I have an '08 Calais 6.0 and there's 2 things that annoy me about this video; Vicky would probably drive my car faster than me and I'll never have her as my wife.
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.
Basically basically gave a shell and an engine block to lotus who then created the legendary lotus carlton which laid the bench mark which holden any seem to have just about bettered so far so I'd say gm learnt alot from the collaboration but lotus built still built the best for 2 decades!
I have two Commodores Both run Continental Max Contacts. 2008 VE SS Manual Sedan L98 engine (lowered) VF MY2015 Redline Manual Sedan (75,000 km)...L77 engine has been cammed, heads polished, lifters, trunions etc, Brembos and braided lines all round, extractors, hi flow cats, and 2.5 stainless exhaust. Lowered. They go better with a bit of weight in the boot over the rear axle.
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.
@@mintoxace5571 The Vauxhall/Opel Omega on which the Lotus Carlton is based is only loosely related to the VN. I own a VN wagon, and have a model of the Opel Omega wagon the VN borrows some pf its parts from. They did what Ford Australia did with the XD; take some parts and a few styling cues from its European cousin the Granada, graft the "new" body onto an existing XC floor pan and use their engines and transmissions. Holden used the VL floor pan, used the Omega's side doors, some trim, and changed just about everything else. The arse end of the Omega was as square as an XD wagon
Theyre all GM (opel /Vauxhall/ Opel) and all commodores were based on the opel (opel/vauxhall/holden) until the VZ ....to to be honest it looks more like my old dark green ED falcon w/bodykit
@@Skippy-id9yt That was only the starting point, and the list of changes Holden made was very long. When Holden was first developing the VB, they knew they had to change things from the start. The Opel Rekord and Senator they were based on originally didn't have rack and pinion steering, which was a fail as far as dropping a 308 in it goes. They used the Senator nose on a Rekord shell to fit the inline 6 cylinder engines. This original prototype was taken around Lang Lang the way the previous Kingswoods and Toranas were; the usual bumps, dirt, speed dome and so on. After 1500 km, the grille fell out. After about 5000 km, they had to scrap it. Here was where the real work began, as Holden reworked just about everything, including the interior fabrics. While the outer skin is similar, there is so much beneath the skin that changed
I was fortunate to be involved in this project whilst at Lotus cars Was involved spoilers and trim colour Empire Green Went for a few trips round test track and suppliers a quick and classy car.
The vxr8 is miles ahead technology wise and a totally diffrent car what does anyone expect however the lotus carlton really held its own against the vxr8 and considering its years old it looks well looked after and really kept up with the vxr8 very well done to the lotus carlton 💚❤👍
Exactly...should have hammered the carlton,but 40hp more and 15years evolution for 1.5 seconds says more about how bad the vxr was.400Hp cars of vxr's day hammered it.
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
@@matthewheffernan3877 Would be a very interesting comparison between even a Cosworth Sierra and a later model Falcon XR6. Both would be fast, no doubt about that. The Sierra might lose a little in braking and suspension. The Falcon's infamous Barra turbo is capable of 1200 horsepower with minimal modifications
@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
@@harshgentle1529 - well, that's probably true, but remember they made less than a thousand of them and it was a UK-only car. Those who read the car-mags of the time knew about it (like, me over here in Australia) but with our restrictive import laws had bugger-all chance of actually seeing one. Regardless, it's probably the halo car for Vauxhall, alongside the Prince Henry of 1911 (a long time between drinks there ...)
@@thosdot6497 It was not a UK only car. To the rest of the world it was Opel Lotus Omega and it was sold in several countries. Total production 950 cars including the UK "Vauxhall" version.
@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.
A naturally aspirated engine,in a car carrying 200kgs of extras, beat a car that needs two turbos to produce less torque and hp, and in a car that has worse handling and less in it for the driver... Depends how you look at it
@@GregoryShtevensh well even Stevie wonder in a dark room with a box on his head wouldn't look at it like that .. 6.0 vs 3.6 .. Over two decades between them and that's the best it can do .. The Carlton will go down as a pure classic ..the other to the junk yard .
