Ford reveals FG01 V8 Supercar

By Alborz Fallah | June 06th, 2008

Following our previous story on the FG01 V8 Supercar, Ford Australia has today finally unveiled its new ‘Nitro’ blue with white themed V8 Supercar. The car is scheduled for its first public appearance at Sandown in Melbourne this weekend.

The new weapon against Holden was built by major Ford V8 Supercar teams Ford Performance Racing (FPR) Triple 8 (T8) and Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) and it’s based on the recently launched FG Falcon XR8 sedan.

Ford says the car took over 18 months to build, during which time Ford focused on meeting specific design requirements as well as applying the Touring Car Entrants Group (TEGA) ‘Blueprint specifications’.

The TEGA specifications dictate many aspects of the car, including length, width, height, weight, wheelbase, wheel track, suspension mounting points, front bumper and rear wing positions, plus a number of secondary mounting point positions.

“Aside from the obvious lines and aesthetics that we’ve inherited from the FG Falcon XR8 road car, the adjustments to create a unique and functional V8 Supercar have come together into one extremely well rounded vehicle which we are very pleased with. said Ford Racing Manager, Ray Price.

Ford says the colour scheme was designed by a Ford employee specifically for the FG01 prototype.

“Developing FG01 was an intricate process and the design and build centred around meeting TEGA specifications alongside the goals of Ford and its major V8 Supercar teams, which were mainly related to cost reduction, reparability and safety.” Price. said

Ford spent considerable time and effort to ensure that the maximum amount of parts from the BF Falcon could carry over into the new FG chassis to assist with cost control and minimise redundant parts.

“Ford teams agreed that as a priority this V8 Supercar had to be less expensive to build as a new shell, and less expensive plus quicker to repair in the event of an accident,” said Ray Price.

The new Supercar also has safety in mind, the biggest improvement being moving the driver seat as far inboard as possible, for the largest gap between the seat and driver door.

“The overall functionality of our new racecar combined with its aggressive look will ensure the Ford teams are able to continue building competitive, race winning Ford V8 Supercars.

First to drive the new Falcon V8 Supercar will be Craig Lowndes and Channel Seven pit reporter Grant Denyer riding as passenger. But it all gets serious when the FG V8 Supercar and Ford’s traditional line-up of Falcon’s will hit the track this weekend at the Midas 400, Sandown Raceway June 7-9.

Frugal One

*****PRIMO!*****

When will they let Toyota Aurion enter the taxi-cup?

Cheers

F-0
http://www.ausringers.com Liam

Bloody hell, you’d reckon Ford’s budget extends beyond a signwriter that sticks some fat ugly Arial Black type on the rear bumper, haha!
Tony M

Frugal One: The last I read was Toyota backed out, They were invited as was Chysler. What you got to remember is if Toyota got to go racing with Holden and Ford they would have to use their (GMH & Ford) running gear. No quad cam V8s etc. it’s better known as silhouette racing. You would be able to say how great the Aurion was because it would have a chevy V8, Ford front end, Holden rear end and all that stuff.
VW_Freak

FO, they won’t enter the Aurion, however I reckon if Toyota bring the Century or Comfort into Australia, I reckon the taxi-cup would definitely give ‘em a go then.

toyota.jp/century
toyota.jp/comfort
Frugal One

VW_Freak -

Toyota Century, mmmmmmm i am excited!!!

5L/V12 this would sell if they put a Lexus badge on it.

I remember seeing a video on manufacture of it, the front badge was hand crafted in the old way with hammer and tools like a watchmaker uses, NEVER see such workmanship put into a vehicle.

S*it all over a S Class or 7 Series job

Cheers

F-0
Mitch

arent both the holdens and ford v8 supercars very similar apart from the looks?
Bret

Mitch,
There are some simmilarities, but mostly they are quite unique.
Shared comonents include: control gearbox, Ford diff, control tyres, Ford double wishbone style front suspension.

The floorpans/bodies are different, as are engines etc.
smokin’R32

Looks extremely similar to the current v8 supercar if not a little more awkard and disproportionate. I spose as long as it wins races
Wheelnut

I see they kept the BA/BF “bookshelf” decklid yet there were reports that they were thinking of switching over to the same as on the Holdens with central supports instead
joober

For a sec it looked like a rally car… :S,

I doubt Toyota will ever be part of a v8 race as their model line up has no v8′s whatsoever and i doubt it will ever will, so theres no association and therefore no benefit.
TT

BORING!!
Toyota nor Chrysler will never join the V8 Supercars series, as it is a boring old sport, on it’s way out…
Jerome

omg is that a joke, that is the ungliest pos ive ever seen. I know the new fords look like crap anyway but i thought maybe they could pull something decent out for the v8 supercars.

