Was the AU IRS a bad setup?

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by paxtonandrew

Even the manuals?

I remember looking at a BAII XR6 in Manual, and I was told that to get traction control I had to get an Automatic.

garbage, manuals too

[Perana]

IIRC Manual XR6 N/A's were NOT avaliable with both LSD and T/C.. you had to choose one.

[T3man]

The reason they didn't run TC and LSD together on the AUs was because of the use of 3-channel ABS on most AU models (not sure if any had 4-channel apart from Fairmonts and Fairlanes). With 4-channel ABS across the BA sedan range it then became possible to run both.

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

IIRC Manual XR6 N/A's were NOT avaliable with both LSD and T/C.. you had to choose one.

The question was about BA, not AU. T3man is correct, all BAXR's have 4 channel ABS, EBD, IRS and LSD, according to ford website anyway

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by geckoxr8

The question was about BA, not AU. T3man is correct, all BAXR's have 4 channel ABS, EBD, IRS and LSD, according to ford website anyway

Manual BA XR6 N/A dont have LSD as standard, nor do they have traction control as standard. Well the first series didn't.

[Abacus]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

i havent, but i have gone over the whole rear of both cars with a measureing tape, as well as checking out the cut-away setup they have at the ford discovery center...

the setup has its own "cradle", which mounts to the chassis.

the front mounts attach to the factory front lower arm mounts, and for the rear you have to remove the brackets off the chassis and weld them into the earlier "rails".
the shocks mount in the same shocker mounting position i believe

the only thing keeping me from doing it is
a) you'd just about have to get an engineers certificate, and
B) i simply cant afford to at the moment...

but it would definatley be something i'd love to do in the future....

This would be very attractive for some. I still prefer my ex-EL to my current AU in a lot of respects, the one notable exception being the AU's IRS.

IMO the EL was a more visually attractive car, more comfy - for whatever reason, lighter, and most importantly, heaps better vision - particularly when reversing. The only real problem with the EL was it did get very tail-happy when playing silly buggers, particularly in the wet. EL with IRS would be a really nice car.

[Perana]

Originally Posted by geckoxr8

The question was about BA, not AU. T3man is correct, all BAXR's have 4 channel ABS, EBD, IRS and LSD, according to ford website anyway

I was meaning BA... Not sure where you saw the mention of AU in my post :S

My Ford Brochure backs this up and im sure the brochure scan in the Gallery would show this too..

Also in AU the only cars to have T/C were Fairmont Ghia's, Fairlanes, LTD's and T1/T2 TS/TL50's

[12]

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

Also in AU the only cars to have T/C were Fairmont Ghia's, Fairlanes, LTD's and T1/T2 TS/TL50's

Correct. The T1/T2 TS50 and TL50 had TC and LSD standard. Not sure if T1 /T2 TE50 had the option of TC when fitted with optional auto (Fairmont based, had 3 channel ABS standard). No T3 TE50/TS50 cars had TC, only the T3 TL50's did.

[clontarf_x]

The XR's version of traction control is a good thump of head -> sterring wheel when you take a corner with low fuel :(

my head really really hurts :~(

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

Also in AU the only cars to have T/C were Fairmont Ghia's, Fairlanes, LTD's and T1/T2 TS/TL50's

series 2 fairmonts did as well(non ghia) unless it was optional - my parents series 2 fairmont wagon has TC......or are you only talking about cars with IRS that had TC??

[DailyDriver]

Are you guys sure that AU2 Falcons have IRS? I read an old mag which states that the AU's handling wasn't the best..(they did not indicate that thye car had IRS..). The magazine was 'Motor' from 2002....

I have an AU2 SR Falcon & would like to know if anyone has a copy of the brochure from Ford for the AU2? Could you scan the 'features' section into this forum??

[Casper]

IRS was fitted STANDARD to all SWB AU's (1,2 and 3) that were Sedans and were XR6VCT's, XR8's, TE50's, TS50's and Fairmont Ghia's. It was optional on all other SWB AU's with the exception of the XR6 HP and possibliy the Fortes in AU2/3 (not 100% sure about them)

[DailyDriver]

So does my car have IRS? How do I found out....

[Abacus]

Originally Posted by DailyDriver

So does my car have IRS? How do I found out....

1. Read Casper's note above..."IRS was fitted STANDARD to all SWB AU's (1,2 and 3) that were Sedans and were XR6VCT's, XR8's, TE50's, TS50's and Fairmont Ghia's. It was optional on all other SWB AU's with the exception of the XR6 HP and possibliy the Fortes in AU2/3 (not 100% sure about them".