@@adamhamilton5294 all an engine is is an air pump... so essentially anybody who actually knows what an engine is would see it like that... the amount of cylinders that it uses to pump air is really irrelevant when you've got an extra pump called a turbocharger attached to one of the engines that you compareing to, because essentially a turbo or supercharger just does the same thing as another engine, and that's pump air
@@adamhamilton5294 and you're also failing to take into account the amount of effort each cylinder needs to put in to output the same amount of power. Obviously when you have more cylinders, each cylinder can share the load, so it's easier on the engine. Less cylinders means less reciprocating mass. It's easier to get going, you'll have more initial torque per displacement, and if you turbo it or supercharged it, you can pump the same amount of air through as you would with more cylinders. But all you're doing, is putting each cylinder through more strain to achieve the same thing that you could achieve with more cylinders. You seem to have this implanted idea that less cylinders with equal power should be celebrated but it's due to how you view engines and the work they do. The extra displacement is one of the advantages given to having extra cylinders. But on the other hand the extra air forced into a cylinder given by a turbo or supercharger is the advantage given there. It's just the same thing - finding ways to pump more air... neither is more impressive than the other in my mind
I visited your fair land in '99, and used to walk around with a boner for all those big beautiful motorway crushers you had there. I liked the Ford Falcon, but had such a horn for the Commodore. Absolutely gorgeous man's car. A big beautiful shapely beast. Loved them.
Fair play the amazing, very rare, and ultra special Lotus Carlton maybe a little bit slower than the newer car, but remember the Carlton is old technology but it’s still up there in the top ten fantastic car list. Lotus Carlton for me all the way
These too are up there for me too. 50 Yr old now. UK gov were looking to ban this car back in the early 90s..helicopters did 150mph then and this was 165 mph I think.. Bank robbers Fav get away car lol.
Hope they warmed that poor Lotus up properly before thrashing it, and drove it cool afterwards. Rule of thumb to keep your threepointsix alive: 20km warming up, 100km fun and 20km cooling down......thatˋs one tank.
@Bob 'lying jackass' Mule I never said 20km, I said you cool down with every turbo charged car. In fact, you do that with every car if you respect it. You're mixing comments of 2 different people. If anyone should delete their comment, it's you.
@@Armalyte78 Turbo Fan? You cannot stop a turbo rotating assembly from spinning if the engine is running as exhaust gas passes through the turbine to get into the exhaust causing the rotation. when you turn the car off you can still hear it spinning as it slows down.
@@kristianspencer1978 Yeah right. What did Vauxhall contribute to this car? Fuck all, apart from a badge change. The car was designed, manufactured and test in Australia as a Holden.
@@kristianspencer1978 This is just a rebadged HSV/Holden. Its just like the Monaro. That was Australian and then it was exported to the U.K and U.S under the Vauxhall and Pontiac brands
Kristian Spencer they only called it a VXR8 due to the Germans already having the Commodore name, and it actually is called an R8. I owned a 1999 VT model R8 Clubsport in the UK 2005-2007. That was a 5.7 litre, the VXR8 is a 6.2. They were made Adelaide South Australia but the VXR8’s were sent to HSV in Melbourne in OZ for the best bits to be attached. All before GM decided after sucking $250 million dollars from the OZ taxpayer to shut Holden down. Holden, is now gone. Just a name in history now. And yep, they do go like fuck. 😎
@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
If only holden gave lotus our VN Commodore or better still used the turbo from the Buick grand national since they are the same engine and fixed the handling
I miss naturally aspirated cars. That seems to be the way we are going now slap turbos on smaller displacement engines. I know engines are a lot better now but, it can not be good for the longevity. I know with the eco boost, Ford has them tuned down to help with reliability. with all eco boost you can go to a garage right after you bye one plug it up to a computer and 2 min. you have 50 hp an 45 torque increase. It may be more then that now.
Although there's still a yawning gap between GM USA and Holden. The current Camaro was developed by Holden, and the present Chevrolet Caprice police cruiser is a rebadged Holden Caprice. It has been said that in places like Michigan, where GM's police cruiser import was first sent to work, if hoods see on in the rear mirror, they give up. Outrunning a Crown Victoria was much easier
for an old car thats astonishing. It kept it's modern counterpart fairly honest. Now , question is, how many miles did the Carlton engine have on the clock as over time and mileage the engine loses horsepower. I dare bet the vxr had significantly less engine mileage than the Charlton.
@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.
So that would be the "family race car" that was never actually raced? I'd welcome correction, but I didn't think the Lotus Carlton was used for racing. Besides, "family' race cars go back way further than 1990 - the Lotus Cortina, the Mini Cooper (maybe that was "the family rally car"?), and by the late 60s the Bathurst-spec cars were pretty swift in Australia, some with 4 doors, and all available to the general public.
I'd go for the Carlton please .... but to think what Lotus could have done if they had been given a Cavalier instead which was way more nimble and easier to drive.
A good few years ago I was a passenger in a Lotus Carlton. I was scared to death but mesmerised at the same time. An early morning drive on the motorway, hardly any traffic and we went like stink. Fastest speed reached was 185 mph, pure magic.
@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 :)...
