PROJECT: Room for activities - Thunder from down under.

[DAN [SSZ]]

Hey Guys,

Been stalking to forum for a while (only recently becoming a member) and having a good read in the camshaft sections and other tech sections.

I am from Perth (Western Australia) where the Commodore is one of the most common cars on the road, mainly in V6 form.
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/3a88a1a6c4e767477ec0ee60e65067cf_zpsd88562e1.jpg

Model: 2013 Holden VE SSZ Sportwagon (L77 6L V8 / 6 Speed Manual)
Engine Mods: VCM OTR Mafless Intake, 1 3/4 Hurricane Headers, 3" Hurricane Exhaust, 100 Cell Cats
Suspension: Dobinson SL Springs (35mm Drop Front / Rear)
Other Mods: Tint By TKO (30% Front / 20% Rear)

http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/663678509017191cdeb5953a3ba0fc83_zpsc21c0a91.jpg
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/imagejpg1_zpse4d4b812.jpg
The above power run is with current power compared to the intake / tune only on 98 octane. The car made a little over 315HP stock on 95.

The next selection of mods will be:
- 3.9 Diff Gears
- NPC Clutch (600HP rated)
- Camshaft Package: 232 / 236 .580 / .580 LSA114 (inc LS7 lifters to delete DOD)
- Brembo brakes!

As the car is my daily I may revise my cam choice to a more moderate specification, but as I only need to drive a 16KM (9 miles) round-trip to work so an aggressive camshaft wouldn't effect or worry me that much.

The workshop I have used for current mods / tune has used this cam in the past and in their current project car, which is the owners daily driver. The cam has been proven to make good power and offer a beefy mid - upper powerband to a 7000RPM redline.

End goal will be to make 440 - 450HP (accompanied by a healthy serving of torque), be a low 12 second car on street tyres and shred tyres whenever I feel the need :)

Daniel.

[LDM]

Welcome to the forum Daniel. Sweet ride you have there.

[-Ray-]

Welcome to the forum.

[BlackGT5]

Nice wagon. Welcome!

[travis gore]

Welcome to the forum Daniel. Sure wish the wagon would have made a boat ride north.

[DAN [SSZ]]

Little update:

Car will be getting the cam and clutch upgrade soon. The clutch has be selected / confirmed but the cam I revised back to a 224/228, a size that my mechanic has fine tuned to the 6L motor. Was told to expect 420 - 430HP with no loss of drive-ability and for power/torque to improve through the entire rev range.

Having seen dyno plots / graphs from previous cars with this cam it matches or exceeds the stock cams power and torque from 1500RPM - 2500RPM and then really starts to make big improvements from 3000RPM - 6500RPM. So a good daily driven package.

Also finally found some wheels for the Commodore. Really wanted something different to most in Australia but that matched the car perfectly.

So got these: 2010 Camaro SS wheels (Satin black finish)
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTU2MVgxNjAw/z/wZ8AAOSwxH1T7l1M/$_57.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxNDEx/z/u9wAAOSwbqpT7l1R/$_57.JPG

They are 20x8 (+35) on the fronts and 20x9 (+40) on the back, so 13mm (F) and 21mm (R) more 'poke'.

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp63388%3Enu%3D3358%3E358%3E9%3B9%3EWS NRCG%3D3586755%3A8%3B336nu0mrj
http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp63387%3Enu%3D3358%3E358%3E9%3B9%3EWS NRCG%3D3586758789336nu0mrj
http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp633%3A7%3Enu%3D3358%3E358%3E9%3B9%3E WSNRCG%3D3586735%3A%3A3336nu0mrj

They even have the same PCD and hub bore size so should be a straight fit. Now just have to wait for them to arrive from California to Australia.

[-Ray-]

I'm not a big fan of the camaro wheels, but as a substitute for the stock 19's I'd give em a go. The satin black will look great on your wagon.

[DAN [SSZ]]

I'm not a big fan of the camaro wheels, but as a substitute for the stock 19's I'd give em a go. The satin black will look great on your wagon.

Was a little on the fence, so went to a local dealer whom imports Camaro SS, Mustang GT500, etc and had a look at some wheels.

Black wheels on a red car is always a winner. My current stock wheels (from my first post) are now black and look 100% better then bare alloy.

[LDM]

Those should look great, especially with the black on red. I didn't want to go with 20s otherwise I probably would've gotten Camaro wheels.

[fixem2]

In the US, the Camaro swap on a G8 is very popular. In AUS, my guess it is very uncommon and will look good!!

