Thread: Ford to quit V8 Supercars at end of 2015

I LOVE motorsport.

Just want to get that out first.

BUT I havnt watched a V8 Taxi race in years.

I grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney and now live in the inner city.
Since selling our EH Holden back in the 70's not one of our family or any of our friends then or now have ever owned a Falcon or a Commodore.
I get in one every now and then as a Taxi but thats about it.

I cant see that im alone in my thinking and a look around any of Sydneys local car parks will quickly show what people really want in a car. Do the heads of Ford and Holden not do this themselves? Obviously not or they would have changed their ways years ago.

What id love to see is a return of a true Touring car championship.

Lift your heads and look at what the rest of the world are racing. It can still be fun to watch and just may attract a few more fans.

Tim

Originally Posted by timax

I LOVE motorsport.

Just want to get that out first.

BUT I havnt watched a V8 Taxi race in years.

I grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney and now live in the inner city.
Since selling our EH Holden back in the 70's not one of our family or any of our friends then or now have ever owned a Falcon or a Commodore.
I get in one every now and then as a Taxi but thats about it.

I cant see that im alone in my thinking and a look around any of Sydneys local car parks will quickly show what people really want in a car. Do the heads of Ford and Holden not do this themselves? Obviously not or they would have changed their ways years ago.

What id love to see is a return of a true Touring car championship.

Lift your heads and look at what the rest of the world are racing. It can still be fun to watch and just may attract a few more fans.

Tim

Why people have gone cold on Falcodores amazes me. They are very nice cars, REAR wheel drive and much nicer to drive than a front wheel drive buzz box.

What astounds me is when soccer mums choose a playdough over a similar priced statesman of fairlane. Far enough if it is for the extra seats but this is not always the case.

The "look at me" factor in a sedan rather than my big SUV, has a lot to do with it. And I hate the term SUV for a real 4x4, but have used it here as most soccer mums never even go on a dirt road.

And I wish people would stop calling them taxis.

There have been a few people who say they dont like the Falcons and Commodores but dont back it up with real justification. I am ok with people who like what they like, but when people say they are sub standard but dont back it up with facts then that annoys me. There are better and worse cars around but you need to compare apples with apples. To many people comparing different category cars.
IMHO the Commodores and Falcons are the ideal large family car. The shift to small cars is more about economy etc. They have most of the appointments of similar price bracket cars. Personally I like the BMW but you cannot compare as in the price category you can get a 3 series BMW or a top of the range Commodore, maybe even a Statesman compared to a top of the range 3 series. The equivalent for a real comparison would be a 5 or 7 series at a lot more cost, so no where near a fair comparison. If you compare it to an Altima or Camry there is no comparison the Commodores and Falcons actually win hands down.
I dont get the soccer mum SUV mentality, I would rather a SS Wagon if I needed the space. Most of these SUVs are not 4x4 and never see off road anyway. As said the latest seems to be Prados that never see anything harder than a kerb. I dont get spending $70k plus for this purpose.

Originally Posted by CraigE

There have been a few people who say they dont like the Falcons and Commodores but dont back it up with real justification. I am ok with people who like what they like, but when people say they are sub standard but dont back it up with facts then that annoys me. There are better and worse cars around but you need to compare apples with apples. To many people comparing different category cars.
IMHO the Commodores and Falcons are the ideal large family car. The shift to small cars is more about economy etc. They have most of the appointments of similar price bracket cars. Personally I like the BMW but you cannot compare as in the price category you can get a 3 series BMW or a top of the range Commodore, maybe even a Statesman compared to a top of the range 3 series. The equivalent for a real comparison would be a 5 or 7 series at a lot more cost, so no where near a fair comparison. If you compare it to an Altima or Camry there is no comparison the Commodores and Falcons actually win hands down.
I dont get the soccer mum SUV mentality, I would rather a SS Wagon if I needed the space. Most of these SUVs are not 4x4 and never see off road anyway. As said the latest seems to be Prados that never see anything harder than a kerb. I dont get spending $70k plus for this purpose.

Well said Craig, When you look across the board at what people are driving it comes down to price. Take a FPV or HSV and try to find an European or Japanese car to match its performance,features,size and you will struggle. The Statesman/Caprice offer luxury a LWB, performance and style that you will pay much,much more for if you look overseas for the same package. As for boneheads who buy big 4x4's that will never see a dirt road in their lives,i just don't get it. The sister in law has a 2014 Sahara with all the options valued at over $100,000 that she has no intention of ever taking anywhere off tarmac. To me that's like buying a Ferrari and never driving it fast.

Love my V8 Supercars, it's the racing we have,..but it won't always be in this form.
So, all you guys who don't like it, want some change etc, just be patient, in a couple of years things will change.
Pickles.

When the 500 mile race started at Philip Island (now at Bathurst and 1,000 kilometers long) it was open to all makes and several classes, speed differential and safety are reasons for it's change along with someone buying the 'rights' to it.

I believe the old 'win on Sunday sell on Monday' to hold true if there was a car to sell. There simply is not with these cars, they do NOT represent the make or model they claim to be.

A formula that I think would work and be attractive to both the race goer and the buying public would be the bread and butter 3.5 litre V6 that most car manufacturers have in their stables. The only enhancements would be for safety, original brakes, suspension, motors, transmissions and running gear, after all don't they say "racing is what improves the breed?"

Well that's my two bobs worth.

Cheers

Mike

Originally Posted by CraigE

There have been a few people who say they dont like the Falcons and Commodores but dont back it up with real justification. I am ok with people who like what they like, but when people say they are sub standard but dont back it up with facts then that annoys me.

Thats a fair call.

Look ,im sure they are a fine car but they just dont do it for me in the looks department first up.
Really everyone is going to be different with this and so i can only speak for myself.
From a style point of view neither have had much (to me) except for the Holden GTS which looks like they had a good look at where BMW were going with their M3. I dont like the M series BMWs either even though i had one for a few years. Just too gold chain and hairy chest for me.
Advancements.... well i had for a few years a 1979 Alfa Spider. 4 wheel disk brakes ,brembo or ATE standard. Twin overhead cam all alloy engine, 1 throttle per cylinder , coil springs ,independent rear suspension and designed from the heart . What did Ford or Holden have back then? Nothing to catch a young boys eye unless it was a BDA Escort or Lotus Cortina.
So you can see my personal taste is for small well balanced screamers that can drive around the outside of the big tanks. Lighter to drive , handle better , more economical , easier to live with in the city . My "fun" car these days has a 1.6 lit engine that puts out 160 HP and redlines at 8000rpm stock standard.
You mentioned the 7 series and 5 series BMW. Even for BMW these are not their best sellers. The 3 series out sells all the others put together. Same with the mid size lexus , Camery , Liberty , magna , etc etc. People dont want a big car. Cant the heads of these companies see that?
Im sure they spend a fortune in market research but a visit to any local westfield carpark will show them all they need to know.
Dont get me started on the Holden Trax "company saver"

Sorry if i have ranted a bit here. Its just something i have been seeing coming for 20 years or so.

Originally Posted by disco man

Well said Craig, When you look across the board at what people are driving it comes down to price. Take a FPV or HSV and try to find an European or Japanese car to match its performance,features,size .

How many Falcons or Commodores are exported?
If they were better than the opposition they would sell but they are not.
Plain and simple.
We can argue all day but the rest off the world seems to disagree with you.The same argument is probably happening in America where most of their cars only sell to the local market.