If the black bat mobile had a refresh Like new fluids, shocks, springs, pads, tyres, OEM of course. They may of had a different result. Remember lotus are THE chassis masters. Period.
You to do when you have a 6.2L Corvette engine? Supercharge it! Also i was driving a Opel Senator C40S Kompressor some years ago. God damn was that an amazing car. About 420 bhp and 3,6 seconds 0-100 km/h i don't remember how much torque it had.
Agreed what a shit comparison, the lotus carlton was a magnificent machine and early 90's technology, where as the holden commodore is nearly 20 years later and just nudged the carlton out in a hot lap test, change tyres, suspension and would be a different ball game for the lotus.
stinsgrunter Spiritual is the key word, in the same way that the Mazda MX-5 is the spiritual successor to the Lotus Elan and MGB, both the Carlton and VXR8 are fast, four door Vauxhall super saloons.
+ stinsgrunter, it's you that needs to do the research. The Commodore was based on the late 70's Opel models, possibly the Senator ?. In fact the first commodores had some parts that had 'Opel made in Germany' on them. One Australian company was importing the 2 door hatchback model from Germany and finishing it off with the V8 drivetrain, look it up. In the late 70's and early 80's the Opel Senator, Vauxhalls, and Commodores were dead ringers.
Nope, you still need to do the research @Noel Whittle. It is true that the VB Commodore had taken its styling from an amalgamation of the Rekord and Senator Opels, it shared far more underneath with the Kingswood in order to save costs, even though at $175mil back in the 70s it would have almost been cheaper to actually develop an entirely new car from scratch. The second and third generation cars were the same - style it based on the European Opels, and then build it around the previous running gear. In fact the second generation (VN) and third generation (VT) only shared the doors with the Opel "bases"
Skid up Light up vauxhall lotus carlton, holden commedore is sold as a vauxhall in the UK. they are both big 4 door saloons which are very fast and made by general motors. its as close to a successor as any other car. what does an an old 911 have in common with a new one?
Skid up Light up Vauxhall Carlton was the UK version of the Opel Omega on which the VN-VS Commodore were based on chassis-wise. The Lotus Carlton borrowed parts from all over the GM parts bin such as the Corvette gearbox but also used the Commodores rear diff from the VN SS so there’s more in common than you would think
I love how a car with about half the power of an F1 car of the era was outrageous, but even then, the chance of realistically owning one was minuscule. Now any soccermom or salesman with zero driving skill can buy a 3t tractor with a lot more bhp on the never never, amd regularly do, yet nobody bats an eyelid. How times have changed.
so..fucking..what...the Carlton is such a well birthed epic machine, lovingly injected with red blooded baddassery from the deep hearts of Lotus engineering, that even over 2 decades later, can still hold it's own against any new M-class, or plastic 4 door spazwagon Japan can conjure up, and is still so goddamn beautiful, that it makes a true enthusiast cry tears of joy, then weep just a little because they don't own one. It's truly a one off, that defines what 'one-off' means, and if you may be so lucky as to hear, feel, captain, or lounge about its plush interior for even a minute, hopefully you will understand and appreciate the gravity of your asses role in this specific niche' of history, having accomplished, in a sense, the coequal of sitting in Alexanders lap as he pondered the greatness of his kingdom...shut up! it's the same thing....(this is where I stick out my tongue at you) :P
jey lee mate it’s a shiter compared to the hsv or vaxhull over there you have out dated technology bad interior I could take that down to the beach in aus and it wouldn’t turn a single head compared to hsv modern ahead of styling more reliable comfortable
@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
Wow no way, that car did some damage (no not the citroen) "The truth is we just can't touch the thing, and it's unlikely we ever will" Urban Legend had it losing the eye in the sky too but it can't be proven - Ram raiding it was a mental idea for a mental car.
@@1962lp2h it's a fantastic story, I wouldn't mind getting hold of those plates one day, to the few people that know would be fun, I can easily believe it loosing the chopper, a truly iconic car partly due to 40ra
Because stateliness and power go so nicely together. Also, it is loved for the sentiment of its understated nature, and "wolf in sheep's clothing" mantle. To me, it's a celebration of the underdog in very handsome clothing!
I suspect that the only real advantage the Vauxhall has is more modern, larger, lower- profile tires. Do a tire swap on the Lotus and its cornering, already really close, will match its acceleration and the results will be more equal.
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...
No disgrace for the Carlton...18 years on and still, right there with the best. Thumbs up old gal
Daniel Peter heck yeh she hung right in there
No
@@anthonylowry5426: Yes
A day with Vikki Butler Henderson and a Lotus Carlton sounds just about the best day out ever 😍
@@argonaut6386 now your talking there lol.. A stunner and can steer a car also.
