why is it that all the other countries get the best cars and north america gets the milked out versions? in europe they have the ford focus rs (5 cylinder turbo charged 210hp) we have (had the SVT which only put out 170 hp) the zx3 (5) which only puts out 150 hp with the new 2.3 duratech engine.

They also have the honda civic type r
we have the civic si

we don't even have a Renault, Alfa Romeo, or Peugot (sorry bout the spelling if wrong) and thats just some of them can't think of them all right now. or am i wrong and we do have these over here?

one of the reasons for this is your exhaust emission laws especially in states like california, on vehicles with highly tunned engines there are problems keeping the emissions low and therefor would not pass some of your gas test. anyway l can't agree with you, on my visits to the states l.ve seen and driven motors that l would love to get my hands on in the u.k. pity they don't make them with the steering wheel mounted on the proper side!

We don't drive on the wrong side you do (just joking) you mean driving with the steering wheel on right hand side. I wish my accent was right hand drive that would be awsume. I understand what you are saying about the emssion thing but the manufactures make the cars totally different, like take the new focus over in europe it has a wider stance looks a hell of alot better and has one more cylinder than it does over here. here they just up the displacement .3 litres which gives it 20 more hp but still we get all the milked out versions. here in new york they changed the state inspections to where they do the emission testing to, which suck anything over 96 OBDII. Montego when you were over here what did you drive? you said you wish you had some of what we had just wondering like what?

What the hell would you do with a high powered car ??? Anything above 80mph, you are watching the r-view mirror for the cop. It's different on the autobahn, where you can do 180+ mph without a cop bothering you. :grin: :grin:

doc 182, to try and answer your question there is or rather was a fundimental difference between american and european cars, most americans (o/k you might not be one of them) like their autos with soft and springy suspension, electric powered everything big V8's under the bonnet (your fuel is cheap) and generally big cars (you've got the space) in europe cars are made with firmer road hugging suspension, they have smaller engines (cause fuel prices are a rip-off) they have not got as many gimmicks fitted (although that is changing) and the cars are gernerally smaller. so basically americans dont like european cars and europeans dont like american cars, but obviously not everyones the same, thank god, thats why l said that when l come over to the u.s. l love some of your cars because l like the american style and the power everything idea (the last vehicle l drove out there was a chevolet venture and it even had power operated side doors and rear window vents!)........anyway as a footnote if you would really like a right hand drive accent send me over some cash and l will put one on the next container ship going over to you cos we've got thousands of them over here

bye the way the speed limit in the u.k. is 70mph

This post has been edited by montego: Apr 27 2005, 12:29 PM

and the autobahn is in germany, without limits :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash:

i used to live in germany thats probably why i think most american cars suck, how much would an 95 accent be anyways.

speed limit in new york is 65mph on selected highways 55 anywhere else. that suck.

you could maybe pick up a half decent 95 accent in the u.k. for around 300-400 pounds stirling, about $700 but less than that if you're prepared to do a bit of work, don't forget cars are cheaper in the states than here (like everythings cheaper in the states than here!) they don't call it rip-off britain for nothing

if i were to buy an 95 accent (5 speed) it would be a project car so if it ran wouldn't be a problem. the problem would be getting it to the states and past customs (or who ever does that) with the emissions process. How much is gas over there in us $ please? here $2.35 a gallon (right now still going up).

5 litres of unleaded fuel in the u.k. is around 4.20 sterling that about $7.00 per u.s. gallon

A US gallon is 3.79 litres

but that still aint' cheap

We're now hovering around 101.9/litre on the west coast - call it around $3.10 US/gallon

Every country you go to has its gems and clunkers

My Australian son-in-law calls the Holden Commodore "a Saturn made on a budget" but he still goes on about his Torana

wow i would be broke if gas was that high here. i remember the good old days when gas was $.99 (cents) a gallon and i'm only 22.

they have holden commodores in the us but only the two door one and its called a potiac gto.
i rekon we (australia)have the best of both wolds here.we have mid size cars that handle good and have heaps of power.our two most popular base model family sedans have close to 200kw and their still rear drive

cheers rod

Most of the articles refer to the new GTO as based on the Holden Monaro - is that a 2-door version of the Commodore?

GM brought it out in 2004 as a replacement for the Firebird/Trans-am, which ceased production in 2002.


At $33,000 US base proce it seems like a lot of money for something that really doesn't stand out in the style dep't, especialy going head-to-head with the retro-look Mustang.

Now, if you could get hold of a '73 Falcon XB coupe with a blower and a couple of REALLY BIG spare gas tanks, there's got to be a market.

This post has been edited by gordo: May 30 2005, 12:35 PM

yep the monaro is the two door version of the commodore theres also some realy fast HSV commodore sedans and utes and XA XB and XC falcons coupes (72-78) werejust two door versions of the falcon sedan.the early 71 falcons were the fastest four door car in the wold untill the late eightys,

hey have you seen the monaro in son of mask? it was built near where i live. :57:

oh and the GTO isnt just based on the monaro it is a monaro.
their bult in the same factory in victoria the only real diffrence is the front bumper and l/h/drive do you guys get the four wheel drive GTO over there?

Just rear-wheel drive as far as I know - check out http://www.pontiac.com/gto/index.jsp?brand...e&pagename=home

thanks for the link the monaro isnt the only car from here you guys paid too much for. remember the ford capri(thats what it was called here) ford sold **** loads of em in the US they were based on our local ford laser povo pack