BA Falcon - Whats your verdict

[Aussiecollector]

I seen two small shots of the falcon in todays papers, not much of a photo but enough to show the major face and tail lift.

The headlights look like the ones in the current Fairlane / Ltd but have been given the black highlighting around edges. Sort of gives it a Lowndes OO motorsport look without the paint job.

What do the rest of you think, can Ford peg back 30,000 cars per annum to match the Commodore.

Cheers Glenn

[brock rules]

glenn i agree with what you say it doesnt look much different as to ford pegging back holden i dont think so


daryl

[jager]

I saw the new Falcon on the Channel 9 'Today' show this morning. According to the feature the new car has a longer wheelbase, is 40 mm wider and rides lower but is lighter than the AU.
I just wonder how this will effect the parity when the new car is adopted by the V8 Supercar teams, and with the car being released in 2 months time will we see the new BA at Bathurst ?

[terrine]

at the end of the day annual figures include national fleet...rentals, government and the like and the last falcon release targetted this market heavily at the expense of retail customers, and never recovered.
that will never happen again and ford will heavilynpush the barra in the retail market and i am sure they will give the general a run for his money this time

[mainforcepatrol]

i'm with you glen, it looks a helluva lot like the current fairlane. am i the only one who actually liked the au shape?

[Aussiecollector]

Looks Like it, mainforce.

If it is as it looks it will be interesting to see how the V8 teams manage to push a brick around the race track.

Glenn

[Ando]

Another typical Ford guy's(F????? On Race Day), have a good one ANDO.

[thekid_600]

what happened to the "AV" falcon? did they scrap AV so no one remmeber the bad memories of AU?

actually, it looked to me like it resembled the ED falcon.

BA falcon can only race at bathurst if it contends in at LEAST 3 rounds prior to bathurst. it was the same rule as when HRT and perkins switched from VS to VT commodores in 1998. and i doubt they can get it done on time......

[admin]

And the BA cannot run the AU aero package and as that will not be ratified until much later in the year, don't hold your breath for an AB RACECAR at Bathurst
PS. I actually dont mind the AU either. Lets face it neither company are mugs when it comes to building a good Aussie car. AU was just a bit futuristic for conservative Aussie tastes.
Same when the HQ came out in 1971....after a succession of "3 boxes" with HK, HT and HG, it took a bit of getting used to the curves and different shape.
But it went on to be the biggest seller ever in the General's line up!!

[v8coupe]

Any pics online?
I don't want to sign up on ford site.

[ET351]

NEW FORD SUITS ME!

The (limited) pics look great, I think. Reminiscent of the chunkier (dare I say it) XY days. Now, wouldn't it look great with 'GTHO' badges and the HO hardware to go with it!

For those of you questioning the 'raceability' of the new shape, I wonder if it matters after what I heard on Fox Sports on the weekend.

Craig Lowndes mentioned (briefly and in no detail) of plans to make the V8Supercars into a NASCAR style set up (i.e. all the same under the skin, bar powertrain). I'm dead set against it. Try and tell the difference between a Ford, Chev, Pontiac or Dodge in a NASCAR race if they were all the same colour....

What is the consensus out there?

Cheers, ET

[thekid_600]

AU is fine with me. just that its front bumper probably wasn't too good when it comes to a bit of off road excursion.....

but lets face it - the AU wasn't nearly as bad as the Ford Taurus..... that was a weird car......

[BATHURSTFAN]

1. I drive an AU Ute at work and its a great car. I like the sedan shape also, except for the original grill. When they replaced the this grill with the Fairmont style one it was much better.

2. The new Ford looks good to me - SO FAR. Will have to wait until i see one for real. Can't wait until next years races.

[Ando]

Yeah ET thats basically what project blueprint is which has been a hot topic of late because most are saying it will do nothing for parity but there is one point that has been overlooked by all the Ford guy's and that is both brands will have double wishbone suspension(so what they say) but the main point is the Ford teams will be able to change the pick up points which is the cause of most of there problems as they have never been able to get the front end geometry correct and this to me being a humble old mechanic that i am should prove to make a vast difference for them next season.
ANDO.

