HSV GTS with Magnetic Ride Control suspension (MRC)
29 Jan, 2008
41 Comments 
But try lapping Eastern Creek raceway in a Phantom and you’re likely to need every airbag the car has got, and then some.
You’re right. A Rolls Royce Phantom will never see a racetrack. That’s an absurd idea. These cars are built to chauffeur the ultra-minted in extraordinary luxury, and they do that, better than any other car on the planet.
You will therefore appreciate the engineering know how, that goes into those rare breed of cars, which offer both a comfortable ride and proper performance car handling. You might say it’s the Holy Grail of automotive engineering.
This is where the General’s Magnetic Ride Control takes centre stage. The heart of MRC is a magic potion called Magneto-Rheological Fluid cooked up by the Lord Corporation. The best way to describe this stuff is a liquid such as mineral or synthetic oil with up to 40% volume of pure iron particles suspended in the fluid.
When the iron fillings (let’s call them that) are magnetised, they bond together into fibrous structures with a consistency, proportional to that of the magnetic field. So, from a thin oily solution, to honey-like syrup, or as thick as engine grease, in less time than a heartbeat.
It’s Brilliant stuff. What that means, is almost instantaneous and variable changes in damping force, as the shock absorbers no longer have to force fluid through a series of internal valves, but simply vary the amount of charge to the fluid inside the strut. Essentially, you have a semi-active suspension system on board which unlike traditional shocks, offer an unlimited range of damping variations.
Controlling the amount of resistance to each shock absorber are electronic sensors at each wheel, whose job it is to measure how far the wheel moves up and down. You’re not going to get a lot of movement on a smooth asphalt surface, but venture off onto Australia’s suburban backwater road hell, and larger wheel movements will be countered by a more powerful current to the magneto-rheological fluid, which makes the shocks a lot stiffer.
MRC also irons out that dreaded body lean and front-end brake dive, by monitoring additional data such as the steering wheel angle, direction of the vehicle’s travel, and information from the antilock brakes and traction control systems.
So is there a huge difference in handling and ride between the ClubSport R8 and the GTS?
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January 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
the GTS really is a class leading car for only 75 grand. aussie cars are very very good for the price. maybe not as good build quality but shit they go smoothly and put the power down and the handling is very good also
Great cars
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January 29th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
i agree with you on that 110%
even normal v6 falcodores are great value for money, mine is 9 yrs old and hasnt broken down once, and i do tend to thrash it…
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January 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I still haven’t seen anyone (officially) match the sub 5 second 0-100 factory claim.
Maybe someone out there can correct me.
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January 29th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
No more cutting springs to lower yah car ehh?
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January 29th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
hsvs have always looked to gory and show-off to me, i still prefer my bland white vt commodore with hubcap wheels that beats a lot of ricers of the lights
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January 29th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Morpheous. Yum!
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January 29th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
na hsv’s have always been the king in australia. and i am a huge holden fan. the the VE looks to plain front the side with the side skirt looks crappy. and the things sit far 2 high for a sports car. change it for sv6 up to the gts and make it inches lower so them 20 inch wheels on the gts sit good.
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January 29th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Will the new GT-P introduce it?
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January 29th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
id have to say it might. i am hige holden fan, but heard the new ford is gunna be 1 hot machine. and they have got holden worried. but who nose
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January 29th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
^^^^Holden will come back Goog, dont ya worry!
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January 29th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
yeah i no they will. but even holden are saying to there employers that they are scared of the orion. my cousin works there.
the ve would be a sweet car if they didnt have such problems. my uncles new ss v ute. lags and the water bottle to spray the windscreen with has no bottom on it and my uncles asked 2 get it replaced and holden said they cant for another 3 months. its bloody discraceful holden.
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January 29th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Didn’t Scalextric Cars have a little magnet in the back to promote better handling. Ha Ha
Great idea but what are the problems. Why isn’t it used more frequently?
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January 29th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
There are no problems - no moving parts just inert fluid which becomes active when charged.
It’s still expensive to produce as there are several manufacturers involved in the process.
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January 29th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I hope the Orion scares Holden because it will just mean more upgrades and improvements. This is why the Ford / Holden competition is great for us consumers. But I think behind closed doors they both need to band up and battle the overseas imports in order to hold market share. My uncle from the USA was BLOWN away at our Holden/HSVs and Ford/FPVs and wondered why the US didn’t have these cars on offer years ago as this is what the US consumer wants…..
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January 29th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Duck, I highly doubt that FPV will offer MRC, no hard facts, just haven’t heard any rumours about it nor do I believe that they will have the money to do the R&D to implement such a system.