2. If your car is not one of the ones Casper listed, look under the back of the car. It is pretty obvious. The car will either have a live axle with a z-shaped watts link, or else it is IRS. If the diff looks like its bolted to the bottom of the car, and the left and right wheels look like they can go up and down independantly, IRS.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Abacus

If your car is not one of the ones Casper listed, look under the back of the car. It is pretty obvious. The car will either have a live axle with a z-shaped watts link, or else it is IRS. If the diff looks like its bolted to the bottom of the car, and the left and right wheels look like they can go up and down independantly, IRS.

Trust me, 2 seconds worth of looking under the car will tell you. If theres a single solid diff from wheel to wheel... its not IRS. The IRS is VERY easy to spot. If your not sure take a photo, post it, and someone will let you know within about 30 seconds

[T3man]

On AU series 2 and 3 IRS was available on Fortes, including SR, except when the V8 motor was specified. Manual tranny was also not available on these cars (V8s). So you could buy a 4.0l Forte or SR with 5-speed manual and IRS but not a V8 ... more great thinking from Ford's options gurus.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by T3man

On AU series 2 and 3 IRS was available on Fortes, including SR, except when the V8 motor was specified. Manual tranny was also not available on these cars (V8s). So you could buy a 4.0l Forte or SR with 5-speed manual and IRS but not a V8 ... more great thinking from Ford's options gurus.

thats frickin wierd that is! would they have done that so you couldnt order yourself a cheap XR8???(ie forcing you into an XR8 to get a V8 manual with IRS...)

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by DailyDriver

I have an AU2 SR Falcon & would like to know if anyone has a copy of the brochure from Ford for the AU2? Could you scan the 'features' section into this forum??

Have a look in the "Gallery" section, there is a link at the top of the page, there are lots of brochures scanned in there

[anakha]

Got to option the ESP pack on an AU I Falcon S I got as a company car some years back. It was a nice piece of kit even being an auto. Only thing that let it down were the horrible, horrible Eagle GAs. The back would have no hesitation stepping out going around a tight corner in the wet even at lower speeds.

I do miss the IRS, especially with the goat tracks that pass for roads in the inner west suburbs of Sydney.

[DailyDriver]

What does SWB stand for?

After looking at the 'scanned in' brochure for my AU2 SR, it seems that IRS was NOT standard, so I guess I need to have a look under my car......

I must admit my SS handles better in a corner, might indicate that my AU doesn't have IRS....

[DailyDriver]

Thanks 'outback Ute' for pointing out the brochures in the gallery section, it's exactly what I was looking for!

[DailyDriver]

The fuel economy in the AU is amasing! I was able to do 445km using 52 litres as during city driving! I neede a car that was economical, thats why I didn't buy an 'XR' series car.....

[LUXO_8]

SWB stands for short wheel base (falcon, fairmont, xr) while LWB stands for long wheel base (Fairlane, LTD)

[Casper]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

SWB stands for short wheel base (falcon, fairmont, xr) while LWB stands for long wheel base (Fairlane, LTD)

Theoretically the ute and wagon are LWB models as well as they are based on the LWB platforms. I know they are not really refered to as LWB though, maybe they should be refered to as LWBLSUG's :

[stiddy]

Originally Posted by DailyDriver

The fuel economy in the AU is amasing! I was able to do 445km using 52 litres as during city driving! I neede a car that was economical, thats why I didn't buy an 'XR' series car.....

ive got an XR and it gets around 450km from around the 60 litre mark in cityish driving..
longest so far on highway has been 930km.. castle hill to just before surfers paradise which is 950km trip...

[DailyDriver]

Here are some photos from under my car. Can soemone tell me if the car has IRS?

[Casper]

Originally Posted by DailyDriver

Here are some photos from under my car. Can soemone tell me if the car has IRS?

Nope, thats a Watts link setup, no IRS there. Solid axle, the way ox carts intended :P

Another easy way to tell, the exhaust goes over a watts link but under an IRS setup.

[DailyDriver]

: Doh!!!

Oh well, doesn't matter, the handling is good enough for the short 26km trip to work and back (13km each way..)

[Casper]

Actually, given the technology of the live axle, the AU handled far, far better than it had any right to. About the only time you notice the difference is over bumps (especially in corners) and on really hard takeoffs where the live axle will "lift" one wheel as all the turning force of the driveshaft is applied. Apart from that the live axle setup is probably the best sorted setup of its kind anywhere. I'd take an AU with live axle over a VT/VX with IRS any day of the week.

[DailyDriver]

Well I have both (AU & VX series 2) and I must say the SS handles better out of corners (& into them ) but the AU doesn't feel bad either. Then again, I am pushing the SS into the corners but not the AU....