Ford reveals FG01 V8 Supercar
June 6, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
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.
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
When will they let Toyota Aurion enter the taxi-cup?
Cheers
F-0
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!
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.
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
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
arent both the holdens and ford v8 supercars very similar apart from the looks?
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.
Looks extremely similar to the current v8 supercar if not a little more awkard and disproportionate. I spose as long as it wins races
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
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.
BORING!!
Toyota nor Chrysler will never join the V8 Supercars series, as it is a boring old sport, on it’s way out…
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.
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..
TT: if you think that V8 Supercars are Boring… I take it then that you think Curling is a must see?
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.
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?
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!
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.
^The wing is bigger than the last model like on the BF though!
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
yawn….boring….
when can we dump V8 super-hippos and get into something more interesting…??
Just for the looks Wheelnut.
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.
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
Wheelnut: V8 Supercars is boring, low tech, motorsport where two nearly identical cheapo family car brands compete. YAWN!!
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.
Hey Technofreak, I think the answer to that is when a Corolla can top 300km/h.
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
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..
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
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
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.
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!
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?
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
who wants to watch AFL when we have the state of Origin coming up next week
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.
GhisGT,
you forgot to mention that the V8’s also run an environmentally friendly ethanol blended fuel.
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?
HOW UGLY HAVE THEY MADE IT!!!!!
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!
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!!
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!!
I like AFL and Origin Andrew M (I’m a blues supporter).
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.
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
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.
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?????
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
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!