Autoblog

Click above for a high res gallery of the new FG01 racing car

Just as civilian Ford Falcon drivers have a new ride in which to roll, the racers who pilot the competition version of the sedan in Australia's V8 Supercar series now have an FG Falcon to call their own. The FG01 V8 Supercar will be officially unveiled at this weekend's race in Melbourne, where it'll entertain with some demo laps and then reside in the pits. According to Ford, the race car was designed to maximize driver safety while minimizing teams' operating, maintenance, and repair costs. Best of all, unlike the "stock" cars run in our various NASCAR series, Australia's V8 supercars actually bear more than a passing resemblance to their production counterparts -- four doors and all. There's no mistaking the fact that this car is derived from the Falcon XR8. Plus, it has a Giant Effing Wing that makes the apparatus hung off of some Pikes Peak hillclimb cars look like the ducktail on a '73 Carrera RS. Awesome. The FG01 will go into battle against its Holden counterparts next season.


[Source: Ford Racing Australia]

Click above for high-res gallery of the new FPV Falcon F6

Ford is getting ready for a battle in Australia for the hearts and minds of performance enthusiasts. Its new FPV Falcons will go head to head with what HSV offers from Holden, and today the Blue Oval from Down Under released officials specs for its souped up, gnarly-looking rear-wheel-drive sedans. First we have the F6, which is powered by the familiar turbocharged 4.0L straight-six engine now producing 416 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque at just 1,950 rpm. That's a 54-horsepower increase over the prior straight six, and matches up surprisingly well with Ford's other engine offering, the 5.4L Boss V8 producing 422 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque at a loftier 4,750 rpm. The Boss motor can be had in the GT E, GT-P and GT sedans, as well as the Super Pursuit and Pursuit Ute. The exceptional straight-six meanwhile, is only offered in the F6 sedan and ute.

Let's compare what Ford revealed today with the offerings from Holden's HSV. Currently the Clubsport R8 is HSV's most high-performance sedan, and it's powered by an LS3 6.2L V8 producing 425 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. Ford has pretty much matched HSV in the motor department then, and the new Falcon looks like it might weigh less to boot. But HSV dropped a bomb at the Melbourne Motor Show named the HSV W427, which is a version of the Clubsport R8 powered by GM's LS7 V8 producing 496 horses and 472 pound feet of torque. Hopefully Ford Australia has an answer for that up its sleeves, too.

Click below to view FPV's new performance vehicles and check out Ford's official press release after the jump.




[Source: Ford]

click above image for high-res version

Development mules for the upcoming redesign of the Ford Falcon in Australia are not that hard to come by in the land of Oz. CarAdvice has hosted plenty, and decided to let loose an artist on them to create an accurate rendering of what the 2008 Ford Falcon will look like. Shown here is a rendering of the 2008 Ford Falcon XR6 model, one of the many high-performance versions of Ford Australia's rear-wheel drive sedan. After examining all the spy shots that we've seen, it's clear to us that this is the most accurate guesstimate of the Falcon's new look that you're likely to find.

[Source: CarAdvice.com.au]

We're shooting from the hip this week for Podcast #71. Rather than prepare, we're going with gut reactions. Starting it off, we mull over the loss of the USGP from Indianapolis, and postulate on where else F1 may pop up in the US. An F1 race on the Vegas strip would be the bomb. Staying with motorsports, we marvel at how Team SARD spanked everyone extremely hard at Tokachi with a hybridized Supra GT. We're sure that racing will improve the hybrid breed at a much steeper pace than conventional powerplants. In other racing news, Dale Junior has split from Budweiser, so he'll have new livery to plaster all over his left-turn machine.

