Series 1 XR8's

[REDAUXR6II]

Hey All,

In my other thread I am looking at possibly doing the great V8 conversion.

My other choice is to buy an XR8, my question is are the series 1 XR8's any good?

Do they have any known problems?

Here is the link to the one I found Link

[nitroman]

Great car, the only beef I have is the brakes are a bit small when your'e hot footin' it.

[JADED6]

AU2/3 220kw would be a better buy.

[mattp]

I've seen good 220 series 2/3 XR8's go for ~$15k, I reckon put in the extra if you can and go straight for that, there's the brakes for one thing, plus they look a lot better if you get one with the bodykit etc already.

[sbcb]

I've had both AU1 & AU2 XR8s, both awesome. Series 1 was more economical, the AU2 more grunt, AU1 chewed reg 91 gas, the AU2 was premium. Both where autos and both had the standard issue clunky drive lines in stop start traffic. Know probs with series 1 is radiator can spring a leak but a factory recall should have fixed the fault and the same problem that affects all IRS AU's the rear rubber shock mounts regularly need replacement (have a look under the carpet at the shock tower once you fold the rear seat down) . Having said that the AU2 needed this not mu AU1. Brakes are an issue if you do hard driving and they are mission to upgrade on the AU1 as AU2 had their whole system upgraded already. For me brakes were not an issue other than they need repalcing more often as the rotor is thinner in the AU1, more of a daily driver/play rather than track weapon.
My advice - get the AU1 if the price adds up, start playing with it if you get the horsepower bug.
Make sure you get it checked properly as an XR thats had a hard life will be trouble.
Also check under the bonnet/boot (particularly gas struts area) for rust.

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by REDAUXR6II

Hey All,

In my other thread I am looking at possibly doing the great V8 conversion.

My other choice is to buy an XR8, my question is are the series 1 XR8's any good?

Do they have any known problems?

Here is the link to the one I found Link

Its got a grey forte steering wheel and airbag?

[JC]

Yep, someone's nicked the perforated leather steering wheel, but otherwise it still looks like an XR. It has the XR cloth trim, and the adaptive shift auto sticker. Replacement wheel & airbag may be due to front crash where airbag deployed, so I'd get that checked thoroughly - if it has been repaired well, there should be no issues (look at The Dok's car).

I have an AU1 XR8, 185kw rated at the fly, which is normally around 127rwkw, but have around 144rwkw (about the same as an auto Au2 200kw XR) out of it now with simple mods. These are 4into1 Herrods headers, single 3" system and 1.72 roller rockers. It's also on gas and still puts out 138rwkw. Mine's a 99 model, but I previously owned a manual 98 model and never had any issues at all really.

I think $13k is a bit much for an AU1 though - Around $11k for an AU1 would be better, as you can spend the difference between that on an AU2 (say $4k difference) on the above mods, plus get a momo wheel and paint the airbag black, and upgrade to AU2 front brakes for around $1k, or get DBA or RDA slotteds all round for aroud $400 to $500.

You'll end up with a car that puts out around 200kw at the engine and runs on 91 ULP!!! Plus if you're thinking about getting the XR50 kit, it doesn't really matter whether you start from an AU1 base or AU2 - the XR50 fits both.

Also, as far as fuel consumption difference between the I6 and the V8 goes (in case you're worried), I used to get around 14 to 15 l/100km on petrol (now around 18l/100km on LPG), whereas my XR6 VCT was around 13 to 14, and the forte wagon is around 12 to 15. This is all mixed cycle. On the highway, both motors will get under 10l/100km - eg Yass to Melbourne one tank each. So there's not much in it in terms of fuel costs - around $5 per tank per 400km or thereabouts.

[Sledgehammer]

Both great cars have AUI XR8 and AUII XR6.

[FPV8U]

Personbally i'd wait and try to get yourself into a Series II XR8, they look & Go better and if your lucky you will score one with a 220 in it...