Ford BF Falcon MKII

Ford must be a little scared now with the VE Commodore out and about soon, for once Ford’s BA series Falcons look outdated. Nonetheless, Ford have announced the facelifted and updated Ford BF Falcon MKII.

“BF Falcon MkII builds on the strong engineering foundations laid by the BF Falcon and SY Territory programs, while also delivering a host of fresh exterior and interior styling elements that further refine the Falcon’s contemporary design.” Mr Gorman said.

Ford says that the BF Falcon MkII, will come with the popular German made ZF six-speed automatic transmission as an option on all petrol Falcon sedan models. Falcon XT, Futura and Fairmont sedan customers can option their vehicle with the six-speed automatic transmission. The six-speed automatic should help

• reduced fuel consumption,
• increased functionality & precision
• performance

Falcon XT customers opting for the six-speed automatic transmission will notice an improvement in fuel consumption of more than six per cent when compared to the BF Falcon four-speed automatic equipped vehicle, with an accompanying Australian Design Rule (ADR) 81/01 fuel economy test figure of 10.2 l/100km.

Fuel economy on petrol BF Falcon MkII XT, Futura and Fairmont sedan models with the four-speed automatic transmission has also improved. As a result of further drivetrain efficiencies that have been achieved on these Falcon models, fuel economy will improve by a further two per cent, dropping 0.2 l/100km to 10.7 l/100km.

For claims that although it really wishes no one would get the Falcons withthe four-speed auto, they have indeed tried to refine the four-speed automatic

• Improved transmission thermal management – faster warm-up and reduced friction losses allow it to reach optimum efficiency earlier, improving fuel consumption during cold starts and on short trips (a common usage pattern for many drivers)
• Revised Powertrain Control Module (PCM) calibrations in line with the optimised transmission thermal management
• Improved aerodynamic performance (reduced drag) of the new front bumper design

One of the more interesting things about the new MKII Ford Falcon is that Dynamic Stability Control will be available on Falcon XT, Futura, Fairmont and XR6 as part of an optional sports pack, which includes the six-speed automatic transmission, Sports Control Blade Independent Rear Suspension and 17-inch alloy wheels and tyres. This should be a definite if your after a new Falcon. Falcons already come standard with traction control.

“The extensive engineering program undertaken at BF Falcon delivered significant gains in the areas of fuel efficiency and refinement, as well as more useable performance from our Barra 190 six-cylinder engine,”

“In the last two years we’ve delivered a seven per cent improvement in fuel efficiency on the Falcon XT. The availability of the six-speed automatic transmission on Falcon XT with the BF MkII program has taken the level of improvement even further, to more than 11 per cent.” Mr Gorman said.

Ford says that their DSC comes with four levels ranging from comfort to sports, to cover the variety of engine, transmission and body styles available across the Territory and Falcon vehicle families.The calibration of the DSC system when fitted to a Falcon XT, Futura, Fairmont or Falcon XR6 will match the system currently fitted to the Fairmont Ghia, with DSC interventions being tuned to the overall sportier nature of the package compared to Fairlane and LTD variants.

In addition to the wider availability of DSC and the six-speed automatic transmission, BF Falcon MkII also introduces a host of exterior design and interior styling upgrades within the Falcon line-up.

Fairmont Ghia now comes with European-inspired sports luxury exterior look, reflected in its new, dark accent headlamp treatment, tapered bonnet, chrome grille, bejewelled fog lights and front bumper finishes, and new seven-spoke 17-inch sports alloy wheels.

An exposed chrome exhaust, XR-style side skirts and rear bumper, and contemporary block font ‘Ghia’ badging give the Ghia some differentiation to the standard Falcons. Inside, the BF MkII Fairmont Ghia comes with black chrome instrument cluster, chrome air vent highlights and black onyx Interior Command Centre and China Beige leather seat trim, suede feel seat backs and door trims, and new front seat headrests. I am not so fond of all that Chrome!
Fairmont, Futura and Falcon XT also receive notable upgrades to the exterior design, as do Falcon Ute XL, XLS and RTV models. All feature a new tapered bonnet, updated front bumper design and new headlamp treatments, along with revised rear bumpers on sedan models.

A new interior environment sets the BF MkII range of Falcon XR and Falcon Ute XR models apart from their predecessors, with a new “Chicane” metallic yarn seat trim, new instrument cluster design and satin alloy inserts in the instrument panel.

The new seat trim can also be customised with a wide range of stitching and embroidery colours, which will lend the interior a subtle or high impact finish, depending on personal taste.

Five new exterior paint colours will be introduced to herald the arrival of BF Falcon MkII, including two new hero colours and a new Chromaflair® colour for the XR range, while another two colours – Seduce and Ego – were released in the lead-up to the new model… A colour named Ego? Hmm…