This thing looks rediculousnot to mention the front bar makes it look 20years old already.

I dont get Ford. There was so much time for them to make changes to the new ford after seeing the new commodore pics ect yet they still went for the super ugly look.
Wheelnut

Quote TT: “Its a boring old sport on its way out” Aaahhh TV Ratings; Record Crowd Attendances; and Corporate Sponsorship would beg to differ with you on that one..
Wheelnut

TT: if you think that V8 Supercars are Boring… I take it then that you think Curling is a must see?
senator

the car looks weird for some reason, especially the front, the proportions are worng. Is that rear spoiler even bigger than the bf’s, it does not match the car size. In my opinion the bf looks better.
Wheelnut

Jerome: I don’t think You can really call anything ugly until you’ve seen an Edsel Ford sedan

During testing they apparently sent the car to Prodrive in the UK for some Wind Tunnel Tests so even though the front bumper may look ugly I’d say theres a reason it looks like that… something to do with physics and aerodynamics?
Duck

Theres no fog lights on the bumper! Is that it? Personally i thought the FG Falcon V8 Supercar would make the Holden VE V8 supercars old. But they don’t! VE still looks good!
Tony M

The boot lid is shorter on the FG which makes the rear wing appear bigger.
I note the opening under the boot rear is bigger. I wonder if this is to give more airflow out the back and possibly more down force.
Duck

^The wing is bigger than the last model like on the BF though!
Wheelnut

Foglights? They don’t race V8s in weather with poor visibility or at night!…. If they did they wouldn’t have red flagged the Bathurst 1000 in 92
Technofreak

yawn….boring….
when can we dump V8 super-hippos and get into something more interesting…??
Duck

Just for the looks Wheelnut.
Phill

It looks good,the front end shoot looks beefie and menacing.This sitting next to a VE would look just as good or better.Long live V8 super cars,there are some great GT series going on in the world at the moment.FIA GT2,3 and 4 in europe but V8 supercars should stay top of the tree in OZ.Its our motoring Culture.If you dont like It and say its for cars that are gas guzzling dinosaur that are going to be Extinct soon.You should jump back in your Pirus and go away.
kawasaki rider

ok people, take a look at that car, well get a el-ef v8 supercar, squash it length wise and put some honda acord and ve como lights and there u have the all new fg v8′super’car. i was expecting ford to finaly have something descent to compete with the ve but i geuss its never gonna happen. i think toyota and chrysler should enter and who cares if they have same parts as holden and ford, the fans will not mind, i mean seriously think about it
TT

Wheelnut: V8 Supercars is boring, low tech, motorsport where two nearly identical cheapo family car brands compete. YAWN!!
GhisGT

TT:

Low tech? 600hp through a 5-litre NATURALLY ASPIRATED engine, on 98RON PUMP FUEL at 8,500rpm is NOT low tech. Turbochargers have been around since the 1930′s, just because an engine doesn’t have 2 cams or a turbo DOES NOT make it low tech. Talk about naive, jeeze.
When you grow up and learn a little about engines, come back. Until then, keep thinking your 100kW N/A four banger is a weapon and chirping 2nd gear is cool.
GhisGT

Hey Technofreak, I think the answer to that is when a Corolla can top 300km/h.
Wheelnut

The only way a Corolla would reach anywhere near 300Km/h is if you dropped it out the back of the US Air force “Starlifter” cargo carrier at about 20-30000 feet
Wheelnut

Hey the F1 cars are almost identical too you know – they all use V8 engines which produce the same amount of power are capable of the same speed same gearbox same brakes same type of suspension..
Wheelnut

Duck – Nothing on a Race car is there “Just For Locks” it’s been designed and is there for a specific purpose – usually to reduce weight or increase downforce or speed.

And I don’t think they’d paint them on as that would be taking up valuable space which they could sell to a sponsor for quite a reasonable sum as its in a predominant spot on at the front of the car

I mean it was reported that Tic Tac paid almost $1m for 4 logos/stickers the size of a packet of Tic Tacs on the Ferrari F1 cars just behind the front wheels
Wheelnut

If or when a Corolla tops 300Km/h it will mean that Fremantle will win the AFL Premiership; South Sydney will win the NRL and then HELL will start to freeze over
Fred

It’s low tech because it’s pushrod, period. Ford uses the Windsor V8 and Holden the VN 5.0. It kinda sucks given that no current production cars use these engines anymore. It’s simply a cost-cutting measure why V8s still run on ancient motors.