I have an '08 Calais 6.0 and there's 2 things that annoy me about this video; Vicky would probably drive my car faster than me and I'll never have her as my wife.
Hahahaaaaa I can see what you're saying 👍🏻🇬🇧
Lol
(...or have her children😉)
She would have to be called Victoria Butler L. Henderson
Not one handed drifts on the Carlton lol. Not even talking when drifting. The Carlton is no Game.
377 horsepower was monstrous back then. It’s still nothing weak nowadays, and it can definitely keep pace with just about any saloon.
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.
Basically basically gave a shell and an engine block to lotus who then created the legendary lotus carlton which laid the bench mark which holden any seem to have just about bettered so far so I'd say gm learnt alot from the collaboration but lotus built still built the best for 2 decades!
Only when Detroit lossened the purse strings... which wasn’t too often in markets outside Nth America.
R.I.P dear Holden Commodore series. Aussies loves them !💪
R.i.p chevrolet Lumina. Thats what we received as a rebadged holden monaro
@@junaidgt90 wasn't the lumina the commodore?
(Pontiac GTO = Monaro)
(Pontiac G8 = VE SS)
(Chevy SS = VF SS)
(Chevy Lumina = VY - VE SS, VY acclaim? & VE omega)
Imagine her knickers if she'd got to drive the 427 Commodore,all SEVEN LITRES of it ?
I have two Commodores Both run Continental Max Contacts.
2008 VE SS Manual Sedan L98 engine (lowered)
VF MY2015 Redline Manual Sedan (75,000 km)...L77 engine has been cammed, heads polished, lifters, trunions etc, Brembos and braided lines all round, extractors, hi flow cats, and 2.5 stainless exhaust. Lowered.
They go better with a bit of weight in the boot over the rear axle.
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.
You lucky b@£#ard!!!!!
@@Sionnach1601 Hopefully not the 40 RA...
@@TCR_710-Cap no, hopefully the 40 RA, that sounds like a really good car
we must know...do you still have it?
@@edbo10 my godfather does still own it
Even the Carlton 3000 gsi was a tower of power, my dad had one when I was a kid , after that it was a 3.2 omega . Old school n/a grunt.
All i could think was the lotus carlton looks like a VN Commodore
Matt smith yeah me too.
@@mintoxace5571 The Vauxhall/Opel Omega on which the Lotus Carlton is based is only loosely related to the VN. I own a VN wagon, and have a model of the Opel Omega wagon the VN borrows some pf its parts from. They did what Ford Australia did with the XD; take some parts and a few styling cues from its European cousin the Granada, graft the "new" body onto an existing XC floor pan and use their engines and transmissions. Holden used the VL floor pan, used the Omega's side doors, some trim, and changed just about everything else. The arse end of the Omega was as square as an XD wagon
Theyre all GM (opel /Vauxhall/ Opel) and all commodores were based on the opel (opel/vauxhall/holden) until the VZ ....to to be honest it looks more like my old dark green ED falcon w/bodykit
@@Skippy-id9yt That was only the starting point, and the list of changes Holden made was very long. When Holden was first developing the VB, they knew they had to change things from the start. The Opel Rekord and Senator they were based on originally didn't have rack and pinion steering, which was a fail as far as dropping a 308 in it goes. They used the Senator nose on a Rekord shell to fit the inline 6 cylinder engines. This original prototype was taken around Lang Lang the way the previous Kingswoods and Toranas were; the usual bumps, dirt, speed dome and so on. After 1500 km, the grille fell out. After about 5000 km, they had to scrap it. Here was where the real work began, as Holden reworked just about everything, including the interior fabrics. While the outer skin is similar, there is so much beneath the skin that changed
If only Holden sent a few VNs over there and turboed the 3.8 and 5.0
I was fortunate to be involved in this project whilst at Lotus cars
Was involved spoilers and trim colour Empire Green
Went for a few trips round test track and suppliers a quick and classy car.
You may know a friend of mine. Tony Donnelly, he was at Lotus at the same time. 😊
The vxr8 is miles ahead technology wise and a totally diffrent car what does anyone expect however the lotus carlton really held its own against the vxr8 and considering its years old it looks well looked after and really kept up with the vxr8 very well done to the lotus carlton 💚❤👍
4:38 and here we are 15 years later watching this video
40 RA... Every time ❤️
I knew where that was kept for a while back in 2010 got a pic of it on my phone
Ow lucky coz its never been found.
Bid of a bad rep though. Lol
15 years of development, a 15 year old worn car vs a brand new one and it only managed a 1.5 second improvement...
Exactly...should have hammered the carlton,but 40hp more and 15years evolution for 1.5 seconds says more about how bad the vxr was.400Hp cars of vxr's day hammered it.
