Happy Birthday Barra!

[DJM83]

Seems roughly around 15 years ago Ford released the XR6 Turbo.


Always been a massive fan of it and now own one, some interesting stuff i didnt know in the below article.
https://www.motormag.com.au/features...t-supercharged

Picked up the magazine aswell.

[baboon]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Always been a massive fan of it and now own one, some interesting stuff i didnt know in the below article.

Same here. Big fan when it was first released, now own one too! Interesting article about the suggestion of supercharging the thing!

I like this:

And so a new Aussie performance hero was born, with Barfield in particular confident it would be a success: “I named it ‘Gull’ (as in seagull), because we knew it was going to **** on everything.”

[GASWAGON]

I'll be buying this mag........ tomorrow.

Thanks DJM83!

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Seems roughly around 15 years ago Ford released the XR6 Turbo.
image
image
Always been a massive fan of it and now own one, some interesting stuff i didnt know in the below article.
https://www.motormag.com.au/features...t-supercharged

Picked up the magazine aswell.

I read that article yesterday.

I too was interested that they looked into supercharging.

When Miami was in it's planning stages they also looked at turbos.
I'd love to know what happened to both these engines. (Were they ever built?)

Ford left nothing on the table chasing performance/drivability.

[GASWAGON]

Great article.

Interesting about how about the BF onwards they started fitting the LPG conrods and even bigger Turbo as the power figures went higher and higher with F6 310.

And finally the FGX Sprint at 325kw.

I been wondering if i could if i could fit a BF XR6T engine into my BF wagon.

All i would need is a low kilometre engine with stock turbo mated to my original BTR trans and the BFXR6T ECU.

I could have the first XR6T Wagon.......EVER.

Would that be possible???

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by CoolBFWagon

Great article.

Interesting about how about the BF onwards they started fitting the LPG conrods and even bigger Turbo as the power figures went higher and higher with F6 310.

And finally the FGX Sprint at 325kw.

I been wondering if i could if i could fit a BF XR6T engine into my BF wagon.

All i would need is a low kilometre engine with stock turbo mated to my original BTR trans and the BFXR6T ECU.

I could have the first XR6T Wagon.......EVER.

Would that be possible???

IIRC there has already been one built with B Series F6 running gear built by Ferntree Gully auto salvage i think.

[baboon]

Originally Posted by CoolBFWagon

I could have the first XR6T Wagon.......EVER.

Would that be possible???

Yes this guy has done it, on LPG too! Turbo BF Futura Wagon at Mallala

But you should make it your goal too!!! Build thread please

[Trump]

Originally Posted by CoolBFWagon

Great article.

Interesting about how about the BF onwards they started fitting the LPG conrods and even bigger Turbo as the power figures went higher and higher with F6 310.

And finally the FGX Sprint at 325kw.

I been wondering if i could if i could fit a BF XR6T engine into my BF wagon.

All i would need is a low kilometre engine with stock turbo mated to my original BTR trans and the BFXR6T ECU.

I could have the first XR6T Wagon.......EVER.

Would that be possible???

I hate to burst your bubble, but I've seen a few BF wagons fitted with a contemporaneous OEM turbo engine, some even with an FG F6 engine.

An engineer involved in the Barra development (since retired) told me that the prototype turbo engines were making north of 400kW on an engine dyno during durability testing.

[FPV414]

Pretty sure BA was released around Sept' 02.

[GASWAGON]

Originally Posted by DJM83

IIRC there has already been one built with B Series F6 running gear built by Ferntree Gully auto salvage i think.
image

Oh ye trust FTG Auto Salvage they get all the best XR/GT wrecks.

Thats who i'd source my engine and the rest from for sure.

Hav'nt got the money for it yet but i'm definately thinking about it for possible 'Project Car' thread???

[malazn mafia]

Will definitely be buying this magazine. The Barra engine was so revolutionary at the beginning of the 21st century, it completely blew its contemporaries out of the water. The VY commodore V6 had a laughable power output compared to even the BA XT, and Holden completely ditched it's supercharged 3.8 V6, to save it the misery of being toasted by N/A and Turbo Barra 6s. The 5.7L Gen 3 that would make AU's tremble, suddenly looked underwhelming and weak against the mighty Barra.

