2008 FPV F6 310 Ute Review
November 27, 2008 by Matt Brogan
2008 FPV F6 310 Ute Review & Road Test
Spend a week in the hot seat and you’ll agree, this is one quick utility.
Model Tested:
- 2008 FPV F6 310 Style Side Utility, 4.0-litre, turbocharged, six-speed automatic – $57,990 (RRP)
Options:
- Metallic Paint – standard; leather interior $1100; hard tonneau with spoiler $2900; premium audio system $700; FPV floor mats $110; 1600kg tow kit $495; 19-inch Dark Argent alloy wheels $795; premium brakes $3630; satellite navigation $2290
Strong performance, sweet induction note, personality
Seat folding mechanism, exhaust note, steering wheel
CarAdvice Rating: 
- by Matt Brogan
When you glance through the Ford Performance Vehicles brochure, the inflated triple-digit power and torque figures seem little more than numbers. Sure some of us may be able to equate the relative performance characteristics from these little numerical hints into real life terms, but it’s not until you’ve had a week in the hot seat that you can fully appreciate the amount of potential on offer – this is one quick utility.
The FPV F6 310 has a strong character and no-nonsense personality that defines it as instantly recognisable to those with a bit of nous about such things. The lowered stance, bold rims and FPV styling cues – especially the eye-patch front – all giving the impression that this utility means business.
Now sure, you may not be inclined to throw the cement-mixer in the back or load it full of timber, but those who think of this ute in that way have missed the point. This ute is all about performance and lifestyle. Sure you can still carry and tow with it, I’m not saying you can’t, but it’s best thought of as a sports coupe with a really big boot, something upon which most owners will agree with me.
It’s not that the F6 isn’t still a utility, with a 530kg payload and 1600kg towing capacity it certainly is. It’s just that I can’t see anyone in their right mind wanting to treat such an awesome (and let’s face it expensive) utility as a mere commercial vehicle. No, this ute is about lifestyle, it’s about embracing the ute culture and our love of a performance car in the one package – and what a package it is.
Not only does the F6 310 behold the FG’s highly favoured good looks, it also offers an interior that sets it above, in fact well above, that of a standard Falcon ute and offers performance credentials to shame most rivals, even those offering Australia’s much loved bent eight.
Also if you want to talk about unreliability, how about all the times ford snatched defeat from the hands of victory with cars blowing up… Glenn Seton a few laps from the end, Craig Lowndes in the 00 motorsport car that couldn’t last 3 laps with a plastic bag blocking half the intake, when Skaife drove a car over 20 laps to victory with basically the entire intake covered in the same plastic bags. Seriously if you want to go down the lack of reliability line at Bathurst then your in for a hiding mate because fords tale of woe up there is longer then holdens….
“Brock used 3 cars one year to win Bathurst”
Yeah but that was just as much a “brock” thing as a holden thing.
Say what ever you like, buy what ever you like. But you’ve gotta say, Turbo charging, the best replacement for displacement. At least one aussie manufacturer understands this.
Very nice car, but a maloo just looks so much tougher, i just couldn’t take this over one.
And i think its debatable whether the FG is a better car than the VE. It has some desirable aspects, but stuff that matters alot to most people (such as the styling of the car) holden has a clear edge.
The F6 overall, both sedan and ute are definetley in a class of their own. compared to alot of other manufacturers offerings it has both the performance and handling that most otehr cars lack and cost way more. although its not the cheapest in terms of rivals, the F6 is value for money as whole package, compared to others. Sorry to say but Ford is on a roll with their in line 6 compared to the V8. Although the V8 is good and offers, probably the best all round in history for a GT, you just can’t go past the 6’s performance and its fuel economy. Can’t wait to see the updated Falcon in 2010, with their new in line 6, should be better then ever and hopefully have direct injection.
Cheers
Prim
Some of the things I find hard to accept is the Holden/Ford rivalry when you read the times from 0-100kph or 0-400kph. It’s as if we live on a straight road. What about the times from 50-70kph or 80-120kph, you know, overtaking times. Your on the Hume and you need to overtake a truck and your sitting on 85kph, so you drop it down a gear and plant it. Does the car lose traction or bog down or something else. We seem to think that the standing start is the measure of a cars ability. How about the time it takes to drive around the Tasmainian Targa circuit.
