Ford's final FPV teased

Ford has confirmed the last model ever to emerge from Ford Performance Vehicles will also be the most powerful Falcon GT ever produced at the Broadmeadows plant.

As this official teaser image shows, the GT F will wear ‘351’ badges, signifying the 351kW supercharged 5.0-litre V8 under its bonnet and paying homage to the 351 cubic-inch (5.8-litre) V8-powered Falcon GTs that raced at the Bathurst 1000 in the early 1970s.

Due to be launched in June, the limited-edition FPV GT F sedan will produce 351kW of power at 6000rpm – 16 per cent more than the most powerful models previously offered by FPV, including the most recent limited-edition GT, the 2012 RSPEC.

While the power hike comes courtesy of recalibrated electronic engine and transmission control systems, peak torque remains unchanged at 570Nm between 2500 and 5500rpm (just 5Nm more than the soon-to-be-discontinued FPV F6’s 310kW/565Nm 4.0-litre turbo-six), although Ford says the GT F engine is more responsive.

However, in the absence of a long-speculated GTHO-badged FPV range-topper before Ford ceases Falcon production by October 2016, the most powerful iteration of Ford’s blown 5.0-litre ‘Miami’ V8 falls well short of the outputs of HSV’s GTS, the supercharged 6.2-litre V8 in which churns out a benchmark-setting 430kW and 740Nm.

Ford announced a $77,990 (plus on-road costs) pricetag for the GT F in April and last week confirmed almost all of the 500 vehicles to be produced for Australia (plus 50 for New Zealand) are already spoken for.

A limited run of 120 FPV Pursuit Utes will also be produced, priced from $52,990 and powered by a 315kW/545Nm GS-spec supercharged 5.0-litre V8.

It’s understood high demand for the last ever model from FPV -- which will cease to exist when Ford launches its final, facelifted Falcon sedan and ute in August -- has also led to some dealers charging more than $100,000 for the sought-after model.

Ford has also confirmed the GT F will come with the launch control system from the RSPEC, which will also donate its wider (9.0-inch) 19-inch rear wheels and 275/35 R19 Dunlop Sports Maxx tyres, and recalibrated suspension package.

Together, they will help it accelerate to 100km/h in well under five seconds, as well offer superior cornering grip.

Ford’s chief program engineer for FPV and the Falcon, Peter de Leur, said the electronic refinements result in improved outright performance times and “increased vehicle performance feel, reflecting the strong results observed from the initial dyno work done on the engine”.

“Ultimately, too, apart from outright performance, our FPV customers expect their vehicles to have high levels of refinement and all-round driveability,” he said.

“For all of those reasons we believe that the GT F 351 will be one of the most collectable FPVs ever.”

Also standard will be Brembo six-piston front and four-piston rear brake callipers, which are optional on the outgoing FPV GT.

Complimented by the new ‘GT F 351’ badging is a new ‘stealth’ stripe design package inspired by the blacked-out highlights of 1970s Ford muscle cars.

Paint colours will include Winter white, Kinetic blue, Silhouette black, Octane orange and Smoke grey.

Standard matte-black stripes will come standard with all colours, with a ‘performance white’ option available for Kinetic cars, metallic gold available on Silhouette models and silver stripe options on offer for Smoke and Silhouette.

The Pursuit Ute will be available with the same paint and stripe colour combinations, and fitted with a GT front bumper, F6 side skirts and GT wheels.

“I am delighted to confirm that we are going to deliver what our fans have being asking for – a vehicle that pays homage to the iconic Falcon 351 GT,” said Ford Australia President and CEO, Bob Graziano.

“Ford’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 is an absolute state-of-the-art V8 performance engine, and in the up-coming GT F sedan will deliver more power and torque than even its larger capacity forebear. And we’ve been able to do all of this by simply unlocking the latent performance that’s already there.

“The GT F is a celebration of the GT and of Ford’s history in Australia and our dedicated team have made sure this vehicle can stand proudly beside any GT products of the past – and any Ford performance vehicles in future.

“Importantly, too, these passionate staff will continue to design Ford vehicles into the future as part of Ford’s 1100 strong design and engineering base in Australia.”