck. I want my truck to be trucky and my car to be...sleek. Utes aren't really either. It's like putting Angelina Jolie's torso on Brad Pitt. The individual pieces look fine, but the overall assembly is just wrong.
EXCUSE ME BUT YOU ARE INCORRECT UTES ARE GOOD LOOKING MY OPINION IS RIGHT AND YOURS IS WRONG SO THERE