Man, what have Holden done!!!!

My last 3 cars have all been some form of the good old Aussie Holden ute. I am not the only windsurfer that prefers this type of transportation as they are pretty versatile.

So I head off to the local dealer and sus out the new Maloo , after 20 mins talking about the various features I look at the new cabin space behind the seats and think how have they achieved this .

Answer.... They square of the tray, add a tray liner and effectively remove 19cm of length . This has started alarm bells ringing in my head , knowing that in my old ute my wave boards had a nice snug fit. With panic starting to grip me, I head outside grab a board from the car and walk back into the show room and try to squeeze my board into the back of the tray.

After 5 minutes all hope is lost and the reality starts to sink in, I may never get to own my dream car . Not only that but all models of the new ute have the same dimensions.

So what do you go now?



signed: One very unhappy windsurfer

maybe time to get a ford... xr6 or f6 ute could be worth trying. arguably at the moment they come with nicer drivetrain options then the holdens.

but then some people live in a world where its not possible to own a ford.

CJW said...

Go a wagon, you won't look back :D

[Picture of some Falcodore removed]

Is that because the back window is too small, or the thought of how cheap fuel used to be makes you sad?

Just don't get a massive holden or ford sticker on the front or back window cz people can tell what make of car it is.

aus301 said...
Oh and nicer drive trains than the Holden...I will agree with the 6T, that thing is a beast. But Holden still have it with the LS7 6.0Lt V8 over anything the blue oval boys sell.

I think the performance figures say otherwise, weight negates any power advantages :) Unless you buy a W427, but then you would need roof racks hehe. But then some people won't got anywhere near anything thats not a v8, so... Eitherway, I think with the price of fuel at the moment, I'll stick with something smaller, less temptation :D

Hey Marco, you've got to go the ute !

I can help you
How about a "shorter" custom board
We'll put starboard stickers on it and no one will know
I won't tell a soul....I promise

I dunno if the future of oil is bleak. Australia at the very least has a stack of shale oil which can be made in to petrol up in Queensland.

Commodore utes are show ponies, aren't they? You hardly ever see a tradesman driving one so its hardly surprising that tray size is low on the designers list of priorities. I would have thought their payload is pretty ordinary too.

Three choices, get a van, get a trailer or take up kitesurfing

not sure what economy ford claimed they would get but around 11+ city and a bit under 10 hwy sounds right

auto

dandy ranges hills and melb eastern suburbs

about 400 - 450 kgs of trade tools and hardware (admitedly about 500-550 in the hilux at the moment)

driven them both with economy in mind but didnt have to work as hard at it in the xr, and it was still twice as quick as the hilux. reckon i could have still got better economy in the xr than i did, if i tried as hard as i am in the hilux

i guess the point i was making is 4 cylinders isnt always cheaper, coz petrol prices seemed to come up a few times in this thread re; bigger cars and falcodores etc.. and someone suggested the hilux (tho they didnt specify petrol or diesel)

and another thing i just remembered is the servicing costs for falcon per km were nearly half that of the hilux petrol, not to mention the couple of dealers ive delt, with in the toyota case they never want to admit anything could possibly be wrong with the car whereas the ford dealer bent over backwards to try and help out with anything, but from what ive heard, experiences with dealers can vary greatly irrespective of brand

nobody said...

x sport guy said...

not sure what economy ford claimed they would get but around 11+ city and a bit under 10 hwy sounds right

auto

dandy ranges hills and melb eastern suburbs

about 400 - 450 kgs of trade tools and hardware (admitedly about 500-550 in the hilux at the moment)

driven them both with economy in mind but didnt have to work as hard at it in the xr, and it was still twice as quick as the hilux. reckon i could have still got better economy in the xr than i did, if i tried as hard as i am in the hilux

i guess the point i was making is 4 cylinders isnt always cheaper, coz petrol prices seemed to come up a few times in this thread re; bigger cars and falcodores etc.. and someone suggested the hilux (tho they didnt specify petrol or diesel)

and another thing i just remembered is the servicing costs for falcon per km were nearly half that of the hilux petrol, not to mention the couple of dealers ive delt, with in the toyota case they never want to admit anything could possibly be wrong with the car whereas the ford dealer bent over backwards to try and help out with anything, but from what ive heard, experiences with dealers can vary greatly irrespective of brand

I agree the engine size isn't the only factor. Is the Hilux 2WD or 4WD? What does it weigh?

A friend or mine owned a four cylinder Hilux 4WD many years ago and I had an old Falcon 6 ute. They got about he same fuel economy. The Hilux and the ute were about the same weight.

Having said that, I have a '95 4 cylinder manual Camry which I took from Sydney to the Blue Mountains (so almost all highway) with four people and tools. Towed a trailer most of the time. Did 819Km on a tank which was about 60-63L since I didn't run out (didn't use the same pump to refill). That would be 7.7L/100Km at worst or 7.3L/100Km at best.

