DallasQLD Lifetime Members 1,197 Member For: 22y 28d Gender: Male Location: Albany Creek QLD Posted 08/02/04 10:18 AM Share Posted 08/02/04 10:18 AM My Brother in Law has saved hard for last Saturday. His dream car is now sitting in the garage and I have been invited to his house to share in his joy of seeing what he has always wanted - A Late model camira SS. He even had two seats setup with refreshments for us to sit and stare at it!It just so happens to be GM’s interpretation of HgAg. GM Silver. We decided that after looking at the car for an hour in the garage we should go for a drive. He lives close to Darlington Park raceway on the Gold Coast and there are some great roads nearby. We decided to swap cars. He drove the T and I Drove the Commodore.My Impressions:Firstly I was impressed by the fit and finish of the Commodore. It has leather and it looks very nice. Lots of leg room for the driver and more than the Falcon. The dash layout seems fussy and the instruments (red faced) seemed out of character for a silver car.The 18” wheels standard looked good, but I wonder how long the Bridgys will last! The engine bay seems tidy and the big Gen 3 takes up all of the room. I couldn’t even see the spark leads!Driving impressions. The gearbox is a 6 speed so I was keen to try that. The gear lever is easier to use as its lighter but has a longer throw. Reverse is a bit hard to find. The clutch was lighter as well and has longer travel.We got going and I got my first chance to do a standing start right up and through to 4th. Well it’s not the same as the T. It has comparable power but it’s not felt until about 4000RPM. The car has entirely different power delivery and you can only just hear the engine under full throttle.My first set of corners was interesting. The steering is a bit lighter giving you a sense of control that maybe superficial. The car turns in nicely but then the steering loads up mid corner making you feel that you have gone in to deep. Applying power helped as it brings the back around but because of the power deliver it’s too slow to react. The brakes are simply not up to it and I feel that they are probably as good as standard Falcon stoppers which are not up to standard either. This is a big heavy car with a big lump on the front and it doesn’t stop remotely like my T with premium brakes. All in all it was great afternoon and I enjoyed the chance for a flog in the SS. It has vindicated my decision to buy the T. Over a 10K piece of road we had access to, the T was about 1 sec per KM faster. I put that down to brakes (premium) and better low down power delivery. The T has in my view superior handling and for my money is the choice for a skilled driver with the options I have fitted. He will get more from the Falcon and the same driver must take risks in the Late model camira to keep up. Leather is not the way to go if you want to drive and enjoy corner without Velcro, you will slide all over the seat!Overall it’s not a bad car, its just not as focused on handling as the Ford. On the other hand nothing fell of it during my drive, unlike my own car that lost yet another centre wheel cap and the RHS driving light fell out after a couple of brake test stops from 100KPH. A small price to pay for IMO as the T is the better car for this test. I hope you like the shots I took.Well done Ford. The T is a worthy contender in this price bracket. Now if could just get my hands on a XR8………Dallas Doggerlarge file warning for dial up users Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasQLD Lifetime Members 1,197 Member For: 22y 28d Gender: Male Location: Albany Creek QLD Posted 08/02/04 10:21 AM Author Share Posted 08/02/04 10:21 AM Our seating for the viewing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saleen Big Gun Donating Members 4,170 Member For: 22y 2m 23d Gender: Male Location: NSW Posted 08/02/04 10:41 AM Share Posted 08/02/04 10:41 AM Good stuff. Fair comparison. My mate has an SS and when I drove it, It felt like it would blow my T away. Then we had a run(at a proper race track of course). I pulled away from him all the way to 100kph(the race track had a speed limit) I guess the weight of the T can make the feel of the power seem less. I wonder if theres a 'special' place for silver car owners on ls1.com.Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdave SLOJAM, Gone but not forgotten Lifetime Members 1,841 Member For: 22y 2m 23d Gender: Male Location: Outer east - Melbourne Posted 08/02/04 11:05 AM Share Posted 08/02/04 11:05 AM (edited) Nice review Dallas. Are the leather seats the same as the "S"? Sounds like it as I had the same impression of the seats in a "S" I had the "pleasure" to drive a while back.BTW The "T" looks much better IMO Edited 08/02/04 11:05 AM by richdave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra potty trained Lifetime Members 1,938 Member For: 21y 8m 8d Gender: Male Posted 08/02/04 11:35 AM Share Posted 08/02/04 11:35 AM tell your brother-in-law to put a newspaper under the holEdn engine ... save cleaning the oil off the concrete :lol:classic pic of the rubber over the double lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducatijb Lifetime Members 3,448 Member For: 21y 9m Gender: Male Location: sydney Posted 08/02/04 07:42 PM Share Posted 08/02/04 07:42 PM Looks like he's got the garage floor already set up with the oil stains :lol: Good review Dallas,what was the bro-in laws thoughts on the T?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktford FORD FORD FORD Donating Members 9,390 Member For: 21y 9m 16d Gender: Male Location: Victoria Point In Brissy's eastern side Posted 08/02/04 08:43 PM Share Posted 08/02/04 08:43 PM I agree about there being more leg room, but why as I'm in the upper echelon for height I find the Falcon excellent. Where the crummydore is better for taller peoples is entry height. The extra rake on the falcons screen means roof height is deminished & requires more bending, small price to pay in order to not have to bend over to clean up the oil stains every day.Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMoffat Member 744 Member For: 22y 26d Posted 08/02/04 11:53 PM Share Posted 08/02/04 11:53 PM I drive a lot of standard V6 Commodores for work, and the leg room is beter than the Ford. But I'm sure you sit slightly sideways in the Late model camira to reach the offset pedals, they are off set from the mid line of the seat slightly to the right.Other than this, I'd rather drive the Ford. plus the standard V6 seems so noisy and slow after the T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasQLD Lifetime Members 1,197 Member For: 22y 28d Gender: Male Location: Albany Creek QLD Posted 09/02/04 08:43 AM Author Share Posted 09/02/04 08:43 AM I am not sure if the leather is the same as the S. Cant imagine it being different. Too slippery for my big aR$e.....Thanks for the nice comments . we had fun. BTW My bother in law liked the T as well, but he is a Expensive Daewoo man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasQLD Lifetime Members 1,197 Member For: 22y 28d Gender: Male Location: Albany Creek QLD Posted 09/02/04 08:53 AM Author Share Posted 09/02/04 08:53 AM Another shot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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