FPV GT Cobra Boss 302 2007 Review

What we liked
>>  Wild looks
>>  Engine and suspension upgrades
>>  Such fun

Not so much
>> Not so wild interior
>> No DSC (Ford's ESP)
>> Tyre roar on some surfaces

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

Those lucky enough to get their name on one of the 400 FPV Cobra limited edition sedans have really got something to look forward to. It is by no means the best current Aussie muscle car but it is certainly the most entertaining.

After at least 3000km in HSV's current E-Series range and that much again in every FPV GT from BA to BF Mk II, it doesn't take a really long drive to establish exactly where the Cobra sits in the pecking order. It is the best high performance local Ford ever, this side of a GT-HO Phase III. If public reaction is any indication, it also might be the most standout local muscle car since the Walkinshaw VL Group A arrived in 1988.

Despite that, the Cobra is no match for the stiff body structure, polished suspension behaviour, refined and frugal V8, extra performance and chassis balance of the current HSV E-Series ClubSport R8/GTS. By any objective criteria, it's almost pointless to make the comparison, but HSV's current range can be like the class goody two-shoes or head prefect. It does everything so well, it risks becoming boring at anything under warp speed.

In contrast, the FPV Cobra is like the prize fighter well past his prime but patched-up for one last bout -- a fight it knows it has no chance of winning but remains committed to delivering a huge spectacle and a heck of a stoush anyway. This is even before it throws a punch.

From its dated cabin to its thunderclap looks, the Cobra carries a sense of occasion missing from a current HSV. The Boss 302 upgrade and R-Spec suspension then add a mongrel side not often seen in today's car.

Even from behind the wheel, the bonnet bulge takes on giant proportions thanks to massive dark blue stripes edged in light blue. The firmer R-Spec suspension makes sure that the bonnet is constantly quivering and shaking over anything other than the smoothest roads -- almost as much as the 'shaker' poking through the bonnet of an XY Falcon GT once did.

In anything else, it would be dismissed as a fault but here it's a sign of life.

FPV's Boss engine doesn't deliver its best until it has at least 10,000km under its belt hence FPV's one and only Cobra test car with 5500km up was probably far livelier during our drive than those who got to it first.

It is quicker than the Boss 290, and feels it.

The Boss 290 doesn't deliver real thunder until its quad cams and extra valves do their thing and can be a little docile up to that point. While these fundamentals don't change, the Boss 302 definitely moves off the line with extra urgency and when it hits around 4000rpm all hell breaks loose. HSV's seamless power delivery might be superior against the stopwatch but it's the Boss 302 that invites the driver to participate in getting the best out of it.

As for the R-Spec suspension, it's about as tight as it needs to be for a muscle car of this performance, compared to the standard GT which is a little softer than expected. The ride is certainly lumpier but not uncomfortable.

The reduced tendency to move the weight onto the outside front wheel during hard cornering is a welcome one. For the first time, this is an FPV GT that feels smaller than it is. The only drawback was a tendency to transmit more tyre noise than we remember on coarse sealed surfaces. In a car like this, it's just as likely to be the result of a previous tester frying the tyres at a racetrack

Otherwise, the rest of the Cobra is all GT, which is a shame. The original Cobra hardtop featured blue trim inserts which brought the theme inside. Because today's external Cobra striping and decals can be replicated by any competent graphics company, the blue trim panels would have added some depth to the package.

Instead, the Cobra makes do with an off-the-shelf GT cabin with the Cobra graphic embedded in the trim. Ford already offers blue leather steering wheels and other blue details in certain XR models so the blue is already in the system.

The standard FPV reply is that blue trim highlights would have been too over the top for today's buyers -- the red and orange dash options in the sporty Commodores would suggest not!

It's a let down when the exterior is arguably wilder than the original. Ford fans accuse Ford of forgetting they are the blue team and they have a point.

And that's where the speculators could be disappointed. That the Cobra Boss 302 is the best of all FPV GTs, is beyond doubt. Yet it can never match the original 1978 Cobra Hardtop in longterm appeal. That car was the last Falcon Hardtop Ford is ever likely to build and most of its special features were not stick-ons.

No, the FPV GT Cobra Boss 302's biggest achievement might be that it is a reminder for Ford... A reminder that as soon as the company reconnects with its heartland, there is a risk buyers will actually rush to the showrooms and pay its asking price (or more).