Fifth Gear Vauxhall VXR8 vs Lotus Carlton

[Mechknight73]

Considering the disparity of horsepower, and obviously dated suspension, full marks to the Lotus Carlton for keeping up. Being 1.5 seconds slower than a VXR8 is not something to be laughed at

[eamh2002]

@Mechknight73

Lotus Omega/Carlton needs the stig inside and VXR too :)

You saw the part where it caught up? I bet the turbos didnt spool/she can't drive an old turbo car so well in the slow corners and the car didnt bounce back onto speed like the more crispy n/a engine.

Some say theres lag when theres not enough rpm to even spool them up :D I think you need the engines max torque rpms, and whack the pedal to see how fast it spools, not idle speeds :)...

[Mechknight73]

@eamh2002 Good point. I've only heard of the Lotus Carlton in the same way that most British people have heard of the Holden Torana; a vague notion of where it comes from, and what it can do. I think even Clarkson could do a better job of finding out what this one could REALLY do

[itsawindupuk]

today i drove my godfathers lotus carlton. only 16k miles on the clock, and the rare lotus tune package (remap). its aroung 500bhp and the acceleration pushes your eyes to the back of your skull!! i had to cling onto the steering wheel!!! fantastic car.

[bob67jones]

yeah, holden really got inspiration for the vxr8 from lotus, pfft! year right

[kiwi328i]

There is something special though knowing your car has been developed and made by the suspension masters re. Lotus. They are the shit. Put some decent feet on it, and I rekon there would not have been much in it, esp on a dry surface. I would still have the Lotus, its a one off, there are no future versions unlike the Holden. I like Holden, but it wont be a classic, and it will not be venerated either...not this one anyway, already we have 317kw, 325kw, now the new E3....it goesnt stop...

[JackSupremeKing]

4:48 - 4:51 .. she had an orgasm .. !!!!

[justas73r]

Vicki is in hevan with the VXR8..., i´m in heart with the Carlton..., LOTUS!!

[xsatquest]

So basically, they take an 18 year old car that has done a million miles and put it up against a brand new car.

Anyone want to guess how much better the old car would have done if it had all of it's horses still alive...

[JohnUnit]

@xsatquest that's assuming it's worn out. I don't know much about the engine in the lotus, but lots of engines with over 100,000 miles are within 2 or 3% of their original horsepower.

[talanoa123]

:( She doesn't Mention it's from Australia. sorry mate

[moossee32]

If she likes the 6.0 litres in this, she will love the HSV 427 (7.0 Litres)

[GreenCorn9]

2:05 is it just me, or did she just admit that she has big hairs on her chest?

[kidowner]

@GreenCorn9 that was a figure of speech xd

[marshalllucky]

vicki butler looks suspiciously like quentin wilson and you never actually see them at the same time, they have the same speech patterns and mannerisms also becase they are the same person.

[Danielhsv0]

GO HSV

Lotus Carlton v Hsv Gts E2 = 325kw

Lotus Carlton v Hsv W427 = 375kw

[kober777]

@SpydR997 gayboy

[prestonavich19]

go the Holdens

[ajball2000]

Liked the fact that you can still see the family line resemblence nearly 20 years later. Both cracking cars and show what GM are capable of when they put their minds to it.

[Mechknight73]

@ajball2000 Although Holden is as distant from the US GM family as you can get when it comes to engineering. The VXR8 in Australia is known as the Holden Special Vehicles Club Sport R8, a tuned Holden Commodore. Although I'm curious, how did Lotus get the job of tweaking what was supposed to be a "sedate" family car? The Commodore in its basic form is essentially the same thing, an average family car in Australia. It just handles, stops and accelerates really well in stock form

[ajball2000]

@Mechknight73 Lotus got the job because GM/Vauxhall owned them at the time. Lotus developed the C20XE (aka 'redtop') engine which was used in the 16v GTE, GSI cavalier, calibra and the ealier mk3 GSI atsra. It's one of te best engines ever made. It was just a pity that the chassis of the front wheel drive cars vauxhall/opel produced weren't up to the task of coping with it. . .

[Mechknight73]

@ajball2000 How far down the line did the Vauxhall Senator get? At what time did they cease building them in England. The Rekord/Senator/Monza, as much as Europe doesn't want to admit it, benefited from some of Holden's R&D. On driving three of them from Melbourne to Sydney, Holden's engineers decided the body and suspension wasn't up to handling Australian roads, as a Commodore. One early model of Commodore, the VL featured a turbocharged Nissan RB30 engine, alongside a 5 litre V8

[ajball2000]

@lucarioguy111 Lotus helped develop the C20XE engine used in the 16v GTE astra/GSI Cavalier and Astra as well as some models of Calibra (which, incidently there was a turbo variant). The XE lump has been widely acknowledged as one of the best engines ever built and is highly sort after.

