Ford Falcon BA XR6 Mark 11 Road Test

[clutch-monkey]

How did you clean that?

with great difficulty lots of soapy water for the interior, replaced the airbox, spark plugs, changed the oil etc etc, and then ended up using cut and polish on the rear window....

[fpv_gtho]

Yep thats what he said to. And after the serves they also reset many things they are speed buggers.
The bloke i spoke to about it was brutally honest at what Ford has done to limit many things, He said anything that works off the ECU is open for adjusting, Which is good for them they can get extra from it, That was herrod i spoke to.
I made out i was my brother and he had a big list for improvements.
This vortex thing on the throttle body.
Torque converter,
They can even adjust our fav thing, the drive by wire My brother loved that.
Flash tunner which they can program anything including the Auto shifts.
Wasn't cheap but on the performance side it might be worth it.
Faster take offs.
About 15kw @ the wheels more.
And better fuel economy then the factory ECU allows. And toss away the limiter.

Yeah thats the big difference between the flash tuner and something like the Unichip, the flash tuner actually remaps the ECU rather than tricking it with false codes.

That'd be the helix spacer. Dunno if its at all related to how gun chambers are now swirled, but i think it increases the intake charge = more powa!

Big thing with the drive by wire is of course Ford would have done heaps of development sorting bugs and finding out the best compromise, so if some tuner just advances all the settings something could go out of wack.

Herrod charge more for theirs i think, CAPA flog them off for about a grand without a custom setting which would really be what you want.

Be careful with the limiters though. Im pretty sure they cant be physically removed so theyre just as likely to be set at 9000rpm and 400km/h. I dont think Herrod generally go over about 6300-6500 without different engine internals. Without different cams it'd be a waste to go higher anyway.

Stiffening up the shifts will also come at a cost. They make the car go and definately feel faster, but probably worth it alot more if you upgrade the tranny while your at it. At least upgrade the oil cooler.

[SlickHolden]

Yeah thats the big difference between the flash tuner and something like the Unichip, the flash tuner actually remaps the ECU rather than tricking it with false codes.

That'd be the helix spacer. Dunno if its at all related to how gun chambers are now swirled, but i think it increases the intake charge = more powa!

Big thing with the drive by wire is of course Ford would have done heaps of development sorting bugs and finding out the best compromise, so if some tuner just advances all the settings something could go out of wack.

Herrod charge more for theirs i think, CAPA flog them off for about a grand without a custom setting which would really be what you want.

Be careful with the limiters though. Im pretty sure they cant be physically removed so theyre just as likely to be set at 9000rpm and 400km/h. I dont think Herrod generally go over about 6300-6500 without different engine internals. Without different cams it'd be a waste to go higher anyway.

Stiffening up the shifts will also come at a cost. They make the car go and definately feel faster, but probably worth it alot more if you upgrade the tranny while your at it. At least upgrade the oil cooler.

Knowing my brother he would do it and stuff it all up and reset the ECU and call them to come and replace his car.
That was one thing we noticed under his insurance if the car is out of action they need to replace it with atleast the same spec or better. And if it's toast they will replace it up to $30,000. So MK II here he comes lolj/k's.

He really wants launch speed he was not happy when a VP beat him at all and he keep-ed saying on the freeway your mine but off the mark. I haven't herd from him in weeks so i ddont know what he is doing now?

[SlickHolden]

with great difficulty lots of soapy water for the interior, replaced the airbox, spark plugs, changed the oil etc etc, and then ended up using cut and polish on the rear window....

Bet your arms almost fell off after the clean.
I'm lazy i did a big clean and still am slowly doing what everyone can't see.

[fpv_gtho]

Thats what happens when you try push a 1700kg car with a first gear that'll do 80km/h

[SlickHolden]

I'm lucky i only do 65-70

[Clivey]

OK, to summarise what I was meaning to say;

I wasn't trying to slag-off the car without knowing anything about it, I was just questioning the car, bearing in mind that large cars with large engines for tiny prices usually mean (in the UK and in the US) that there's a catch. I was wondering if it was the handling but now, I have one other question for you:

Compare the attached photos of the UK Mondeo's interior with the AUS Falcon's posted by motorsportnerd. Which one looks as though it's less of a parts-bin special and higher quality? Maybe interior design quality is slightly down on the Falcon as a sort of "way" of keeping the price down? Once again, not saying this IS the case, just that it MIGHT BE.

