FPV v HSV power war: Chapter 335

Australia's performance car makers HSV and FPV insist they're not in a power war – even though each new model somehow manages to eclipse the latest offering from their rival's brand.

But even when executives think they're choosing their words carefully, they can't help but get caught up in a war of words which, admittedly, is fuelled by a motoring media that continually pokes and prods for comments.

And so it was at the launch of the new Ford Falcon GT supercharged V8 in Melbourne this week – an engine so special it is tipped to reverse the balance of V8 power between Ford and Holden.

After more than 30 years of dominance, Ford is set to have the upper hand when it comes to road-going V8 grunt.

Not since the mighty Falcon GTHO and Cobra coupes have local Ford V8s been able to deliver a knock-out punch from the showroom floor.

Although it has not yet been independently tested, all the signs are that the new Ford Falcon GT – with the same supercharger internals used in the Cadillac CTS-V, Jaguar XF-R and Corvette ZR-1 – will become the fastest Australian-made car, wrestling that title from Holden Special Vehicles.

The fact that the new Falcon GT has 335kW of power (10kW more than the HSV GTS) and 570Nm more torque (20Nm more than the HSV GTS) is a pure coincidence, says FPV.

Indeed, Bryan Mears, the Asia-Pacific boss of Prodrive, the parent company of FPV, tried to convey the impression that he was barely aware of HSV's existence.

True to form, during the conference he and his colleagues didn't dare mention the other three initials: H, S or V.

When asked if the new Falcon GT will spark a power war, Mears told the media gathering: "I think one of the lower down priorities will be what the other guy does on the back of his car [referring to the bootlid badge which displays the power output]."

"We won't be designing our [model] plans around what another competitor is doing. The sweet spot for us with that engine is 335kW, it has nothing to do with a [power] figure that another brand may or may not have."

Mears then echoed recent comments by HSV boss Phil Harding, who doesn't regard FPV as a rival. Rather, Harding says, European brands are HSV's main rivals.

Last year, Harding told the Carsales Network: "Do you know how many Ford customers buy HSVs? You can count them on one hand."

Fair point. So, there should be no argument here, then. Back to FPV's Mears:

"I don't think that we are in a space that is always going to be competing with what the other guy does. We think in this competitive market, we're being chased, we don't follow."

Ouch.

Then, later in the roundtable discussion, FPV boss Rod Barrett was asked to weigh in. He was unusually restrained: "The [future model plan] that we've got isn't about matching them [HSV]. If they come out in September with [another power figure] we're not going to come out in October with something else. It doesn't work that way here, never has."

The Carsales Network asked HSV for a comment. They came back with one paragraph: "We are not going to comment on what FPV are or are not doing. We are focused on delivering the best all round performance car (performance, design, technology) for our customer. 

So that's it for now. Until the next HSV or FPV media launch.