www.carsales.com.au/

Have a VYII Acclaim on LPG - cheap and economical - the transmissions are a bit weird and don't like dropping back gears when you accelerate up a hill, cruise is good but not "intuitive" and throttles hard on hills - I only use it on relatively flat areas.

Scuba gas tank is around 55L gas and does around 320-340K's for $25 around the city.

Can fit 3 boards,(84-112) 4 sails and all the other gear with 3 in the car + their is stacks of room on the wide type Rola racks.

Must say I have had a good run out of it but the transmission and cruise "thing" annoys the crap out of me when in the hills

Tows the Jayco nicely with a load and 4 people.
Must say the Falcon 100l gas tank is a real draw especially if your not going to remote too often.

Good luck - I think their both a pretty safe and reliable purchase

Oh, wagon for sure. Sedans are pretty much useless to me.

I have an AU Falcon wagon and a VS Commodore wagon. The AU is exactly the same as a BA as far as interior shape/space goes and the VS is only very slightly shorter than the VT onwards. Same engines as well (mostly).

They are both good cars for windsurfing, and I agree, the engines in the commodores are slightly more fuel efficient than the falcons.

The only significant difference I care about is that the split fold seats in the commodore allow a passenger to sit behind the driver when boards are run down the passenger side, while the falcon doesn't. This is because the falcon splits the rear seat on the other side to the commodore.

I don't know why people are mentioning the spare in the back of the falcon. This is only the case if you have LPG and the LPG tank replaces where the spare would sit. If you don't have LPG the spare is under the car and you don't even need to remove all the gear from the back to lower it down. On the commodore you reach the spare from inside and have to move your boards out of the way to get to it.

The commodores are more popular, so expect to pay more for them than the equivalent falcon. I believe that the reliability for both is generally the same, and the only reason people favor the commodore is people like the look of them better.

A wagon with 4 wheels will do

what about something smaller,

i'm tossing up between the ford focus and the hyundai i30cw

Pugwash said...

Have a VZ Acclaim... The best word to describe it is satisfactory. It is not good, it is not bad. It has done almost 50K km and the electrics are getting tired!

The 3.6l V6 in the VZ is a lot better then the 3.8 V6 that was used in the VT-VY.

Just for some balanced opinions on this one -

The newish (15000k) vz I had while in QLD and did 3000K's in was whiney and gutless compared to the VYII 3.8 v6 in my car - I personally reckon the 3.6 was a backward step in longevity and performance and fuel economy was no different.

russh said...
...fuel economy was no different.

If anything, I think the 3.6 l uses more fuel, maybe 0.2l/100 more than 3.8. It does produce 25 kw more power.

I think the difference in feel of power is the throttle lag on the electric throttle. With the old 3.8 it was pretty simple, put foot down and go... VZ, put foot down, wait, wait, wait, go...

Wow I thought Holden vs Ford would degenerate pretty quickly, and end up like a kiting v windsurfing thread.

Then again this is the windsurfing forum I guess.......

Really I pick neither, I have a 2002 Commode wagon but it is more for the missus, I drive the fourby. Given a $10K spend for one car and it must fit w/s gear in I'd get a 10 y/o Pathfinder / Challenger / Pajero.
Fits same stuff as the Commode or Foulcan but you can also go windsurfing at remote beaches and we all like that huh

choco said...

the holden's nice bit pricey....plenty of room for boards


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ford-Spanmor-Hearse-88_W0QQ
cgi.ebay.com.au/2008-Holden-Commodore-VE-MY09-hearse-Black-A-Hearse_W0QQitemZ220493766696QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Cars?hash=item335673e028itemZ320441049164QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Cars?hash=item4a9bc6604c

Well I like wagons for the extra length over four wheelers but I think I'd get a little anxious driving that one home on a lonely road at night.

Wait till you drive an SIDI. Chaulk and cheese, it is a huge step forward.

ka43 said...

Plus they look schmick!!!!!!!!

Holden are lucky Subaru did THIS to the Outback:



eeeewwwwwwww

any one tried putting windsurfing gear in a honda odyssey?

Pugwash said...

Have a VZ Acclaim... The best word to describe it is satisfactory. It is not good, it is not bad. It has done almost 50K km and the electrics are getting tired!

This is a big one with the later Commodores. I know a few people with VZs who have had endless problems with the central locking. Also budget on replacing the ignition barrel every couple of years.

FBRoy said...

mr love said...

Wait till you drive an SIDI. Chaulk and cheese, it is a huge step forward.

Let's hope you didn't design the badges for them mr love .... Halden Commadoor!

Is this the same principle as windsurfing marketing? "We got it so wrong last year, but this years kit is perfect"... followed by "Last year was a mistake, this year we finally got it right!"?

what mr love was saying is that the new holden engine is completely different and a new technology.

ie. say goodbye to spark plugs. the new petrol engines will use deisel technology and have economy better than anything seen before.