I owned a couple of NA's and a Couple of Turbo's but now im looking at buying a 5L Calais..... What do they go like? Please any info would be appreciated!

A 3 Litre will run rings around it.

haha exactly, stock vl 5l are Pigs! but a small amount of work will get them going better.

Not a bog standard 3L non turbo. I was hesitant about getting my Calais as I only wanted a 3L, but have no regrets in getting the 8. It's a second car so not driven every day, so I'm not too worried about fuel. It needs a new front main seal as it's pissing oil everywhere, doing that soon. 294k and still going strong, only hickup so far was a couple of small backfires the other day but think it's either the ethanol blend fuel I put in or the fact it hadn't been run for a few weeks. It drives well and is very responsive to the go pedal. A manual 3L would give it a good run from the line, but I reckon it would still beat it, a turbo would flog it, as expected with 30kw more. I've only had it since August and don't like it any less so far. Yes they are a bit of a slug for an 8 but that mostly due to the emissions crap, like the vlave on the right header that blocks it off when cold, or whenever, forces 8 cylinders worth of exhaust gas out the left side, that's how it was explained to me anyway, and there is some sort of valve there. A set of headers and decent cat back system and these things start to dance a bit better, that's next on my list.

Quote: Originally Posted by calais3L A 3 Litre will run rings around it. The driveability of a 5.0 litre cannot even be compared to the 3 litre. So much easy torque that you dont need to nail it everywhere just to move. What youre saying is true though, the 3 litre will probably just about keep up with the stock 5 litre. Its not just the out right power of the V8 though - there is low and midrange that the six just doesnt have.

I know all the turbo fans call them crap becuase they were 122kw stock but its still a V8 commodore that you can turn into a 180kw Brock replica that sounds better than any 3.0. Good for adding an injected top end later on too.

Quote: The driveability of a 5.0 litre cannot even be compared to the 3 litre. So much easy torque that you dont need to nail it everywhere just to move. While the V8 using twice as much fuel Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

When I had a drive of my dad's 5L Calais when he bought it, the torque it had put every RB30 to shame, that I had driven. Yes the RB30s go good for what they are, but as boyracer said they need to be nailed to get moving. While a stock VL 5L isn't the fastest thing around (Well neither are the 3Ls in stock form) they still go pretty good.

few mods and the 5l will have it going sweat but the 3 speed in them is a pain in the ass if they had over drive they would have been way better on fuel

Kid from here has a 5L VL calais.. He has extractors and 2.5" cat back.. He has put it on GAS now, but before he did this... My 5 speed 3L would have killed it... Don't know if its just a Lemon or if thats what they are all like.. On the other hand... it sounds good. I wouldn't be complaining if it were mine though... 142 000 original kms.

a mate of mine had a 5L vl calais, with extractors and 2.5inch, 136000kms with a worn transmission. it has stacks of torque down low. i drove it a few times, it was effortless driving but i kept on expecting to feel the boost come on, but there wasn't a turbo:-). if you use the gears and shift your self it gets going, he kept up with a worked vn SV 5spd once. Shifting back to first at 60 ish the thing just kicks you in the back and takes off.

I've owned an auto 3.0 na, a 5 speed 3.0 na before owning my 5.0 vl that I still drive now. The auto 3.0 went pretty well but the 5 speed was a quicker car. I always thought that the 5.0 was going to be a slower car, but compared to newer models it is slow but compared to something of its era it goes quite well. Accelaration is pretty good, better than both the 3.0 na's that Ive owned. I've never driven a turbo VL but I have driven a couple of skylines (R31 and R33 turbos) and as expected they would easily leave a carby vl v8 for dead. I love the sound of a V8 and as a daily driven car I dont need a high horsepower weapon to have fun in. It goes as good as it needs to and better than alot of cars on the road

They're just like any other 5 litre, they have good potential once opened up. when holden released the VL 5.0ltr they had to meet strict emmissions laws so they were corked up hence the 122KW from factory. The reason they arent quick stock is the tall diff ratio (3.08), lazy stall converter (1900RPM), and also from the restricted motor which had the low comp of 8.5:1, a baby cam, about 3 emmission systems that were very restrictive plus the low factory static timing of 6 degrees advance. All these add up to a slow car. But they have a strong diff, the strongest of the trimatics (M40), the big L34 valve heads and also a great Rochester carb that was very good. Since all this crap was put out from factory the whole car repsonds very well to any mods you do. For example my calais has 3.45 LSD, 2800 stall, shift kit, 226 crane cam, pacemakers and exhaust, eldelbrock intake which I put most on myself and the car should run flat 14's maybe a touch quicker, which is decent for the cost of mods all up (about 3500). I wouldnt stick with the 5ltr to go all out in power unless you want to stroke it or add some forced induction, but for an everyday car they can be made to pull quite decent and also the VL 5ltr has the advantage over most 5ltr injection cars in terms of weight, carrying less than roughly 200kg or so which helps alot.

simple fix... turbo it Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Cousin has a VL 5ltr with mild work and m21 4 speed behind it iv'e driven it and well my vl wouldn't be able to touch it.

i had one, sold it .. bought it standard and was the l36 motor with b cast heads... a stock 3litre used to tair balls of it, not to mention it was shocking on fuel , and was a fresh motor too... never again will i buy one. bought it standard august 2006, spent **** laods on it, sold it in december 2006...

The only way a 3litre N/A will beat/keep up with the 5litre is if both cars are dead stock, once a bit of money is thrown at each the 5litre will win hands down. Any one thats had a 3ltr beat thier 5ltr VL must have had it running on 7 cylinders or completely out of tune. The N/A RB30 was good for what it was but by no means a quick street motor.

5ltr's had less kw from factory than the 3litre, not to mention being heavier.

Quote: Originally Posted by CHEETR 5ltr's had less kw from factory than the 3litre, not to mention being heavier. The 5 litre may very well have been heavier but it had 122kw from factory as compared to the 114kw of the 3litre http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au...ifications.htm (http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/holden_commodore_VL_technical_specifications.htm) in stock form auto vs auto the 5.0 is quicker but a manual 3.0 has the auto 5.0 covered

Quote: Originally Posted by CHEETR 5ltr's had less kw from factory than the 3litre, not to mention being heavier. yeah 122 vs 114, but 323Nm vs 247Nm of torque. i have explained why the 5.0 were not quick, just read above. In fact i forgot to mention weight, the difference was roughly 50 Kg. I would love to see the RB30 run 8.5:1 (from 9:1) comp, 6 degrees static advance (from 15 degrees), the super restrictive emissions set ups (there was 3 in total) in a car that has a 1900RPM stall )down from 2200RPM) and 3.08 diff gears (down from 3.45). My guess the car would run 18's down the 1/4mile.