I don’t care if the Falcon looks weird, I reckon it will kick Commodore @ss.
Duck

TT go away from this article! How is V8 Supercas low-tech? Where’s the proof! V8 supercars are not boring either specially if you compare it to NASCAR!

Round, round, round and round and round and so on! NASCAR”S BORING!
Duck

Yeah Wheelnut I think its time that Fremantle shoud win heah? They were formed in 1996 i think. I go for the swanies! What about you?

I’m confused, so ford and holden do not use the same engine but the same gearbox, diff etc?
Andrew M

Duck,
they dont use the identical engine, but they are regulated to run specific specs.

the 888 Vodafone Paint job FG looks miles better with out a doubt.
i agree it looks awkward, but it is only a computer design.
it will look better once they hit the track.
even the T1 BA race prototype looked weird in its meaningless paint job

wheelnut,
they do race in poor conditions.
what about the previous Bathurst?
or the many times before that Hail fell on the mountain.
or in Puhkekoe where they raced well into the evening where it was dark?
but yes they dont really need foggies.
imagine how many would be popped out and left on the track from all the bumber nudging………

why the hell did they throw FPR wheels on it?

send them up to queensland to see the awesome looking wheels the QLD teams use.
the wheels 888 use look miles better

its good to see they structured it so they could use existing parts from their current engineering shop too.

it sounds like it wasnt just about getting a better car, but reducing the teams costs too
good to see some thought go into it
Andrew M

who wants to watch AFL when we have the state of Origin coming up next week
TT

GhisGT: Exactly, thats what makes it low tech!! What technical Innovations did V8 supercars bring to the world again?

Australian touring cars used to be good in the olden days, when there were more makes to choose from.

Din’t they ban the sierra cos it was just way too good??

V8 Supercars is the Aussie equivalent of the US nascars.
They both are boring, watched only by trailer park trash in US, and bogans in Australia…

DTM, now thats the sh!t!!!
Also most of the other 2.0 Touring car races around the world are so much more interesting to watch, with RWD, 4wd, and FWD platforms competing.
Andrew M

GhisGT,
you forgot to mention that the V8′s also run an environmentally friendly ethanol blended fuel.
Wheelnut

Fred – “Low Tech” remember NASA spent millions of dollars working on a pen that would work in space…. The Russians took a pencil..

Andrew M – I’ve heard that the pit crews actually hate the 20+ spoke wheels as they can’t get there hands in there to grab the wheel as quickly as they could with the normal 5 spokes.. but because of sponsorship $ they have to deal with it

TT: “Bogans” – Given that the major Holden and Ford Teams have on average $20M+ [each] turnover a year from Merchandise alone.. I guess that they’re pretty Cashed-Up Bogans then?
TP

HOW UGLY HAVE THEY MADE IT!!!!!
TP

Wheelnut nice logic RE space thing… but these engines are low tech, the power figures are nice BUT performance based production cars can make that power… this is meant to be a race car!
TT

Wheelnut “Given that the major Holden and Ford Teams have on average $20M+ [each] turnover a year from Merchandise alone”

Isn’t a V8 Supercars Merchandise solely available from KMART now?

20Milion?? Thats just shows that the typical bogan buying those cheap and nasty V8Supercars shirt/Jackets from his local Kmart store has no sense of style, or self respect!!
TT

Wheelnut “Given that the major Holden and Ford Teams have on average $20M+ [each] turnover a year from Merchandise alone”

Isn’t a V8 Supercars Merchandise solely available from KMART now?

20Milion?? Thats just shows that the typical bogan buying those cheap and nasty V8Supercars shirtJackets from his local Kmart store has no sense of style, or self respect!!
Duck

I like AFL and Origin Andrew M (I’m a blues supporter).
Tom

The FG isn’t a particularly cohesive looking road car, and this isn’t much better.

The team colours should liven it up a bit.
Wheelnut

At least V8 fans are proud to wear their chosen make/teams colours… How many people do you see prouldly wearing Toyota Subaru Hyundai Mitsubishi Nissan or TRD shirts etc?

I mean these car companies/teams are just as successful in their particular chosen form of Motorsport be it Rally F1 or whatever as HRT or FPV are..

