FG Road Test Courier Mail18/10/09 (Bold by me)

[csv8]

IT IS hard to know whether Ford's new Falcon is he result of forward thinking or a reaction to Holden's VE Commodore.

Either way it is a great pity Ford did not bring the FG Falcon to market much sooner. In almost every way the FG G6 overshadows the VE but, without the benefit of export business and given the market trend of downsizing, Ford has probably missed the bus to market.

And that is a shame because the FG range deserves to be a sales success.

The G6 is quiet, responsive, refined and all the various aspects of a car (suspension, brakes, transmission, controls and so on) have been integrated in a seamless package – albeit a package that the marketplace is showing reluctance to buy.

And Ford has announced that in the interests of global rationalisation, the 4-litre straight six engine, both naturally aspirated and turbocharged, is to be consigned to the scrap heap in the next couple of years.

That too is unfortunate. The Ford base model engine is streets ahead of Holden's V6, in smoothness, torque and fuel consumption. It is almost as well developed as BMW's 3-litre six and it is hard to imagine Ford will produce a V engine in the same class first up.

While there is talk of a massively powerful twin turbo V6 Ford engine, what is wrong with the turbocharged straight six which had to be "restrained" in Ford's performance vehicles so it did not massively overshadow the Boss V8. And even "detuned" the turbo six still performs as well as the V8 using considerably less fuel.

And the naturally aspirated version in the G6 test vehicle returned 10.5litres/100km which included considerable around town stuff, probably 50 per cent.

And 50 per cent of the freeway driving was in commuter traffic.

All of which lends credence to the belief that those making the decisions at Ford are just a step off the pace.

The G6 is not Ford's base model Falcon but one step up the ladder. It is followed by the G6E then G6E Turbo.

The G6 is a family car possessing a surprising amount of get up and go thanks to its 195kW, 391Nm engine which comes in with plenty of grunt much earlier than the Holden.

The G6 cabin, too, has much more grunt than the Commodore.

The dash layout and presentation has leapt into the present with a multi-function LCD screen and general layout streets ahead of the VE.

There is still plenty of legroom front and back and a boot that can accommodate more than just the weekly shopping.

On the road all the Falcons benefit from being large Aussie sixes. There is something about the way a large car rides that the smaller car makers cannot match no matter how tricked up they get the small car suspension.

And thanks to the global crisis oil prices are falling. All we need now is for the Aussie dollar to regain some value and fuel prices will fall. Writing off the big Aussie six as an extinct dinosaur could be a little premature.

TWO Ford Falcon XR8s – the sedan and the ute – recently made The Courier-Mail garage home.

While they share the XR8 moniker, they turned out to be completely different in character.

The sedan is, well, a little sedate in appearance and the ute is a little more of a go-getter, a sports car.

Ford has used a 5.4 litre V8 engine and ended up with a relatively hi-tech double overhead camshaft, four valves a cylinder, fuel-injected V8, albeit under square (a stroke measurement greater than the bore measurement).

Thanks to its tuning and to the long stroke, the V8 is not overly keen on revving out (which is something you might have expected from a quad cam engine), but it does give the Boss 290 massive amounts of torque just off idle.

In fact both XRs chirped the tyres with consummate ease if the driver was not light footed moving from a standstill, the ute especially so.

Like its main competitor, the Holden ute, Ford's 2008 XR8 ute is more of a sports car than a load-carrying work vehicle.

A surprising thing about the ute is its ability to hang on to the road long after the leaf spring, light, rear end could have been expected to let go. Given the propensity of most utes to come round and meet you, the XR8's tenacity in biting the road was remarkable. A racetrack would be needed to test the ute's road-hugging limits.

And given the fact it was shod with 19-inch five-spoke alloy rims and 245/35 profile tyres, the ride in the two-person cab was surprisingly forgiving. No luxury limo type glide, but much better than would be expected in a sporty ute with 35 per cent profile tyres.

Where the sedan is quite quiet and you struggle to sense there is a 290kW V8 under that bonnet bulge, the ute lets you know. Exhaust and induction noise on the ute are substantially higher than the sedan and the transmission in the ute made its presence felt by way of a noticeable whine when it was put to the test by plenty of Newton metres and kilowatts.

The ute feels like it is being propelled by a 290 kilowatt engine while the sedan is deceptively quick in acceleration but does it with less ado.

And that hard tonneau cover with the optional spoiler, or wing, at the rear is a bit of a two-edged sword. It is tough to open. You have to push down on the centre mounted opening button while pushing up on a tonneau cover that in anyone's language has to be described as heavy.