[thekid_600]

the one i saw was a fairmont. im curious to see what the XR8 looks like. wouldn't quadriple (spelling) headlights on that sort of body shape look a bit weird? kinda like the ED XR8.

[Bangkok Bob]

I never minded the AU either. I have to admit I even didn't mind the vertical bar gille that they dumped pretty quickly (yeah, I know, everyone thinks I have no taste now).

The new Falcon pics do look good, if maybe a little more conservative looking than the AU. You are right admin, I think the approach with the AU was a bit too futuristic for Aussie tastes.

Unfortunately the links I have to pics are at work, but if people looking for pics go the Sydney Morning Herald Site at www.smh.com.au they have some pics somewhere there (sorry not sure exactly where cos they were sent to me as links).

[Yogi Bear]

Re: TheKid - there isn't going to 'aparantly' (thats in inverted commas because nothing is guaranteed) be any quad headlights on the BA falcon. They supposedly had too much trouble in the past with fit and finish with that setup. Not sure what they will do but I'm sure that the headlights will be different to the ones we've seen so far.

I actually think that the new one looks pretty good. And for my 2 cents i didnt mind the AUII and onwards, although AU1 XR's and utes were alright.

Does anyone know when/if we get to see the XR's or the Ute's?? I sure hope they get it right with the look of the XRs and Utes. Are they even releasing a new Ute?? Will be interesting to see what they do with the new Fairlane when it comes out a few month after the falcon. Hope they do make a GT like has been rumored, that would be so good, providing they get the look and power right!! They have the good HSV kicking engines now in either the 4.6 or 5.4 V8, lets just hope they put them to good use!! Even the standard falcon is gonna kick butt now with its 180 or so kilowatts!!:cool:

[thekid_600]

oh ok, thanks yogi bear. i didn't know that. would that be the first ever XR8 not to have quad lights?

havent seen the utes yet. don't they usually come out a while after the sedan has come out?

[Yogi Bear]

Read the other day in either Wheels or Motor (cant remember which) that the ute will be released at the same time as the sedans and wagons. Another unprecidented move by ford

[Yogi Bear]

Read the other day in either Wheels or Motor (cant remember which) that the ute will be released at the same time as the sedans and wagons. Another unprecidented move by Ford!! They also had a spy picture of the ute. It had a car bra on although it appeared to have a similar grille to the sedan and similar headlights. Will probably get a diffeterent bumber and a new rear end.:cool:

[biante3413]

I'm dead set against it. One of the reasons I gave up on NASCAR was as you stated, the look-a-like cars. They may as well use a generic body shape for all brands. Then they wouldn't have all the "adjustments" to equalize the field. When I discovered the V8 Supercars series, I thought "Cool, the doors actually work!" I'm of the old school as far as sedan(touring car) racing goes. I liked the days when Trans Am and NASCAR racers actually were built from the cars they were supposed to be. Some say tube frame cars are safer and are cheaper to repair. That doesn't stop the racers in the ALMS GT and GTS classes.

[ET351]

Right On, Biante3413

That was my point. The way the sport is going here, it will end up exactly like NASCAR. Same frame, control aeros and existing control tyres. They may as well have control gear sticks and floor mats! That's why I don't really car for the current V8 scene: too much politics, regulating of specs and no individuality.

I'd rather see the real cars out on the track, like the old days. Fords you can tell are Fords (the BA would look GREAT in race spec, unless they try and make it look like a Dunnydore). Let them pick different cars, different engine specs and tyres. That's how we get real product development, which was the whole point of motorsport to start with.

Anyhow, I'm slipping off the soapbox after that 14th beer....

Cheers, ET

[the_goldie]

I think this is absolutely ridiculous! We already see control tyres and now they want to make the Holdens and Fords run the same setups.

Why don't they just run a Holden or Ford only series then no-one
can complain about - 'that car is better because xyz'.

I am with ET351 and biante3413 on this. Please no NASCAR style of race cars.

What's next a salary cap like Rugby League.........

[timbo333]

I thought that Ford was getting it right with the AUII & III.

I'm not yet a fan of the new BA even in XR variant. I have seen pics. It looks like an SS Commodore to me.

Bring back the Quad Headlights.............that's why I bought mine..........it looked different.