Burela cries foul

The current efficiency race between the three local manufacturers is going to result in some bruised egos, it seems. Ford President Marin Burela is the first to go on record with a grievance, after it was pointed out to him last week that Holden has favourably compared its new 3.0-litre 'SIDI' V6 Commodore with Ford's own Falcon XT.

For the combined-cycle test, the base Commodore Omega with the new direct-injection V6 (in 3.0-litre capacity), returns a figure of 9.3L/100km. At Holden's announcement of the new engine and its 3.6-litre counterpart, the red team circulated a comparison chart showing the Falcon XT, in standard form, mustering an economy figure of 10.5L/100km.

Ford has been promoting the Falcon as a 9.9L/100km contender, based on the car fitted with the (optional) ZF six-speed transmission. If you spend the extra for the German-built autobox, you too can enjoy fuel efficiency under 10.0L/100km -- but you have to pay extra up front, for the savings at the pump (?). The Holden documentation places the Falcon XT in the appropriate context; ie: the standard car won't achieve less than 10.0L/100km.

That's not to say that Holden is completely innocent or that Burela's aggravation is not completely without foundation. The Falcon's inline six develops more torque than both the SIDI engines and is a full litre larger in capacity than the smaller-displacement Holden V6 -- but no one cares about power and torque these days...

If you compare the 3.6-litre SIDI engine in the Commodore SV6, an engine that is closer in capacity to the 4.0-litre port-injected six in the Falcon, the direct-injection powerplant is more powerful, but lacks the Ford's torque.

As for fuel consumption, that Holden variant with six-speed auto returns a figure of 10.1L/100km, which is closer to the Ford's figure of 10.5L/100km with a five-speed automatic. That's not a lot of benefit for an engine that is 10 per cent smaller in capacity and has an extra ratio in its transmission.

Dare we say that both companies are gilding the lily?

When it was suggested that Ford ran the risk of losing this particular product communications battle, Burela reacted in a measured but unequivocal way.

"It's like all things, perceptions become reality in people's minds," he said. "Our job is to ensure that our production actions and our communications are clear and people understand the choices which they have.

"There are many different ways for us to go out there and demonstrate and improve our fuel economy, and we're working on a number of other initiatives.

"If anyone -- particularly my colleagues at Holden -- think we're done with where we are, then they've sadly miscalculated.

"When I hear statements like 'we will out-engineer our competitors', all that does is just brings a huge level of delight to us, because I know what we're working on."

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