And then it opens only slightly. The cover is hinged at the front just behind the cab and is assisted in opening by two gas struts but it is still a task.

Removing the cover is a major job – almost certainly too much of a task for one person.

You won't see a concrete mixer or motocross bike in many XR8 utes.

If it is to be used as a ute rather than a sports car, a soft tonneau cover would be a much better proposition.

In both vehicles, having that Boss V8 under the bonnet can come at a cost. Fuel consumption figures close to 19litres/100km popped up around town if the driver was inclined to gas it up a bit.

But 9.4litres/100km was the figure achieved on a steady cruise down the freeway from Springwood to the Gold Coast. So provided you have a light foot the combined figure of 14l/100km does not appear out of reach. But then why have an XR8 if you don't give it a squirt occasionally.

The ute was blessed with the XR luxury pack consisting of leather trim sports seats, premium audio system with 7" colour screen, AM/FM radio, 6-disc in-dash CD and six speakers (Total 112 watts), 19" x 8" XR five-spoke alloy wheels, 245/35 R19 tyres, premium sports interior and dual zone automatic climate control.

The leather seats were comfortable but no more so than the fabric seats in the sedan which would probably be a better proposition if you had parked the car at the beach for an hour or two in the middle of summer then had to get in.

The sound system was adequate in the sedan and much more than enough in the ute. While the dual zone climate control worked well in the ute, though it is hard to see how the temperature on one side of the ute cabin could be kept consistently different from the other side, given the tiny space.

All rear seat passengers in the sedan commented on how comfortable the seats were and most were pleasantly surprised by how quiet the sedan was. All were impressed by how smooth the ride was despite the low profile tyres.

Other manufacturers of the European persuasion could learn a bit from the Falcon about comfortable ride using low profile tyres.

The cabins in both the sedan and ute have leapt forward about three years in one model change.

The dash is stylish, there is plenty of soft plastic finish and about the only criticism is that the satellite navigation system with its remote control is a pain in the proverbial. Very little is intuitive and a good long study of the instruction manual is de rigueur if you don't want to give up in disgust.

The V8-equipped Falcon is easy to spot: there is a dirty big bulge in the bonnet because the bonnet lid simply will not fit over the top of the inlet manifold on the 5.4 litre V8.

The bulge appears very big from inside the car but is not nearly as noticeable from outside.

[DJM83]

Good times, a good wrap if you ask me. Dont know what it will amount to though. Some good publicity is a bonus

[5.4 GT]

Originally Posted by csv8

Ford has used a 5.4 litre V8 engine and ended up with a relatively hi-tech double overhead camshaft, four valves a cylinder, fuel-injected V8, albeit under square (a stroke measurement greater than the bore measurement).

Thanks to its tuning and to the long stroke, the V8 is not overly keen on revving out (which is something you might have expected from a quad cam engine), but it does give the Boss 290 massive amounts of torque just off idle.

I guess it's all a matter of opinion but I think the Boss290 is the exact opposite to what they are describing it (loves to rev up above 4000rpm and goes hard till the cut-out).

The torque I wouldn't say is massive (not in the same league as the 6.0 litre Holden/HSV engine off idle) but it's certainly heaps more than the T6 below 2000rpm.

[SSbaby]

The more I see of FG the more I like. I'd love a test drive of the turbo and V8 before I decide on my next car.

[TUF_302]

Im starting to see alot of FG's around tassie now, most XR's, but the XT's are starting to pop up a fair bit now!

[uranium_death]

I have seen mostly XRs or G6Es, and on the road, they look magnificent.
Turning onto the West Gate Bridge from Williamstown Road today, I saw a beaut looking XR, and thought it looked wonderful.

I saw it near an Aurion, and saw how much better the Falcon looked.

It is a great looking car, and I think it's different enough from the B-Series.

[ea90gl]

what a shame these things arent selling too well I suppose many people just don't know what they're missing out on

[mcnews]

Who wrote it?

[csv8]

Originally Posted by mcnews

Who wrote it?

Brendan Quirk .Courier Mail.

[mcnews]

Ta. I know most of the car journos and was interested to know which one had scribbled it. Thought it would have been Mark or Brendan as it was The Courier Mail.

[buggerlugs]

Hows the comment about having to de-tune the turbos................ What a beast.....

[Grunter]

Apparently the FG FPV range will have it's reviews posted in this weekends paper.