The first HFV6 to ever come of the line

[HoldenHFV6]

This is the first engine to ever come of the line. It is going into a Buick Rendezvous in north america (assembled in Mexico first).

[fpv_gtho]

damn those are tall heads, they look as if they make up half the engine height. do u know if holden are going to have any packaging problems like ford did with the XR8 and FPV's? to think a good engine's being wasted in a car like a buick.

[HoldenHFV6]

They have specially made plastic boxes to put the engines in. They are big enough to fit the engine, the turbo (for Saab) and a spare parts kit. The boxes have heaps of room.
The first engine to get to mexico literally fell of the back of the truck. When they took the engine out to attach the transmission ond front end, the engine fell apart. There was alot of angry people.

Just a note: Holden didn't actually finish the HFV6 plant on time and on budget. The plant is ment to have 4 machine lines feeding into an assembly line. However, due to money and time, they didn't put in a camshaft machine line so now we buy them from Japan.
There has been alot of problem so far. We are trying to make 120 engines / day. Currently we are making about 50 / day. We have had problems like porosity in engine blocks, rust phasors and incorrect valve seeting. All these things will irone out eventually. It is a damn good engine though

[fpv_gtho]

Originally posted by HoldenHFV6
Just a note: Holden didn't actually finish the HFV6 plant on time and on budget. The plant is ment to have 4 machine lines feeding into an assembly line. However, due to money and time, they didn't put in a camshaft machine line so now we buy them from Japan.
There has been alot of problem so far. We are trying to make 120 engines / day. Currently we are making about 50 / day. We have had problems like porosity in engine blocks, rust phasors and incorrect valve seeting. All these things will irone out eventually. It is a damn good engine though

it comes a surprise to hear that, as the media has had nothing to say about it, probably because holden didnt leak the info out. i guess falc's predictions of teathing problems arose, but he was talking about when holden first start using the Gen4 i think, mainly based on the Gen3 oil issues i think, u'd have to ask him for the whole story.

[SHAKER]

damn those are tall heads, they look as if they make up half the engine height. do u know if holden are going to have any packaging problems like ford did with the XR8 and FPV's? to think a good engine's being wasted in a car like a buick.

Well the 1988 vn commodore engine was a buick v6 with holden badges stamped on the outside. It was a replacement for the nissan 6 cylinder engine which was put in the vl commodores with a turbo option(which was a damn good engine, better than the v6 powerplant)....since then holden has spent a lot of time and money developing it to what it is today.....i heard that in america the original 3.8 buick v6 engine was shelved for quite along time until the oil/fuel crisis arose and they put it back into production...it has come a long way in development since then, but its still only a pushrod /2 valve per cylinder engine.

[fpv_gtho]

well ive heard the turbo motor was great, but i still wouldnt want one. the engine was never designed to be used in the commodore so its installation was a bit dodgy and it had some overheating problems. you'd think by now though that the buick engine would at least have gotten some alloy heads, i mean, ford done that to their straight six almost 20 years ago

[SHAKER]

well i have driven an ecotec v6 powered commodore, and theyre quite punchy and revvy down low right until redline, i have driven an ea fairmont with a 4.0 litre engine, and it was more subdued down low but pulled smoothly upto speed, it was great high speed cruising engine in my opinion, but the v6 did have the "revvy low down" feel to it.

[SHAKER]

mind you i am comparing a 1988 motor to a 1996 powerplant

[fpv_gtho]

well the ecotec V6 compared to an equivalent ford straight six is usually considered lacking in torque. especially the later model straight sixes, because of their dual length plenum they offered quite a punch low down

[SHAKER]

well im not upto speed on the engineering sides of things...but yeah all the v6s ive been in are potent down low....gee id love to drive a turbo 6, i want one lol

[fpv_gtho]

well i think once people with the VL's start sticking the likes of racing intercoolers and radiators on, the cooling issues somewhat fade away. im surprised though that ford didnt swap the dual stage plenum for a fully variable one, maybe they'll do that 2004 or 2007. i dont know how effective something like a variable inlet tract would be on a cat like the XR6T though, but the forced induction works wonders with the fully variable VCT so perhaps the same will happen

[SHAKER]

so does anyone whats the best a modified t6 had pulled down the 1/4.......i think i read somewhere that someone has cracked the high 10s........but im not sure if thats entirley correct.

[fpv_gtho]

the best ive heard is mid 12's coming from the likes of kits from CAPA, APS and Redcliffe Dyno, that produce about 400kw

[SHAKER]

well i know of a turbo vl in adelaide that has cracked the 10 second mark, and thats street registered and it was atleast 3 years ago....im sure with a bit more time the ford t6 will be up there....theyve got the cubes over the nissan 6 thats for sure!

[fpv_gtho]

well cubic inches dont really mean anything for forced induction, just the strength of the internals and the block. i dont know what the nissan motor was made out of, but the strongest points going for the XR6T are its cast iron block and 4 valve heads