Ford considers axing V8 Falcon

[Serial_Fool]

Really? More AUs were made, wow. Those taxis drivers liked the AUs.

[FlipXW]

Originally Posted by Serial_Fool

I don't think it would of made much difference.

Ford wasn't looking to produce performance cars and Ford certainly wasnt looking for a peformance partner (e.g tickford). This is quite clear with the peformance of the XE ESP 351. Even if Ford kept running the V8s they wouldn't be percevied as "performance" by the kiddies now.

So what would of happened if Ford kept running the V8s?

Building the ESP Carby 351 into the XF while choking pollution gear would have ruled it out performance wise even more (even to the point where the 250 was faster?). Possiblely updating to a EFI Cleveland (I wouldnt think so).

I see your point mate. But why do you think they started producing V8's again, and keep in mind an EB XR6 was quicker than the XR8 aswell. Ford realised they'd lost alot of support amoung the younger 'hoons' of the day, and tried to rectify their mistake.

[BigCav]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

AU production 247200
XF Production 220 100
now correct me if i'm wrong but it seems to me there were 27 100 more AU falcons produced!so the XF was the greatest and most produced falcons? seems not !!!1
and from 83 to 91 there were no real performance options in the falcon so as i said dark days

thats not a fair comparison tho, look at the share of the market xf had back then. much much greater then an au

u cant compare sales from 20 years ago, at the time the xf was a huge success, maybe one of the biggest ford has ever had

[xquizd]

No more V8

What will they start building next? .............. Push Bikes :hihi:

Instead of increasing cubes now we're dropping cylinders :

[mikestp]

Personally i would rather a F6 than a GT anyway, however i think that getting rid of V8's because some enviromentalist tells us to is stupid. does anyone accually believe in global warming? plus i thought all the hippys died in vietnam anyway

[dom_105]

AU was on sale for something like 8 months longer though.

[FlipXW]

Originally Posted by mikestp

Personally i would rather a F6 than a GT anyway, however i think that getting rid of V8's because some enviromentalist tells us to is stupid. does anyone accually believe in global warming? plus i thought all the hippys died in vietnam anyway

: Hippies died in 'nam??? They were against the war. The hippies never went : .

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by BigCav

thats not a fair comparison tho, look at the share of the market xf had back then. much much greater then an au

u cant compare sales from 20 years ago, at the time the xf was a huge success, maybe one of the biggest ford has ever had

EXCUSE ME !!!!!!!!!! by what twisted logic do you get that?????????? You stated that the XF was produced in greater numbers than any other falcon and you were wrong BIG TIME. But ok I’ll go along with your logic for a second. today we have far more makes and models available than in the mid 80s so the production of the AU in greater numbers than the XF is an even greater achievement after all there is far greater competition these days. Add to that the perception that the AU "was no a good car " and this is an even greater feat. The reputation of the AU was not good mainly because of the series one cars ( the series 2 and 3 sales suffered because of this) the later series ware a greatly improved car . still with the poor reputation the AU sold in large numbers considering the amount of competition in the market place

The XF was a good car in it's day but unfortunately had no performance options apart from an EFI variant which was really a poor effort it even used more fuel than the 302 it was intended to replace ( I still remember comparisons of the day with ford stating the EFI6 would satisfy the 4.9 buyers)

back on topic I stated that today we have a viable performance 6 to replace the 8 not like in the 80s when a substandard replacement was first offered in the XE . in the 80s the police were unable to use the falcon as patrol cars as they were just a basic 6 . todat the XR6 turbo and even quicker F6 are in common use by police in all states as they provide the performance required for high speed pursuit work. so if it is determined that the V8 must go it will not be a disaster like it was in the XE to EA era the dark days for ford performance

[banarcus]

At least Dick Johnson picked up the slack in the early 80s when Ford was reluctant to. Back on topic/

[VZKOOP]

does anyone accually believe in global warming?

Errrrr - the overwhelming majority of the scientific community. The overwhelming majority of the public.

Maybe in the smoking doesn't cause cancer, there's no such thing as CFC ozone depletion and humans have no impact on global warming scientific communities there may be disbelief....... oh wait, that's right they are all the same 'scientists'. The fact that these same 'scientists' have been bank rolled by Tobacco, Chemical & Oil companies is neither here nor there..... _

Back on topic. There is a propensity towards smaller cars globally. It will eventually happen that V8's and even big 6's will probably fall by the wayside due to the market moving away from them. As the amount of oil runs out and the cost of fuel increases people will either buy more economical cars or governments will tax them into submission. Enjoy your V8's while you can - it won't be long before they will be museum pieces and our kids will ask what we were thinking when we bought one. Maybe Ford getting out of V8's early will applauded in years to come.