Moving on from racing, we ponder the leakage and eventual announcement of the Porsche 911 GT2. It's as unassuming as a Porsche can get, but it packs 530 horsepower and uses the rear wheels to push top speed to the 200 MPH realm, while being a docile everyday car. While Porsches always make us giddy little schoolboys, Subaru's recent model line revisions have us alternating between cheers and jeers. The good: the Legacy SUS, or whatever the heck they call their Outback sedan is kaput. The bad: so is the straight Legacy wagon. We devolve into a styling review of Subaru's new corporate language for a while before surfacing again to discuss the inanity surrounding presidential candidates and hybrid vehicles. Idiocy, 'nuff said.

On a lighter note, we discuss the rumored sequel to Disney/Pixar's "Cars." Not surprising when you consider how lucrative the tie-ins usually are. Off entertainment and on to entertaining cars, we ogle the leaked pictures of the FPV Falcon, and discuss the future plans of that platform here in the US. It does look mean, so thanks to that janitor who picked these renderings out of the trash. Our pithy cavalcade keeps rolling along, and we chew over Bob Lutz's latest comments about the future of diesel powerplants in the US. It's odd that Bob is cool on diesel just as GM is poised to roll out new oil-burners. Wrapping up, we put out the call to action again for the Reader Ride - add your pix to the Flickr pool and include details! The hour duration of Podcast #71 will give you enjoyment to and from work, enjoy!

SUBSCRIBE to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
LISTEN to the show now
ADD the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

UPDATE: More and better renderings can be found here.

Our desire for Australia's Fords and Holdens continues unabated, and the Courier and Mail has managed to snag shots of the new Falcon in the buff, further stoking our flame. While American sedans went all mamby-pamby (what could be more milquetoast than our family sedans?), Australia's cars have retained and distilled a certain kick of style and fun. The 2008 Falcon isn't set to arrive for a few more months, and Ford has staked $500 million on the new revision of the platform. The new look is instant badass. We love the blacked out portions under the headlamps -- it's as if this car's spent time in KISS. The greenhouse has a euro-flair to it, especially the kick at the base of the C pillar. The shape is muscular in the same way the Commodore VE is - not that there's anything wrong with that. Underneath this Australian institution, the suspension system retains its baked-in goodness from the outgoing BF Falcon, and the six- and eight -cylinder engines also carry over. We're sure the V8 versions will have a basso-profundo rumble capable of putting Peter Criss to shame.

Ford could do well with this car in the US; at least it would raise eyebrows in the way their current lineup can't. We're sure they're looking at it, seeing the anticipation build around the G8, née Commodore. Every internet blowhard will make statements like "Yes! bring it over! I'll buy one!", while in reality, the sales could disappoint once the initial novelty has worn off. While we enthusiasts have a thing for RWD sedans with V8s and capable chassis, Ma and Pa Camry find compromises where we find joy. The G8 is more of a niche model than if they'd turned the VE into the Malibu - and that's where we see potential for Ford in the US with the Orion. If it does stand any chance of coming here, make it the Fairlane, make the hot one the Fairlane 500, and promote the beejeezus out of it. Most importantly, make it good. Hey, Mulally did promise a convergence of global platforms, right?

Thanks for the tip, Andrew!

[Source: news.com.au]

The Australian-market Ford Falcon is one we would like to have on our shores, and may get if Ford wises up and takes a page out of GM's playbook. The Falcon is RWD, comes with turbo V6 engines, V8s, optional El Camino-like truck beds, and it just looks good. Unfortunately, the Falcon has fallen on hard times, with the venerable Falcon falling to third place in sales down-under, behind the Commodore from GM and the Corolla from you know who. Ford has good news forthcoming, though, as the Falcon is scheduled for a major overhaul in March. The Aussies over at Drive couldn't wait until Spring to see what Ford's next Falcon will look like, so they talked with folks from Ford Australia, did their spy shot homework, and came up with the above illustration.

Drive's rendering uses some queues from Ford of Europe's Kinetic Design, with more angular headlights and sharp creases. There are also some themes from past Falcons like the roundness of the front end and the large greenhouse. Overall, the rendering is very tastefully done, and Ford wouldn't do to badly to put such a vehicle in production. Unfortunately, the changes to the Falcon are largely cosmetic, and the underpinnings are rumored to be largely unchanged. Check out Drive's other Falcon renderings by hitting the Read link below.