So you think a real fan would be proud to be associated with such a successful outfit Like the V8 supercar fans
Wheelnut

V8 Merchandise Cheap and Nasty? Iv’e seen some examples of Ferrari and McLaren F1 merchandise which costs twice as much and only half as good in quality. Infact I have an Authentic HRT Pit Crew Shirt from 1990 still looks new – Yet my Jaguar F1 Pit Crew Shirt only lasted 6 months.
Andrew M

V8 merchandise sales is greater than the sales of any other sport in OZ.

the quality is actually pretty damn good.

i have a shell shirt that would be quite old now, and it hasnt even started to fade which is a great achievement for such a dark coloured shirt.

check it out. the quality is actually great

i would have bought that particular shirt back in around ’99-00 i guess?????
Andrew M

Wheelnut,
apart from the handling issues (for pit crews), the wheels look crap.

even the old school rims tasman were using at the start of the season looked better
jamison

Looks okay, not much change really. But I do like the FG bumper in general.

And as someone mentioned V8 supercar racing as boring..

I think its okay, but technically there are only 2 car models out there battling each other… Ford and Holden fans obviously would like it.

I personally like Japan GT racing, you see GTRs, Supras (did), 350Zs, RX-8s, S2000s, etc basically just much more varied racing events…. cars look great too!
daniel

They should bring the v8′s to back to what they were. Pull them off the showroom floor, upgrade the brakes, put a roll cage in and go for it.

In what does does V8 supercar represent the Falcon I buy? Apart from the doors, roof and lights, it isn’t anything like the production Falcon.

At least F1 uses new technology that gets developed for road cars…the Supercars are behind about 15 years.

What ever happened to win on sunday sell on monday?
technofreak

Group B rally cars….yeah 4 cylinders will never be fast…pfft!

I am glad there are forms like GT, WRC and Rallycross so I don’t have to suffer V8 Super-hippos trying to flob around a track like a pregnant whale.
Wheelnut

As Andrew M has said on numerous occassions – if you want to watch cars that are closer to production cars then why don’t you watch Production Car racing – it’s still around.. you’ve got Evo Lancers V WRXs, XR8s/GTs V SSs/GTSs
along with a couple of European Luxury brands like BMW etc
http://v8supercacrs dude

i think the car looks hot u .i have alot of holden friends
how think the ve is look like shit and like the style of the new falcon these car wil sell crazy and the v8 super car would be hard to catch . i can,t wait untel the cars get relised on the road and on the track .
and kick holdens arse
as the farstest prodution car goes ive seen the graths
of both the new gen and the GT the g t beats it still
Glen

TT if you dont like V8′s dont watch it, we’d rather not have snobs like you in our sport.

BTW DTM has only 2 makes, and apart from the carbon fibre body shells, and engines the cars are identical. V8s at least still have road car based chassis’ and different mechanicals between the makes.

Not many road cars can achieve 650+ BHP from a 5 litre N/A v8 revving to 7500 RPM. The reason for the “low-tech” approach is cost containment, Our motorsport industry is not big enough to support huge development $$$ on high tech. Hence why the Nissan GT-R and turbo cars were banned, because to be competitive the other manufacturers would be forced to build high tech vehicles themselves and only allowing 1 or 2 teams any chance of winning, ala Formula 1.

Anyways, my thoughts on the FG01 is it looks alot like the BF but I’ll wait to see it on the track before final judgement cosidering the FG looks completely different in the flesh.
CAR – ENTHUSIAST

TT (& others bitching about V8 SUPERCARS), lol as for ur comments “” V8 Supercars is boring, low tech, motorsport where two nearly identical cheapo family car brands compete. YAWN!!”".

lol wow low tech, OK we r so sry, that V8 supercars dnt have traction control, we r so sry that V8 supercars dnt have abs, and stability control to help them corner, WE R SO sry, that real men drive a proper race Car like V8 supercar, i mean unlike FORMULA 1, V8 supercars rnt run by a PENTIUM 4 dual-core processor. For how many yrs have F1 fans been bithching about how boring F1 is, they sit their with their little hi tech gizmo’s racing around a track, barely passing other cars, and then wen a pitstop comes, bam, the guy that was comming 2nd suddenly is in the lead, Y BECAUSE HIS STRATEGY worked out.

See in F1, if a car got a scratch on it, or a tiny bit of damage, thats it, they will call it a day and park the car, (with exeption of a BLOWN tire, OR FRONT WING DAMAGE). and then their is V8 supercars, where a car can almost be WRITTEN-OFF, then repaired, and is sent back out to race, OH and not to mention that in V8 supercars, cars actually get overtaken on the track, and get within TENTHS, HUNDREDS, and THOUSANDS of second of each other.