Get an actual driver (stig anybody) rather than this stupid bitch and then we'll see.
UserName Whatever Vicky Butler Henderson pal is a qualified rally driver !!
@@janreznak881 Shes a professional race car driver with a really successful career.
... with an extra 200kgs of extras
Did they have similar tyres on though and had the Carlton been recently service I.e are the brake pads/discs close to new?
I always liked Vickie as a presenter
Nearly 2 decades between them. The vxr is obviously gonna be the better car but the Carlton is the one that's special 👌
A Lotus Carlton with 18,000 miles is worth £145,000 says it all
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
carlton slower around a track faster in a straight line apparently
@@matthewheffernan3877 Would be a very interesting comparison between even a Cosworth Sierra and a later model Falcon XR6. Both would be fast, no doubt about that. The Sierra might lose a little in braking and suspension. The Falcon's infamous Barra turbo is capable of 1200 horsepower with minimal modifications
@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
Can we just point out how underrated the Lotus Carlton is and how it’s a pure drivers car
Like you'd know. Ha
How do you mean 'under-rated'? It has near-mythic status...
@@thosdot6497 Yeah but globally the car doesn't get the recognition it deserves in my opinion.
@@harshgentle1529 - well, that's probably true, but remember they made less than a thousand of them and it was a UK-only car. Those who read the car-mags of the time knew about it (like, me over here in Australia) but with our restrictive import laws had bugger-all chance of actually seeing one.
Regardless, it's probably the halo car for Vauxhall, alongside the Prince Henry of 1911 (a long time between drinks there ...)
@@thosdot6497 It was not a UK only car. To the rest of the world it was Opel Lotus Omega and it was sold in several countries. Total production 950 cars including the UK "Vauxhall" version.
legendary lotus carlton
sat in a lotus carlton at the 1991 motor show when i was 10...still want one as bad
My uncle had a tuned up one. Beautiful car, and quick.
@@nostalgicofilosofo5808 Gracias.
@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.
So they raced a new 6.0ltr v8 vs a3.6 ltr 26 year old car and its only 5 car lengths faster .. I know witch i prefer
A naturally aspirated engine,in a car carrying 200kgs of extras, beat a car that needs two turbos to produce less torque and hp, and in a car that has worse handling and less in it for the driver... Depends how you look at it
@@GregoryShtevensh well even Stevie wonder in a dark room with a box on his head wouldn't look at it like that .. 6.0 vs 3.6 .. Over two decades between them and that's the best it can do ..
The Carlton will go down as a pure classic ..the other to the junk yard .
@@adamhamilton5294 all an engine is is an air pump... so essentially anybody who actually knows what an engine is would see it like that... the amount of cylinders that it uses to pump air is really irrelevant when you've got an extra pump called a turbocharger attached to one of the engines that you compareing to, because essentially a turbo or supercharger just does the same thing as another engine, and that's pump air
@@adamhamilton5294 and you're also failing to take into account the amount of effort each cylinder needs to put in to output the same amount of power. Obviously when you have more cylinders, each cylinder can share the load, so it's easier on the engine.
Less cylinders means less reciprocating mass. It's easier to get going, you'll have more initial torque per displacement, and if you turbo it or supercharged it, you can pump the same amount of air through as you would with more cylinders. But all you're doing, is putting each cylinder through more strain to achieve the same thing that you could achieve with more cylinders.
You seem to have this implanted idea that less cylinders with equal power should be celebrated but it's due to how you view engines and the work they do.
The extra displacement is one of the advantages given to having extra cylinders. But on the other hand the extra air forced into a cylinder given by a turbo or supercharger is the advantage given there. It's just the same thing - finding ways to pump more air... neither is more impressive than the other in my mind
adam Hamilton bullshit, the VXR or HSV is a bloody legendary car, always will be.......
That Lotus here in Australia was a VN Commodore, I had the 5L V8 SS version or you could have the 3.6L V6 in a base model.
I visited your fair land in '99, and used to walk around with a boner for all those big beautiful motorway crushers you had there. I liked the Ford Falcon, but had such a horn for the Commodore. Absolutely gorgeous man's car. A big beautiful shapely beast. Loved them.
but they were not fast. wish they had the carlton engine
Fair play the amazing, very rare, and ultra special Lotus Carlton maybe a little bit slower than the newer car, but remember the Carlton is old technology but it’s still up there in the top ten fantastic car list. Lotus Carlton for me all the way
These too are up there for me too. 50 Yr old now.
UK gov were looking to ban this car back in the early 90s..helicopters did 150mph then and this was 165 mph I think.. Bank robbers Fav get away car lol.
