V8 Shootout – Ford Falcon XR8 vs Holden Commodore SS

By Paul Maric | April 27th, 2009

Last Thursday we embarked on an all Aussie V8 Shootout. We put Ford’s FG Falcon XR8 on the dyno with Holden’s VE Commodore SS (AFM) to determine which produced more power. On top of that, we also attacked our private circuit to determine straight line acceleration and braking figures for both vehicles.

The results, although not remarkable, will show you just how much of an advantage one of the cars has. Check out the video below for the results.

The results give us the following insight into power/weight ratios:

Holden Commodore SS (AFM): 118.57kW/tonne
Ford Falcon XR8: 128.99kW/tonne

The Falcon’s weight obviously plays a major part in its ability to accelerate with ferocity, but the power/weight figures suggest it still has the edge due to the greater power output. We tested 0-100km/h, 1/4-mile and 100km/h-0 braking using the VBOX supplied by Applied Measurement.

You will have to check back to this page at 1:30PM AEST on Monday, 27th April to get the results via a live video cross. You will be able to send questions in to us via the console below while we are broadcasting and we will answer questions while we are streaming live.

The final event and the last blow in the shootout will be our economy drive on Tuesday, 28th April, leaving South Yarra at 6AM.

Tom

The falcon can put down all the numbers it wants, because of a shitty torque curve it will never out accelerate the Holden. The XR8′s were WELL behind the VE at the FG’s launch, and unless the AFM has absolutely crippled the SS’s performance it won’t be a different story now.
simon

tom, what do you expect when the SS has so much more engine capacity. Litre for litre, the Ford is superior, and given the higher KW output, the Boss is impressive.

Having said all that, give me the F6 over either.
Limited Slip

I love the DOHC Boss V8 but really who needs a V8 when you can have an XR6 Turbo or an F6 ? AFM on the Holden is useless and they have de-tuned it as well ? whats the point then? I thought buyers of performance oriented cars didnt care about fuel economy?

The FG XR6 and F6 are the best performance\family car by far.
Limited Slip

If I was looking to buy an SS I would be pissed off when I found out the power has been lowered by 10kw !! and torque is down too………..but i guess if AFM saves me 20 cents per week thwn its worth it!! NOT Another Holden joke……..
Bavarian Missile (.)(.)

Tom its the weight of the Falcon that it’s down fall .
Frontman

Limited Slip Says:
April 27th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Hate to say this but it has been standard issue for holden’s figures to be down around 10Kw less than claimed for at least the last 15 years that I’ve been watching. Not a major but would like this test run again whenthe Falcon has 10k + on it.
http://caradvise.com.au Schah7

Simon your right as for you Limited Slip your not only right BUT funny too.!
Tom get over it Push-Rod O.H.V engines were around when Elvis was a hit.! i.e the 1950′s LOL!
Lets face it Elvis Oops Tom virtually every car manufacture
has long moved on from this ineffecient cyl. head tech.
Just look its G.M USA which has sponged billions of Tax payers money just to soon still go Bankrupt.!
Limited Slip

frontman…….thats right Holden always overstate their power figures as they use the system wher the power figures are worked out BEFORE any adjustements are made for exhaust back pressure, drivebelt loss etc…. are taken into account, unlike Ford who release the “DIN” power figures.
RD

No mater how you spin it, these are still and will always be BOGAN CARS.
Frontman

So RD, Bogans have no right to drive cars then?? Though I must admit some of the most Boganed cars in my area these days are E36 3 series… lol
simon

Its probably true that these cars generally end up in the hands of bogans. Which bewilders me why they bothered with an AFM model. How can that be regarded as “fully sick bro”?

Frontman, the euro bogans are better known as “Pimps”.
QwkEddie

That Holden engine is rubbish!Six litres of wallowing lump of steel.The car handles like a boat on wheels.
I have a mate that works at Holden and I’ve told him the same thing.
The engine has been detuned!?!…I thought it was a “performance” car? 43Kw per litre…..WOW!that’s impressive…..NOT!
Acfsambo

QwkEddie, thats funny, 43kw/liter, my 2.2 gets more than that (and its from 1996).
Shak

Although im a proud holden supporter, im a bit disappointed with Holden not counteracting the menacing F6. If i were to buy a car right now with my head and not my heart it would be the F6 because of the Bang for your buck that you get out of it. But the one thing with the F6 is that its throttle is hard to regulate thanks to the sledgehammer boost from the turbo.
Shak

This isnt that bad because only the auto get AFM and you dont buy an auto if ur an enthusiastic driver you opt for the manual that gets the full 270Kw and 530Nm
Yanzo

get your sound right man. use microphones or something. it was noisy as.
Buck

I’d rate an XR6T or G6ET as significantly better and more effecient than either of these, and an F6 would make either look very ordinary.
Rick

RD the Elitest? So what typifies a bogan driver? someone who buys Australian? likes value for money and has an appreciation of the many features and safety aspects of the local product as opposed to the overpriced overrated imported stuff?

