From what I can pick up from my experience is that the ford 6 is a fantastic engine, has a lot of torque even at the low end. For speeds under 80km/h (city driving) you don’t even need to push it past 1750rpm to get up to speed (mind you thats not quick).

I’ve always hated the 4 speed transmission they have in the fords, the ‘sports’ shift is pointless it takes around 1 year to change up and 2 years to change down gears. the only use I can find for it is changing into forth and keeping it there when doing around 80-100kms, but the problem there is it sharpens up the throttle response as well which makes it harder to keep at a constant throttle.

The 4 speed trans on holdens has always been much better in my option, quicker shifts up and down and just feels better all around.

I also agree, althought I haven’t tried it that these ZF gear boxes, they must be the best avalible in australian cars. Thats why I would get one if it was my choice. anything to keep the revs lower at 110kp/h (which is where I do most of my driving) the better.

The XT suspension is SHOCKING and its I am a little bias here because the ride on my car is VERY firm. But even still, the XT bounces around uncontrolably and with cambers on the road makes it really hard to tell where the wheels are going. Don’t get me started on the body roll.

Every time I get in an XR6 I feel like I’ve gone forward 10 years in car terms. It looks alot better and despite it being alot lower its still very comfortable and planted at the same time. It alway been a very good handling/comfort comprimise. I thought maybe this was because of the weight.

All the controls on the falcons are light and don’t really have much feel or feedback, which is not such a bad thing to make it all the more comfortable to drive, althought the powersteering could be a little tighter.

The controls on holdens feel like your in more control of whats going on and depending on who you talk to thats a good or a bad thing.

The other thing I find annoying about the falcons which I hope they have improved on the latest models is the space. You look at the XT from the outside and it is a big car, but when you get inside it feels almost costraphobic. older falcons such as the AU’s feel like they have more space, holdens from 10 and 15 years ago have alot more space. I understand about the safety issues implied there but alot of other car companies around the world do better with there space, just for an example the VW golf is a small car with a 5 star NCAP safety rating but with the drives seat in my seating position (and I’m over 6 foot tall) there is still more leg room in the back of the golf than in a falcon.

And as far as dual fuel goes. My parents have had dual-fuel cars since I can remember and after all that I don’t really have a bad thing to say about them, just alot of tips. If I were to have a dual fuel system I would probably get the smallest gas tank possible because of the weight issues (100-150kgs usually), I would personally only use it on longer drives and I would always use petrol while the engine is cold. Its absolutely true that gas kills the power and thats the case in all cars (I haven’t tried the new gas injection, but again that would be my choice if I was getting dual-fuel). On hot days its even worse. but if you can go 250-300kms on the highway for less than $10, there is not much arguing with that.

But as for now, on an off note, I looking at getting a VZ SV6 6Speed Manual put it on gas with a donut tank (small 35-40L gas tank that fits in the spare wheel compartment). What her in 6th on the highway at 110 on gas should give me 9-10 l/100kms (remember that gas is around 30% less efficient than petrol). And thats a big car, heaps of space, big boot (no gas tank taking up space, plenty of power (on petrol), economic and safe.

From www . carsales . com . au

“Blue Oval fans can exhale… The new FG range is on the road, and it’s good… Very good” TICK!

“In fact, while we’ve driven the car in isolation — but on roads we know well — we’d go so far to say Ford now builds the best large car Down Under.” TICK!

“In short, the car is improved from the BF (and its variants) in a number of key areas. In our opinion it now shades Holden’s VE Commodore in terms of an overall package at base model level and above.” TICK!

“Omega’s rattly, at times breathless V6 and four-speed auto are more than ever, simply off the pace.” TICK!

“The FG’s overhauled turbo six meantime is a story in itself. It no longer even sounds like a local engine. When provoked it produces a syrupy, aggressive yet flavourful note, that’s part-Skyline GTR, part-BMW. While it can be viciously thirsty if you’re using all 530Nm-plus, when we could restrain ourselves from exercising its amazing, relatively lag-free midrange, we were able to easily better 10L/100km on the highway.
Already our colleagues at Wheels and MOTOR magazine are talking about sub-5.0sec 0-100km/h times as achievable from a turbo six FG.” TICK TICK

“Mark our words, Ford will have to work very, very hard to power-up its new generation V6 to match the new turbo I6′s combination of refinement and performance, let alone surpass it. Even matching the base engine will be a challenge.
Steering turn-in, accuracy and feel — an advantage Falcon has traditionally held over Commodore — is improved, right across the new range. The FGs all exhibit a wieldiness that few large cars (from anywhere in the world) can better.” TICK TICK

“Not everything was perfect, however. In the G-Series cars and base XT we found the seat cushion too soft and felt long haul comfort may now be compromised. More investigation is necessary.” NOT TICK!

Well donr Ford, how many can you sell though?

Cheers

F-0

on the base model XL I knew they had the same load rated rims so i assumed the tyres were too. perhaps the S/S versions i have interacted with were optioned.
and with the springs,
as you cant easily see under the S/S models, i thought the extra height was the indicator that they posessed the same rated springs.

but with my apologies out of the way, my thoughts in relation to the XR models still remain.
the XR6 cab chassis does come with the same suspension and wheels, whilst only having to fork out $400 for a style side tray.

how can a Style side tray be only worth a $400 premium?
it is exactly the same as its Cab chassis brother in every other respect

Missile, yes other half is on fitness regime rowing heaps so thats what I was referring to munchkin!