Ford confirms six-speed XT

Ford Australia has fired its first shot at Holden’s VE juggernaut– the face-lifted BF MkII Falcon range.

Though boasting minor updates to the front and rear of the non-XR models (the sporties continue unchanged) and interior upgrades across the range, the focus of the overhaul is under the skin -- specifically the wider availability of the benchmark ZF six-speed automatic transmission.

As tipped by CarPoint earlier this week, when BF MkII hits dealers in October the six-speed auto will be available across all Falcon sedans.

Ford is hoping the svelte six-speeder and the improvements in fuel economy it brings will take the wind out of Holden’s new VE Commodore – in particular the four-speed auto equipped lower-spec Omega and Berlina models.

A $950-1200 (approx) option in the current Falcon line-up (no BF MkII pricing has been announced), in concert with improvements to thermal efficiency and a slightly more aerodynamically slippery front-end, the six-speeder is claimed to improve fuel economy from 10.9lt/100km to 10.2. This compares to 10.9 for the VE Commodore and 9.9 for Toyota’s recently launched Camry.

Early speculation had the big Falcon matching Toyota’s four-cylinder entrant in official testing with a sub-10.0lt stat. Though this didn’t prove to be the case, Ford sources are confident that in real-world conditions the Falcon will better the VE and match the Camry.

Even without the six-speeder the new six-speeder the base model BF MkII is improved. Ford says the new car is 0.2lt/100km more frugal at 10.7lt/100km.

With VE delivering stability control (ESP) across the Commodore range, Ford has also moved to widen availability of its Dynamic Stability Control technology.

Previously offered on XR6 Turbo, XR8 and Fairmont Ghia and LWB models only, DSC will now be available on the full Ford sedan range, though with a catch. Falcon XT, Futura, XR6 and Fairmont sedan buyers who wish to opt for DSC can only do so via an optional sports pack. The pack also includes six-speed auto gearbox, Sports Control Blade Independent rear suspension and 17-inch alloys.

Ford says it hasn’t finalised pricing on the sports package. Individually six-speed auto and 17-inch alloy wheels add about $2510 to the cost of XR6 with Sports suspension listed at $465 on the current Fairmont. Add in an expected $700-800 for DSC and the total option cost would be in the region of $3700.

That said, expect Ford to sharpen its pencil considerably on this come October. Our pick is a package price around $2200-2500.

The DSC is packaged with the suspension and transmission spec to short-circuit the need for Ford to undertake costly recalibration of the DSC system on the cooking model XT, Futura, Fairmont chassis. As re-calibration is expensive in terms of both time and money, it also suggests that Holden’s move to deliver ESP across the board on VE caught the blue team napping.

With the XR’s unchanged externally (save for new paint colours including a new Chromaflare ‘hero’ hue and MkII badging), the Fairmont Ghia (pictured) is the new pin-up car of the range.

Ford says the Ghia’s “European-inspired sports luxury exterior look is reflected in dark accent headlamp treatment, tapered bonnet, chrome grille, bejewelled fog lights and front bumper finishes, and new seven-spoke 17-inch sports alloy wheels.”

The Ghia also gets new badging, side skirts and rear bumper valance and an exposed XR-style oval chrome exhaust.

Inside there’s been the liberal application of black chrome and piano-black style console and centre stack highlights. These contrast with the light-coloured leather seats (with reprofiled headrest) and suede feel trims.

Fairmont, Futura and Falcon XT (pictured) also receive a new face as do Falcon Ute XL, XLS and RTV models.  All feature the new-look new tapered bonnet, front bumper and new treatments. The sedan s also get a tweaked rear bumper and new rear lamp treatment.

The BF MkII XR sedan and Ute get new "Chicane" metallic yarn seat trim (also pictured), 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 Ford say will “lend the interior a subtle or high impact finish, depending on personal taste.”

FUEL AND CUSTOMER DRIVEN
Speaking at the launch of the BF MkII in Melbourne last night (August 11) Ford Australia chief Tom Gorman said: "The introduction of the new BF Falcon MkII is the next step in the evolution of the iconic Falcon brand. 

"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,” he said.

According to Gorman, the BF MkII has been developed directly from customer wants – feedback he says Holden has not listened to in the execution of the VE program….

"I don't think they've [Holden] listened to the customer as well as we have when it comes to fuel economy, and I think that could be the Achilles' heel for them,” Gorman opined.

“We've continued a logical, natural and customer-driven progression to improve fuel economy [with BF MkII]. We're really proud of what we've been able to accomplish and when you add that to what we did a year ago there’s been an order of magnitude of improvement to this segment.

Gorman says Ford is confident that the BF MkII will be able to take on VE despite the difference in the ages of the designs.

“When we look at the new VE we don't think there's anything radical to the design of the car. The chassis has improved because it had to, to catch up with us, but nothing that they've put in front of us surprises or scares us," he said.

Ford says it will release full pricing and details of the BF MkII update closer to the car’s October dealer release.

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