THAT REAL RACING RIGHT THEIR.
PoisonEagle

V8Supercars is quite a spectacle, but bring back Group A.
This car will look amazing belting down Conrod Straight with it’s beltline that lowers towards the front; i.e. athlete stance (compared to VE V8SC’s sinderblock aesthetic).
http://www.caradvice.com.au goog

Looks a bit wierd with no inlets like the current ve and bf.
Im a holden man and the hrt cars still always look the best..
bathurst this year is gunna be sweet.
Tander or Skaife will hopefully get pole for The race 2moro
But from the back i like the ford tailights, holden should have the ssv taillights.
Phill

Isn’t this car supposed to be on tele today?
Bavarian Missile

I wont know cause typical channel 7 wont show us a telecast till 4.30 WA time…………Bloody Football takes precedent over V8s……..
Phill

Is it a race debut today or just a public debut?
Minnow

Its just a public debut, like when the BA was driven around Bathurst in ’02. It will be driven multiple times during the day so everyone will see it.
Minnow

I agree, BM. I wish 10 kept the v8′s they where so much better. Now 10 has so little to show, they put NASCAR on the HD channel. If 10 had the v8′s i reckon the HD channel would be dedicated to 100% v8supercars on sunday… HEAVEN
Wheelnut

Interesting story about the FG Demo Drive at Sandown –

Lowndes was the supposed to be the first to Drive the FG on its Demo Laps at Sandown.

However; an article on V8 Supercars website says that Lowndes couldn’t drive it because their is a clause in his 888 contract that says he must wear his Vodafone 888 Racing suit – Instead the All Ford Blue suit.. which is BS

I have Lowndes do other Promotional work for Ford [the XR Series] wearing a shirt without the Vodafone 888 Logo on it

Even so you would have thought as Ford would be supplying the cars to 888 – they would have agreed to Fords request

I mean at this stage the car doesn’t belong to 888 or FPR it belongs to Ford its a Protoype so surely Ford should be the one who decides who drives it –

Who ended up getting the First Drive? James Courtney.. why? because thats who Channel 7 wanted as Courtney had been on Channel 7s Dancing with the Stars.. and Who was in the Passenger seat.. Channel 7′s Grant Denyer

Further Proof that Channel Sevens running/ruining the show
blue blood

All shit aside people about lowndes,

He was the fastest car today,

Fastest lap in race 1

Ford 1-2-3

Go Ford
Bavarian Missile

ar thanks Blue Blood I haven’t seen it yet,not for another 25 mins………
CAR – ENTHUSIAST

MINNOW, im with ya on the CHANNEL 10 stuff, i mean 2007, and this yr were the First 2 yrs, in about 11 yrs that ive missed so Much V8 supercar racing, im used to turning to Channel 10 for my motorsport, i mean like 2 night right, they got MotoGp, then F1, and usually i would watch The V8′s before than, but now im just not used to Switching to channel seven. Most the time i miss the races cause i dnt see the Advert’s about them on Channel 10. And Channel 10 had been showing populating the V8′s for 10 yrs almost, if it wasnt for them V8′s wouldnt be so popular now.

AND as for the FG racing car, the First pik with the 3/4 front view looks OK, but the Head on front view looks weird, then the Side view looks acceptable, the 3/4 rear view looks a bit ackward (EXCEPT FOR THE SPOILER), and the BACK View looks wierd again, for some reason the spoiler looks too big, seriously that spoiler looks like it BELONGS ON A PLANE.
Minnow

Ch 7 really has their fat grubby fingers on everything.
sean

not as bad as channel 9′s coverage of nrl outside of qld/nsw.

in regards to ch 7′s v8 supercars, todays was worst coverage ever. it didnt start till 4, no qualifying, and i didn’t even get to see fg01
Andrew M

some people really have short memories regarding ch10′s telecast efforts.

at least ch7 has always showed qualifying. (i dont know what happened this weekend though) but seriously they miss showing one round and people are right on top of them.
i mean how many sessions did ch10 miss? (ill give you a hint…..more then they didnt miss)

and sundays telecast this weekend is the equivalent of a saturdays due to the main day being sunday.

and once again when did ch10 telecast saturdays happenings?
11-12PM ring any bells? and now you guys whinge that ch7 doesnt screen them till 4pm??

and dont also forget that ch10 didnt show saturdays races at all until their dying days unless it was bathurst for eg
Bob

is it just me or are the ads really long during the broadcast on channel 7. in the aust gran prix when channel ten showed the v8s this year they had 1 ad break during the whole race. compared to the channel 7 had about 4-5 5min ads. or they go to an ad when someone crashes then they come back and say “theres still a safety car lets have another ad break.”
Phill

This car looked much better and tougher on the track than in these photos
Chris

Mate, She’s a beuty cant wait to see her on the track =)

cheers chris