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By
EWAN KENNEDY
15 August 2005
Ford released the Mark II version of its long
wheelbase Fairlane Ghia in March 2005 and the car has taken quite a
turnaround in its direction. The changes focus on the sporting nature of
the big car. Previously Ford Australia had provided sports suspension
only on the V8 Fairlane G220, but has now extended it to the complete
range. This includes the topline model in the upper-luxury LTD.
Ford's research has revealed that even buyers
looking for a luxury car still want plenty of sportiness in their
cars. Suspension and tyre designers have made great forward
strides in the last decade or so and can frequently provide
excellent handling with a minimum of loss in comfort.
Ford's arch-rival, Holden, was the first to
realise what was happening and went sporty with its Caprice a
couple of years back, leaving the Statesman with comfort
suspension settings. Ford retaliated shortly afterwards when it
launched the BA Fairlane. It took a different tack, leaving the
Fairlane Ghia with the standard suspension, but launched an
additional model in the Fairlane G220. Now Ford gone sporty in all
its variants.
Not that any of these cars are full-on sports
cars, of course. Rather they should be termed ‘luxury-sports’
machines.
We’ve just spent a most pleasant week road
testing the latest Fairlane Ghia. And can report that handling is
crisp and sharp and road grip is very high. The cars are simple to
push along hard and fast and offer huge reserves of safety at the
sort of speeds most drivers will attempt.
These big Fords are extremely good long-distance
touring cars, even when you point them at some of the worst of
Australian back roads.
Ride comfort is good, while not quite as soft as
that of the outgoing Fairlane, and is unlikely to upset many
passengers. The big Fairlane can even cope with the notorious
coarse-chip bitumen without too much increase in noise levels.
However, if you have passengers who are sensitive to ride comfort
it may be an idea to invite them on your initial pre-purchase road
tests to get additional opinions.
There are very few changes in the appearance of
the new Fairlane and LTD. Some of the brightwork now features
chrome plating, including the door-mirror housings and the badges
have been redesigned to give them a bolder appearance.
A two-tone paint treatment is offered on the
Fairlane, but it’s rather subdued due to the fact that the
alternative colour is only used on the rocker panels so doesn’t
have a lot of area on which to stand out.
Ford frankly admits that so much money and
effort went into developing the new BA series Falcons, that there
wasn’t a lot left to spend on the long-wheelbase variants.
Inside the story is a bit brighter. The
appearance has taken on a real sporting flair, with a piano-black
finish on the centre display area that’s complemented by an
aluminium-style overlay on some areas of the console. The
instrument panel sees chrome around the dials and the Fairlane
Ghia and LTD get brighter looking timber inserts.
Engine performance remains unchanged as the big
straight-six is an excellent powerplant in its latest twin-cam
manifestation. There's power to spare in most circumstances and
the big car simply lopes up hills and over vast distances in
Australia's inland with never a moment’s hesitation.
Fuel consumption depends a lot on where it’s
being driven. The Fairlane is a big, heavy car and around town it’s
not unusual to see fuel usage on the wrong side of 14 litres per
hundred kilometres. On the other hand, when its doing a moderately
paced trip in easy country conditions you can even see fuel
numbers in the nine to ten litres per hundred range, which is
exceptionally good in a car of this size.
The Ford Fairlane is a large car that offers
extremely good value. Particularly when you are looking at
prestige European cars of the same size. Sure the local Fords
simply don’t have the prestige of the big German machines, but
if image isn’t high on your list of needs then the price
difference is simply staggering.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Fairlane Ghia 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $56,000
Fairlane Ghia 5.4-litre four-door sedan - $60,750
Fairlane G220 5.4-litre four-door sedan - $62,670
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard on all models
Air Conditioning: Standard on all models
Automatic Transmission: Standard on all 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 models
SPECIFICATIONS (Ford Fairlane Ghia 4.0-litre
four-door sedan)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 3.984 litres
Configuration: Longitudinal, V6
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 9.7:1
Bore/Stroke: 92.3 mm x 99.3 mm
Maximum Power: 182kW @ 5000rpm
Maximum Torque: 380Nm @ 3250rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Rear
Manual Transmission: Not offered
Automatic Transmission: Four-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 3.45:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 5153mm
Wheelbase: 2919mm
Width: 1864mm
Height: 1445mm
Turning Circle: 11.4 metres
Kerb Mass: 1770kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 68 litres
Towing Ability: 500kg (up to 2300kg with braked trailer and towing
pack)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, double wishbone, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Independent, control blade, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated Disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 7.5 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 16.4 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
City Cycle: 12.7 L/100km
Highway Cycle: 8.4 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/100,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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