You sound very much like a dimwitted soul who likes to buy the “badge” and sprout it to anyone that listens – don’t impress me at your type………..
QwkEddie

The 1/4 mile figures seem a little slow?Unless I didn’t hear them properly…but that would be unlikely due to the crisp audio …hee!..hee!
AussieCars

@Frontman “Hate to say this but it has been standard issue for holden’s figures to be down around 10Kw less than claimed for at least the last 15 years that I’ve been watching.”

Not correct. Most 6ltr VE SS`s (pre AFM) that have been tested on a dyno average around 10-15kw more than what Holden claims. Not sure where you are getting your info from…
jp

Aussie cars – “Not correct. Most 6ltr VE SS`s (pre AFM) that have been tested on a dyno average around 10-15kw more than what Holden claims. Not sure where you are getting your info from… ”

this ncomment is just as interesting? where do u get your info from?
Frontman

Aussiecars, the info comes from an associates workshop…. No Names no courtmarshalls, but they prefer doing powerups on Falcons because (in general) they are higher than quoted so the job is easier. Holdens on the other hand are lower so the results look worse.
Limited Slip

Holden engines pwer is always lower than what Holden say because the fiddle the figures to make them higher than what they really are. Anyway, 260kw (claimed by Holden) isnt really anything to brag about from a 6 liter engine anyway……Fords 5.4 liter has more power.
topdog

Evey time on come on to this site every one always knocks the ford v8 Well unless im missing something i just wachted the video and the ford was quicker and stopped better and sounded better and the more it was thrashed the better it got and the worse the holden got so unless holden or going backwards with there new v8s all i can see is that fords smaller v8 is better
itsme

You know ever time i read a dnyo about these cars the ford is always got more than thay say and the holden always has less than thay say. Im only going buy the mags i read.I would have thougt with such a huge engine size over the ford V8 that it would smash it but it dosent seem that way
Phill

A Iron cast block has better thermal efficiency,than an alloy block,less power loss due to heat soke.
Andrew M

43kw per litre???
the E-Gas falcon nearly has that, needless to say its unleaded N/A Brother passes it.

As for the bogan name calling…..
Nothing really wrong with either of these cars.
They are both fun to drive, comfy, look tough and also offer great bang for your buck.

If owning the best car in its class makes me a bogan, then I would rather put up with name calling than drive around knowing I spent my money on an inferior car

So name call away, Im the one that put my money down on the better car ;p
Eddie

AFM is the biggest load of marketing garbage from a company that specialises in sales spins. Real world results are negligible. The future is small capacity, forced induction.
Neil M

Please use a decent microphone! I just can’t watch these videos with all that background noise…
Chris

I dont think it was the microphone’s fault, as when Matt is talking it is very clear (could be user error eg holding finger over it).I am looking forward to an unbiased result on the economy run as the last one I heard was not in real world conditions
Splatcat

It doesn’t surprise me that Holden “Fiddle” with the power figures. They “Fiddle” with their sale figures. Unlike Ford, Holden class sales to their dealers as sales in their sales figures, where as Ford only use sales to actual consumers, and do not include the dealers. Holden=Dodgy, they pull good quality cars from the market and replace them with cheap Korean cars and charge the same price.
Limited Slip

Splatcat..youhit the nail right on the head there mate……..sums up GM Holden perfectly.
Limited Slip

Tom…….guess what? the XR8 was quicker over the speed runs and sounded better…….so much for your bullshit comments!!!
itsme

Could it be that these cars have well and truely been run in so now we see the real numbers.I remenber reading some were that the ford donk takes a long time to come good.Could that be the reason its beating the holden now or is it just holden down grading there engines .I notice thay detuned the V6s a bit as well.I mean if i was going to buy big V8 do you think i would be worried about saving a few dollars a week.Or would you rather have the best the V8 can be
topdog

Weres tom.He might be able to tell us what happined
Shane

Gotta say as a Ford XR6T driver I have never been a real fan of the XR8 but I am quit impressed that it holds its own against a 6 liter V8 SS. If I was in the market for a V8 the XR8 would be higher on the list over the SS.