[DAN [SSZ]]

Those should look great, especially with the black on red. I didn't want to go with 20s otherwise I probably would've gotten Camaro wheels.

Was thinking about sticking with 19" but with black wheels (which will blend into the tyres nicely) it shouldn't stand out or look too big.


In the US, the Camaro swap on a G8 is very popular. In AUS, my guess it is very uncommon and will look good!!

Very uncommon, which is one of the reasons that attracted me to them.

We use HSV (Holden Special Vehicle) wheel swaps most if the time as they are very easy to buy (just like camaro wheels are easy for you guys). They fit without guard work, offer staggered / wider wheels, are lighter and stronger then the factory alloys.

[DAN [SSZ]]

Now the car looks mean with decent offset!

http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsdfd4960f.jpg
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpseca736d8.jpg

Next will be 3.9 diff gears (compared to the stock 3.45 final drive). At the same time a HD clutch will hopefully find its way in there too. Then maybe time to start saving for the next stage of mods...

[Crazy Paul]

;580343']
Next will be 3.9 diff gears (compared to the stock 3.45 final drive). At the same time a HD clutch will hopefully find its way in there too. Then maybe time to start saving for the next stage of mods...
Ditching those cookie sized stock brakes would come first?

[DAN [SSZ]]

Ditching those cookie sized stock brakes would come first?

Yeah already have an eye on a set of VE Redline Brembo Brakes, something like this:
http://galleryplus.ebayimg.com/ws/web/261275812416_1_0_1/1000x1000.jpg

You don't realise how undersized they are doing daily duties... Once you have to hit the stoppers at 200KM/H you realise they could do with an upgrade.

[donkeyGT]

You certainly will not be unhappy with the Brembo's..most of the guys here that have done them are happy..I love mine..big difference over stock.

[Zodiac]

Ugh I hate that we never got the wagon here in the US. Looking forward to the rest of your progress.

[-Ray-]

Dan, here's a look at mine. Proper brakes behind proper wheels.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t16/ElecBlueG6GT/IMG_0147_zps51178ff0.jpg

[landsarmstrong]

Looks good I bet down there they are eye candy.
Yes it did suck they didn't offer the wagon or the Ute here man I would have love to have a Ute SSV.

[DAN [SSZ]]

Mmmmmm red brembo brakes on a red car look hot as fuck!

I would have thought the ute would have been a good selling option in the US so can't really figure out why Holden never exported them (or the wagon). Maybe the Sedan was a test platform to see if they would even sell?

[DAN [SSZ]]

The next logical step for the wagon was to sort brakes and suspension. Sway bars have been a pain with Whiteline having a 6-8 week unconfirmed wait on them. So I went through Superpro Swaybars (29mm front, 22mm rear) and they should be here late this week.

Also ordered Brembos (front & rear) and larger rotors to suit.
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0011_zps07b3eca7.jpg

So what is next? Well pending the handover of my house in the next few weeks: 3.9 Diff Gears and NPC Clutch.

[DAN [SSZ]]

So I finally got around to installing my CTS-V brakes and sway bars (sorry about the average quality photos).

The brakes took about 5 hours to install on a lazy Saturday, no real surprises. All the stock lines fitted perfectly, and the Brembo bolts fitted front and rear without issue. The only real hassle was trimming the rear dust / rotor sheilds, but that took all of 10 minutes.

The front really filled the 20" Camaro wheel with only 5mm clearance between the spoke and caliper.
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/IMAG0026_1_zpse243dbf8.jpg

The rear had no issues with clearance and had plenty of room left.
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/DanMPS3/IMAG0027_1_zpsf81b27bc.jpg

After bleeding all the brakes several times the pedal had a nice firm feel when braking. The braking performance was imporoved significantly with less pedal work needed to stop the car under normal conditions and the tyres chattering under hard braking. I am using the pads provided in the kit with no complaints to far. No noise, very little dust and good cold bite.

While I had the car up I was planning to install both my SUPER PRO swaybars, but the front just wasn't co-operating so I will tackle that another day. The rear bar (22mm 3 point adjustable) is brilliant! It has stopped the front of the car diving on turn-in and made the car feel more responsive. I have upgraded sway bars on all my cars and they are a great bang-for-$$$ part that never fails to impress me.

With the bigger wheels and brake rotors on the car it might be time to throw those 3.9 Diff Gears in to counter the extra rotational mass added :cool: that will be my excuse anyways...

[-Ray-]

Looks good Dan.

[DAN [SSZ]]

Thanks Ray, after seeing your stoppers I had to step my game up!

Took it for another quick drive along a back road and they hook up great and the sway bar was worth every cent!