Fords engine plant at Geelong may close

[charged]

In the Age newspaper today there's a story about the Geelong engine plant closing and ford to import a V6 for the new falcon. Hopefully it doesnt happen as 600 jobs will be lost and the ford I6 is a great engine , not sure if its going to be Euro 4 compliant and the cost involved to meet the targets

http://www.theage.com.au/news/nation...833750007.html

[Mr. Jinx]

I hope it does happen. Its necessary progress.

While the I6 is a fantastic engine, I think its time to lay it to rest. 600 jobs is a necessary sacrifice. With the current environmental hysteria, the concept of a 4 liter 6 cylinder car is approaching heresy.

From what I've read, Ford US has quite a few mainstream forced induction V6s coming soon, making big power but in 3.5L guise.

500cc isn't much, but it makes a big difference in perception in a climate where just about everyone is Earth's bitch.

[SlickHolden]

This is the big thing on the FF.. But there it's hard to make sence in a red top..

But a V6 wont be the end of the world.. And i hope if Ford does have to go V6 they can like holden build global V6's and rehire who they had and more to build them, It's like holden in some ways until they got the global V6 off they didn't build engines like the old days...
But the way other are talking is it's not the I6 that is in trouble for Euro 4 it;s the alloytech engine, And what made it not believable was the fact this person said they are to drop the 195 engine becvause it dosent meet E4 which makes no sence.
So in the end i hope FoMoCo does give Ford oz the green light to build a global type engine if they loose the I6.

My brother has wanted a V6 in a Ford for years now, In his eyes he thinks it's fords weakness not moving on with the rest, He still believes the old EF went harder then his BA

[Blitz_]

Either way, there is pressure for Ford on both fronts. The Euro compliant emission regulations on one side, and on the other there is the Australian public, whom will scrutinize and lay blame directly on FoMoCo Aus. for 600 employee's.

If it does occur, it will be the end of an era.

Long live the I6? I think so.

[fpv_gtho]

Ford arent rushing to confirm anything on this, so its not too different to any of the last 20 times the media's twisted the knife in the I6's back. Personally, the I6 will be a victim in either 2 years or 20 years as a result of the Mustang and Falcon merging into the one platform. Its been one of the biggest hurdles in getting an LHD Falcon, and having Ford Aus developing it solely is going to always have it on the backfoot. The Duratec35 and Duratec37 seem to be the 2 most likely candidates to replace it, and with talk of the '37 expanding further to a 4L V6 its obviously not the capacity Ford are worried about, although the engine gives it the flexibility for more than one capacity, something Holden is failing to exploit with their high feature V6. The Duratec V6 range also would bring with it the twinforce engine Ford previewed in a recent Lincoln concept, with figures around 320kw and 540nm.

They'll also get rid of that engine whine as well

Something to remember also though is importing a crate engine isnt the only option Ford is looking at, theres also producing the engine here or simple assembly like how the DOHC V8 is produced by FPV.

[SlickHolden]

We will set them straight!, It's the yanks to blame As always..

Trust me it wont hurt ford holden let go of there straight 6's after 40 ish years and they didn't skip a beat into nissan 6 then buick V6. But admittingly the V6's were much more sharper, So the V6 if it does go into falcons it must be powerful and have good torque but drop the economy even more, I think the ZF would mate to a V6 perfect.

[adrenaline]

IIRC, there was talk a year or two ago of a government grant Ford received to keep the I6 in production past 2010.

The TwinForce would be quite good. I believe it's debuting in the Lincoln MKS, which would be 2008 - so it's a possibility for a 2010 Falcon.

[fpv_gtho]

They recieved a $20m grant to adapt more "green" technologies for the I6, and no doubt that's been used to great effect with Orion, but it didnt relate to Euro4 unfortunately.

[SlickHolden]

Just say the I6T is the only I6 in the range after 2011 ??

[adrenaline]

Confirmed today. It's gone after 2010.

They will be importing the Duratec from the States.

[fpv_gtho]

Ah well. The fanboys will scream and cry, apparently the Vic government is asking for whats left of the grant back from Ford, but at the end of the day if Ford do extend the Duratec37 to a 4L, it'll be a better engine than the Barra performance wise. The only questions are smoothness and torque, both of which we've been in a privelaged position with the straight six anyway. With 6 speed transmissions and CVT's these days, they can get away with "only" 350nm or so.

[fordman6]

350Nm ain't much, geez, the AU six made more! But with a 500cc increase, it'll be A LOT more torquey and powerful over BA/BF. With the ZF, it'll be one heck of a drive! Also, there are single and twin turbo guises for the XR6T and F6!!!

[fpv_gtho]

Again, its all relative. Ford have long had torquey engines mated to an 80km/h first gear in their auto. Stick in a conventionally geared 6 speed with a minor torque decrease and nobody would know any different.

350nm is indeed alot of torque, just nobody realises it because we've been privelaged by the I6's torquey characteristics. If the Duratecs are willing to rev, unlike the I6 which does so at the expense of economy, then whats the difference?

Most people these days tow with a 4wd unless theyve been towing for over 10 years anyway...,

[SlickHolden]

Old holdens guys never worried about lake of torque shit i haven't been harmed by 293Nm.. I had Blue_supra and whiteballz in my car we are not small blokes well they make me look short and i make them look anorexic.. Anyway When following MSN we almost got stuck behind a car with the lanes going to 1, And i stuck it and we speed up past the car back behind MSN, 2nd gear pull not a kickdown back to 1st.. Now that's old tech think what a new V6 will go like with all the stuffing..
Even the Omega cop cars when going hard sound better then expected and go ****en hard as to.. Early on there will be moans but when a V6 TT is under the bonnet of a FV6TT @ 350kw 600Nm I might be exaggerating a touch,, Who will remember the past?.

[charged]

The V6 wont be a bad thing also with the more compact design the engine hopefully will be mounted as rearward as possible toward the firewall, will definetley help the weight distribution and the COG as th inline 6 is one tall motor.

As the duratec can be turbocharged, it will be a good thing, also the duratec engine made the wards best engine list.

The only loosers sadly are the 600 Geelong families without a job