Well done Ford!!!!!
Turbodewd

I always laugh at idiots who call these bogan cars. Theyre appeal is broad. I, for example, have a degree from the Uni of Canberra and work in IT. My command of English is darn good and my IQ is 120-130….no bogan at all here…
SICK OF BOGAN

yes…all bogans have big mouth like yours.no one asking your degree or IQ.THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK.
Doug

Hahaha Turbodewd, if only you could spell and use punctuation as well as you could boast… You may not be a bogan but you are an idiot! ‘Darn good English’ indeed…

But I agree with what you’re trying to say… ‘bogan’ is one hell of a generalisation…
simon

happy for you turbodewd, give yourself a pat on the back.
Meanwhile the people of Woodridge, Mt Druitt and Deer Park are itching for 10 years to pass so they can afford to buy one.
Glen

It’s because these guys that call us bogans can’t think of anything else to call us. Whereas we have many names for them, knobs, yuppies, snobs, clueless.
Cupid Stunt

Wow IQ of 130. nearly half that of my Cornsnake.
matt

Would have been good to through in the Turbo 6 to see where it sits in the comparison.
simon

Only a bogan takes offence to being called a bogan!
AussieCars

Dyno`s from a certain well known workshop in sydney. But if you want figures from another source MOTOR magazine done a Dyno test on both engines a year back and it also showed the 6.0lt was making well above the claimed 270kw.

I agree with most here, AFM is a joke. Holden need to spend more time getting better economy from its V6. Lucky this is not just a performance test otherwise it would have been pretty stupid using the crippled AFM engine over the normal one.

But really even if Holden does win the economy run…who cares, people dont by V8`s to save fuel, they buy them because there good fun. If your going to buy an SS, do yourself a favour and buy the manual.
Tom

Everyone, typical “oh pushrods” and “HP/L” arguments

get over it, one gets the job done, the other one doesn’t. And OHV engines were around well before pushrods… this is sounding like a ricer argument.
OranParkAddict

So So, we are here again. Yes, as my name suggests i do like aussie cars that have nice v8′s. For a start no one should say ‘this is shit the other ones better’. Thi sargument gets you no where. As a self confest holden supporter, of course im going to say the ss is good. I think that AFM is a load of mumbo-jumbo that is exactly that, a maketing strategy. The FG is a major improvement over the v8 falcons of old. It as described is faster than the ss and stops faster. It doesnt handle as well, and not becasue the chassis is bad its just that zeta platform is so good. One thing about the falcon is that its engine is mounted in front of the front axle, and it is a big hitech v8. The engine weighs more than the ve, and the ve’s is mounted directly on top of the axle. The xr8 will understeer a bit when pushed hard because of this and thats one reason wny the commodore chassis and handling is better.

Btw: If a car such as a rear wheel drive v8 like thewse had its enginer power at the wheels, as suggested by some other respondants, it would be a shite load faster than 0-100 in 6 territory. Yes the falcy turbo is great and is probably faster but it lacis v8 growl.

Isnt it ironic how every discussion on sites such as these ends up being a ‘your a bogan”your a snob” that car is shit’ fest.
QwkEddie

@Turbodewd

It amazes me that people with high I.Qs can act and sound like a mate of mine called Richard Cranium.
You work in I.T? wow wee!!!.I think Australian companies should start sourcing I.T work from India and China,and have Australian I.T workers digging ditches…you know something useful,that would deflate you enormous egos and pompous attitudes.
Bloody I.T workers!
Anyway performance wise,in this test,the Falcon wins!
http://- Matrix

Gee the FG Falcon was a real failure, terrible car.
realcars

IQ of 140 for what it’s worth and I drive Falcons and blue collar. Go Figure.

Would be interesting to know the average IQ of your Toyota buyers for example.LOL.
sick of bogan

one more blindness bogan with big mouth.dinosaurs=history.
Bavarian Missile (.)(.)