So that is why I'm thinking the Hilux is probably a heavy 4WD version with short gearing, bigger wheels and tyres (rotating weight counts twice in acceleration) and higher wind drag.

nope.. hilux is 2wd "workmate" basic model with 195 x 14 cheese cutters on it inflated to 43 - 45 psi
last time at tip weighbridge 2220 kgs, fairly similar to xr's total loaded weight

sure the hilux isnt as slippery through the air as a falcodore or camry would be which would explain the distinct lack of improvement in hwy consumption over city driving, but someone suggested the hilux and i figured its worth pointing out coz all 4cyl hilux's are going to be similar

ex misses had exact same ute with same economy as mine,

current misses has hyundai lantra wagon 2.0ltr and she reckons bout the same economy as my hilux but im not totally sure how she came to that conclusion.. she is a bit of a lead foot but doesnt beleive me when i tell her

x sport guy said...

...

nope.. hilux is 2wd "workmate" basic model with 195 x 14 cheese cutters on it inflated to 43 - 45 psi
last time at tip weighbridge 2220 kgs, fairly similar to xr's total loaded weight

sure the hilux isnt as slippery through the air as a falcodore or camry would be which would explain the distinct lack of improvement in hwy consumption over city driving, but someone suggested the hilux and i figured its worth pointing out coz all 4cyl hilux's are going to be similar

ex misses had exact same ute with same economy as mine,

current misses has hyundai lantra wagon 2.0ltr and she reckons bout the same economy as my hilux but im not totally sure how she came to that conclusion.. she is a bit of a lead foot but doesnt beleive me when i tell her

After doing some seaching I found the scary reality. The Falcon auto ute has better combined fuel economy than the 2.7L manual Hilux like you said. The only major factor I can think of is the Hilux is short geared so spends a larger amount of time at higher revs than the Falcon. Thanks for enlightening us x sport guy.
http://www.redbook.com.au/used-cars/details.aspx?__No=30&R=102094&__Nne=15&Cr=1&title=2006%20Toyota%20TGN16R%20MY07%20Hilux%20Workmate%20(Aug)&__N=0+4294942755+4294966575+4294965618&__sid=11B658C1CB62&__Ns=p_Make_String|0||p_ClassificationType_String|0||p_Family_String|0||p_Year_String|1||p_SequenceNum_Int32|0

www.redbook.com.au/used-cars/details.aspx?__No=90&R=58326&__Nne=15&Cr=13&title=2006%20Ford%20BF%20Falcon%20XR6%20Super%20Cab%20&__N=0+4294961316+4294965982+4294965618&__sid=11B658C1CB62&__Ns=p_Make_String|0||p_ClassificationType_String|0||p_Family_String|0||p_Year_String|1||p_SequenceNum_Int32|0

I am a Holden man through and through and would never contemplate purchasing any other brand of car.

Rider 5, I might have to seriously consider your proposal I would require a board at about 215cm, floats a 77kg person and excels in all conditions. Lets even try an new twin fin design, what am I saying you know the deal .

So my thoughts are now drifting towards the new Holden wagon in the SS V. I am not overly worried about fuel / running costs, the misses and I don't intend on having kids so I get to spend more money on toys.

Actually I was informed by the HSV dealer that they will release a wagon version in early October (ahhh!!! another dream to grasp onto).

marco gribi said...

I am a Holden man through and through and would never contemplate purchasing any other brand of car.

Rider 5, I might have to seriously consider your proposal I would require a board at about 215cm, floats a 77kg person and excels in all conditions. Lets even try an new twin fin design, what am I saying you know the deal .

So my thoughts are now drifting towards the new Holden wagon in the SS V. I am not overly worried about fuel / running costs, the misses and I don't intend on having kids so I get to spend more money on toys.

Actually I was informed by the HSV dealer that they will release a wagon version in early October (ahhh!!! another dream to grasp onto).

Marco, the wagons have already been released (check your local dealer)

BUT

surprise, surprise, they are shorter inside that the previous models as well, so you will end up with the boards jammed through between the seats, which is OK if you dont mind sand and saltwater inside your nice new wagon

or you could just use the work van....

Sorry Marco , I am the lone Windsurfer at holden design , and try to protect us as much as possible . On this one the marketing boys were insistant on more rear interior storage and as you noted the only way to get it was reduce bed length. The bed length isn't a huge issue with most ute customers , so i was never going to win that one . Unfortunately Windsurfing isn't on the Radar as far as Marketing cars goes.
I tried !!!!

Rider5 said...

...

Mr Love, Can you tell em Rider5 says it's a ute! A freekin ute! and the idea of a ute is to carry as much in the back as possible! not inside but outside.

I agree. If they want to keep more inside, buy a lockable hard-cover or get a wagon. Not that anyone is going to listen to us.

Hey Marco, how about a flash custom ali tray on it. You could get it extended then.