Why do P Plater/Teens love Commodores so much?

[BradZ]

Whenever i see P platers around my town about 99% are Commodores. Which makes me wonder why do so many of them not just dislike, but HATE Fords?? A quick google search revealed every single model of Commo and Falcon of the same year, the Falcon has MORE power and torque, every single model! It has me beat as to why they all despise Falcons so much. Is it watching V8 Supercars when younger or what?

[nstg8a]

i wouldnt be trusting googles figures...

[AcidTrip]

Some have valid reasons and get down to mechanical points but these sames one are the guys who say "but Ford's are still nice cars, I just prefer Holden." The most common reason I hear guys like this use is the fact the the Holden is a TRUE Aussie car, with a lot of Holden stuff being used overseas. Whereas Ford use a lot of stuff from overseas, and next to nothing from Oz gets sent over there. Like the BOSS engine for example, from the Ford trucks ...

The majority are just inspirations for birth control with responses like "coz its fully *** cuzzzzzzzzzzzz! ford r jus krap" and when pressed for why, "jus coz bro." I repeat: inspiration for birth control.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by tonyd89

The most common reason I hear guys like this use is the fact the the Holden is a TRUE Aussie car, with a lot of Holden stuff being used overseas. Whereas Ford use a lot of stuff from overseas, and next to nothing from Oz gets sent over there. Like the BOSS engine for example, from the Ford trucks ...

Like the "Aussie" LSX engines, and the "Aussie" Turbo Hydromatic transmissions... Good thing they don't come from Yankee land.

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Like the "Aussie" LSX engines, and the "Aussie" Turbo Hydromatic transmissions... Good thing they don't come from Yankee land.

Does Yankee Land encompass Canada and Mexico?

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

Does Yankee Land encompass Canada and Mexico?

No wonder so many people cross the border, they believe that Tonawanda, Flint and Wixom are in Mexico. Others believe they are in Australia.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

Does Yankee Land encompass Canada and Mexico?

lsx crate export engines come from flint michigan...

[blk6t]

mmm, pretty even in my area. Although the Ford P platers are only driving the BA XR6's, no earlier models. Speaking to my younger brother in law who is 17, he prefers the Commodore because today's P platers (boys in particular) can now afford quite easily the VT/VX Holdens or EL / AU Falcons. The EL XR6's in manual are pretty popular among P platers in my area but rare. However its very easy for a P plater to buy a VT / VX commodore 6, throw some rims on and they have a pretty good first car. Compare the AU to the VT/VX, for a young boy the AU looks like crap which is why the Commodore is still a more popular choice.

[BradZ]

Yeah thats what i mean, but im mainly talking the 6's though. And I've been searching on it for ages, on a lot of sites and they all say the same thing.

[Ford_The_Win]

There's a few reasons why I think

-Holden has a long, ill-founded reputation as being "Australia's own car". It's culturally tied into the Australian dream of a white picket fence, 1/4 acre block and a new Holden in the driveway. The Holden is seen by many as the obvious choice when picking a car, whatever your needs (why else would the diabolical Barina sell so well?).

-Commos can be bought really cheaply and provide much more bang-for-buck than a Corolla or other Jap car, which are usually the twice the price in used car yards, but half the car.

-Their dads are Holden fanboys - mine is a Holden diehard and for years he's been trying to get it into my head that Holdens are king.

-Their mates all drive Commos - consciously or subconsciously they buy Commos because they want to fit in, and their mates won't give them ***** for driving one.

As for why Holden fanboys hate Fords, and why Ford fanboys hate Holdens?

Both the red and blue team have a massive inferiority complex to each other.
-The Falcon has, in most cases, been a more refined, better built, more advanced and a better choice than the Holden equivalent. This goes right back to the sleek and very trendy looking (at the time) XK Falcon and the FB Holden that had fins, which were way out of date at the time.
Most Holden fanboys know that Ford make a better product. Also, they see the Falcon as a kind of invader to their Holden-owning Australian dream territory. This creates insecurity within the Holden team, and they come to dislike the Falcon.

Ford boys are just as bad, except there aren't as many of them. Despite the Commo being an inferior vehicle to Falcon, the Commo has outsold the Falcon for a long time. It has a great reputation as the all-Aussie family hauler, a great car that it's owner can be proud of, always gets good write-ups, whereas the Falcon has a reputation for being a big thirsty unreliable boat (even though they aren't). People are always hanging ***** on the Falcon, because it hasn't got the golden reputation of the Commodore to counteract poor quality and reliability issues which have plagued several models of Falcon and Commo (EA, BA, VN, VT etc). This makes the Ford boys upset, thus they learn to hate the opposition.

Sorry to get all psychoanalytic on ya

[te250]

its because when they were at school all the cool kids decided they liked holdens and all the other kids who knew bugger all about cars copied them to fit in, thus producing a generation of holden fans. this also explains why they cant tell you why they like commodores.

[blueoval_01]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

There's a few reasons why I think

-Holden has a long, ill-founded reputation as being "Australia's own car". It's culturally tied into the Australian dream of a white picket fence, 1/4 acre block and a new Holden in the driveway. The Holden is seen by many as the obvious choice when picking a car, whatever your needs (why else would the diabolical Barina sell so well?).