Matty B – Its worth noting that most of the car failures Brock had happened during his co-drivers stints. Brock actually had a lot of mechanical sympathy and would often talk about just “stroking a car along”. A perfect example of this was in 1997, Brock was steaming away from the rest of the field, handed over to skaife with a 20 second lead or something, couple of laps later Skaife blew the engine.
Commodore this Falcon that, lets face it they’re both bloody good cars! (yes I have stated I personally prefer Ford) But bieng honest, the Australian public is so spoilt in the choice they have that they cannot see the value of vehicles like this. WHy have the Ute? It looks good (subjective) you can have it as a company car without FBT (:-)) & you don’t get to be designated driver / the taxi because only you and the squeeze can fit :p
Richo, just a little point. My recolection of the Reliability trial was that the Commodores were rebuilt along the way, But SO WAS everything else. I Know that the Cortina’s were definately mechanically rebuilt at least twice……..
As for the drivers Brocky, Larry & Gentleman Jim (ie the old Guard who raced anything & everything and worked on motors) were all far more sympathetic to most of the new breed, I often wonder wether people like Mark & the Kelly boys ever picked up a spanner??
Frontman – yeah I know what you mean about the whole mechanical sympathy thing. Apparently Greg Murphy is particularly hard on the equipment because he left foot brakes and never uses the clutch, where as most other drivers usually at least give it a stab on downshifts. Although in fairness to Todd Kelly, he is particularly mechanically minded that boy, he actually works full time at Perkins Motorsport as an engineer as well as driving the car, according to Perkins the car has pretty much been completely redesigned this year and Todd has done most of it!
But I think the biggest difference between todays drivers and yesterdays drivers is that back in the 60’s when the Brock’s and so forth where starting out, even the ones with money to buy the best bits still had incredibly unreliable cars because it was all production based racing back then, and even sports sedans and so forth which where fully race prepped cars where still much more fragile then todays race cars because technology isn’t what it is today. So they quickly learnt to have mechanical sympathy which just isn’t required these days because the cars are so bulletproof.
the holden bloke’s can say we have a better v8 than you all they like, becouse the way gm is going there wont be any v8’s for to put in holdens and hsv buy the end of next year.
then what are holden and hsv going to do for a performance engine?.
even if ford usa go broke at least ford aus still has the all mighty I6 turbo.
Tom as ford the VE looking better than the FG thats all preferance the VE to me look ugly and i loved all commadores from VN – VZ saw the VE and was like what the %^#@ have they done to it what is with the stuped flaired gards this aint the 1980.
Quote [Escort Ghia]: the Holden bloke’s can say we have a better v8 than you all they like, becoause the way gm is going there wont be any v8’s for to put in Holdens and HSV buy the end of next year.. then what are Holden and HSV going to do for a performance engine?.
even if Ford USA go broke at least Ford Oz still has the all mighty I6 turbo.
Do you really think that If or when ford USA go broke do that there will still be a Ford Australia..
Ford Oz is owned by Ford [Family Trust] USA just as Holden is owned by GM both of which are based in the USA – both of which are having financial problems although both are taking steps to streamline their operations and turn things around although the current financial crisis in the USA could hamper there efforts
However; industry experts have said that those between the ages of 25-35 can expect to see the end of car manufacturing in the USA by the time they retire.
Therefore; there is a possibility that GM and Ford US cease production in the US and transfer production of FWD cars to Europe and production of RWD cars to Australia
Car_Enthusiast Says:
November 28th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Greeny just to let u know, the figures i posted are Manufacturer Figures, power and times. Now of course no one has managed to get the HSV times … but nor has anyone managed the V8 FPV Times.
Ford & FPV don’t release performance times. So what you are saying is incorrect.
Wheels tested an F6 to compare it to the new GT-R and the Porsche 911 GT2 as all were described as being the best turbo 6’s in the world.
The real world overtaking time from 80-120kmh was 2.7s (F6 auto), 2.2s (both GTR & GT2 were manuals in 2nd gear).
As for the review. Solid and informative as always!