“heard the new ford is gunna be 1 hot machine, and they have got holden worried… but even holden are saying to there employers that they are scared of the orion” Goog, from the CGI’s and spy shots that we have seen, I doubt that Holden will be overly worried as you claim they are (Im not saying that they don’t look good)
The look of the Orion is more an evolutionary change rather than revolutionary, and mechanically, it will be quite similar to the BF apart from power upgrades and the intro of the 5 sp trans in the base models. And if the images of the FPV’s that are floating around are correct, then again I doubt that they will have too much to be worried about. (Even though they do look pretty good)
Holden and HSV will have Aces up their sleeves to crash Ford and FPV’s party, eg: Rumoured Concept Cars at MMS, VF changes later in the year (maybe in 09), HSV Sportwagon, GTS-R???LS7/LS9, 6.2L LS3 in Clubbie…
By the way Goog, How old are you by the way? Just wondering because your literacy is atrocious, I think you may need to concentrate a wee bit harder at school when you head back soon.
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January 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
team wikki - Goog is obviously a texter. Can’t really make out much of what he means!!
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Holden is about as worried about the Orion as AMG is about the next HSV GTS…
Ford is stuck with the same cast iron block 5.4 truck engine that maxes out at 6000rpm. For 330 cubic inches it weighs 244 kgs compared to the LS2’s 364 cubic inches and 204kgs. While it might sit back a bit more past the front axle in Orion, it will still sit pretty high in the engine bay. I doubt whether they even have the money to engineer a drivetrain or chassis for use with Shelby GT500’s 500HP supercharged version.
I hope the Orion is way lighter than the BA cause otherwise it won’t stand a chance against a VE with LS3, LS7, LSA or LS9.
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January 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I’m lucky enough to have my driveway at the start of “Car Advice’s” favourite 11km of road.
New GTS looks tough, but that’s a terrible colour.
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
so what if my liceracy is bad. i am 17. but my uncle works for holden and says holden are scared of the ford. and he has a ve ute.
i am a big holden hrt fan, but i think the new ford will be better then the ve
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January 30th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I haven’t seen a test where they achieved sub 5 seconds either
However; if the MRC was switched on it would harden up the suspension which would [I assume] reduce the amount of bogging down of the line which should save a couple of ohno-seconds..
as I saw on top gear in one of the European performance cars which also had MRC
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January 30th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
If you don’t like the Commodore in Morpheous [Purple].. You should see one in K-Pow [Velvet Blue] which appears to change its “intensity” depending on the light and angle of view..
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January 30th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Yep ………..I know that colour ! I like to stay in the purple………..maybe that’s a s e x ual deprived part of me……hahaha
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Yeah Holden is real worried about the Orion, cause they might not have any REAL Austrlian made competition in future if it sells as well as the AU did. Let’s hope Ford get it right this time in the first place!!!
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Are you able to give any specifics Goog? I’d be interested to hear “why” a Holden employee would be worried about it.
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I personally believe that Holden should be scared of the coming onslaught from Ford. Not only is the new Falcon coming out in just under a month, but they’ve got the Mondeo which recently came out, then about a year later are going to have to try and match the new Focus… I personally think Ford are planning something pretty big. They know about the “GTS-R” and are not going to take that lying down. It’s fact that Ford are going to bounce back and take Holden down a couple of pegs, but a couple of years afterwards Holden will do the same thing… it’s a just a big circle of vice - versa.
As for sales figures, there are still heaps of people that buy cars based souly on the most power and because they’re Australian… well Ford is going to be the most powerful Australian built car for a while to come. Sales are bound to increase. But as I said before, Holden will bounce back. And only time will tell when.
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I feel you’re right, Azza. Holden and Ford both have their moments of glory in selling us the worst possible shyte for the longest possible time. They’ve done this throughout history, yet have a habit of making up ground spectacularly.
Past examples? I’d say when Holden went from their breathless black six to the Nissan motor. Current examples? The four speed dunger Holden puts in its Omegas. There’s no excuse for that and even less excuse for Ford continuing to equip the wagon with a leaf sprung rear end. That’s embarrassment on a world scale.
But watch. Suddenly, Omegas will be sold standard with a 6 speeder and direct injection V6 and Ford will oh, I dunno, make an upgraded and cheaper territory as a wagon replacement with a standard V6 Duratorq Turbo Diesel…you get the idea.
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Morpheous. grrr. K-Pow…grrr
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January 31st, 2008 at 12:25 am
Got a lot of time for you Golfie. intelligent well writen and factual stuff. Given that Ford have been Haemorrhaging money over the pasty few years with Holden following suit. Ford at last, have realised their awfull position and corrected years of neglect and decided to bring in better metal. I’m sure Holden won;t sit back and let it continue. I reckon the Vectra will get to Australia, you already have the Astra and Captiva (in the UK as an Antara under Vauxhall’s name and the Captiva under the Chevrolet Badge). I think the anti-Holden brigade have mistakenly tarred the Captiva with the Deawoo name it’s a good motor. Holden are getting there but the next couple of years will tell.
Oh and Morpheous – absolute foul colour, I’d question the 5EXUALITY of any bloke driving a motor that colour through choice
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January 31st, 2008 at 4:00 am
Fords orion should sell out and the ve is nothing special.
