Ok I need to ask this

[VQ]

I have noticed that a lot of the GM cars in America have the 3.8 litre V6 engine I was woundering if it was the same enigne as the Ecotec Holden-made 3.8 litre v6?

[Commander]

Crap man, I really am uncertain, but given the scenario, I would bet my left testie that they are the same. Oddly, the 3.8 was probably the best V6 made, but I don't think they fit any of the new cars with it anymore. I once owned a 1989 Trans Am with a 3.8 Litre Turbo V6, and the thing just screamed!

It might be..

But, you can tell its past its use-by-date now.. Every time I hear a Commodore getting thrashed along, you hear that poor old 152kW engine, it sounds so harsh and rough.

The replacement for it can not come too soon. And Holden knows it, too, with competitors releasing such great engines. (Ford and Mitsubishi).. Sadly, Toyota has lost the plot, completely.

[Dylan]

i think it is the same, i read somewhere that the engine was designed 25 years ago. its an old engine.

Dad reckons that when i buy my car (VH or VK commodore) i should use a V6, i still think im best to use a 308.

[VQ]

Yeah i know the engines where the same when Holden originally got it but they redesigned it in 95 for the VS upgrade hence the ECOTEC. Well Ur luckiy ur Dad would woant u to get a v6!! My Dad would want me to get a diseal VW. Well Street Commodores Magazine is doing up a VN commodore V6 to get 12 second quarters for under $11,000 (just engine mods) and there using a series 1 motor which is different from later ones. Ne way thanks for telling me. And the turbo versions in Aus are rare compared to the supercharged ones. When will they see the light? Wait holden will be doing that with their new engine on the next commodore and the engines will be Australian made like when we hadt the VS commodore

The new Holden V6 engines will actually be made in Canada, until the plant in Melbourne is fully up and running, and everything is sorted out..

Holden chief Peter Hanenberger (nice guy, too, very enthusiastic about Holden, and loves to drive very, very fast) promises that Audi quality levels are the target, for the future all-new Holden Commodore.

I, and many others, hope he is right.

[Justin Martin]

Just out of curiosity, is the replacement V6 a DOHC 3.5l? Oldsmobile had designed an excellent DOHC 3.5l V6 to replace the 3.8l in the Intrigue, but it was only made for a year before Olds was killed. Which is sad, they were making some very impressive cars in the last few years, but I guess the bad image was too much to overcome. The V6 hasn't been used in anything else that I can think of, so it wouldn't supprise me if GM would be wanting to find something to put it in so they could get their investment back. I think it was pretty much designed to bolt right in where the 3.8l was.

It's a 3.6 litre V6, with 24 valves. It's derived from a Japanese Isuzu engine, and comes in many different forms (3.2, 3.5, 3.6 litres) , and feature levels.

Their are cheap versions, without the high tech stuff, but their are expensive premium versions too, with all the technological-refinements.

[Dylan]

im pretty sure its acctuly remaining a 3.8L

[VQ]

Dylan: have U looked at the Aussie Muscle forums recently? whell theres a post in there about it. yeah the New commodore will be back to beat Ford again and hopefully keep them down again (or else all my Ford freinds will keep on bagging me 4 it.)

Bad news is you'll have to suffer 2 years of your Ford friends bagging you about it..

Truth is that Holden shouldn't have been so naive in the first place.. Even so, they'll only have a chance if the new V6 (a poor configuration anyhow, compared to a balanced and smooth inline 6) if they can get it with the variable valve timing, and other high spec features. Currently, it looks like they may only get a low-spec version of it, without all the good stuff.

But Ford well and truly has the advantage with the V8 engines, especially with Holden stuck with its peaky, ohv design Gen.III (and Gen.IV derivative) for quite a long while. The Gen.III just doesn't go at low revs, like an engine of that size should.

And some will no-doubt say, that if you tune it, you can get more out of it, but, I say, you pay enough money for one already, why should you be forced to pay more for modifications (thus voiding your warranty), to correct a problem that should not even have existed. It was a poor move to go from one old ohv V8 engine to another.

But, the engine troubles can wait.. At the moment, the quality and reliability problems are much more important for Holden. Peter Hanenberger is said to be pushing all the time for quality improvements.

[VQ]

Yeah I can put up with it. Holden have always been veiwed as being Australian compared to Ford when they came in with the Falcon they were selling escorts and cortinas so people knew they weren't Australia only heck the first couple of Falcons were US-based and the holdens I know were based on Opels but that not the piont the new engine SHOULD have the best engine for the commo so they can keep up with Ford (I can't belive I'm saying that LMAO) but straight six takes up more space under the boinnet and thats a problem. Also the enigine, the LS1 is a old style engine but using a lot of new-tech stuff so don't really have a go at it! yes U have to improve it with more money but most people just expect that cos they are gonna completly modify it in some cases.
I personally reckon they should have got the Northstar V8 cxos it does m,ake a lot of power doesn't it? Wait it doesn't make more power but is it more technically advanced? yes it is.(I think but I dunno about american cars.) It might be smaller but it produces about as much power as the stock 225KW commo with the qiuet exhaust if U put a loud one on like the HSV one then it makes about 15 KW's more(I've seen it in magazine's) and the headert design on it isn't very good and with a good edxaust about 200 RWKW can be made(Compared to 160 RWKW stock) so that says somethin doesn't it? With just bolt-on mods u can get 220rwkw+ for about 10 grand extra which is good if u buy a VT 2 for 25 geand then u have saved some money. And if u do work on thje internals then u can get about 300RWKW easy hasn't happend yet cos most people go for superchargers but a good idea. besides I don't plan on owning the late model commodores I want a VQ caprice with the C.O.M.E Alloy block (Holden 304 basically) and plenty of other goodies.

[Dylan]

i would have OHV 16 valve engines are cheaper to make more power because they only have one cam instead of 2 or 4.

Alex: i have some advise for you, dont belive everything that you read in magizines. i know you do this cause you say you want a block that hasnt been released yet. there is NO proof that this block is any good. do your research properly and you can save money by not making mistakes other people already have.

You know what I'd like to see happen? I'd like to see of course, the new 24 valve V6 engine, get low pressure turbocharging, for all V6 powered models (but in different levels of tune), and for V8 models, we need an alloy 32 valve V8, with dual variable valve timing, of about 4.5 to 5.0 litres capacity (but no bigger than that).

Finally, for the big long wheel base cars, the minimum engines they should be available with are the V8 engines.. And a V12, of between 5.4 to 6.0 litres engine should be designed, to be the top engine. The V12 only needs to be SOHC, and 24 valves, but, Quad-cams, and dual variable valve timing, and 4 valves per cylinder would be nice too.. Maybe HSV could do a version of something like this with Twin-turbocharging (like the new Benz Twin-turbo V12).

Notice the trend here.. Getting big power, but not at the expense of smoothness, quietness, or refinement, and designing the engines to have excellent emissions performance, as well. At minimum, Holden should be designing engines to meet Euro-4 emissions standards, since, potentially, they could end up selling cars in Europe, soon.

[VQ]

That would be nice, yes but Holden would have to export all models to america as Chev's Cadialacs to make up for the money spent.

[I'm Back!!!]

Monte Carlo, Lumina, Impala, Camaro V6, all Buicks except the Century, Olds 88, Intrigue, Firebird V6 all have the GM 3.8 V6. Some are supercharged.