NB Noticed HSV is selling current model new R8s for $56,990 driveaway. Saving of $18k. Not selling so well anymore.
Falcon turbo is the best value performance vehicle on our market. Even a standard xr6 turbo ute out performs the Hilux TuRD in every respect on road.If there was an RTV version would probably give the Toyota TuRD a good run off road too.
Richo……you are a tool. You obviously have no facts ….just crap to say……so say nothing .
Don’t like the FG utes, the front looks shiit and the rear looks bloated. My BA XR6T looks much better, in the design department this is a huge step backwards Ford.
Nat
i love the ba and all but they just had to much of a hint of AU in them but i agree about the utes i dont like the rear but the front especialy the FPV stand out above the XR falcons the old FPV’s looked to much like an XR if you put an FG next to a B series car the B series look’s dated very dated in every aspect
Nat.are you on drugs ? FG ute makes the BA\F look very old and slabby, same as the sedan making the BA\F look very dated. You need to open your eyes mate !!! as much a si like the old ute this FG is much more modern and sleek looking …….
So Escort; you think that Ford should have done more with the look of the FG to differentiate it a bit more from the [very popular] BA/BF…. To make it look more modern?
Need I remind you what happened to the Falcon the last time Ford made dramatic changes to the Falcon with the AU? People weren’t sure what it was as it didn;t look anything like the Falcon that they were used to. [There was a joke that AU stood for Absolutely Ugly] as a result sales took a nose dive..
In fact when the BA was released a Ford exec at the Motor show said that this is what the AU should have looked like… record sales proved him right
Since then Ford have learned that its best to follow a process of evolution rather than revolution.
Ford in Aus have experienced some lean years recently, but with the launch of the FG things are now on the up. FG is best in class, and best even in classes above it’s price point. VE Commodore is loaded full of “free” gear and price has been slashed as Holden desperately tries to sell this 2nd rate car.
FG, even in base trim, is a stunning car for the money, and the FPV’s are pure joy.
But don’t take my word for it, go drive one.
Yeah but at least there is no reports etc of the Commodore switching over to FWD like there is with the 2010 Falcon.
If the Falcon does become FWD Ford can kiss a number of Falcon sales goodbye as a number of Falcon owners prefer the control that RWD offers [no torque steer]
Not only that but I doubt that a FWD Falcon will be able to cope with the 300+Kw of a Turbo 6 or V8 like the current FPVs
Whereas whilst its expected that the 2010 Commodore will become more “compact”, it will remain RWD.. as Holden will use either the Alpha platform that the TT-36 Torana Concept was built on or the new Insignia Platform which can also take an AWD set up
Quote [Greeny]: “…. And when the Eggenberger Ford Sierra’s were passed as legal before the race then Holden whinged about them after they had won the race and the race was given to Brock…….what a joke !!”
The actual cars [sierras] were deemed to be legal at the start of the race weekend.. all the specifications and measurements etc were within the limits of scruiteneering.
However; it was during the post race scruiteneering that they were found to have used a different type of fuel and even tyres that weren’t approved for competition use and were therefore; disqualified..
Richo is right – It was at the height of the Polarizer issue…. there were alot of people at Holden who didn’t agree with “cross entering” which allowed Brocky to switch cars mid race.. in fact my mates who work at Holden cheered when he was forced to pull out of the race.
Wheelnut,
ford arent likeley to consider FWD anytime soon.
GM is more likely to close up before ford even puts FWD on the drawing board
never say never in the auto industry.
Fords falcon is guaranteed RWD for another 8 years.
The platform after that (which is currently on the drawing board) is said to be RWD.
just because someone says ford is keeping their options open, why do people always throw unfavourable options into their mouth
The current falcon platform can accept AWD aswell
wheelnut hell no i agree with what ford did for the FG, the FG is a better looking car all round than the BA i just dont like the rear lights on the fg ute if they looker a bit sportyer for the up spec models the rear of the fg xr and fpv look to pove pack.
i personaly think the fg looks like a ba crossed with an au if u take a hard look at it
All of the GM fans here that rubbish the Falcon for going FWD really should be much more concerned about how long it’ll be before the Commodore will be made by Cherry and have loads of Chinese writing under the bonnet as GM collapses into receivership and the new Chinese owners take over. It’s being proposed now.
