2008 Ford Falcon XT Wagon Review
July 30, 2008 by Matt Brogan
Ford Falcon XT Wagon Review & Road Test
Is this beast of burden a dying breed?
Model Tested:
- 2008 Ford BF MkIII Falcon XT Wagon 4.0-litre, six- cylinder auto – $37,720 (RRP)
Options:
- Metallic Paint $400 (Fitted); Side Airbags $300 (Fitted); Six CD Player $700 (Fitted); Rear Power Windows $470 (Fitted); Rear Parking Sensors $515; Heavy Duty Suspension $350; Limited Slip Differential $400; 16″ Alloy Wheels $500 (Fitted); Cargo Blind $150 (Fitted); Roof Rails $210 (Fitted); Power Adjusting Pedals $250; Dedicated LPG (E-Gas) $1400
Power, Practicality, Payload, High Beam
Dated Looks, Handling, Four-Speed Auto
CarAdvice Rating: 
- by Matt Brogan
In what has essentially become a one horse race, Falcon is now the only remaining ‘big six’ rear-drive wagon available on the Australian market. Sure Holden has the sexy new Sportswagon, but with diminished cargo area and load capacity (due to its sedan origins) it’s better suited to family buyers leaving the heavy hauling, beast of burden, Falcon out on its lonesome.
This isn’t a bad thing, in fact for Ford it’s pretty much a coup d’état with fleet and business buyers now presented with very little choice in matching size, payload, price and running costs anywhere else in the market place.
Not yet updated to the ‘kinetic’ FG shape, this third series Falcon wagon is the final refinement of the BF model and as such has received only minor cosmetic and mechanical improvements over the predecessor which include ESP (available on petrol models only), Flip Key, Satin Alloy Accents on the front grille surround, ‘Warm Charcoal’ carpet, Goodyear Eagle Excellence tyres and Mk III badging.
Available in five-seat XT specification only, the wagon is offered exclusively with a 4.0-litre, six-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission combo, albeit in petrol or dedicated E-Gas (LPG) guise.
Delivering 190kW at 5250rpm and 383Nm from just 2500rpm (156kW/370Nm for E-Gas) the in-line 4.0-litre six certainly has the might to lug its fair share of kit and with an impressive 1254 litre cargo area (to window height – seats up) and a braked towing capacity of up to 2300kg when fitted with a transmission cooler, hauling your gear around couldn’t be easier.
Fuel consumption is actually quite impressive for this “old” design: 10. l/100km.
Lets consider the main competitors:
Commodore SportlessWagon: 11.1
Aurion Wagon….oops None
Camry Wagon…..None again
OK…Kluger: 11.0
Whilst the BFIII may seem to be outdated, particularly styling wise, it is still more than competant funtionally and technically at least as good as an Omega “Sport”wagon.
“Duck,
dont forget holden didnt update their wagon for 2 years after VE release….
short memory hey?
the wagon isnt the be all and end all of fords range.’
how do you sum up that a nil update means ford is dead?
the funny thing is, right now they would be making a hell of a lot more dollars on each wagon they sell as opposed to holden”
Andrew M, Holden had a upcoming wagon to bring out and the public knew that so that’s why there was no point upgrading it. But Andrew the Ford Falcon Wagon is completely different again. Ford have no plans of a wagon for the next couple of years (probably about 2). The same with public don’t know so the private sales will do worse with the ford wagon over time and the private sales may go to the the Sportwagon, but fleets will probably stay with the Falcon.
duck,
the falcon wagon didnt get that many private sales anyway.
even if the entire private market went from the falcon wagon to the sports wagon, it wouldnt be much of a turn.
i think its like 5% of wagon sales are private………
thats just a drop in the ocean compared to fleet sales.
fords private wagon sales land on the territory.
what makes you think that the sports wagon is the only other wagon???
and just a slight correction,
when the VE was released, it still remained a mystery whether or not the wagon would get an update.
the wagon comfirmation for holden didnt come for a while after the VE release
P.S,
what you said makes bugger all sense.
do you really think the public would wait 2 years if ford said hey we are getting there…..??
^ford are getting there? Ford have no plans at the moment
duck,
im not saying whether or not ford will do a sports wagon,
im just saying when the VE was released, there was doubt of an upgraded wagon.
for all you know, in 2yrs there may be a ford sports wagon.
you have no knowledge to suggest other wise
^Who says ford will follow down the same path with a Sportwagon like Holden done. They may go down the same route for the old conventional wagon. Continueing with the large luggage capacity of the older wagons like BF, BA and definetly like the Vy, VZ. But just a newer fresher design like with the rest of the FG Falcon range.
^Aiming it at fleets again?
Its still a nice car, worth buying a second hand one. They should bring out a crossover 4×4 version or make a RTV wagon version of this model. An RTV Wagon crossover would be over 400kg lighter than the Territory, and 200kg lighter than the Adventura while keeping the good qualities of the normal falcon wagon. Ford should at least bring out a Limited edition RTV wagon into the Australian markets. Oh and diesal would be killer……
Don’t understand why the god dam ugly buttocks of this car has survived so long
The “god dam ugly” car that this apparently is has been one of the most popular vehicle in Oz. It has survived because there is no other car like it, the interior space is mainly the point. Thats why its mainly used as a fleet car, although it makes a brilliant family car. I know this because i grew up in the damn thing! It keeps going and going, no major trouble with anything[1998 and 2001 model].
