9 February 2011
New car report; When less is more.
Maybe Henry was right back in the day when he said "There's no substitute for cubic inches." But technology seems to have made his statement redundant.
It's appropriate that on the week of the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercars in Hamilton, that the people at Ford New Zealand have thrown us the keys to a couple of their performance models, the FPV GT-P and the FPV F6 E.
Go fast Falcons have been around since the 1960's in various sensational GT guises, powered by big grunty V8 engines. So when we were told that Ford Performance Vehicles was offering the V8 GT-P and the straight six F6 E at the exact same price of $87,990, we wondered who on earth would opt for the six over a bent eight.
For starters, the GT-P is way more hairy chested, both visually and from the driver's seat. It's powered by a 315kW V8 Boss engine producing 551Nm of torque. While FPV don't quote 0-100km/h performance figures, the 5.4 litre 32 valve quad cam powered car has been timed elsewhere at around the 5.4 second mark.
A huge boot spoiler, a "Boss power bulge" on the bonnet, dual exhausts, an abundance of FPV badging, 19 inch alloys and super aggressive body styling enhancements leave you in no doubt that this is a performance car. Dark eye makeup around the headlights and fog lights complete the street-fighter image
Snug fitting sport seats with "GT-P" emblazoned on the headrests, FPV door sill scuff plates, FPV mats, sports steering wheel and oil pressure and temperature gauges complete the Ford Performance interior picture. The piece de resistance is the standard fitment of adjustable pedals
And if that lot doesn't shout out "performance" loud enough for you, an FPV stripe and Boss decal package is available as a no cost option
A turn-key ignition switch and push button starter button seems like a strange combination. It's neither a traditional key start nor a proximity key keyless ignition, but nevertheless, once the button is pressed, the Boss V8 bursts into life. Not like the "good old boy" deafening raw bark of V8's of old, but it's the next best thing. This is 2010, so environmental decorum must prevail.
Pull out into the traffic and bury the loud pedal, the sound gets better. It's no slouch but the torque of the big V8 doesn't really impress until the rev counter winds up to around 4,500 rpm.
The six speed ZF auto is sharp and the FPV tuned double wishbone front and "Performance Control Blade" IRS setup out back provides a firm ride. It's well set-up and feels like it's ready to race. But the car feels heavy, as though it would be happier on Conrod Straight than the narrow and twisty Hamilton street circuit.
Here's where the two cars are like chalk and cheese
The 4.0 litre, 24 valve six cylinder car feels altogether more nimble. At 310kW, the total power output of the turbo-charged six is only 5kW shy of the V8, but with 565Nm of torque on tap from 1,950 rpm through to 5,500 rpm, the smile factor is more immediate and the car more responsive from the get-go.
It feels lighter too. And while you're sitting in the same Falcon body shell, the F6 E feels smaller, easier to chuck around and more of a car for the 21st century. It has a more youthful character than the GT-P.
And it feels more well suited to New Zealand roads and conditions. It turns in nicely, sits sure and firm into the corners and has plenty of low down torque accelerating out of them
It doesn't have the brute strength of the GT-P and it doesn't have that thunderous V8 soundtrack. But the F6-E feels more refined, has more finesse and burns less fuel too.
And again, while no 0-100km/h times are quoted by FPV, independent test runs have been recorded in the high fours; a half a second or so quicker than the V8
Maybe Henry was right back in the day when he said "there's no substitute for cubic inches", but technology seems to have made his statement redundant.