[edchung2000]

Wonder how a supercharged Barra would have performed, compared to the turbo.

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by edchung2000

Wonder how a supercharged Barra would have performed, compared to the turbo.

There's a few people on here who have gone that route ... so they are the best ones to comment.

Now .... doing both would be different though ... in a compound boost setup.

[Trump]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Will definitely be buying this magazine. The Barra engine was so revolutionary at the beginning of the 21st century, it completely blew its contemporaries out of the water. The VY commodore V6 had a laughable power output compared to even the BA XT, and Holden completely ditched it's supercharged 3.8 V6, to save it the misery of being toasted by N/A and Turbo Barra 6s. The 5.7L Gen 3 that would make AU's tremble, suddenly looked underwhelming and weak against the mighty Barra.

As good as the Barra is, its design wasn't revolutionary, it was a catch up to what was the state of the current in the automotive world. It was though, a revelation compared to the AU engine and a whole other plane of existence compared to the moo motor in the Commode.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by Trump

As good as the Barra is, its design wasn't revolutionary, it was a catch up to what was the state of the current in the automotive world. It was though, a revelation compared to the AU engine and a whole other plane of existence compared to the moo motor in the Commode.

I think it was more than a catchup. Its peers were Magna (163kw), Camry (140kw), Commodore (152kw). The Magna came the closest in heavily worked form with 180kw, but the standard 6 made a fair bit less. The Barra at the time was the most advanced Australian built engine at the time, stripping the title from the Camry 6cyl. The amount of pulling power the stock Barra 6 had was quite phenomenal, the old man rented a territory on a business trip, and that Barra wound the speedometer all the way around and was still pulling at the limiter.

[roddy1960]

G'day all , Turbo or N/A Barra , it's single biggest feature is the wide band of usable torque that is great for spirited driving of course but why it does everything so easy all day long . It rarely if ever is stressed to do the job. I think the Sprint 6 had equivalent torque to the V8 , both about 575 NM .
At 100 kmh the laconic Barra is doing less than 1600 rpm and many regard the Barra powered chariots as ideal for towing and fantastic for traveling big distances pretty economically.
Too bad the rest of the world didn't see much of it. Their loss , not ours.
Cheers Rod.

[Dr Terry]

Without wanting to sound like a nark, when did the Barra name begin to exclusively refer to the Falcon 6 Turbo or N/A motors ?

Ford used the Barra name for all the 6-cyl & 24V V8 motors in the BA/BF series. The 32V V8 was called the Boss.

Why isn't the BA 6-cyl called the Falcon 6 DOHC to differentiate from the earlier 6s ?

Dr Terry

[GASWAGON]

The BA was the first 'Barra'. DOHC plus VCT.

Same bottom end as all previous 4.0 SOHC so just the head design was totally new.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by CoolBFWagon

The BA was the first 'Barra'. DOHC plus VCT.

Same bottom end as all previous 4.0 SOHC so just the head design was totally new.

Yep I think you are correct . , Referring to the SOHC , she's a pretty good donk too and prior to the BA , the AU XR6 had VCT as did the V8 I think . The standard SOHC was 157 kw and the XR6 version with VCT was 164 kw I believe. The original Barra was 182 kw. I know my old BA Fairmont Ghia was that.
The stock Turbo was 240 kw and well over 500 Nm in 2002.
Best bit though is the long legged usable torque band .
My bare bones stock FG XR6 with normal 195kw Barra just pulls like a train even with low to moderate throttle. The turbo Barra is just insane as a friend of mine with an upgraded 340 rwkw 2004 model demonstrated to me a few months ago. Bloody great motor and something else about our Barra is she can take a lot of modding before worry lines start to appear on the brow. Everything else usually lets go first before this engine does.

[Dr Terry]

My question was

"when did the Barra name begin to exclusively refer to the Falcon 6 Turbo or N/A motors ?"

Ford used the name for the BA 24V V8 as well, NOT JUST THE 6-cyl DOHC motor. The 220kW V8 in BA was called the Barra 220 yet it's not a 6-cyl at all.

Nowadays all of a sudden when somebody says "Barra motor" it means BA/BF 6-cyl.

