2008 FPV GT-E Launch

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By David Twomey | May 14th, 2008

FPV’S stylish new GT-E

In a move that’s designed to take on the prestige European sports sedan Ford Performance Vehicles has launched the ultimate executive express the all-new GT-E as the pinnacle of its V8 powered GT range.

Powered by the upgraded 5.4-litre Boss V8 engine, the GT E produces a massive 315kW of power at 6500 rpm and 551Nm of torque at 4750 rpm.

The new GT E features the ZF six-speed high-torque automatic transmission with Sequential Sports Shift as standard and boasts a fuel economy figure of 14L/100km.

The GT E receives performance 355 x 32mm cross-drilled and ventilated front rotors with Brembo 6-piston calipers and 330 x 28mm cross-drilled and ventilated rear rotors with Brembo 4-piston caliper as standard.

“The Premium Brake Package delivers FPV a competitive advantage over our direct competitor as they do not offer 6-piston brakes across their range,” Ford Performance Vehicles General Manager Rod Barrett said.

“The GT E is a combination of luxury V8 and executive racer. It’s for those who want the power and sound of a high-performance vehicle without the overt styling and bright colours.”

“The elegant and luxurious styling of the GT E differentiates the vehicle from its GT siblings,” Mr Barrett said.

“As opposed to the overtly sporty GT, the GT E is more subtle, with striking chrome accents and a refined lip spoiler replacing the bright colours, hood and side striping and large rear wings found on the other models.”

The upper radiator and lower bumper grille mesh are finished in black chrome, while the front driving lamps are highlighted with a high chrome bezel and complemented by full body coloured bumpers.

The new FPV badge takes centre stage on both the front and rear of the vehicle and the new GT E badge features on the rear and side panels.

The unique 19-inch wheel design was custom matched to the GT E’s premium Brembo brake package and the Alpine Silver alloy finish completes an understated yet stylish exterior package.

The GT E is available in a subtle exterior colour palette of nine colours – Winter White, Silhouette, Lightning Strike, Velvet*, Sensation, Steel, Ego, Seduce and Silk.

Inside the cabin, the GT E features luxury FPV seats in shadow leather with the GT E logo embossed on the headrests. Regency red leather seats are available as a no cost option.

Unique to the GT E, the interior environment is charcoal and receives a dark walnut woodgrain finish on the dashboard as well as the doors.

The interior is packed with features to ensure a premium driving experience, including a sports leather steering wheel with cruise control and audio mounted switches, dual zone temperature control air conditioning, front and rear power windows and memory adjustable pedals with alloy pedal controls.

FPV says the Boss 315 engine gives the GT E flexibility through the gears, and consequently drivers will notice that from a standing start the vehicle feels lighter and more responsive, and picks up better at a lower rev-range.

The FPV performance independent double wish bone front suspension and performance control independent rear suspension teamed up with the new Sachs mono-shock damper provides the perfect balance between a firm, dynamic sports performance feel and maintaining the ride comfort while cruising.

The GT E is equipped with Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and side curtain airbags, both of which are now standard across the entire FPV range.

In addition, the GT E also features a reverse parking camera and reverse sensing system as standard.

Other safety features include Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), and 4-channel Anti lock Braking System (ABS), driver and passenger airbags and Beltminder technology for both the driver and passenger.

The GT E is protected by a remote alarm and FPV’s ID Datadot identification.

The recommended retail price for the GT E is $76,990^ and will go on sale nationally from June 2nd 2008.

CarAdvice will be driving the new FPV range later today and we will publish our driving impressions as soon as possible.

By David Twomey

trackdaze

Nice, v8 should be allot better that previous 290/302 forget the pure numbers its the broader spread between the torque and power two.