How hilarious will that be..? Horden Chingadore anyone?
Correction in the 1st line, ..rubbish the Falcon for exploring the option of going..
Andrew M – I’d like to think that both Ford and Holden will continue making cars in Australia for at least the next 10 years.. which is very likely as they both have plans to build smaller cars – the Focus and the Astra.
What could happen [particularly now with economic downturn] is that GM and Ford close down in the USA and make their RWD cars here and Canada whilst their FWD cars are made in UK and Europe as that’s where their strengths lie.. What strengths do either of them have in the USA..?
Both the Falcon and Commodore are fantastic value for money – as I have said before if I had to have a6 it would be a Falcon XR6T if I had to have a V8 it would be a Commodore SS
Andrew – I realise that the Falcon is set to remain a RWD car for the next 8 years However the media pick up on a particular comment take it out of context put a bit of spin on it and end up with a story that the Falcon is to become FWD….Although I honestly can’t see it Happening.
I also thought that the current Falcon Platform could take take AWD [the Territory].. The thing is unfortunately for Ford Oz its position in the Ford hierarchy isn’t as high as Holdens is within GM.. If it was they would allow Ford Oz to export the Falcon [if they wanted to] as well as have more involvement in other international projects like Holden does.
It’s taken Detroit a while to realise what “expertise” they both have Down Under in terms of designing and building cars but it appears that it could all be too late for both of them.
As for GM selling of its subsidiaries.. its more likely to sell off the ones that aren’t that popular or making money such as Buick Cadillac Pontiac etc before they sell Holden.. Just as Ford sold off Jaguar Aston Martin etc.
Yet for some reason Ford have started to sell off Mazda and Volvo??
wheelnut the reason there selling shears in mazda and volvo is so they can make it through the economic crisis if the dont there screwed and if GM weren’t so dumb they whould do it to.
Yes but Mazdas are becoming more popular.. look at sales figures over the last couple of months from both here and overseas – and you will see that sales of Mazda vehicles has steadily increased.. more sales more money more profits .. I thought Ford would have sold off Mercury before Mazda.
One of the best ways however for Ford [and GM] to make it to stop production of all the various over-sized SUV Pick-Up trucks they make [and the various configurrations] like the Ford F-Supermaxx for example.
I expect that it will end up with Ford selling off all its “premium” brands and holding on to the majority of shares of Mazda and Volvo [lots of potential there]
Whilst GM will sell off all other brands [particularly Pontiac and Buick] yet hold on to Chevrolet and Holden if not remain a major shareholder
I rike to buy a Horrden Chinadorrre prease, the best from China for Austraria!
wheelnut
there not selling all there shears though only some arn’t they
wheelnut,
Ok, so you sgree that the media has taken nothing (FWD thingy) and made it into something and blown it out of proportion. Im so glad you can see that whilst previously trying to drum home that the falcon will be FWD.
Also where is the confirmation that holden will build the Astra here??
thats your speculation, based on not much.
I also dont know how you guage holden as being higher up the hierarchy ladder in GM than fordOZ is in the FordMOCO ladder.
Ford Aus has also been trusted to degign global RWD platform as well as the next “light truck” (Ranger) Platform.
fordAus also had Exports on the table, but it was canned at last minute once it wasnt considered visable due the the sudden change in the market with both the aussie dollar strengthening and large car sales falling.
In realising all that, Ford transferred efforts and funding to a Focus Program (including Export).
And if Ford US’s thumb is firmly on OZ’s forehead, how come the newly appointed Ford AUS boss “MR B” was able to over turn Fords decision to stop the I6 production.
Ford Aus is also trusted to build their own V8’s and 6’s along with Auto boxes, is holden??
So,
just because the Commodore currently has a bigger export program than the Falcon, you think GM bows to Holden??
So does that mean that Toyota Aus has more say in the Toyota empire than Ford Aus does in the Ford empire?? Not bloody likely
By the way, how much have they, or should i say havent they made from commodore exports???
Also, why would they stop making the SUV’s etc when they are still a main bread winner.
It would be like holden stopping the commodore just because its sales have halved over the years. they wouldnt stop that, because its still overall up there for sales leader, and above that, its their main bread winner
Escort,
they are only selling 20%, and they are being smart about it. they are selling 1% to 20 different companies.