Thanks for the tip, Paul!

[Source: Drive.com.au]

It's very much a man's world in this new TV spot for Ford's Aussie-market Falcon XR8 Ute. It's a land where sandwiches are delivered by the paperboy in the morning, the ice cream man is replaced by the ice-cold beer man, 280 inches seems like a perfectly reasonable size for a TV, every store sells tools, and metrosexuals are feeling the heat. In the land of the XR8 Ute, blokes rule.

It's a great, clever, funny spot for the Down Under Ranchero. Follow the jump to see it for yourself. For more, visit the commercial's homepage, where a "making of" video will be available sometime soon and you can also see it in higher res.

Thanks to Daniel for the tip!

[Source: Ford Australia, YouTube]

Ford Australia's at work developing the next version of a car we can't have here in the US. Australian website CarAdvice snagged spy shots of camoflaged Falcons undergoing tests in the Melbourne area. Suspicions are that base models as well as turbocharged XRs were pirouetting around getting a variety of workouts to ensure that the next generation of not-available-here RWD sedans will continue to make us pine for them. Of course, Falcons on these shores would likely snag sales from the Taurus and Sable, but Ford's shuttered plants could offer a place to put these cars together from knock-down kits, or CKDs. Maybe it's just a case of the grass being greener on the other side, but the Falcon strikes our fancy, those Aussies know how to make cars that appeal to the way we roll. Click through the picture to see more.

Thanks for the tip, Dylan!

[Source: CarAdvice.com.au]

We posted some conjecture about the Ranger not too long ago, with some Photochops to illustrate possible ways Ford could keep its smallest pickup alive. Automotive News has looked in to their crystal ball and determined that the future of the Ranger is murky, at best. The first bad sign is that the St. Paul, MN Ranger plant is slated to be closed in 2008. With no place to build the Ranger, it would seem to have one foot in the grave, along with the rest of the segment, not counting the evergreen Toyota Tacoma (which is not particularly small anymore). All is not lost, however. As we offered, there are existing platforms that would lend themselves to truckification, as well as actual trucks in different markets.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Looky, looky. Spies from KGP have caught a rear-wheel drive Ford from Australia at Ford's engineering centers in Detroit. In fact, the car appears to be in the process of being unboxed after its long trip from Oz. What does it mean that this car, presumably a rear-wheel drive Falcon prototype, has landed on our shores? Well, let's start speculating.

Clearly Ford is the last of the domestic automakers to take advantage of rear-wheel drive's resurgence. Nevertheless, Ford may be planning (we hope) to augment the wildly popular Mustang with a rear-wheel drive sedan. Such a strategy could follow the same path that General Motors has blazed by having Holden, its Australian brand, develop the rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform for export to various international markets including the U.S. We'll see GM's Zeta platform underpin the new Camaro and Pontiac G8 for sure, and possibly other big RWD sedans like the next-gen Impala. Likewise, Ford could be developing Australia's Falcon with international export in mind, meaning left-hand-drive will be a consideration from the get-go, as well as U.S. safety and emissions standards. That RWD platform could then be the basis for the next-gen Mustang, due a year or two after the decade's end, and a large sedan, either a replacement for the Crown Vic (unlikely) or an all-new sedan, possibly inspired by the hot Interceptor Concept from the 2007 Detroit Auto Show.

By the way, that entire last paragraph was wishful thinking, as we have no actual evidence Ford is currently developing the next-gen Falcon in this way. Prototypes from other markets show up on U.S. roads all the time, and it really doesn't mean anything in and of itself until an official word comes from Ford. Still, speculating about a production version of the Interceptor is more fun than being told it will never be built at all, so speculate we will.

[Source: LLN]