[Falconfan]

Now now, there is always LPG. I am sure one day when they find out LPG leads to global warming too, they will bring out hybrid bolt on kits for our 8's... till of course they find out that electricity or water or whatever those cars are powered by also leads to global warming...

[SVR73]

it would be a shame but Im not buying a new car again, relying on the AU XR and 4 cylinder daily hack to get me around

[Serial_Fool]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

EXCUSE ME !!!!!!!!!! by what twisted logic do you get that?????????? You stated that the XF was produced in greater numbers than any other falcon and you were wrong BIG TIME. But ok I’ll go along with your logic for a second. today we have far more makes and models available than in the mid 80s so the production of the AU in greater numbers than the XF is an even greater achievement after all there is far greater competition these days. Add to that the perception that the AU "was no a good car " and this is an even greater feat. The reputation of the AU was not good mainly because of the series one cars ( the series 2 and 3 sales suffered because of this) the later series ware a greatly improved car . still with the poor reputation the AU sold in large numbers considering the amount of competition in the market place

The XF was a good car in it's day but unfortunately had no performance options apart from an EFI variant which was really a poor effort it even used more fuel than the 302 it was intended to replace ( I still remember comparisons of the day with ford stating the EFI6 would satisfy the 4.9 buyers)

back on topic I stated that today we have a viable performance 6 to replace the 8 not like in the 80s when a substandard replacement was first offered in the XE . in the 80s the police were unable to use the falcon as patrol cars as they were just a basic 6 . todat the XR6 turbo and even quicker F6 are in common use by police in all states as they provide the performance required for high speed pursuit work. so if it is determined that the V8 must go it will not be a disaster like it was in the XE to EA era the dark days for ford performance

He didn't state that XF were built in more numbers...that was me.

The XF had a bigger market share than the Au ever achieved. It was a runaway success even though it didn't have the V8 option- if it did have the V8 option it would of been choked down even more after the switch to run unleaded in '86.

I wouldn't say that the AUs numbers are a huge achievement, remember when the AU was released they were substancially cheaper than the opposition(base models) and fleet/ taxi buyers flocked to them. And also Australias population had increased alot from the mid- late 80s.

Add together the sales of the VT-VX and compare them to all of the series of AUs- I would think they would show a dominate thrend towards the Commo.

Now combine the sales of the VH-VK-VL and compare them to the late XEs (strictly 6 cylinder) and XFs- Ford would win handsdown.

[Cobalt Blue]

The decison to introduce the V8 again was largely due to the need to augment the supply of 6 cylinder engines from Geelong, which was operating at or near capacity. Chasing the youth market wasn't the primary reason. As well the price of oil fell progressively from US$100 per barrel in December 1979 to under US$30 by 1986 where it largely stayed for the next 12 years, so fuel became relatively cheap again.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Serial_Fool

Really? More AUs were made, wow. Those taxis drivers liked the AUs.

Post of the thread. :togo:

[FGII-XR6]

the user name says it all I"m banging my head against a wall here no car will ever have that kind of market share again there are too many makes and models today and in your original post you said the XF sold more cars than any other falcon . when you are called with facts you change your arguement . and as you said it ios a different market 2 years apart . are you saying the V8 would have been less powerful than the 6 because of ULP ? thats the way you worded it the 8 would still have given the falcon the performance option but you seem too blinded by the allmighty XF to see that. and of course the XF would beat the VH-VK-VL they were a smaller car and a tinny POS to go with it

Originally Posted by Serial_Fool

He didn't state that XF were built in more numbers...that was me.

The XF had a bigger market share than the Au ever achieved. It was a runaway success even though it didn't have the V8 option- if it did have the V8 option it would of been choked down even more after the switch to run unleaded in '86.

I wouldn't say that the AUs numbers are a huge achievement, remember when the AU was released they were substancially cheaper than the opposition(base models) and fleet/ taxi buyers flocked to them. And also Australias population had increased alot from the mid- late 80s.

Add together the sales of the VT-VX and compare them to all of the series of AUs- I would think they would show a dominate thrend towards the Commo.

Now combine the sales of the VH-VK-VL and compare them to the late XEs (strictly 6 cylinder) and XFs- Ford would win handsdown.

[jeremyevans]

unfortunately ford uk are dropping the fiesta in september this year for the new 'verve' (looks like a baby focus). the new ka is also coming out later this year and it's rumoured that it's been heavily designed by the good old italians in 'fiat'. the 'mondeo' is also to get the 'spanish elbow' (can you remember what film that comes from)

[steamin63]

first we lose the inline 6 then the v8 ! if that is the way ford is headed then i suppose i'll buy a toyota because there will be no reason to stay with ford.

[Serial_Fool]

I was corrected by you- you didn't see me fighting that.

