Comments on: 2008 Ford Orion Fairmont Ghia CGI

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:52:56 +0000

Alec,
well what was the difference between the Fairmont Ghias and the “Tickford enhanced” Fairmont Ghias?

By: alec

alec — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:37:40 +0000

Adam M,
the fairmont Ghia has been Sports luxury based since EL.. No question!!
EL had XR6 motor and its own suspension tune,
AU had XR6 VCT motor and its own suspension tune,
BA & BA MK2 had same motor as rest of range but had its own (widely praised) sports/luxury suspension tune,
BF follows same suit as that of BA buts adds more sporty interior
Orion.. I’m sure will follow on this path

EB/ED Fairmont Ghia were also marketed sports/luxury, however there were no driveline changes over rest of range (unless optioned self levelling suspension). The interior (with EB GT seat frames) was the main sports influence.

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:37:18 +0000

Tony M,
mate i totally agree with Minnow and everyone else that has actually experienced LPG.

the only LPG sceptics seem to be those who havent experienced it. no matter how you do the sums LPG is still cheaper to run.
i read an article done on a comparo between a Prius and an LPG territory and it concluded the territory was just that tiny bit cheaper to run. thats not a bad effort for the territory.

i could harp on all day about how the maths does add up in favour of LPG but i only need to see my fuel bill to save myself the effort

By: Tony M

Tony M — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:39:26 +0000

Renovating is time consuming and I like being in good with my wife.

By: Oz.

Oz. — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:21:20 +0000

I haven’t seen you for a while Tony M.

By: Minnow

Minnow — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:00:40 +0000

LPG prices have been hovering around 65c/L for 2 years now, you would notice that if you are running a LPG car. 4 years ago the lowest price was 38c/L but averaged around 45. Petrol is around a $1.30 now… diesel 1.38? Yeah the cost is almost the same by a difference of $40 a tank. I get around 480k’s from 58L of LPG, from my falcon so its not the worst consumer. for $100 ($30 on LPG $70 on petrol) my humble falcon has a range of over a 1000k’s. Work the running cost out on that. I go to Kleanheat and i get a 10c/L discount because i have a ’special’ card so i pay 55 normally. There are so many LPG outlets now, if your paying more than 70 in the metro area your paying far too much in rural areas 75 to 80 is normal compared to petrol of 1.45 to 1.50/L. Shop around. So you can believe diesel is cheaper to run and i can believe LPG is cheaper to run, at least i’ve experienced it and have evidence to back it up.

I am barracking for ford to make an awesome LPG motor, they should make it optional on all non-turbo falcon models. Diesels yes granted it has more torque but the inline 6 falcon motor isn’t low on torque anyway even with a cheapo method of fuel injection, so there goes that argument. If they have multiport injection instead of the simple central method used now they will be onto something brilliant. Not to mention the harmful particles from diesels and terrible smell they emit. The only particles from LPG is from burnt oil! and there isn’t much of that. I’m not saying ford shouldnt make a diesel, by all means yes! please, there are many great diesels manufactured by ford that would suit the falcon perfectly. (ie the Range Rover TDV8 mmm nice). But ford should still make an LPG motor as diversifying our fuel demands is a good idea giving us choice reducing our demand on crude oil.

By: Tony M

Tony M — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:55:03 +0000

The evolution of diagram of the new Orion over the las 12 months has been a pretty good advertising exercise. The number of Blogs i have read over this period of time where the true Holden/Ford rivelry stands out is amazing. it also highlights the difference between fact and fiction, or should I say the true and dreams.
The new Orion will be a great car. Why? because if it’s not it will go the way of the 380.
For those people who make such a big issue of the number of Holden sales compared to the number of Ford sales, what you also need to look at is how much of the car market is Holden really in volved in. What do I mean? simple, Ford has the Falcon, Focus, Fiesta, and then of course, how many $ go into the coffers at Ford because they also own Mazda. Far to many people look at the small picture when looking at the car market.
In conclusion, if Ford has not included a diesel in the new orion model range, well “goodbye jack” it will be all over. And for those pushers of LPG, have you notices hwo high the price of LPG is now. Based on the running cost of an LPG car, it’s almost the same price as running a petrol car.