-Commos can be bought really cheaply and provide much more bang-for-buck than a Corolla or other Jap car, which are usually the twice the price in used car yards, but half the car.

-Their dads are Holden fanboys - mine is a Holden diehard and for years he's been trying to get it into my head that Holdens are king.

-Their mates all drive Commos - consciously or subconsciously they buy Commos because they want to fit in, and their mates won't give them ***** for driving one.

As for why Holden fanboys hate Fords, and why Ford fanboys hate Holdens?

Both the red and blue team have a massive inferiority complex to each other.
-The Falcon has, in most cases, been a more refined, better built, more advanced and a better choice than the Holden equivalent. This goes right back to the sleek and very trendy looking (at the time) XK Falcon and the FB Holden that had fins, which were way out of date at the time.
Most Holden fanboys know that Ford make a better product. Also, they see the Falcon as a kind of invader to their Holden-owning Australian dream territory. This creates insecurity within the Holden team, and they come to dislike the Falcon.

Ford boys are just as bad, except there aren't as many of them. Despite the Commo being an inferior vehicle to Falcon, the Commo has outsold the Falcon for a long time. It has a great reputation as the all-Aussie family hauler, a great car that it's owner can be proud of, always gets good write-ups, whereas the Falcon has a reputation for being a big thirsty unreliable boat (even though they aren't). People are always hanging ***** on the Falcon, because it hasn't got the golden reputation of the Commodore to counteract poor quality and reliability issues which have plagued several models of Falcon and Commo (EA, BA, VN, VT etc). This makes the Ford boys upset, thus they learn to hate the opposition.

Sorry to get all psychoanalytic on ya

Mate you are totally correct in everything you said, my first interest in cars came as an air headed 17 year old when i bought a VK Calais, to me there was no other car and it was all about the"Aussie image" however as i grew out of my immaturity i got sick of the roughly built commodore and moved on to an XE ESP.....Needless to say the rest is history LOL

[Auturbo6]

The commodore revs harder and are more involving to drive, wheras the falcon is more lazy in it's driving delivery. The falcon is not slower than the commodore by any means, but just feels slower and more relaxed, which isn't what a young driver wants in a vehicle.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by Auturbo6

The commodore revs harder and are more involving to drive, wheras the falcon is more lazy in it's driving delivery. The falcon is not slower than the commodore by any means, but just feels slower and more relaxed, which isn't what a young driver wants in a vehicle.

this.

[fte50]

Originally Posted by Auturbo6

The commodore revs harder and are more involving to drive, wheras the falcon is more lazy in it's driving delivery. The falcon is not slower than the commodore by any means, but just feels slower and more relaxed, which isn't what a young driver wants in a vehicle.

More like the commodore is alot coarser and harsher giving the perception its screaming, whereas the falcon IS alot more refined making its power without as much effort, therefore translating into a more refined drive.

Its as simple as that, and if anyone thinks different, you really are dreaming.

[SVR73]

Originally Posted by Auturbo6

The commodore revs harder and are more involving to drive, wheras the falcon is more lazy in it's driving delivery. The falcon is not slower than the commodore by any means, but just feels slower and more relaxed, which isn't what a young driver wants in a vehicle.

dont agree with that at all

[bobthebilda]

Its just a perception. Its just like when you see every car high speed chase, that involves a stolen car that has been used in a hotel / service station robbery. Its always a commodore. Or when you look at the centrelink car park, its filled with 10 year old commodores. People pick cars that match their personalities.

[DallasXR6]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

Its always a commodore. Or when you look at the centrelink car park, its filled with 10 year old commodores. People pick cars that match their personalities.

I took a great pic of about 20-25 fords out the front of centerlink... Ranging all thru the years...

That was the choice of carpark on one of the bigger cruises last year tho.. Made a great pic

[DallasXR6]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

Its always a commodore. Or when you look at the centrelink car park, its filled with 10 year old commodores. People pick cars that match their personalities.

I took a great pic of about 20-25 fords out the front of centerlink... Ranging all thru the years...

That was the choice of carpark on one of the bigger cruises last year tho.. Made a great pic

[BradZ]

The Commo and the Falcon redline at the same, around 5,500rpm. That being said the Commo does make its peak power slightly higher rpm's than the Falcon.

[Coyote mk3]

Have a gander through here and make yourself feel happy
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...=platers+tough

(halfway down pg21 is nice )

[vztrt]

They wrap themselves around power poles better then the Falcon??

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by vztrt

They wrap themselves around power poles better then the Falcon??

Reviewing 5 pages of posts I think this one comes closest to the mark. In my observations over the years Commodores let go of their rear end very easily compared to the Fords. This obviously gives the young darlings a thrill - pity the poor other driver on the receiving end of a Commodore sliding backwards through an intersection.

I once had to move forward through a red light to avoid one of these idiots going into a slide on a right turn and I'm always seeing Commodores doing little slides. Yes, Commodore drivers indeed! Perhaps one day Holden might consider making as good a car as Ford and help remove these idiots from the road.