I'm saying (if Ford Australia kept running V8s) with the progression of the 80's the Cleveland V8s would of been more pressured for performance (note I'm not saying 'power') from the 250 MPI and latter the 3.9 MPI to the point where they would of been beaten down the 1/4 mile.

And if you think that Ford would of increased the power of its ancient V8, I wouldn't think so.

The Cleveland by the end wasn't a performance engine- all of the V8 falcons post the GT era (with exception of purpose built racers like the limited race spec XC Cobras) were simply shadows of earlier models performance wise. The 302/351 XE ESP, while a great car, was simply something not suited to the racetrack.

*EDIT* when i say "v8 falcons post GT era" i mean the Clevelands and not the latter EFI Windsors from EB-AU.

[ECOJET]

they should of dropped it a long time ago, maybe after the BA... just no point, it cannot compete at all to genX motors.. its a difficult engine to modify and doesnt respond as great to mods, and its aftermarket is nowhere near the same..
Its pretty embarassing when the main competitors motor is making more torque and power, has more displacement, uses less fuel and still runs a single cam with pushrods.
the FG just signed the death warrant imo.. look how ridiculous the v8 seems, purchase wise, compared to the turbo 6 alternative.
Fords 6 however is greatly superior to holdens so they should just be focussing on that, for the few fanboys you might lose i dont think it would hurt them and they will still get a huge base working with the 6 especially turbo variants.

[csv8]

Holden has the LS3 coming !!!!

[LeadFoot81]

Fan boys? Id be willing to bet most V8 buyers are cashed up old schoolers! And even if Fords 8 isnt as effiecient a performance engine as GM's 8 or the T6 it doesnt mean people wont buy them. If Ford drop the 8 it will be once it isnt financially viable to sell them, not because theyre 'embarassingly underpowered'.

Part of Polites fightback plan was pusing the V8 supercar link, pushing the bulge, dropping the 8 when the BA came out wouldve been suicide!

[Serial_Fool]

True, If Ford were to discontinue V8 production then V8 Supercars wouldn't need to exist.

Holden vs Toyota
V8 Superfridges

[King Nothing]

Originally Posted by Serial_Fool

V8 Superfridges

Might not be such a bad thing, imagine a v8 superfridge...

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by jeremyevans

unfortunately ford uk are dropping the fiesta in september this year for the new 'verve' (looks like a baby focus). the new ka is also coming out later this year and it's rumoured that it's been heavily designed by the good old italians in 'fiat'. the 'mondeo' is also to get the 'spanish elbow' (can you remember what film that comes from)

The Verve concept is the new Fiesta, and the new Ka is a re bodied Fiat 500, but is Ford designed.

[steamin63]

Originally Posted by ECOJET

they should of dropped it a long time ago, maybe after the BA... just no point, it cannot compete at all to genX motors.. its a difficult engine to modify and doesnt respond as great to mods, and its aftermarket is nowhere near the same..
Its pretty embarassing when the main competitors motor is making more torque and power, has more displacement, uses less fuel and still runs a single cam with pushrods.
the FG just signed the death warrant imo.. look how ridiculous the v8 seems, purchase wise, compared to the turbo 6 alternative.
Fords 6 however is greatly superior to holdens so they should just be focussing on that, for the few fanboys you might lose i dont think it would hurt them and they will still get a huge base working with the 6 especially turbo variants.

which 6 are you talking about ? the tried and tested 4l inline 6 or the unknown v6 variant that ford intend shoving down our throat ?

[BHDOGS]

They should ditch the v8 honestly most of australia doesnt care about it sure there are those people who will give a but most people will buy there xts and v6 holdens and clunk about with there hyundais the v8 is a dying breed let holden run it into the ground and hopefully they can drive it into a pole aswell to remove some of the holden driving bogan scum

[Wally]

Originally Posted by Serial_Fool

True, If Ford were to discontinue V8 production then V8 Supercars wouldn't need to exist.

Holden vs Toyota
V8 Superfridges

I don't think the Supercar 5.0s are anything like you would purchase in the production cars.

[HSE2]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

They should ditch the v8 honestly most of australia doesnt care about it sure there are those people who will give a but most people will buy there xts and v6 holdens and clunk about with there hyundais the v8 is a dying breed let holden run it into the ground and hopefully they can drive it into a pole aswell to remove some of the holden driving bogan scum

Too easy.

[FPVF6X201]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

and hopefully they can drive it into a pole aswell to remove some of the holden driving bogan scum

Shows the intelligence of a particular ford owner doesn't it! WTF is wrong with you that you find it neccessary to post such ridiculous dribble. Yes i own a Ford, yes i have owned a Holden. Never have i wished someone dead beacause of what they drive.