By: Minnow

Minnow — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:44:01 +0000

I would say the cars in general wouldnt last as long in europe because of salt on the road during winter to melt the ice.

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:59:06 +0000

yes but if there are plenty of old cars on the road doesnt that bring down the average age of cars on the road.

i didnt think he was talking on average time between turnover but rather the actual average age of all those on the road

By: o

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:23:16 +0000

wat he means is that new car buyer have a shorter cycle and are frequently buying new cars of course there will be plenty of older cars but these are usually second hand

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:44:59 +0000

Alec,
mate not all the fairmonts were sports based, but yes you were right to point out that they had been in the past.

the sports based one were “Tickford enhanced” models.
not every fairmont wore tickford wings though

Wheelnut,
is 4yrs old really the average age of cars through europe? or were you just taking a guess?
i ask because when i toured through europe and london i saw plenty of older peugeots, citroens and what not.

even so your comment is still valid in the way that they would still have a higher sales due to the higher population and hence would re-coup development costs quicker

By: Duck

Duck — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:12:49 +0000

all it is, is different past falcons put all in one!

By: realcars

realcars — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 07:35:32 +0000

What’s with the TuRD Aurion advertisement? So much for impartiality.

By: o

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:58:23 +0000

yes the new accord is only 4 years old but when the VT came out diesles wer already taking off in europe so it is taking 12 years to get here when other manufatures are using tsi engine holden leverages watever fits into the engine bay the ve is nothing special 1billion the last gen merc c-class cost 4 billion but of couse merec has that money .

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:20:52 +0000

Andrew M is right.. another prime example of an industry that receives as much Govt “assistance” as the Auto industry.. Is the Cotton industry. In particular the
H-U-G-E Cotton Farm in Queensland.

The owners of which give almost 10-20% of it back to the govt as a annual donation only to get it back the following year.

Cotton is the last thing we should be producing Particularly in times of drought.. Those millions of litres being used to produce cotton could assist farmers in NSW VIC and SA [along the Murray] in growing quality crops produce and livestock etc which we are known for.

Water is a finite resource and should be used in areas where it will get the greater return and benefit the majority not just one particular party.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:09:42 +0000

O – the main reason that the Australian Auromotive industry hasn’t adapted to new technology or developed as quickly as the Europeans is purely to do with the size of our market as well as our population

I mean the The average Australian isn;t able to afford to bu a new car as often as their European counterparts which is why the average age of a car on Australian roads is approx 8 years whereas in Europe its probably 4 years old

As a result it takes longer for the Australian Car manufacturers to recover the initial capital outlay involved in research and development of a particluar model Which is why Ford and Holden make a seires of minor changes or facelifts over a 8-10 year period before a completely new car is released [VT > VZ 10 years for example] Whereas again in Europe its probably half that – and even less in the USA

As for the new Torana that should be here within the next couple of years.

By: o

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:34:21 +0000

while austrlai used to build good cars in the 70s the rest of the worl [except america] moved ahead while we are still driving around our clunky 4speed the euros have there turbo diesels with 5 speeds australian cars are no longer competitive maybe a hybrid r dieslel but intsead we all follow holdens never ending quest to shove a 10 litre engine into a commodore whil smaller v8s get the smae power maybe if holden got up off there ass and built the torana i would be in a different position -

By: o

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:29:58 +0000

i would have to say a cheap car the only reasason tarrifs are in place is to protect the industry also whoever said change the name do you not remember the 380 or tidda or possibly wat could of been auris.the current commodore also will look extremely dated next to this they should not of copied the ba falcons headlights

By: alec

alec — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 06:31:01 +0000

Naughtimus Maximus. The Fairmont Ghia has been sports/luxury oriented since EL (xr6 engine with sports luxury suspension setting), and was also marketed sports luxury in EB/ED. Ford are definately not following Holdens lead here. Holden went down the sports/luxury road only in most recent models of its calais

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:39:33 +0000

Frugal one,
wake up and smell the roses mate.

there are plenty ofindustries out side of the auto makers that receive government money.

just have a look at how much money the QLD premier Peter Beatie handed out to many MANY companies in order to get them to migrate to QLD

if you were genuinely worried about where MY tax dollars go I’d be starting with centre link and an overhaul of the benefits they give out for absolutely no reason