Some inline sixes do sound great, but there is no replacement for displacement & the sound of a V8 is far better in my opinion.
hsvsv8 there are far superior sounds to v8s.
@@theant9821 nope. Your opinion sucks.
Hope they warmed that poor Lotus up properly before thrashing it, and drove it cool afterwards. Rule of thumb to keep your threepointsix alive: 20km warming up, 100km fun and 20km cooling down......thatˋs one tank.
You do that with every car, cooling down with every turbo charged car. ( turbo fan needs to stop spinning on older turbo's )
I'd say very well looked after that carlton is stored in the Vauxhall heritage center
@Bob 'lying jackass' Mule I never said 20km, I said you cool down with every turbo charged car. In fact, you do that with every car if you respect it. You're mixing comments of 2 different people. If anyone should delete their comment, it's you.
@@Armalyte78 Turbo Fan? You cannot stop a turbo rotating assembly from spinning if the engine is running as exhaust gas passes through the turbine to get into the exhaust causing the rotation. when you turn the car off you can still hear it spinning as it slows down.
The VXR8 is a HSV Clubsport Holden Commodore not a Vauxhall , and it's Australian made , and I own one ,
commodore665 it’s not a Holden it’s a Vauxhall, that’s why they called it the vxr8, Vauxhall r8. And one day I will own one.!!
@@kristianspencer1978 Yeah right. What did Vauxhall contribute to this car? Fuck all, apart from a badge change. The car was designed, manufactured and test in Australia as a Holden.
@@kristianspencer1978 This is just a rebadged HSV/Holden. Its just like the Monaro. That was Australian and then it was exported to the U.K and U.S under the Vauxhall and Pontiac brands
Yes, we know it comes from Down Under. Thanks for sharing this brilliant car with the world!
Kristian Spencer they only called it a VXR8 due to the Germans already having the Commodore name, and it actually is called an R8. I owned a 1999 VT model R8 Clubsport in the UK 2005-2007. That was a 5.7 litre, the VXR8 is a 6.2. They were made Adelaide South Australia but the VXR8’s were sent to HSV in Melbourne in OZ for the best bits to be attached. All before GM decided after sucking $250 million dollars from the OZ taxpayer to shut Holden down. Holden, is now gone. Just a name in history now. And yep, they do go like fuck. 😎
Awesome result for the old girl.
Many many years on and only 1.5 seconds slower in the wet.
Even the music was better in the 90's
@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
When I see the Lotus Carlton I just SWooooOOOOOONNNN!!!
Hate to tell you this Vicki but Aussies have been producing 4 door muscle cars since the late 60s
If only holden gave lotus our VN Commodore or better still used the turbo from the Buick grand national since they are the same engine and fixed the handling
Just the kind of cars to test on a wet track :)
Hahaa... typical UK car review.....always on a wet track.....i wonder why....i guess filthy pommy weather
I love a bit of Vicki Benson and Hedges.
Her giggle when she's being silly in a car is lovely.
The winner was the Carlton , 26 years ahead of its time
Well, no. Considering the VN Commodore was around then.
>predecessor
Are you sure the Lotus is the predecessor to the Holden Commodore?
It's not
The Australian Holden Commodore - RIP.
Carlton for me, understated, elegant, dangerous it could be the ultimate Q car?
DIfferent tires, upgraded brake pads and a slight boost increase and my money would be on the Carlton
Dang I want a Carlton what a sleeper!
I miss naturally aspirated cars. That seems to be the way we are going now slap turbos on smaller displacement engines. I know engines are a lot better now but, it can not be good for the longevity. I know with the eco boost, Ford has them tuned down to help with reliability. with all eco boost you can go to a garage right after you bye one plug it up to a computer and 2 min. you have 50 hp an 45 torque increase. It may be more then that now.
Although there's still a yawning gap between GM USA and Holden. The current Camaro was developed by Holden, and the present Chevrolet Caprice police cruiser is a rebadged Holden Caprice. It has been said that in places like Michigan, where GM's police cruiser import was first sent to work, if hoods see on in the rear mirror, they give up. Outrunning a Crown Victoria was much easier
The fuddy duddy carlton was one of vauxhauls best, and came in three litre...
for an old car thats astonishing. It kept it's modern counterpart fairly honest. Now , question is, how many miles did the Carlton engine have on the clock as over time and mileage the engine loses horsepower. I dare bet the vxr had significantly less engine mileage than the Charlton.
I'd still take the Carlton, without a doubt, no 2nd thought or 2 ways about it!
@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.
If she likes the 6.0 litres in this, she will love the HSV 427 (7.0 Litres)
What a heaven if my wife could drive like you did 😂
I loved 5th Gear, a great show, and Gee, Vicki could drive and held her own in the show very well.