And as an answer to fuel and car prices in the UK, we pay 17.5% Value Added Tax to the government for most things but the tax is MASSIVE on fuel. This goes some way to a possible explanation, but I suspect the main reason is that companies just feel like they can get away with it! The reason for ~2.5 litre diesel pick-ups being popular in the UK at the moment is that they are classed as commercial vehicles = less tax to pay. Meaning you can get a well specced pick-up for the same price as a well specced Mondeo or Vectra.

[fpv_gtho]

Mate its a well known fact that European cars are built to a higher standard than American or Australian cars, and thats reflected the most in the interior. Its probably part of the reason why so many people outside of Europe think theyre snobs...

The pics themselves dont show much anyway. Alot of the percieved advantage the Mondeo has could or could not be down to the quality of a press release photograph, as opposed to something needing little thought, just to give a broad view. I CNBF'd looking to see if its been already said, but the interior plastics used locally have generally been very hard and harsh for a reason, as the abuse some people give their cars, which may stay with an owner for 10 years at a time here, can be pretty severe, as can the temperature and other conditions. That doesnt give them the best feel or finish to a passenger however.

[SlickHolden]

OK, to summarise what I was meaning to say;

I wasn't trying to slag-off the car without knowing anything about it, I was just questioning the car, bearing in mind that large cars with large engines for tiny prices usually mean (in the UK and in the US) that there's a catch. I was wondering if it was the handling but now, I have one other question for you:

Compare the attached photos of the UK Mondeo's interior with the AUS Falcon's posted by motorsportnerd. Which one looks as though it's less of a parts-bin special and higher quality? Maybe interior design quality is slightly down on the Falcon as a sort of "way" of keeping the price down? Once again, not saying this IS the case, just that it MIGHT BE.

And as an answer to fuel and car prices in the UK, we pay 17.5% Value Added Tax to the government for most things but the tax is MASSIVE on fuel. This goes some way to a possible explanation, but I suspect the main reason is that companies just feel like they can get away with it! The reason for ~2.5 litre diesel pick-ups being popular in the UK at the moment is that they are classed as commercial vehicles = less tax to pay. Meaning you can get a well specced pick-up for the same price as a well specced Mondeo or Vectra.

Very true what FPV says about or weather conditions here many interiors made by local car makers needs to be on the hard tuff side to survive the weather we have, Rain has been missing but we have had some this year, But we can go many days of 30+ deg, Some days like last year can top 45-47 deg, That would be hell on a nice touchy interior.
But Ford share some interior parts with Jag or Aston? It's one of them can't think which one.
And most Australians don't have garages even though new house's built now 99% would be built with them. But i would hate to see a European interior in Australia in our summer for 15 years My interior has keeped up pretty good because it's on the tuffer harder side for our conditions. Get some Aussies slamming there beers into the dash's lol j/k's Empty of course

[adrenaline]

500 POSTS. (This is a milestone for me )

Now back to business....

Lets even things up

[fpv_gtho]

It shares a passing resemblance to the current Aston Martin interiors, with the prominent centre column, but i dont know if they'd go so far as to share parts.

[adrenaline]

No parts sharing, just similar looks (the centre console of an aston prolly costs more than an XT )

[SlickHolden]

Hey 500 woohoo Congrats.
Even if only in looks it's pretty good, I got the VY V6 guard badges and i laugh at the VY owners that look at myn I say what you paid over $30,000 to have them i paid just $20

[Blitz_]

OK, to summarise what I was meaning to say;

I wasn't trying to slag-off the car without knowing anything about it, I was just questioning the car, bearing in mind that large cars with large engines for tiny prices usually mean (in the UK and in the US) that there's a catch. I was wondering if it was the handling but now, I have one other question for you:

Compare the attached photos of the UK Mondeo's interior with the AUS Falcon's posted by motorsportnerd. Which one looks as though it's less of a parts-bin special and higher quality? Maybe interior design quality is slightly down on the Falcon as a sort of "way" of keeping the price down? Once again, not saying this IS the case, just that it MIGHT BE.

And as an answer to fuel and car prices in the UK, we pay 17.5% Value Added Tax to the government for most things but the tax is MASSIVE on fuel. This goes some way to a possible explanation, but I suspect the main reason is that companies just feel like they can get away with it! The reason for ~2.5 litre diesel pick-ups being popular in the UK at the moment is that they are classed as commercial vehicles = less tax to pay. Meaning you can get a well specced pick-up for the same price as a well specced Mondeo or Vectra.

Studio vs. Amatuer shot? thats like comparing chalk and cheese lmfao.

[Clivey]

Studio vs. Amatuer shot? thats like comparing chalk and cheese lmfao.

It was the biggest pic of the whole dash of the Mondeo I could find, are there any media shots of the Falcon showing the whole dash, not just the centre console and steering wheel?