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January 31st, 2008 at 8:00 am
I own a VE GTS and was disappointed with the MRC from day 1. Selecting Performance or Track makes no difference at all. Drive over a speedhump and the car bumps up and down and bottoms out as if there were no shock absorbers. I complain to the dealer every service, but whatever they do it makes no difference. I have driven a VE R8 recently and this car has far superior suspension. Less body roll less understeer and when you are over the speedhump it is firm immediately. I am seriously thinking of getting coilovers fitted to better the cars performance. Other than that it is a great car.
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January 31st, 2008 at 9:23 am
Why didn’t you test drive both the GTS and R8 when you bought Marcel??
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January 31st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
No name, you are so buttering me up! You’ll be getting the latest edition of W***LS by airmail if you keep this up!
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February 1st, 2008 at 4:27 pm
watto cobro. the whole holden is scared of the new orion. not just him. but like holden boss knows the new ford will be something special. i am a huge holden fan to so i aint making this up
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February 1st, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Goog, I hope it is something special, because it needs to be to win back some buyers. I don’t want to see Holden or Ford fade away in Australia. Where would V8Supercars be then?
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February 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Heres an Idea:
With the Falcon going to be a V6 in a couple of years as well as the TT-36 Torana .. we could have V6 Supercars.. or V8 Supercars -2 ?
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March 20th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Hi Guy’s
I’ve got a VE GTS man done 4k (3 Months from dealer, 09/07/2007 build plate) and from the first day I had it, it has had a very noticeable, severe enough shake/vibration/ oscilation through the steering wheel from about 85kmh upwards of 110kmh+, seems to be more prevalent when you back off the accelerator and cruise on any road surface and sometimes inconsistently pulls to the left or the right. Activating the MRC switch does change the characteristic of the shake/vibration/ oscilation but again this not consistent. I’ve had the car in about 6 -8 times to get this looked at by the HSV dealers service dept including sending it to Bridgestone to have the wheels and tires matched for high and low points/ Balancing/ Wheel alignment to try and correct the problem (Made no noticeable difference)..
I have always thought that it felt more like the suspension/MRC playing up as it also feels like the car sometimes wants to launch itself into another lane when it skips over potholes and seams on differing road surfaces. It feels downright dangerous at times.
The service guy’s until yesterday were telling me categorically that it was a tire problem whiule I have been adament that it wasn’t as all of the tire tweaks done haven’t eased the vibration through the steering whatsoever. They have now tested 3 more GTS’s at thier dealership and another of thier customers GTS’s and have had me drive one of them and they have found that these cars have got the same problem. They the HSV dealers service team now believe that the MRC is the problem and not the tires.
As a result they are now arranging a meeting between themselves, myself and the QLD head of HSV to discuss this issue. They are telling me that HSV are saying that thats how it is however with the MRC. I don’t know about you guy’s but I have never driven a sports car capable of 250+kph that has steering stability issues @ 250kph’s let alone 85kph and up through the range.. I have been driving standard VE loan cars whilst mine’s been in the shop and they have not at all shown up with any steering vibration whatsoever.
My question is to all of you other VE GTS owners is have you experienced this same or similar issue?
Have you experienced it or similar and been told that it’s anything but the MRC giving the problem?
Have any of you that have experienced this actually had it rectified?
Have any of you that have experienced this still have the issue and are still waiting for a fix?
If any of the above is familiar to you and you would like me add your name to the list of complainants that I can take along to this meeting then please respond and send me you details via PM so I can build on the list.
As it stands, I fear that there could be a design flaw in the VE GTS’s MRC system or MRC/Wheel/Tire combination that HSV are knowledgable of and that they don’t have a fix or if they do they don’t want to make it public as it would be an extremely expensive recall.
So if any of this rings a bell please PM me and also respond to this post so that others will know that they are not alone here.
alcamie at bigpond dot net dot au
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March 22nd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
You are correct i am having extreme noise problems with the VE GTS that i am battling to get fixed quite frankly because after the mods the noise is still there and they do not know how to fix. This battle will not be left and could get ugly and legal. If you have suspension problems please email me on Jeffrey.Lewis@qr.com.au. I need all the support and people with similar problems to make my journey to rectify the problem easier. Thanks for your support out there.
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March 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Hi chris,
I have the same car and year, with the same problem. Holden have already tried to fix it by placing brand new wheels and tyres on my car, but made no difference. At the momment I am waiting on Holden to come up with a solution.
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March 29th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Hi Chris,
I have the same car and year with the sane problem, Holden have already tried and changed my wheels with brand new ones, the problem was still there. At the moment, I am waiting on Holden for a solution.
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March 29th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi Chris,
I also had a noise in my rear quarter panel from my VE GTS, it sounded like a wire hitting on the quarter panel, Holden coudn’t fix the problem, so I went to my panel beater, and he found the problem, it was a pop rivet that was loose in the back of the tail light assembly. I beleive for a $80k car, to be faced with these type of issues, is quiet poor from Holden. I will never buy another Holden for the rest of my life.
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May 17th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Is there any reason why people have fake names to slag?.
It goes both ways.
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