When is newer not always better ?

[vanman_75]

Originally Posted by Gammaboy

Thats alot of corners....

hey i felt that. : good looking interiors ive said it in other threads but that silver easy scratching plastic is driving me up the wall ,even microfibre cloths dull it down arrrgh

[prydey]

sunglasses holder is still there, just not in the lesser models obviously. my folks have a ba fairmont with it in it.

[WindsorXR]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

.......Also
why did they put the light switch on the stalk? Headlights should be a switch on the dash. It's just proper!

Thats so you don't have to reach forward as far. I prefer it on the stalk.

[TZENU]

The pleasure of cruising at 3.5k rpm, with the clevo rumble that sounds like your setting the land speed record!!!

[Hally]

One thing I noticed on the weekend was rear windows. A lot of early model cars i owned had the rear windows go all the way down to level wilth the door sill, but in my current car they only go about two thirds down.

[Pinch]

Ditto the no footrest or sunglass holder in BA + and generally useless handbrakes. As old school as my underdash handbrake is in the NC, it WORKS, even on steep ramps with the Mal behind. The tsh, tsh, tsh as I drive slowly is now a thing of BA XR6 memory only.

[gz1]

Well you just can't beat the sound of ye olde 351 clevo.
but moving on to more recent things, going from a SY territory to and SX model there have been an awful lot of things deleted. Seats have shrunk, bin lids removed, rear flip boards deleted, cargo covers deleted etc etc.

[platinumXR]

Cup holder in the console.

Most fit large cappuccino's nicely...

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by Gammaboy

Thats alot of corners....

On a box like the XD-XF? Not that many :

Originally Posted by Citric GT

I think the BA air cond is good. The EL was a bit weak though.

I freeze in my EL. Always have to point the air vents away from myself after a while.

[PALE ALE]

My xy fairmont only has 6 moving part's, and fuel and spark are two of them, so if I've got them two I know it will run. Todays cars, you turn the key and nothing happens, FOR F@#! SAKE !, you lift the bonnet and think "where do I start" and spend the rest of the day with a multi meter trying to find the problem ( or put it on the "general tech" section and hope some ones got an answer)

xy has cast iron head/block, who was the engineer who thought of a alloy head/cast iron block? (blwn head gasket) I reckon this 'and xd-xf door handles are the biggest contributers to ford's demise in this country. I hope they sacked that engineer

[Cam]

The biggest one I can thing of, my 1st Car was a 3.9 EA GHIA, and if you lifted the door handle and there was a light that showed you where the keyhole was.

Now i have the AU with much nicer paint and have to fart a5s around to made sure i dont scratch it with the Key!

Remote central locking does help, but not the point i am making :P

[XR Martin]

I think the appearence and feel of the materials in the EF/ELs is far better than the BA/BF and Territory.

I think AU was the first Falcon to loose weight though, pretty sure a Forte was 20-30kg lighter than an EL GLi.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by PALE ALE

My xy fairmont only has 6 moving part's, and fuel and spark are two of them, so if I've got them two I know it will run. Todays cars, you turn the key and nothing happens, FOR F@#! SAKE !, you lift the bonnet and think "where do I start" and spend the rest of the day with a multi meter trying to find the problem ( or put it on the "general tech" section and hope some ones got an answer)

xy has cast iron head/block, who was the engineer who thought of a alloy head/cast iron block? (blwn head gasket) I reckon this 'and xd-xf door handles are the biggest contributers to ford's demise in this country. I hope they sacked that engineer

Yeah but at the time your XY needed a service every 5000kms, retune, plugs and points every 10k, valves adjusted every 15k, new rings at 100k (if lucky)
Plenty of cars ran alloy heads and cast iron blocks with little trouble, before your XY ever existed too.

[IH8HSV]

Real screws!

Not all that plastic crap you get now.

[PALE ALE]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Yeah but at the time your XY needed a service every 5000kms, retune, plugs and points every 10k, valves adjusted every 15k, new rings at 100k (if lucky)
Plenty of cars ran alloy heads and cast iron blocks with little trouble, before your XY ever existed too.

Mate, once a year I change plugs, oil, oil filter, points, condenser, fuel filter, trans oil, trans filter, air filter and coolant. In fifteen years, I've replaced tyres, brake pads, water pump, lower radiator hose, heater hoses,sector shaft seal on steering box and tie rod ends

Reliability is everything

[tapeworm]

I like the smaller proportions of the older cars, new cars are way over bloated imo.

[JMO]

Metal for trimming eg inner door handles. I don't like the plastic stuff.

