FAQ's
Why should I modify my car? LS Powered Commodores are the last of the Rear Wheel Drive Real V8 era. Electric is coming so its time to enjoy the V8's while we can! Car manufacturers design their vehicles to be used in a broad range of conditions and Commodore Engines run a Generic Engine Tune to allow for this. Other factors such as noise/emissions etc dictate what Air Intake Systems and Exhausts came on these factory cars. By changing components and individually tuning the cars ECU to suit we can change your Commodore to make it more enjoyable... whether thats just to make it sound like a V8 should or make more power and improve drivability with better throttle response and sharper gear changes!
But how can it make that much more Power than Factory? Holden & HSV have done an awesome marketing job increasing numbers of the various models over the years. Look at the first 1999 LS1 in VT2 V8 at 220kw, then VX 225kw, VY1 235kw, VY2 245kw, VZ 250kw, VE1 270kw, VE2/VF1 260kw (only model decrease as has AFM), VF2 304kw. The equivalent model in HSV was always around 30kw more with VT2 250kw, VX 255kw, VY1 265kw, VY2 285kw, VZ 297kw, E1 307kw, E2/E3 317/325kw, GenF 317/325/340kw. Every new model year there's a slight increase in power which wants us to buy the new model. Often the only difference between Model Years or Holden & HSV's running the same Engines is a set of headers and different tune. Look at first VT2 running LS1 5.7 but making 220kw yet is the same Engine as used in the 1997 Corvette which made 257kw! All we do is make the Engine run the best it can which is why you will see some older models make more power gains from factory power than others with the same mods.
You have a lot of options in the Power Upgrades do you have Demo cars so we can hear what they sound like? Yes we always have various VT2 to VF LS powered models in stock with the Cat Back Exhaust Systems & OTR Intakes plus Tunes. We also have a VX HSV with factory Headers, Decats & Twin 3" Exhaust, VE GTS with Stage 6, VF1 Calais with Stage 6, VF2 SSV Redline with Stage 9 so these cars cover most of the options for all VT2 to VF Commodores.
Do your Power Package Prices Include Installation? Yes all prices listed are in NZ$ and include Labour/Installation and GST, drive in drive out!
Do you have loan cars? Yes we have three Commodore Loan Cars available.
Will I be charged more than you quoted? We 100% stick to the quoted price so you won't have any surprises when you come to pick up your car. In the event that we find your car needs additional work to what we quoted we will call you to let you know and get the go ahead before starting any new work.
Why buy a car from us? XAIR started out as a Performance Shop thats ended up becoming a Registered Motor Vehicle Trader (RMVT) now selling cars. We've been modifying and working on Holdens for 20 years so know these cars inside & out plus we drive what we sell everyday!
What does "Drone" mean in an Exhaust? When a bigger tube exhaust system is fitted depending on the design it creates a certain amount of noise in the cabin of the car. The deep V8 exhaust note is what's missing on a lot of the LS Powered Commodores from factory but on some of the Twin 3" Exhaust systems this can also create a Drone at certain rpm. Drone is a resonance noise that comes through normally at lower rpm under engine load and worse in Autos. So under light throttle in top gear at say 100km/h it may just be a faint background noise but when you come to a hill you need to apply more throttle to keep the same speed as rpm increases before the Torque Converter fully locks up but not enough that the trans shifts down to a lower gear. This extra engine load transmits through the exhaust making the background noise in the car more noticeable. You can manually shift down to a lower gear or switch to sports mode to make it drop gears faster and as soon as the rpm changes it instantly disappears. Headers and High Flow Cats actually improve/make less drone as a lot of the time its the restrictive manifolds into small tube factory cats that work in creating the drone when combined with the Big Bore Exhausts. In Wagons and Utes drone seems to be slightly worse due to the open rear areas. On factory Exhausts removing the Rear Mufflers completely and replacing with straight pipes can also create a bad drone.
Why are your Wheels & Tyres more expensive to Fit & Balance compared to other shops? We use the specialists Advantage Pukekohe to Fit & Balance all our Wheels & Tyres and do Wheel Alignments. They are not the cheapest but we've tried other cheaper Wheel Shops and have had Damage to Wheels and shaking through the car due to bad balancing. Advantage 100% guarantee their workmanship and take great care not to mark wheels when fitting up the tyres.