Tbh I thought the Lotus Carlton would be much slower than only 1.5 seconds off the pace. Well done old girl 👍
The Carlton was and is the original "family" race car, THAT fact can never be beat!
So that would be the "family race car" that was never actually raced? I'd welcome correction, but I didn't think the Lotus Carlton was used for racing. Besides, "family' race cars go back way further than 1990 - the Lotus Cortina, the Mini Cooper (maybe that was "the family rally car"?), and by the late 60s the Bathurst-spec cars were pretty swift in Australia, some with 4 doors, and all available to the general public.
neat they played that queens of the stone song remix same remix used in grid 2008
Gotta love a Aussie Muscle Car !!⁉️👍👌
aN Aussie musclecar...
yeah you do, cant.love a ve commodore though.
That thing is hideous looking
It's European. Under an american brand. It's a Holden in Australia
@@shifty2755 its a rebranded Holden. Holden exported them to Europe under an agreement to be badged as Vauxhalls.
Vauxhall is like the most underrated Car company
Holden*
@@kylenator329 wdym
@@Kgn-kgsjejdnne91 vauxhall's cars are only rebadged australian cars named holdens, look up a hsv ve gts
@@kylenator329 Wrong! Australian Holdens are restyled and rebadged Opels and Vauxhalls.
So really many years worth of technology has only put the new car a second or so quicker, not come that far then!! I know which I’d rather have!!
@hdmccart The Commodore is actually built in Elizabeth SA. Fisherman bend is the engine plant. Holdens soul lives in SA ;)
Sorry, my mistake, Holden VB Commodore was based on Opel Senator A1 and Opel Record E.
Read Wikipedia and compare pictures.
No they're holdens cars, opel rebadges holdens cars
God shes my ideal woman, are there any more like that?
There was a time I wanted to marry this lady. She knows how to handle her clutch
I'd go for the Carlton please .... but to think what Lotus could have done if they had been given a Cavalier instead which was way more nimble and easier to drive.
how did it claw back the time? was it the turbos down the straight??
A good few years ago I was a passenger in a Lotus Carlton. I was scared to death but mesmerised at the same time. An early morning drive on the motorway, hardly any traffic and we went like stink. Fastest speed reached was 185 mph, pure magic.
Jeeeeeeezusss....you lucky b@&#ard!!!
On a cold morning they would do 190mph … 🫶🏻😉😉
Vauxhall VXR8 with 4x4 is mydream
@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 :)...
its about the size of your smile not the lap time
The lotus still looks better than the vxr
100 pc agree stands out like no other v Carlton. The other car looks like a normal version with added side skirts.
@@MP-po6fj it's also the greatest name of any car too
If the black bat mobile had a refresh
Like new fluids, shocks, springs, pads, tyres, OEM of course.
They may of had a different result.
Remember lotus are THE chassis masters. Period.
How can you compare that lotus to a good Australian v8 . That Australian v8 can come with a supercharger as well
I've never seen a lotus Carlton,sooo rare ❤️
Uncle of mine had a Carlton and it was sweeeeet.
You to do when you have a 6.2L Corvette engine? Supercharge it!
Also i was driving a Opel Senator C40S Kompressor some years ago.
God damn was that an amazing car.
About 420 bhp and 3,6 seconds 0-100 km/h i don't remember how much torque it had.
Still love the lotus Calton if it was brand new it would of 1 shes a old girl now and still a rwd monster👍
"for the rest of us with big head on the chest" and access to an empty circuit :D
She says "...the rest of us with big HAIRS on their chests...".
i got the pawaaar.. HATE THAT SONG
The greatest vauxhall ever
Very cool cars
Agreed what a shit comparison, the lotus carlton was a magnificent machine and early 90's technology, where as the holden commodore is nearly 20 years later and just nudged the carlton out in a hot lap test, change tyres, suspension and would be a different ball game for the lotus.
the carlton lotus looks superb. much better than thsn the vxr8
Anglesey?
@bigaussie68 Correct, including the Ford GTHO- phase III which when it was built was the worlds fastest 4 door production car.
And for the next 20something years
Spiritual predecessor? Pretty sure the commodore was based on a kingswood which predates a lotus Carlton by a long shot. Do some research 5th gear
stinsgrunter Spiritual is the key word, in the same way that the Mazda MX-5 is the spiritual successor to the Lotus Elan and MGB, both the Carlton and VXR8 are fast, four door Vauxhall super saloons.