Sick Of Bogan keep it up mate,you’ll get yourself banned with insulting comments. You have been reported .
wheelnut

So what if the Falcon and Commodore are so called “Dinosaurs”

The Shark and the Crocodile are two fairly simple animals which were around during the time of the dinosaurs that overtime have evolved and have managed to outlive a number of more powerful supposedly more intelligent creatures.
They are feared by some but revered by many…. just like the Falcon and Commodore.
Jeremy

Car advice,how about using a normal camera to record your video articles.What you are using now, gives terrible quality,also choose better places to film for example in the first article you had noisy background noise.
If you want to be taken seriously as a business,do not cheapen your brand image by creating a negative perception within customers minds,through the use of sub satisfactory film production.If you are not convinced just look at how your competitor “drive”,films there articles,they are superior in every regard.
http://www.v8supergeek.com Luke

A little off topic, but I just want to see someone drop the 5.4ltr supercharged V8 from the Ford GT into a Falcon and see how it goes. 410kw & 677nm… Probably not even doable but I can dream.
http://www.v8supergeek.com Luke

Jeremy: comparing caradvice to drive is a little unfair. Drive have a much bigger budget and this includes a dedicated media hosting service, which means they can have videos streaming at high speed off their host. Obviously caradvice don’t have anywhere near this sort of funding and as a result need to rely on other media hosts such as “bambuser”. For all we know their video is awesome quality, but once it gets re-encoded by bambuser is low quality.
Frontman

However Jeremy, Drive may have the better equipment, but the CA staff are far better and hide their personal favorites far better than Drivel and their love of anything team red!!! :p

As for the IQ rating, I reckon I’d struggle to get 50 points, but have hand built (not paid someone else to do it) enough rally cars and street legal drag cars, and been involved in the motor industry for over 20 years to know that if I see a thread I’m not going to like, “I DON”T READ IT!!!” Sorry but being dumb and chosing what I read rather than being smart and having to put comments on stuff I dont like sounds a hellava lot more intelligent to me
Glen

I’ve been called worse Simon and couldn’t give a crap since when does your opinion matter to me as far as I know you could be a pubescent teen that discovered they could perform autofellatio and think your better than everyone because of it. What gets me is deadset idiots coming onto this site and trying to start trouble by calling anyone who likes Aussie built muscle cars a bunch of bogans, while adding nothing towards the conversation.
BMW3Series

“Gee the FG Falcon was a real failure, terrible car.”

Matrix, I really don’t need to here your rubbish. I’ll take the facts thanks.

Simon, the way you go on not respecting the fact that people in this country have right to admire locally built cars by calling them “Bogans” only shows how you’re just one yourself. Who gives a shit about how old you are and what your occupation is, you still immature and desperately need to learn how to grow up and respect the kinds of vehicles that you just not a fan of.
Brett

Well, well, well it seems that the Holden myth is well and truly blown out of the water with these test results. I wonder how well Holden can market a detuned V8 to the public? I remember not too long ago that Holden was all about the numbers but now it seems that they are playing a different tune. It sounds like a little desperation to me. They’ve just lost a billion dollar contract in the US and their sales are not looking too good here, especially with their more economical vehicles. Astra replaced by Cruze, oh dear. What next? The commodore car company is looking a little shaky. Couldn’t happen to a nicer car company!
http://optus Frank Kay

Nothing but web pages of time wasting hum-drum , all over the place , a typical school boy web site.
Red

I like the Ford Falcon F6 because it shits all over a Holden in straight out grunt
Rough as Guts

AFM = waste of time and money for development, and a false economy improvement for customer in real terms.
Looking to buy

Hahaha…..Laughing my guts out! Thanks Lads (& Ladettes if any have contributed to this thread). Your contributions have kicked my day off with a chuckle. I came onto this site hoping to learn a little about the XR8 vs SS prior to purchasing my first new locally built V8 car, I’m delighted to see the age old Ford vs Holden battle is well and truely alive! Both cars are great in my opinion, however it would appear the Ford has performed better in a number of tests and observations (the latter being perhaps a touch “subjective”). Nonetheless I think the team at CA have done an excellent job and have certainly assisted me in my decision making (thanks).
ajars

i cant believe the comment that that wan ka said bout GM car company, they employ a lot of people to build their cars and contract a lot of other companies to make parts, rims, tires etc… they hav made some stupid mistakes yes but from what i’ve seen so far is they hav learned from them!!! talk bout smart n dumb.. not hard to release a model with plenty of power to sound better with figures but the smart one wld buy a car that looks hot, handles best,and built a car that fits the V8 in it not havin to change bonnet with ugly bump in it and then hav that de tuned 6.0ltr re tuned to what it was designed to do…not hard!!!
p.s my vx 5.7 came out standard with 255kws but with laptop i can make it 265, 285 or even 300kws without havin to change parts in engine!!! so Go Holdens