Some Bugger's Stolen My Turbo

[Dagabond]

Well not realy

Some were not happy with my VY comparo, how about an XT comparo instead.

Westpoint Ford Werribee have kindly placed me in the seat of an XT to drive for a couple of day's While mine is away for the next few day's getting the aftermarket Leather.

Comparing it to the VY the XT is a hand's down winner, the finish alone put's it a class above that of the Holden there's none of the tatty edge's on the plastic vent's etc, it seem's to feel and look a lot more sturdy and the fit of it is a mark above as well, there was a simple problem i found in the vy where the glovebox would'nt close completely and the light would stay on glowing through the crack even with a good slam shut after a bit of driving it had rattled loose again.

Compared to the XR6 it's very much the same except for colour and velour.

Layout of the dash is exactly the same as the XR6 nice and easy to navigateand very simple to use, the button's feel uncluttered and easier to reach than the vy's triple button heater-a/c controls.

No cruise on the XT but if it was optioned it'd be in the same positioning as the XR's on the wheel and easier to reach than on the stalk as in the VY. The seating postion seem's a bit to high for the likes of this little 6foot tall bloke compared to both the vy and the XR i seem to be sitting on and not in the seat and at it's lowest point i dont have much head room left.

The boot on the VY looks to be a lot smaller in depth both verticaly and longutudanily rather than having the recess where the spare sit's on the falcon it's a flat bottom making it look a bit cramped if you had a bulky load of some sort, no split fold rear seat in the vy either.

Electric windows fitted only to the front of the XT so the comparison is between the XR and the VY with the buttons I think a good option on both would have been a lockout for the operation of the rears from the front as well as the rear, so you dont find yourself opening the rear when you wanted to open the front windows without looking at what your doing with the switch's.

Steering feels as light as the XR and nowhere near as heavy as that of the VY but the suspension feel's a bit floatier than the VY. i havent realy thrown either of the car's through any hard turn's or twisties so i wouldnt like to go into the oversteer understeer territory but general cruising in both car's seem to be on a par with each other the vy being a little bit harsher on large bumps but giving a better feel for the road, I definately could be wrong but i think the XT has a firmer ride than the XR or very close in comparison.

The auto box doesnt feel as loose and slopy as in the vy and is a treat to use, the vy gives you the option of using it manualy but is a strange feeling when reverse is the next step above first when coming down through the gears. The shifter itself feels a lot sturdier as well. Given the option again i dont think i would hesitaite in going for the auto ive found it good to use as a manual when wanted and easy to slip into 'D' when start stopping in heavy traffic, the only down fall being the heavy braking.

Brakes the XT feels like you tryin to pull up a tank with the auto, you can feel every ounce of weight pushing you forward coming onto them, the VY felt very agile in comparison not needing nearly as much force to pull you up, neither hold a match to the MANUAL XR in this department(IMHO) even though there the same brakes but with down shifting in the manual it doesnt feel as heavy.

Engine wise the VY was a rental so i'll give it the benifit of doubt, but it seemed to scream it's gut's out from motor to tailpipe when givin a good bootful, the XT's only got 500k's on the clock so i wont be giving it to much, but the little bit of acceleration i have given it seemed very responsive.

So there you go call it dribble call it what you want i just thought you might like to read something in between all those important meeting's and other work related thing's you should be realy doing at this moment in time.

Falcon XT:

Priced from $34,815 RRP*

Holden Executive Sedan:

Priced from $30,880 RRP*

I'll take this last bit to again Thank Paul and the guy's and gal's at Westpoint Ford Werribee for all the help and slinging the XT my way while the XR6 is in for some tanning.

[CJF077]

What kind of leather are you getting? and how much?

[Dagabond]

You'll have to wait and see Pic's at the weekend.

Price: $2,000 on top of overall purchase of the car.

[Guest LionHeart]

They gave you an XT!!!!!

WALLY WHATS UP WIT DAT!!!!

I got to drive a Bright Yellow KA!!!!

Those who have seen me will see the humour in that......

[Guest wally]

It's ok I found it... and the leather

[CJF077]

is that the aftermarket leather damn? I wonder how much it would cost to get TURBO stiitched into the current leather..

[Dagabond]

Thank's Wally, saved me a job at the weekend.(notice you dodged Leo's question ).

CJ yep that's mine just been down to get it, it look's farkin grouse i gotta say, not bad seeing as it left Westpoint Tuesday morning and returned this arfternoon ie: better than waiting 2month's for it to come from the factory.

Courtesy of Blackman and Son's here in Melbourne (probably THE best leather craftsmen in the country), It's a warm charcoal in Austen leather produced here in Australia at Lara, has very soft feel to it and comes with a 4 year warranty.

The embroiding is done in purple dont know if you can quiet pick it with the digi pic.

I dont know how much it would cost you to get the embroiding done but do you realy want to have it ripped out and reinstalled?

[HellionXR6T]

They gave you an XT!!!!!

WALLY WHATS UP WIT DAT!!!!

I got to drive a Bright Yellow KA!!!!

Those who have seen me will see the humour in that......

LOL,

And here I am thinking ahh crap, I'm in a dodgy AU series II Forte.

And it's dodgy!!!

handles sooo badly, no power at all, and I have driven the AU II Forte before and they are not too bad, this one really does sux!!!

It's done 48,000kms and it's damn near falling apart on me. it's been in a major accident before it was purchased from BBF from the auctions. Gust of wind goes through the car once you travel over 100kmh. rattles all over the place.

I'd rather the "KA" at this point.

[Guest Phantom]

Thank's Wally, saved me a job at the weekend.(notice you dodged Leo's question ).

CJ yep that's mine just been down to get it, it look's farkin grouse I gotta say, not bad seeing as it left Westpoint Tuesday morning and returned this arfternoon ie: better than waiting 2month's for it to come from the factory.

Courtesy of Blackman and Son's here in Melbourne (probably THE best leather craftsmen in the country), It's a warm charcoal in Austen leather produced here in Australia at Lara, has very soft feel to it and comes with a 4 year warranty.

The embroiding is done in purple dont know if you can quiet pick it with the digi pic.

I dont know how much it would cost you to get the embroiding done but do you realy want to have it ripped out and reinstalled?

That's the big advantage of aftermarket leather Dagabond.

You can have the embroiding done the colour to match your car and it costs the same $2K.

The only difference that I can see is the leather in the middle of the seat looks the same as the soft leather on the outside. This is the same as the Ghia seats whereas the XR has perforated leather which I think is better.

Anyway it's hard to tell without comparing them in the flesh.

Nice job though, love the phantom coloured embroiding.

[Mondie]

That looks very nice Dagabond, looks very classy. Would you say its better quality than the Factory leather, it appears to be in the photo, not that you can tell much from that.

For $2K did they also replace the cloth in the door inserts with leather?