Ask an expert

I have a 6 cylinder Holden Commodore. I was looking at a new V8 much to my wife's disgust and disapproval citing additional fuel costs when we should be buying smaller to save costs. The salesperson said there is very little difference between the economy levels of both the V6 and V8 vehicles based on today's engine technology. How true is this? When I said there was little difference my wife remarked ... yeah right!!

The big difference is the potential to use a lot more fuel with the V8. And when we say a lot, we mean, a lot.

The V6 is not the thriftiest engine around, so on a given trip the consumption difference could be minimal. However the exact opposite could also apply.

A couple of years ago a 6.0 litre V8 Holden ute was entered into the AA Energy Wise Rally and beat the manufacturers claimed fuel consumption by over 40%. This proved that driven super economically, a reasonable fuel consumption figure can be achieved.

The reality is owners of these sorts of vehicles don’t buy them to get a headache concentrating on trying to achieve low fuel consumption.

After looking at the claimed manufacturers consumption figures for both engine sizes, we believe a difference of up to 4 litres per 100km is potentially on the cards if you make the switch.