[big_landau]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Yeah but at the time your XY needed a service every 5000kms, retune, plugs and points every 10k, valves adjusted every 15k, new rings at 100k (if lucky)
Plenty of cars ran alloy heads and cast iron blocks with little trouble, before your XY ever existed too.

i have had plenty of old falcons with 2 to 300,000km without pulling the engine apart at all.valves adjusted every 15k,never seen anyone do that in an xy mate.you must have had a lemon or someone stuck a 3.9 badge on ya mazda.

[Barry_v]

when is newer not better? always! long live X series!

c4/fmx autos are so much better than 4 speed BTRs in every respect except fuel economy.

[xy500]

Originally Posted by PALE ALE

Mate, once a year I change plugs, oil, oil filter, points, condenser, fuel filter, trans oil, trans filter, air filter and coolant. In fifteen years, I've replaced tyres, brake pads, water pump, lower radiator hose, heater hoses,sector shaft seal on steering box and tie rod ends

Reliability is everything

ditto, never needed to touch the valves, has an electronic dissy so i dont have points or need to retune, still has the original rings 180,000 miles later, can leave the oil change for once a year and she still runs sweet. you can't kill the old engines, goes to show that simpler is better - on gas i get better dollars per km than a holden ecotec.

I love the simplicity of older cars, they still work without so much of this extra crap. all i need is a radio as my luxury item!

[MAD]

I'd have to say seating position.

With each model it seems to get higher and higher.

[homegrown]

i love everything about an old car except when you wash it and you have to dry every sqare inch of it because it a poor design for water to escape. pop the boot, under the doors, in the engine bay etc.
Even washing an old car is better, its just the drying part.

[Trek]

Originally Posted by MAD

I'd have to say seating position.

With each model it seems to get higher and higher.

Strange you say that, the position in my EL is definitely lower than my old man's EA.

When I first sat in his Falc all those years ago is was MUCH higher than his XE though.

And EL to AU there's little difference there, with height. At least from what I've noticed.

Haven't sat in an FG, nor BF, but have also sat in a BA, can't remember the seat height being monstrously different either.

While trends were changing, the XC to the XD was a big step backwards in terms of body styling. The XD basically had zero.

Again, with the EL to the AU, but not as worse, to the point that it could have been a box with wheels and a motor, like the XD.

[xbgs351]

Originally Posted by Dezza!

I was going to say that. The EA is the easiest car to see out of. I drove a VE SV6 last year, and I just couldn't reverse it properly. The high bootlid with the rear spoiler made it impossible to see where I was reversing. I've driven AU/BAs as well, and they're a lot better but still nowhere near the standard of the EA.

I've also found the drivers footwell is fairly cramped on the BAs. It gets a bit awkward if I'm wearing my steelcap boots, while the EA footwell is great.

You haven't driven an XD-XF then have you.

[Homer]

For me it’s mainly the lights switch on the stalk bothers me.
And Stereo quality seemed to have peeked in the AU and dramatically dropped!

And the cheap carpets....

[seduced_xr]

sounds crap
carpets crap
rear view is crap
panel alingment is crap
paint coverage is crap
wear and tear is crap
interior trim material is crap

if i could just retrim my xr with the soft black material from the AU fairmonts that would be good

but ontop of the crap list theres alot more positives

[banarcus]

Well I cannot believe that nobody has already mentioned this one: The fact that BA back doors will not open wide enough compared to eg, my ED stationwagon. For a family sized car, what's doing there?? Legacy of the melted roof/bonnet/boot AU Falcon that was left too long in the sun and designed from the same peice of paper as the American Taurus.

Oh and someone mentioned something about the old school V8s sounding better. My Dad had a XB wagon with a clevo and it had the standard exhaust that didn't really set the world on fire.. Then again, it wasn't a GT either.

[FPV8U]

- BA Handbrake
- BA Seating position too high for people taller like myself.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by banarcus

Well I cannot believe that nobody has already mentioned this one: The fact that BA back doors will not open wide enough compared to eg, my ED stationwagon. For a family sized car, what's doing there?? Legacy of the melted roof/bonnet/boot AU Falcon that was left too long in the sun and designed from the same peice of paper as the American Taurus.

Isn't the station wagon a LWB and has Fairlane doors?

[banarcus]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Isn't the station wagon a LWB and has Fairlane doors?

Yes you are right, the Fairlane has the wagon rear doors. How about the AU-BF rear doors opening far less than a EA-EL SWB sedan? Ford and their thinking :(