[bigtallcarl]

0ver 170 my ass its limited to 155

[prestonavich19]

@bigtallcarl if you remove the limiter it will be at 1 77

[Sycken]

just an omega...

[Grogan1988]

i hate poms driving our cars, fuck off will ya

[BigBurnouts]

wtf is this?

[yianni3510]

she will give you anal anytime...

[SimonDolan]

You`re right - it was said in jest. British women are gross in general and have bad attitudes - ever since the Spice Girls.

[kober777]

@SimonDolan gayboy

[SimonDolan]

Yes you built this in Oz but our birds are fitter - she is better than Kylie or Holly.

[nikkolassey]

Um elle mcpherson, is australian. nobody ever compared to her. or megan gale.

[nikkolassey]

.... is she retarded? australia has been building rocketship 4 doors since the 1960's :S

[ZeekyBoogyDoog]

Britfags have no clue :X

[Speedstar235]

@nikkolassey Not exactly considered "real" rocketship 4 door monsters aren't they?

[fxfjfefc]

WELL LIKE IT OR NOT YOU POMMIE BASTARDS! THIS CAR IS MADE IN AUSTRALIA BY ITS PERFORMANCE ARM HSV & SHIPPED OVER TO YOUR JOINT (UNFORTUNATELY) I RECKON YOU DICKHEADS STUFFED UP WAY BACK IN THE 5O's WHEN THE JAPS TANNED YOUR BUTTS WITH WITH THEIR SUPERIOR BIKES (75O FOURS, 9OO KWAKAS, MACH3's LET ALONE THEIR DIRT BIKES AGAINST YOUR OIL LEAKING TRUMPIES, BitsStuckAnywhere(BSA's) AYJAY's, MATCHIES, ARIELS, VELO's ETC!) IF IT WASN'T FOR US YOUD ALL BE DRIVING AROUND IN FORD PREFECT SHIT BOXES!

[1980cossie]

Shut up you Aussie muppet.

[ajball2000]

@fxfjfefc the VXR8 is a good car, granted. Maybe we should let you guys try out a Caterham, Noble or even a McLaren if you feel you could handle it. And Japanese bikes are no longer superior. Or have you not seen a Triumph Daytona 675, Rocket 3 or Bonneville. Even Norton are now coming back.

[bigaussie68]

Hate to tell you this Vicki but Aussies have been producing 4 door muscle cars since the late 60s

[dragonny4master]

That VXR (first model of VXR) is based on Opel Senator.

HVS Comodore is also based on Opel Comodore.

For these two cars I am sure, for rest I don't know.

The problem is only that Opel stopped production of these cars (Senator, Omega from 80's to '90s - great cars).

By the way, Opel Lotus Omega is for respect (that car was leading car for about 10 years and still comparable to new cars).

[nikkolassey]

No. The only thing opel about the commodore was the chassis in the 1980's, and that was so heavily modified that it was no longer the same, due to them snapping in australian conditions. Otherwise, commodore shares nothing with opel or vauxhall.

[dragonny4master]

Sorry, my mistake, Holden VB Commodore was based on Opel Senator A1 and Opel Record E.

Read Wikipedia and compare pictures.

[Mechknight73]

@dragonny4master Even the VB-VK Commodores, although the outer skin resembled its German cousin, and there were things in nthe suspension they had in common, beneath the skin there's a whole other world going on. Holden realised early in the piece that they would have to stiffen the design of the Senator and Rekord bodies. They used their own engines and drivelines, and further strengthened the crossmembers to handle the weight and torque of 5 litre V8s

[hdmccart]

OK, this is one of the biggest mistakes ive seen on U-Tube...the Commodore is built at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne, Aus...as is the Holden Senator...we exclusively build both...

[harddobe]

@hdmccart The Commodore is actually built in Elizabeth SA. Fisherman bend is the engine plant. Holdens soul lives in SA ;)

[jessef23]

@dragonny4master I think you'll find the Commodores built from a modified Opel chassis stopped when they stopped producing the VZ Commodore.

The VXR8 is based on the VE Commodore, which is the next one after the VZ. VE was a blank sheet, the whole thing was designed from new

[shagspud]

And there that bad nobody has heard of them!! enough said yeh!!

[harddobe]

@bigaussie68 Correct, including the Ford GTHO- phase III which when it was built was the worlds fastest 4 door production car.

[theboxmike]

I Respect the lotus...quite alot

But if i had to choose it would be the VXR anyday for me

[73oldsomega]

My Lotus Carlton puts a smile on my face too Vicki!