Quote:
Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6
The GM propaganda at the time stated they bench-marked the very best V6's from Honda, Nissan and Toyota.
In typical GM fashion, they bench-marked then figured out how to make it cheaper. What was supposed to be a all-new, clean sheet world class engine, turned out to be a utter disappointment.
I remember at the time when the Alloytec debuted in the VZ Commodore, the SV6 with the premium version of the new V6 was put head to head with the BA MK II XR6. The consensus was that the Barra 182 was smoother and more refined with a sweeter note to it compared to the Alloytec 190. And that was before launched the BF with the improved Barra 190.
To put that into context, Ford with their old warhorse with major roots back to 1988 and 1960, was a superior engine to the multi million dollar clean sheet design. As a Ford man in that era, I always loved the idea of that.
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SAAB used a 2.8L variation of it with a turbo - model code is LP9, it was also manufactured in Port Melbourne.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_High_Feature_engine
Realistically that's what Holden should have used in it's performance variation like the SV6, it would have made about 20KW less than the LSx engines not to dethrone their 'king' (on paper)
Considering they gave turbo technology a crack in the 1980s with the RB30DET I don't see why they overlooked it.
The biggest problem is HF V6 lacks lowdown torque, you can even feel this in the SIDI Commodores like VEII/VF, nothing under 4500 RPM then it starts moving at a proper rate.