Is the FG & FGX 6-cyl called the Barra also, the sales brochures don't seem to mention it ?

Dr Terry

[Maka]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

Yep I think you are correct . , Referring to the SOHC , she's a pretty good donk too and prior to the BA , the AU XR6 had VCT as did the V8 I think . The standard SOHC was 157 kw and the XR6 version with VCT was 164 kw I believe. The original Barra was 182 kw. I know my old BA Fairmont Ghia was that.
The stock Turbo was 240 kw and well over 500 Nm in 2002.
Best bit though is the long legged usable torque band .
My bare bones stock FG XR6 with normal 195kw Barra just pulls like a train even with low to moderate throttle. The turbo Barra is just insane as a friend of mine with an upgraded 340 rwkw 2004 model demonstrated to me a few months ago. Bloody great motor and something else about our Barra is she can take a lot of modding before worry lines start to appear on the brow. Everything else usually lets go first before this engine does.

Au xr6's with vct actually made 172kw from the factory, non vct powered Au xr6's had 164kw.

cheers, Maka

[Mechan1k]

My understanding is the B-series Falcon range was under the Barra development program. Not just associated with the engine itself.

The engines were named Barra as well (mentioned earlier in the I6's and 3v V8s)

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by Maka

Au xr6's with vct actually made 172kw from the factory, non vct powered Au xr6's had 164kw.

cheers, Maka

G'day , Thanks , So three different SOHC AU power levels , not two. 157 ,164 and 172. That's cool. My old girl is a Futura ll 157 kw.

On historical stuff as I watch the rain pelt down , on the History Channel right now is the Henry Ford Story. which I haven't seen before . Looks like it's worth a watch.
Cheers Rod.

[78xcgxl]

Best 6cylinder engine ever made! Power, economy and proven durability.

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

G'day , Thanks , So three different SOHC AU power levels , not two. 157 ,164 and 172. That's cool. My old girl is a Futura ll 157 kw.

On historical stuff as I watch the rain pelt down , on the History Channel right now is the Henry Ford Story. which I haven't seen before . Looks like it's worth a watch.
Cheers Rod.

Yep ... the AU XR6 HP had a different cam in it and non-IRS rear ... lighter and more nimble. With mods they went rather well indeed.

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by Dr Terry

Is the FG & FGX 6-cyl called the Barra also, the sales brochures don't seem to mention it ?

Dr Terry

Yeah ... its still known as the Barra 195 in the non-turbo guise at least.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Yep ... the AU XR6 HP had a different cam in it and non-IRS rear ... lighter and more nimble. With mods they went rather well indeed.

Great stuff , such a great base for the Barra era most likely. It's kind of ironic that many who claim that the AU was a dismal failure either don't know or have forgotten that the AU was one of the most innovative Falcons of them all. Have often read that it was almost over engineered and probably why so many still ply the roads almost two decades after it's release in 1998. Ya can't kill 'em . So reliable. The Barra is truthfully a great engine by any measure, the earlier SOHC 4.0 is too. I posted this before , regardless of the Commodore in the clip , look at this for a bit of interest from a while back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR6sKfaBlGM Cheers Rod.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Yeah ... its still known as the Barra 195 in the non-turbo guise at least.

BA/series 2 : Barra 182 (were the engine development teams Blink 182 fans lol)
BF: Barra 190
FG-FGX (plastic intake) : Barra 195 (underrated, could have been labeled Barra210)

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

G'day , Thanks , So three different SOHC AU power levels , not two. 157 ,164 and 172. That's cool. My old girl is a Futura ll 157 kw.

On historical stuff as I watch the rain pelt down , on the History Channel right now is the Henry Ford Story. which I haven't seen before . Looks like it's worth a watch.
Cheers Rod.

Five actually.

142 (DLPG)
157
164 (XR6)
168 (Fairmont Ghia / Fairlane)
172 (XR6 VCT)

[DFB FGXR6]

The Barra name was, as mentioned, in reference to the whole BA programme but was later used to name the engine line up. If we want to be technical, the naturally aspirated engines were code named "Dingo" and the turbo was "Gull".

I don't seem to remember Ford making any reference to Barra for FG onwards, both at the time of launch or in promotional stuff like brochures and website specs.