[GreenR]

Originally Posted by new2ford

Perhaps one day Holden might consider making as good a car as Ford and help remove these idiots from the road.

That will just mean there still idiots but in better cars

[TheInterceptor]

Ended up at LaPa two nights ago, not by choice..(most sydneysiders know this place).

This place is a P plater zone, after dark 9 out of 10 cars are P platers.

Guess what drove around, some doing laps, most with subwoofas....they were either commo's or 4cyl buzzboxes like pulsars...There was one silver fairlane, pretty sure it was a full car, all windows down...they looked like normal human beings. Cant say the same for the other cars and occupants...

[onfire]

As mentioned time and time again, the Holden has been ingrained as the local hero car.

But you also need to remember a few simple, forgotten details.

1978 Wheels Car of the Year : VB Commodore.
1988 Wheels Car of the Year : VN Commodore.
1993 Wheels Car of the Year : VR Commodore.
1997 Wheels Car of the Year : VT Commodore.
2006 Wheels Car of the Year : VE Commodore.

For every generation of vehicles, lets say 5-10 years, the Commodore has won the Wheels Car of the Year.

So if you were someone between 15-25 years old in the late 1970s / 1980s, chances are you or someone you knew loved the VB-VL Series to death. Same applies to anyone growing up in the 1990s with all the three models to win The WCTY being a face lift on the previous shape.

Then you need to look at each generation's competitors.

The VB Commodore versus The XD Falcon. We're talking vastly about resale and appeal to new, younger buyers. Neither really aged that well, and thats applies to the proceeding models for each car. The VC, VK & VL Commodores & the XE & XF Falcons. The Commodores of the 1980s were smaller and appealed to younger drivers.

Factor in Ford dropping the V8 some where around this point and the inevitable price decrease of the VL and VL Turbo.

The VN ( & VP ) Commodore versus the EA & EB Falcons. The VN's weren't remarkable cars, yet no where near as terrible or bland as the Falcon models. A much better looking example of an early 1990s sedan.

The VR ( & VS ) may have been a conservative design some what, yet still they aged very well. Clean lines and a neat look. The ED was still just an EB face lift, and the Commodore already had the jump on the EF and EL models.

VT versus AU Falcon. Well, we know how this turned out.

20 years of dominance over the Australian buying public. 5 Wheels Car of the Year wins for almost every generation of Commodore.

That, and almost every model of Commodore has won Bathurst.

Pretty simple stuff.

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by onfire

The VR ( & VS ) may have been a conservative design some what, yet still they aged very well. Clean lines and a neat look. The ED was still just an EB face lift, and the Commodore already had the jump on the EF and EL models.

As for the VR ageing well, I beg to differ. It was outdated at release - the underpinnings and powertrain were carried over from VP, bar a revised auto box. Inside, everything except the top half of the dash were carried over from VP, and it shows. It looked awkward with '80s squares and '90s curves, with different grains and colours of plastic everywhere, nothing matched. The auto box is clunky, the V6 sounds like it's made of mecchano, and the steering is so light I can do lock-to-lock turns with a pinky finger. I've had to endure a VR Executive work car for the past couple of months and it's abhorrent. How people could have bought those things back in the day is beyond me. The EF, even the ED, absolutely craps all over it, hence why Ford was number one at the time.

[onfire]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

As for the VR ageing well, I beg to differ. It was outdated at release - the underpinnings and powertrain were carried over from VP, bar a revised auto box. Inside, everything except the top half of the dash were carried over from VP, and it shows. It looked awkward with '80s squares and '90s curves, with different grains and colours of plastic everywhere, nothing matched. The auto box is clunky, the V6 sounds like it's made of mecchano, and the steering is so light I can do lock-to-lock turns with a pinky finger. I've had to endure a VR Executive work car for the past couple of months and it's abhorrent. How people could have bought those things back in the day is beyond me. The EF, even the ED, absolutely craps all over it, hence why Ford was number one at the time.

Regardless of any of that...



vs



Pretty clear winner. And why young guys buy Commodores.

Even being a Ford driver myself. The VR is the better looking car, and it's reflected by the question that has driven this very thread.

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by onfire

Regardless of any of that...



vs



Pretty clear winner. And why young guys buy Commodores.

Even being a Ford driver myself. The VR is the better looking car, and it's reflected by the question that has driven this very thread.

Please tell you are joking. Those pictures clearly go against your argument. The ED is a much more cohesive design than the VR. Also, the true competitor to the VR was the EF, (the ED was a stop gap) which absolutely buries the VR both inside and out.

Looks are not the reason.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Originally Posted by onfire

Regardless of any of that...



vs



Pretty clear winner. And why young guys buy Commodores.

Even being a Ford driver myself. The VR is the better looking car, and it's reflected by the question that has driven this very thread.

The EA was considered one of the most "hansome" large cars of it's day globally and the best looking large car in the global Ford lineup. So I think the argument of which was considered better looking at the time goes to the Falcon if you do some research.

The mix of VN/P and EA/B/D is pretty even around my way with P platers. Actually for some reason if a P plate girl has a large sedan it's an early E-series.

It's all about perception and peer pressure IMO. "Commodores are just fully hectic!!"