1988 Holden Commodore VL from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

13th Jun 2001, 23:21

"A rough diamond that was too flawed for my liking"

What things have gone wrong with the car?

Nothing.

General comments?

I thought the VL was too flawed for my liking. It has some very good points, but some bad points as well.

Its performance is good. The nissan 6 is the best thing about the car - smooth, flexible, and it sounds like a Jag when you give it some welly.

However the rest of the package lets it all down. The handling (unmodified) is terrible. Driving it on a windy road - particularly one with a lot of slow corners - is just plain boring. It suffers from bad plow understeer that eventually gets your teeth grinding in sympathy with the front tyres.

The rear end of the car has a tendency to become a real handful in anything less than perfectly smooth dry bitumen. Dirt roads - no thanks! And then there's the lumpy, over-sensitive steering, and the tendency to wander all over the road at high speeds.

The chassis of this car bends and flexes when you punt it through a high speed corner. You can hear squeaking around the windscreen and door frames.

The automatic gearbox is a bit of a pain as well. On hilly roads it continually changes between 3rd and 4th. Under heavy acceleration there is a strong vibration from somewhere in the driveline.

However there are good points. Its a comfortable, quick car that has good fuel economy in the country. Also it is quite a good looking car, and has loads of interior room.


1st Aug 2002, 20:47

You fool, the VL does have a fourth gear. The VK didn't maybe that it what you are thinking of. Get your facts straight before you bag the VL.

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2nd Oct 2002, 03:44

Ummm...My VK has 4 gears.

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23rd Oct 2002, 02:08

None of you have a clue. The VL 3 litre has a four speed auto and the 5 litre auto has a three. You need to get your facts right. By the way, I just wanna say that id be embarrassed to own a VK, mainly because the front and back of them suck compared to the VL's.

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4th Nov 2002, 05:53

I tend to agree with the steering in the VL's, they are quite sensitive. The car also has a serious problem with rolling, but minor mods can fix these.. the VL I believe was a turnaround for holden with performance. And yes the VK was a disgusting car...

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26th Nov 2003, 06:05

VL is an ugly try hard rice burner, VK is an ugly plastic screw up, Get a vh they look awesome have a strong fast motor 3.3L with the smallest dollars spent on induction and exhaust they fly.

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15th Dec 2003, 21:54

I couldn't agree more!! The vl has the worst looking interior I've ever seen in any car ever!!! They are a cheaply built piece of crap and don't peform or look anywhere as a good as my vn. And by the way, vl auto's actually have a 5th gear that you can't individually select, just like the vn. If you all want to drive a real car then buy a 5litre VN!!!

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27th Jul 2004, 21:12

Forget the vn my vl turbo 3.0l will eat 5.0l at will with out floorin it unlike v8s you have to floor it to catch up.

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23rd Oct 2005, 05:38

YOU ALL NEED TO GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.

3.0L has either a 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto

5.0L had either a 5 speed manual or 3 speed auto!

And I'm not sure about the vl turbo, but prob the same as the NA

the vl turbo would eat up the vn 5L unless hsv optioned. anyway my vl will piss all over the vn and its not even a turbo, it just has 2.5" straight through front muffler extractors cold air. sounds tuff too.

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29th Oct 2005, 22:32

Who cares about how many gears they got, they would only need one to rip on ford, ford spelt backwards, driver returns on foot!!!. Vl's are mad, up the VL!!

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30th Oct 2005, 02:31

Quote: And I'm not sure about the vl turbo, but prob the same as the NA.

The Vl Turbos have different gear ratio's to the N/A version, although I can't rember if they are higher or lower...

The VL 6 cyl might have a smaller engine, but it will still eat the VN, Oh and lets not get started on the looks :)

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1st Nov 2005, 20:50

Lol... A standard Vl blowin off a vn, well now I have read everything. Get a drive in a vn mate, then you will know that you are dilussional in thinking a un mod vl can drag a vn

HEHEHEHEHEHE

(signed a vn owner)

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6th Nov 2005, 20:58

The VL is aw-some I have one and it would kill any ford and any VN. Ill hunt down all the fords and kill them because i am Luke

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