Ford will still have a big say within Mazda
Wheelnut,
at first i couldnt understand why ford would want to sell part of its Mazda share, but once you read into how they were selling it etc, its a pretty clever way to raise some cash.
sure they could sit and wait for a profit on their shares, but it would take them 5 years to get the money they just got over night.
Thats the big picture, they got the money pretty much instantly meaning they have a decent sum of loot to get to work with RIGHT NOW.
the coin they got would fund a couple of new products to be developed, and thats a big deal at this point in time.
Mazda will also benefit from whatever ford invests into.
its really a win win for ford and mazda
I own a Holden SS ute & and F6310 (sedan).
How weird am i???
F6 goes faster… SS sounds better!
But seriously…. i have owned Holden V8’s for a number of years and i just got my F6 a couple of months ago. I love the perfomance of the F6, i am still not sold on the build quality and reliablity.
If the number of surveys i have got from Ford regarding problems, is anything to go by… the future doesn’t look good.
Thursty,
I got those surveys from ford when i bought my FG too.
never had them before with previous purchases.
to me it says they are committed to make sure there product is better quality, and above that their service was good.
A lot of those questions related to the service you were given from the dealership, and the phone one was solely related to the service from the dealership.
Andrew M – Nothing has been “confirmed” as yet in regards to Holden building a small car here
However’ as you said in your previous comments “Never say Never”
which means even though Ford are apparently preparing to build the Focus here… things could change and it could be Cancelled at the last minute just as Fords export program was
I remember that Ford Oz was also going to build the new Mustang here [[on the Falcon Platform] but that got cancelled didn’t it?
Holden are “keeping their options open” – although word from the factory is that they are getting ready to restart the old vectra production line in the other half of the factory… I wonder why they are doing that?
Thing is Because the Federal KRudd Gummint has recently announced it will reduce tariffs to 5% = virtually nothing.. which will [unfortunately] make it easier and cheaper and more viable to continue importing cars here than make them.not only the Focus or Astra but also the Falcon Commodore and even the Aurion
Andrew M – I never said the Falcon WILL be FWD I said that there were reports that it could go FWD – I read them you read them…. I also said that I hope it doesn’t happen. From what you told me it looks like the Falcon is to remain RWD which is good news.
The thing is the reports about the Falcon going FWD were in both major car magazines and in a number of major newspapers but the news about the Falcon being guauranteed to be RWD wasn’t [as much]…. the media went quiet on it so not many people knew whether or not things had changed
Same applies to Holden with their small car plans – a couple of months ago The media picked up on and released the initial reports that Holden are planning to make a small car in Adelaide but since then there hasn’t been anything in the media to confirm or deny that it will still go ahead.
As the reversal of the Ford Engine Plant decision shows things can happen quite quickly or unexpectedly however; alot of things in the Auto industry also happen in secret. so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
My point is just cos you don’t here about it doesn’t mean it didn’t or won’t happen.. there is often alot more going on than what the media picks up on.
Hmmm, looking at the payload of 530kg, is this ute aimed at the hairdressing industry??
Tomas79….Holden already have the hair dreesing industry covered …….those girly mobile gloveboxes they call utes has all the feminine appeal a hair dresser needs.lol the IRS rear end is useless in a ute and I wouldnt want to put anywhere near 500 kg in a Hloden ute !!! My Falcon ute has been down roads that you wouldnt even think of taking a Holden ute with IRS down, and the habdling is as good if not better……
its made in australia so it will let you down.holden or ford the build quality is 3rd world.very sad that we all seem to accept 2nd rate build and reliability in aus made cars
In general, does the Falcon or the Commodore have the better glovebox?
Why, discuss.
Cheers
F-0
Hey everyone.
As a HUGE V8 fan (i have an XB sedan and an XA coupe, both V8’s) when it came time to replace the crappy VP i had as a daily driver i had a hard decision to make.
8 or 6?
Once you look around at some forums (ones with a little bit more… selectivity of members… than this one) The decision became easy.
