V8-powered answers

Volume 48, No. 12, July 13, 2006

SPEED SMART: V8Owners.com.au helps to promote NT Police’s “Beat the Heat” program.

THE internet is a great source of automotive information but all too often in your search for a product or advice you find yourself spending hours wading through pages and pages of irrelevant web sites just to answer one simple question.

Like many members of the ADF, I own a V8 and in my own search for technical advice about my car I found a site that is a veritable encyclopedia of V8 information.

V8Owners.com.au is an Aus-tralian owned and funded website dedicated to owners of all makes and models of V8s. Started in 2004 by Peter de Vries of Sydney and co-owned by Duncan Forrest, V8Owners.com.au provides a forum for owners of all makes and models to ask questions, organise cruises and promote the efforts of the Northern Territory’s “Beat the Heat” program.

Beat the Heat is a program which aims to get people to race their cars off the streets at legal organised drag and track days, and features a highly modified NT police vehicle aptly named “The Heat”.

I attended an Eastern Creek track day, and although it wasn’t organised by V8Owners.com.au, it was through a post in their forum that I learnt of the track day.

And what a day it was – learning how to handle my car at highway speeds with the supervision of an in-car coach was awesome. I can honestly say that I benefited from the experience of pushing my car around Eastern Creek at speeds approaching 200km/h in a safe and very controlled environment.

Four times a year V8Owners organise a members’ day at Western Sydney International Dragway, providing a safe and controlled environment for those who wish to see what their car can do. On-site training is provided.

V8Owners even provide different types of tyres, basic performance components and a pit stocked with tools, jacks, and compressors for members to use.

The site is about more than just performance V8 vehicles. The forum has information posted by real people and their experiences on all manner of automotive issues.

For example, restoration projects and good panel beating shops, the best place to get your car serviced, photos of yet-to-be released vehicles such as the VE Commodore, car care products, ways to get better fuel economy and car finance rates.

Anyone who advertises their business on the forum does so for free. This guarantees a cash-for-comments-free forum and unbiased information for the benefit of all V8 drivers out there.

V8Owners has it all. If you have a question just sign up, start a thread in a forum and within a few days you will have a dozen answers from people with experiences on what ever it is you want to know.

– BDR Troy Charters