With peak power way up at 6500 it should rip when your into it.
Frosty

Obviously taken the same path as HSV did with the Senator. A more sedate looking Performance sedan. Unfortunately it looks to similar to the standard falcon sedan without the signature FPV racoon mask. Crome up the grill and you could call it a G8E instead of a GTE. At least the Senator has its own taillight display and front quarter panels plus minor detailed changes.
Fenno

looks like a liberty GT from the rear 3/4 shot…
Seems to be fairly good value…just wish they held it.
Glen

Reminds me slightly of the AU T-Series with the understated look. I must say it does look like a mix between XR & G6E. The interior is a little disapointing in the way I think the G6E Turbo interior looks better but those red leather seats in a silouette GTE would look smick
ScottB

Should’ve put the FPV turbo 6 in this instead of the V8…
Jimbo

Ford should sell this in Europe and the US. Could help them claw back into the black.
http://caradvice Blue Blood

great looking car,

looks much better then the force6-8

GO-FORD
Ford G Series

Fantastic looking car, there is something about the new look it’s starting to grow on me every day, which is very positive in ownership terms, the new Fords will age and perform better than the VE, mark my words….

GO FORD !!!!!!!!!11
Power04

i think it looks absolutely hidious, im a holden man and don’t think the new ford looks all that bad but this model and all the fpv models look ugly
Martin

What puts me off is the black coming from the main headlights down to the fog lights, the models without this look much better IMO.
rick

that is one hell of a nice car! even the colour is beautiful, it would look just gorgeous in black. what a car
Baji

Looks awesome!. Probably the best ford design to date. Everything is in the right proportion and it has a “go fast” look to it. But I do agree it looks a bit anonymous, like its got nothing to really show its personality. But apart from that, really stunning imo.
Phill

Very nice
Oz.

The Force’s replacement. I’m finding it a bit weird to look at an FG FPV without the raccoon eyes, but still it looks great!
Richo

probably the nicest looking car in the new FG range. I still think the HSV E-series will be better cars to drive then the V8 FG series falcon, but this model probably trumpts all VE HSV’s in terms of exterior styling. Hate the interior though, looks bloody disgusting and the VE senator has it all over it in terms of interior.

As far as i am concerned though the V8 variants of the FG are basically a shot duck, not only are they bettered by the HSV offerings in terms of performance (i know the figures aren’t out yet, but they have less power and weigh more, so they WILL be slower then the 317kw VE HSV’s) but they are also significantly bettered by the F6 within it’s own model line up.

New FPV F6 will be an awesome car, probably better then the current VE HSV range, but the V8 FPV range is off the pace i think
J

Richo, you may well be right when you say “i know the figures aren’t out yet, but they have less power and weigh more, so they WILL be slower then the 317kw VE HSV’s”, but torque spread &/or gear ratios &/or aerodynamics &/or traction &/or drivetrain efficiency may prove you wrong? Peak power is often misleading when it comes to performance due to these other factors varying so widely from platform to platform – especially so when peak power & weight differences are such a small percentage apart. Remember that peak power is only generated at an infinitesimally small point in the rev range!

Anyway, I’m intruiged as to the end results as much as anyone! My favourite is still the G6E Turbo… I think it’s better value than anything in the FPV range, but that’s just IMO – different strokes for diferent folks, I suppose…
Richo

Fair enough J, but if you go on recent history, for a while the FPV GT had 290kw compared to the VZ and VY commodores which had 285kw, yet the HSV’s where always noticably faster down the stretch. Then why the LS2 V8 came along in VZ it destroyed the FPV down the stretch, why? torque spread.

Mark my words, the F6 will be faster then the VE HSV’s, but the V8 FPV’s will be significantly slower then both
Duck

Yeah! Id have to agree that the HSV range still looks better.

Hey FPV finally two exhaust pipes (holden has 4)!

For me the styling is too sporty not luxurious! I still prefer the Senator, if thats its competitor, is it?
Bret

Richo,
Wher did you look at an interior picture that was “disgusting”??
The one above is just gorgeous; plush, stylish and classy.

Oviously you prefer the crass USA style of the HSV the to classy Euro style of the FPV.
TP

Yeah Im the Ford interiors SMASH the Holden ones… its applies and oranges, cheap (ie Commodore) vs classy (ie Falcon)
Ford G Series

Hey FPV finally two exhaust pipes (holden has 4)! hmmmmmmm, are you serious Duck, we have been down this road before, sounding like a five year old never digests well..