The I6T (why are people calling it an L6??) is just an amazing thing. The power that it has on tap when you want it, along with the great economy when you play nice >:D
Sure there is a lot of contension over the new design direction of the FG (as there is for the VE, which personaly i HATE as a base model, but LOVE as a higher model, such as SS/GTS/R8/not so sure on the W427) but personally i like it. And as far as the rear guards on the ute are concerned… drive on of these utes, and look in the rear wide mirrors, the amount that they bulge out is the kind of things little teenie rev heads wet dreams are made of and are very reminicent of the XA/B/C coupe rear ends.
Build quality is neither here nor there really, i have found no problems (apart from 2 tiny rattles, the glove box and the rear left speaker cover) and the materials seem good (nice leather, the dash is nice and soft, no “cheap” feeling plastics). so as far as im concerned, for the money they are a great car with very reasonable build quality.
Just my 2c.
BTW… i ended up getting an XR6T Ute in Ego with lux, tech, tow and safety packs, and 6 weeks after getting it already have 11000 kms on the clock.
Talk about pumping up the miles XA-MONT!!!!!
ive had mine for roughly the same time and only put on around 3500ks.
on another topic,
it seems as if skaiffe is broke and trying to avoid bankrupsy. its reported that he has sold his mansion and moved to a rented flat.
apparently he is 3.6 million in debt.
lets see what holden do about it…..
holden just seem to screw over their main men.
first it was brocky, then lowndes, and now skaiffe.
ive never really been a fan of skaiffe, but it seems a bit unfair if holden lets skaiffe go down. he was after all only their front/fall man so HRT wasnt kicked out of the game
Wheelnut & Andrew M,
It’s probably more of a Media Mike Rann political stunt, but see the following story:
(CA seems to have chosen to ignore this story)
Holden’s four-cylinder fightback:
www. news. com. au
/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24718072-2682,00.html
Andrew M,
Agreed it is a shame that Scaiffe has been let out to dry on this one, Walkinshaw screwed him over big time. Unfortunately it was a business deal and you take risks, his hasn’t paid off and now his team will probably start cutting budgets and become uncompetitive, and we don’t need that in the V8 supercars. Stone brothers cant win em’ all.
Great article about the F6. Its my first time and i love the passion all of you have put into your blogging.
For all those speculating about Ford’s future here, I recently learnt that they will continue to make the I6 engine until 2013. Why the 1 yr extension? Because the next falcon’s design team has been told to ‘tools down’. This indicates the possible end of the falcon in 2014 with a replacement from O/S. They were looking at the new Jag platform but Tata owns that now, or a cut and shut Mondeo 4WD which make sense to align ourselves with the Euro Ford who is profitable unlike US.
I get to roll my company XR8 in Nov next year and I plan to get the XR6T. This will be the last great bargain performance car and engine to come from Australia, I thoroughly recommend all of you get some Holden or Ford Aussie muscle before its too late (2013).
Daytona,
its more than a one year jumpstart.
the I6 was scheduled to cease in 2010. another 3 years (at least) has been thrown onto it, with reports of until 2015.
the new V6 was supposed to be put into the current falcon platform in 2010. the current platform was always going to run till 2013, with the last 3 years being a V6 powered.
now the current will run a I6 till the end.
on the skaiffe saga,
i now read as i suspected……
skaiffe has thrown his remaining share back to walkinshaw.
Walkinshaws ownership becomes immediate.
its still subject the boards acceptance. apparently they dont see Walkinshaw as a suitable owner nor holder of a licence due to his past.
God help the sport if walkinshaw is allowed to control a team again…..
I prefer cheeseburgers, mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, cheeseburgers.
Oh yeah. Holden rules.
One hopes that the global financial crisis brings so sense to car manufacturers that currently produce totally irrelevant vehicles eg HSV range with a stupendous 6.2 litre engine and even FPV 5.4 litre engine. Performance can be had with half those capacities. Then again those with insecurities about their manhood would disagree
SO IS FORD FALCON CEASING PRODUCTION IN 2015 OR THE WHOLE COMPANY
so no more falcon aye
is this true infomation cause u never no they prob will change there mids after a a couple of years and put it it back more years
is there any certian facts the falcon is ceasing production and why,
what whould happen the the holden would the cease the produciton off the commordore