When brought into service, it was discovered that 2 cylinders were not working. The performance hasn’t been affected whatsoever. Not to mention off road driving, has an anoyyingly slippery diff…it came out as it came in, plus some dust. As i said above, there is no other car like it. The looks of this car is probobly the last as the fg falcon wagon will arrive sometime in the coming years.
Cheers
-I
Fellas, been driving BA station wagon for work ,coming from AWD and all sorts of other cars. This WAGON is very very very poorly built. Handling is gonna get someone killed. It slips, swerves, veers, you name it. Spacious inside, but for what? a car you can’t even drive normally. Bloody thing vibrates like nuts. You go down the mountain to ‘gong’ with the brakes on and it’s as if the car is gonna take off.
Result: Absolutely “Reliable” piece of junk that is not worth it’s price.
I cant see any of the euro cars or dunnydoors (commodores) getting more than 700,000KM and still going. My BA1 just wont stop. Sure its ugly but it works so hard. Please keep the old leaf springs and rear wheel drive. The old donk is cheaper to run the a hyundai half car (gas powered) I simly cannot se a more practical car around anywhere. Pretty comfy and love the high beam. Horrible powere window switches though.
A car search on ebat or carpoint only gives you old deisels or falcons when you find cars over 600,000km. Beat that Korea
I drive this exact same model at work. I agree with LiquidJaguar, the handling is absolutely pitiful. I would be very worried putting an inexperienced driver behind the wheel in wet conditions.
In my opinion, the car is/has:
-underbraked
-a nearly useless Traction Control System
-so much body roll and rear overhang that it is extremely prone to oversteer
-no side airbags. How long has the Commodore had them now, Ford?
I could go on for ever. If you ever do drive one of these vehicles, be very careful, especially of the TCS
I can not believe there are so many positive comments about this car. Aside from the shocking look, outdated cabin, the worst seats (good for giving you a sore back on a long drive), the car drives worse than any other car I have driven in the past 10 years! The suspension and handling are pathetic to say the least, and if you do not have the MkIII with stability control watch out! The body roll is huge, the airbags are lacking in number, and everything acts on delay.
Yeah I have just had my company car Nissan Patrol replaced with a LPG Falcon wagon, and I love it. Drives really well and handles great for its size (even handles better than my 2004 Honda Accord V6), it also has a heck of lot more room than the Nissan. No comparison in comfort, I can drive the Falcon from Adelaide to Sydney and get out and feel fresh, whereas with the Nissan I almost had to go to a chiropractor after every trip. Very happy with the new family truckster.
BA and BF engines are 100% the same as far as the Barra182 and 190 goes. They are both 100% identical, they both make 141.2rwkw despite lies about BF having a higher compression ratio and an independent Dual VCT, which is actually the same thing as on the very 1st BA. They both make 188-189.5kW depending on the weather conditions.
The Ba 182Kw inherited its specifications due to an old and inferior pre Euro 3 emissions dyno, which gave a car a wrong power reading, in fact the very 1st BA XT 4.0L DOHC VCT makes 190kW/383Nm from 2500 to approx 3300-3400rpm, therefore they said that it makes 380Nm at 3250rpm and BF to be making 383Nm at 2500rpm.
Where in fact they are both 100% identical and their compression ratio varies depending on temperature. Therefore, BA or the BF they are both the same, both making 189kW and around 385Nm of torque on a good day on RON91.
Run them on RON95 or 98 and you get just a tat over 400Nm and close to 195kW of power and its no joke its the FACT.
on a cold day with engine warmed up for 5 to 10 min on premium 4.0L Barra engine can touch 200kW and over 420Nm of torque, till it quickly fades away 15-20 in to the driving and settles down to the 185kW/385Nm mark and varies depending on humidity levels, air pressure and other variables.
If you do a full and proper dyno calibration tune up the most power that can be extracted from a mechanically stock BA 4.0Litre engine with stock exhaust and factory cat and extractors and intake main fold and air filter is 208kW and 425Nm of torque.
The RPM peaks where this power occurs will be changed and most claim that it would be making 208kW at 4400rpm and 425Nm of torque at just over 2000rpm.
Basically taking off the top end and making the bottom end unparalleled.
So if you want a ute, get a 4.0L and tune it to the max which will yield the best performance but at much lower RPM range. Good for towing.
ps: i own a BF S1 Fairmont 5.4L 6 speed ZF and with a full tune it now makes 590Nm and 258kW all from a 100% stock hardware, the sad part is that VCT is fully disabled under this tune, but still 590Nm at 2400rpm is not a bad thing and close to 260kW at 4600rpm is a killer.
Sam.
Just purchased a demo, 2008, MK3 Wagon, dedicated LPG, and could not be happier. Drives well, quiet, well appointed, comfortable. After having an EB2 1993 fairmont, from new, this is quite a considerable upgrade. Ford have put a lot of thought, and development into this car over the years, and produced, a quality, yet market segment orientated vehicle. I now hope ford service can keep the car running as it is today.