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By
EWAN KENNEDY
20 June 2005
Ford's big Falcon is an excellent machine, the
phrase ‘a great Australian road car’ may sound a bit hackneyed these
days, but it really does sum up the Falcon to perfection. On the open
road it’s a superb tourer, with the ability to soak up bumps, hold the
road even when pushed hard and to do so with a minimum of fuss and
reasonably good fuel consumption.
Around the suburbs it generally works well,
though fuel usage will climb significantly, especially if you get
stuck into it away from the traffic lights. In the city, though,
it’s sheer size can tell against it and driving and parking
become more difficult.
The six-cylinder automatic Falcon XT sedan we
tested last week normally used between 12 to 14 litres of fuel per
hundred kilometres in suburban running, with the consumption
dropping to an impressive nine to ten litres per hundred on a
weekend picnic trip. Around town it was frequently on the wrong
side of 15 litres per hundred kilometres.
The BA Falcon has been a big hit after the sales
failure of the controversial AU on which it is based, even winning
the prestigious Car of the Year award from Wheels magazine, as
well as a variety of other important design awards. Sales have
slipped slightly over the last 12 months, probably because the
rear-wheel drive version of the Ford Territory is stealing sales
away from the Falcon.
More macho styling is probably the main key to
the BA appealing to the buying public, but the new range of
engines is certainly playing its part as well.
Falcon is very much a full-sized car in the
Aussie manner, having the body width to be a full five-seater. It
has good legroom, but, as is usually the way in any
rear-wheel-drive car, the centre-rear seating position suffers
from the amount of foot-space taken up by the transmission tunnel.
All five seats get the safety of lap-sash safety belts.
The sedan’s boot is big and easy to load, but
is relatively shallow because there’s a differential under it.
And the odd shape of the boot floor can cause problems with some
bulky items. The wagon’s load area is positively cavernous, but
the suspension is getting on the old side (that’s an
understatement!) and the ride quality lags behind that of the much
more modern sedan suspension setup.
Suspension in the BA Falcon sedan is set up to
delight those Aussies who enjoy driving and getting the best from
their car. Rough Aussie roads are handled with ease and refinement
levels are high. The BA can be thumped over dirt roads all day
with the passengers being barely aware how tough the conditions
are.
Power comes from a choice of three straight
sixes and two V8s. The standard 182 kW six-cylinder has more than
enough power and torque for most drivers. Unlike older Falcon
sixes, this latest one is happy to rev smoothly right up to its
cutout should the driver need to do so. But, given the amount of
low down grunt you will only need to pull big revs when overtaking
hard – or simply enjoying the feel of a big squirt off the line
just for the fun of it.
The huge majority of sales are of Falcons with a
four-speed automatic transmission, but a few five-speed manuals
are still leaving the showrooms. Ford’s latest automatic uses a
tiptronic override system that gives a good degree of manual
control. However, not being able to use top gear with the
automatic in its ‘sports-auto’ mode unless you are at very
high speeds is an odd feature to our way of thinking.
Not only is there a good choice of engines,
there is an impressive range of models. Even in the lower cost
model, the Falcon XT, equipment levels are pleasantly high so
these models offer exceptional value for money.
The BF Falcon is a great Australian road car and
unless you need the extra prestige and slightly greater refinement
that you get from one of the big German machines it’s hard to
justify the extra expense of the Euro car over that of one of
these locally designed and built Fords.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
XT 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $34,255
XT 4.0-litre five-door wagon - $36,960
Futura 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $38,260
XR6 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $38,655
Futura 4.0-litre five-door wagon - $40,345
XT 5.4-litre four-door sedan - $41,110
Fairmont 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $42,965
XR6 Turbo 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $46,350
Fairmont 5.4-litre four-door sedan - $47,965
XR8 5.4-litre four-door sedan - $51,275
Fairmont Ghia 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $51,755
Fairmont Ghia 5.4-litre four-door sedan - $56,755
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard on all models
Air Conditioning: Standard on all models
Automatic Transmission: $1000 option on XT sedans, standard on all
other models
CD Player: Standard on all models
Central Locking: Standard on all models
Cruise Control: Standard on all models
Driver Airbag: Standard on all models
Passenger Airbag: Standard on all models
Front Side Airbags: Standard on all Futura, Fairmont and Fairmont
Ghia, $550 option on other models
SPECIFICATIONS (Ford Falcon XT 4.0-litre
four-door sedan)
ENGINE
Capacity: 3.984 litres
Configuration: Longitudinal, six cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 9.7:1
Bore/Stroke: 92.3 x 99.3mm
Maximum Power: 182kW @ 5000rpm
Maximum Torque: 380Nm @ 3250rpm
DRIVELINE
Driven Wheels: Rear
Manual Transmission: Five-speed
Automatic Transmission: Four-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 3.23:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES
Length: 4916mm
Wheelbase: 2829mm
Width: 1864mm
Height: 1444mm
Turning Circle: 11.0 metres
Kerb Mass: 1672kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 68 litres
Towing Ability: 2300kg with braked trailer
MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Front Suspension: Independent, double wishbone, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Independent, control blade, anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 7.8 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 15.7 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION
City Cycle: 12.5 L/100km
Highway Cycle: 8.4 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/ 100,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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