AFTER THE SHOCK-WAVES of the global financial crisis hit, followed by a world oil price that first fell but has since marched skyward, many tipped that the days of the big Aussie V8 were numbered.
Not so, apparently.
Last month, Holden sold a sizeable 1682 V8-powered vehicles - the best monthly sales figure since November 2004; an achievement Holden attributes to its new fuel-saving Active Fuel Management cylinder deactivation system.
The AFM system shuts down half of the engine’s eight cylinders during highway cruising and prolonged deceleration, and Holden claims that it can save up to 1.0l/100km off the fuel economy rating of a car equipped with a non-AFM engine.
AFM is currently only available on cars fitted with an automatic transmission, however with the majority of Holden V8s being optioned with a slushbox, thats no big issue.
With 6570 Commodores and Statesmans sold last month, V8 sales accounted for 25.6 percent of Holden’s large-car sales. The Australian automaker’s bent-eight models have always been popular, but last month’s numbers are a solid improvement over the 20 percent share those models usually command.
It’s such an improvement that inventory for V8-equipped Commodores and Statesmans is running low. Demand is steadily outstripping supply and Holden’s order books are 50 percent fuller than the same time last year.
In a world increasingly fixated on alternative fuels, hybrid motors and super-compact city cars, V8 enthusiasts are still prepared to open their wallets to capture the singular joy of a V8 on song.
With Holden’s AFM technology now delivering considerable fuel-efficiency and emissions gains, it seems the V8 will remain a powerful force in the Australian industry for a good while yet.
Loading ...
Comments
Click here to jump to Add Comment box
How do you get a picture next to your name?
Get a Gravatar. Click here to find out more.
AFM is a load of crap. Shame on you TMR for being a mouthpiece for Holden and all that is wrong with our local industry.
Please don’t feed us the same marketing BS that Holden want us to believe. In the real world AFM gives bugger all fuel saving in all but the steadiest of highway driving, at which time the fuel savings can be explained by the detuned engine producing less power than the non AFM V8’s.
Hmmm… and your views about AFM is based on what Tom? This post is about facts: Holden sales of 1682 V8-powered vehicles is its best monthly sales figure for V8s since November 2004.
It might be a marketing line, but it’s verifiable fact … and an interesting one.
Re AFM: there are a lot of harder heads than ours reporting the efficiency gains - better than 10% in normal driving. (You can extrapolate that the same person, same driving habits, even if those driving habits aren’t ‘normal’, will achieve the same gains.)
Your last point of a detuned engine producing fuel savings (under the same load and driving habits) is simply a furphy.
You’re very welcome to your views, but waving the ‘that’s-BS-stick’ around indiscriminately is not entirely fair; neither to us, nor, in this instance, to Holden.
The Insider
Honestly, I think some of it may be a thought process of “Lets get one of these things while we can still afford one, and are able to buy one……
I’ve thought about it myself.
How much longer do we think that it’s going to last before:
a/ Public perception and the ‘green’ initiative pushes 6+ litre cars off the street or
b/ the cost of fuel will reach Europe prices (IE: $2+) and most of us can’t afford them anymore.
Lets not forget about the GFC too.
It’s a fact that these things are currently cheaper to run than they were 12 months ago. If you managed to keep your job and are still bringing in some good coin, you’ve got additional funds to throw at a car because fuel, insurance, initial purchase costs, and even maintenance of vehicles has come down in price.
Whatever your thoughts on AFM are, and insider seems to have many, don’t you feel that it’s a technology utilized to gain efficiency when the vehicle is already near it’s most efficient….ie: cruising.
It doesn’t work in the first couple of gears and surely the stop start grind of a trip into work is where the V8’s drink the most? It take some juice to get 1800kg+ moving from a standstill.
I’m sure 4 cylinders and 150kw or something would still have no trouble going from 0 to 40 to 0 to 50 to 0 to 40 to … you get the idea.
I think the V8 will always have a special place in the true blue Aussie’s heart, most petrol heads couldnt give a crap about the carbon footprint we leave.
You first have to accept the gobbly goop of global warming and what its attributed too ,not this little black duck,sorry !
As far as fuel efficiency,I drove my brothers VE SSV Ute for a week a month ago and found it just as efficient as my inline 6 around town .
Long live V8s I say !
Can’t help but agree with R12s here. I’m probably going to buy a new car in about 12months time (if I still have a job haha) and there’s a little part of me that wants to own a walloping great big V8 before it’s too late. I don’t do many km’s a year, so fuel price doesn’t bother me. I was looking at prices of brand new a VE SS recently and found a few for about $40k driveaway. That’s an awesome bargin in my view and maybe it’s that which is driving the sales, not the Active Fuel Management.
On a side note, AFM may also be a nice marketing tool for GM selling a Chevy Caprice - ‘hey look Barak, even our V8’s are Eco-friendly!’