Go Ford !!!!!!!!!!!!! this is one beautiful looking vehicle, VE has nothing over the New Falcon in every department…
No Name

Jimbo – No one here is daft enough to buy a ‘Ford’ that costs a small fortune (£34K) and drinks fuel like a banshee. They’d buy a BMW, Audi or Volvo . It would never work unless they put say a diesel donk in it. Even then it couldn’t sell for more than £23K to work.
BOSSCR

P.O.R.N.O.

I’ll take one in “Steel”

Thankyou.
FG Falcon – See The Possibilitys

If only the V8 had more power to beat the Holdenwoo’s V8s. At least the (Ford)Turbo sixes kill em both!
Richo

Bret, its the wood mate, it looks feral. Wood in any interior looks disgusting. It’s cheap and nasty, even Jaguar is starting to move away from it. That’s why i don’t like it. F6 and normal GT’s interior? Yep very nice, but this interior is disgusting with its wood
Minnow

So there will be no turbo 6 version of this? Wheres the replacement to the Force 6? I want a conservative looking F6 that doesnt scream out “look at me”, wheres that gone? Maybe call it F6E?
Duck

“At least the (Ford)Turbo sixes kill em both!”

Only, till 2010 and the inline 6 turbo will be dropped!
arlester

No Name.

Do you mean they wouldnt buy a standard FG Falcon or do you mean the FPV’s
No Name

Arly – I couldn’t buy either living in the UK mate. My comment was in response to Jimbo’s comment about selling the them in Europe. Given that the Monaro which made it to the UK was $85K (ish) these would be in the same price range as BMW’s Audi’s and Merc which people would prefer to be in.
However they are quite nice fuel consumption excepted. Petrol today here is $2.65/lit diesel now hitting $3.03 Cheers dude
King of the mountain

I am a ford supporter but i must say this car looks hidious!!

What is with the interior it looks old and looks worse than the out going Falcons interior with that ugly wood trim and dull centre face. the front of the thing looks okay. not good enough to rival the generals finest unforcanatly, it looks unbalced and the black around the front looks like a last miute attacment.

Very Dissapointing
http://carsguide.com.au Jetski

Learn to spell dick weed..

My nephews have more profound grammer then you King of Dicks!!!

Go and get your bottom expanded by your boyfriend TURD!!!
http://carsguide.com.au Jetski

And MR DUCK BOY!!!

How can I forget you, Scatter brain…

Your comments are so lame, just like your name DUCK BILL TOSS BAG!!!
No Name

Jetski nobber brain – you criticise others for making spelling errors when you make one yourself. Your first comment ‘then’ should be ‘than’. ha ha you’re a first class embarrassment. Captain would rip you apart.
Fetus

Are we here to bicker at each other and insult intelligence, or discuss the GT-E?
Duck

Jetski, what is your problem? I don’t know what I said wrong so just SHUT UP!
Duck

My coments lame? “DUCK BILL TOSS BAG”? Thats what I’d call lame.
Old Fart

Old Fart picked up one FPV GT-E last week. Have had other European equivalents in the past and trust me when I say, this is as good or even better than a lot of higher priced imports. It truely is a World beater.

Lots of little things make it so much better, like a full sized spare tyre, a bluetooth connection that actually works, an mp3 player that actually works, the battery doesn’t go flat in 6 weeks if you don’t use it, a comfortable driving position, and of course, that great sounding deep breathing monster that erupts when the right foot is depressed…… and yes, it does go around corners OK as well.

By the way, I’m still running it it, but gave it a squirt or two on a recent 500 K+ trip and surprise, surprise, still managed 11.5l per 100K.

It’s nice to see the blue oval get it’s mojo back, without all the stripes……

Old Fart
Iamthestig

“Old Fart picked up one FPV GT-E last week.”

…the battery doesn’t go flat in 6 weeks if you don’t use it…”

So just how do you know that when you have had it a week ? LOL !

Anyway, these do look good apart from the wood interior… and unfortunately the rear view looks like a inflated Subaru Liberty (in a nice way – just a bit similar)

Woeful resale but everything is the same these days so I guess enjoy it while you can !