Nope. Commodore was 6 cylinder version of Opel Rekord. Totally different chassis for OZ compared with the Kingswoods etc. Old engines though
+ stinsgrunter, it's you that needs to do the research. The Commodore was based on the late 70's Opel models, possibly the Senator ?. In fact the first commodores had some parts that had 'Opel made in Germany' on them. One Australian company was importing the 2 door hatchback model from Germany and finishing it off with the V8 drivetrain, look it up. In the late 70's and early 80's the Opel Senator, Vauxhalls, and Commodores were dead ringers.
Nope, you still need to do the research @Noel Whittle.
It is true that the VB Commodore had taken its styling from an amalgamation of the Rekord and Senator Opels, it shared far more underneath with the Kingswood in order to save costs, even though at $175mil back in the 70s it would have almost been cheaper to actually develop an entirely new car from scratch.
The second and third generation cars were the same - style it based on the European Opels, and then build it around the previous running gear. In fact the second generation (VN) and third generation (VT) only shared the doors with the Opel "bases"
The hatchback was called the Monza.
How dose a lotus and a Holden have anything in common
Skid up Light up vauxhall lotus carlton, holden commedore is sold as a vauxhall in the UK. they are both big 4 door saloons which are very fast and made by general motors.
its as close to a successor as any other car.
what does an an old 911 have in common with a new one?
Skid up Light up Vauxhall Carlton was the UK version of the Opel Omega on which the VN-VS Commodore were based on chassis-wise. The Lotus Carlton borrowed parts from all over the GM parts bin such as the Corvette gearbox but also used the Commodores rear diff from the VN SS so there’s more in common than you would think
Lucas Noble. carlton also looks suspiciously like a VL commodore.
gm.
She is a good driver
@nikkolassey Not exactly considered "real" rocketship 4 door monsters aren't they?
I love how a car with about half the power of an F1 car of the era was outrageous, but even then, the chance of realistically owning one was minuscule.
Now any soccermom or salesman with zero driving skill can buy a 3t tractor with a lot more bhp on the never never, amd regularly do, yet nobody bats an eyelid.
How times have changed.
Good old Holden commodore V8
Good Old "Gone Broke" commodore you mean😂
so..fucking..what...the Carlton is such a well birthed epic machine, lovingly injected with red blooded baddassery from the deep hearts of Lotus engineering, that even over 2 decades later, can still hold it's own against any new M-class, or plastic 4 door spazwagon Japan can conjure up, and is still so goddamn beautiful, that it makes a true enthusiast cry tears of joy, then weep just a little because they don't own one. It's truly a one off, that defines what 'one-off' means, and if you may be so lucky as to hear, feel, captain, or lounge about its plush interior for even a minute, hopefully you will understand and appreciate the gravity of your asses role in this specific niche' of history, having accomplished, in a sense, the coequal of sitting in Alexanders lap as he pondered the greatness of his kingdom...shut up! it's the same thing....(this is where I stick out my tongue at you) :P
jey lee mate it’s a shiter compared to the hsv or vaxhull over there you have out dated technology bad interior I could take that down to the beach in aus and it wouldn’t turn a single head compared to hsv modern ahead of styling more reliable comfortable
Gay lee
I agree with it's baddassary. I want one
@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
The 40 RA plates these days are on a Citroen these days according to DVLA, what a change 😂
Wow no way, that car did some damage (no not the citroen) "The truth is we just can't touch the thing, and it's unlikely we ever will" Urban Legend had it losing the eye in the sky too but it can't be proven - Ram raiding it was a mental idea for a mental car.
@@1962lp2h it's a fantastic story, I wouldn't mind getting hold of those plates one day, to the few people that know would be fun, I can easily believe it loosing the chopper, a truly iconic car partly due to 40ra
40RA is back on the lotus carlton now with the original owner ….
Are any modern Vauxhalls this good?
There is no V8 after the VXR8 unfortunately, only thing close would be the VXR H and VXR J which are fast hot hatches
Whats the point in making a family type car perform like a Track car....I love speed and cars but in the right configuration.
Because stateliness and power go so nicely together. Also, it is loved for the sentiment of its understated nature, and "wolf in sheep's clothing" mantle.
To me, it's a celebration of the underdog in very handsome clothing!
@@Sionnach1601 Ultimate Q car.
The Lotus Carlton still looks modern today.
VXR8 For me Hey I like the Carlton It's a Great car So I'm going both
I suspect that the only real advantage the Vauxhall has is more modern, larger, lower- profile tires. Do a tire swap on the Lotus and its cornering, already really close, will match its acceleration and the results will be more equal.
Australian made HSV Clubsport R8 more like it. Sent over to the UK and rebadged as a Vauxhall VXR8 😊
Lovely Vicky
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...
Lotus omega is a superstar of the all galactics and all time