2014 Falcon features, tech and upgrades

[Road_Warrior]

Ok so we know what sort of features and tech the VF Commodore is going to be getting ahead of its full public reveal.

For those of us that are Falcon fans, the $64 question is still yet to be answered on what the 2014 Falcon update will bring. We know it is an MCE - Mid Cycle Evolution - which usually brings with it new front and rear sheetmetal and some interior changes.

What of the specific upgrades?

I think its a gimme that adaptive cruise will appear, as will blind spot assist, lane departure warning, EPAS (which by extension should allow self-parking to appear in high series models) Ford Sync maybe and a 2nd generation ZF 6 speed auto.

One thing is certain: items that are not in the Ford global parts bin already won't make an appearance. Tell us what you think may appear in the 2014 Falcon, not what you think should appear.

Dual zone climate control as standard and maybe tri-zone?
Adjustable rear seat headrests?
The IRS system out of the next generation Mustang?
Adaptive suspension?
Emergency Brake Assist?

etc.

[XWGT]

Well you have already nailed most of it but I will add upgraded media systems and sound systems,

[FPV GTHO]

I don't expect new suspension. Not having to develop the kinematic a and just worry about the integration might take alot of work out, but then you're left with 2 options - change the rear floor to get the best installation, or simply adapt it for cheaper but possibly have NVH issues or weaknesses related to power/torque.

I thought MCE was enhancement though.

[Chrisosicko]

Heated seat and cup holders in high end models?

[block58]

-Flappy-paddles on sports/sports luxury models
-XT is deleted, leaving G6 and XR6 as entry level
-Keyless entry/start on all models
-Multimedia upgrades, but no Sync
-Auto up/down on all windows
-Door trims changed, returning to proper grab handles
-Extra focus on interior perception, better quality materials and ambient lighting on luxury
-DRLs built into headlights, projector and HIDs available
-LED lights all round
-Mirror indicators on all models
-Safety tech from US/Europe models (ie. lane change warning, collision warning, blind spot information system)
-An upgraded version of the Territory's EPAS, self park on luxury
-Kinetic2 styling, will follow lines of new Mondeo/Fusion
-Auto start/stop


As for the engine
-Ecoboost to remain unchanged
-I6 to be upgraded, 210+ kw for petrol and EcoLPi
-Substantial NVH improvements across all models
-XR8 to make a return with current GT engine, GS deleted
-GT engine to 360+ kw
-Similarly, XR6T to get F6 310 engine, F6 to get 330+ kw

Will be intresting to look back onto this thread when the 2014 Falcon is released and see if we were close

[usernametaken]

Xenons for upper spec (about time too)

[Thunder]

My wish: Factory sunroof and heated seats! Not a joke.

[Rodge]

Updated 6 speed ZF across the board, adaptive cruise and blind spot on top models only, underbody panels on some models to help with aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, wider fitment of low rolling resistance tyres for the same reason and minor tweaks to the tune of some motors and that's about it. Lets be honest they've got bugger all R&D money to work with so its best to be realistic.

[mik]

about one 20 th of the items listed so far , my guess would be minimal or no changes to suspension if any, minor cosmetic changes inside and out, maybe a bit more safety tech, perhaps epas, no changes in engine power but slight improvements in economy.

[csv8]

Transplant Mondeo Titanium spec into G6E. Drop stupid name and have Titanium. G6 to Zetec..cann't be that hard surely ????? or have Chrysler 300 badged as Zetec and 300C as Titanium !!! lotsa kit for less money !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jpd80]

Away from Falcon at the moment, how about Fusion built in Australia as a 1.6 Ecoboost
in manual and auto, and available with AWD.. Ambiente, Zetec and Titanium.

At under $30 K for an Ambiente, 6.8 and 7.2 l/100 km is hard to beat for that price...

Give the market a car they may be interested in buying to stabilize production and
then Falcon can be more of the car it was always intended to be, sporty and luxurious.

[BDA074]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Away from Falcon at the moment, how about Fusion built in Australia as a 1.6 Ecoboost
in manual and auto, and available with AWD.. Ambiente, Zetec and Titanium.

At under $30 K for an Ambiente, 6.8 and 7.2 l/100 km is hard to beat for that price...

Give the market a car they may be interested in buying to stabilize production and
then Falcon can be more of the car it was always intended to be, sporty and luxurious.

Awesome idea... Don't forget the Hybrid. Would really put it to the Camry then.

[distortion]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Away from Falcon at the moment, how about Fusion built in Australia as a 1.6 Ecoboost
in manual and auto, and available with AWD.. Ambiente, Zetec and Titanium.

At under $30 K for an Ambiente, 6.8 and 7.2 l/100 km is hard to beat for that price...

Give the market a car they may be interested in buying to stabilize production and
then Falcon can be more of the car it was always intended to be, sporty and luxurious.

Would that be a fwd biased awd? like 70% front, 30% rear?

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Away from Falcon at the moment, how about Fusion built in Australia as a 1.6 Ecoboost
in manual and auto, and available with AWD.. Ambiente, Zetec and Titanium.

At under $30 K for an Ambiente, 6.8 and 7.2 l/100 km is hard to beat for that price...

Give the market a car they may be interested in buying to stabilize production and
then Falcon can be more of the car it was always intended to be, sporty and luxurious.

would be great to see that happen and keep the falcon as a sporty car and bring back the xr8

Jason

[R-Design]

I think all you need to do is look at the VF launch in tomorrow's paper. It'd be safe to say 2014 Falcon will match Commodore for Tech maybe with the exception of Front Parking Sensors, and Sunroof.

Sync will be on the cards but with all the trouble they're having with MyFord in the US I doubt we'll see it here just yet.

[flappist]

My prediction, not a lot.

The difference between the BF and BA was not huge.

There will be evolutionary upgrades such as later model transmissions or minor suspension changes and some tweaks to the ICC etc. but all in all it will be mostly the same.

There are no holes in the current model range that could be fixed cheaply or easily. The FG2 has basically everything that people want to actually spend money on.

As far as the almost constant "bring back the XR8" whine I am fairly sure it wont happen and even if it did it would be replaced by either an even louder "XR8 is too expensive" whine if the XR8 was supercharged or a spectacular "XR8 is too slow, XR6T and SS are much faster" sook if it is not.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by flappist

The difference between the BF and BA was not huge.

I think we're looking at an ED-EF type update (insofar as the extent of the update) as opposed to what was more or less a systems and technical update a-la BA-BF.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by flappist

As far as the almost constant "bring back the XR8" whine I am fairly sure it wont happen and even if it did it would be replaced by either an even louder "XR8 is too expensive" whine if the XR8 was supercharged or a spectacular "XR8 is too slow, XR6T and SS are much faster" sook if it is not.

Change the name of the GS to XR8, put a Ford badge on it and problem solved.

To me, the name GS doesn't fit anywhere in with the rest of the badges in todays time, XR8 started in the 90s, it has a solid name behind it.

GS was around in the 70s wasn't it?

For features I'm putting money on auto up/down windows on all 4, YEAH BABY!

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think we're looking at an ED-EF type update (insofar as the extent of the update) as opposed to what was more or less a systems and technical update a-la BA-BF.

The full Copperhead update was spread out over BA2-BF2 anyway. If you out the new look, both six speeds and the NVH upgrades together you'd have a decent upgrade.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Change the name of the GS to XR8, put a Ford badge on it and problem solved.

To me, the name GS doesn't fit anywhere in with the rest of the badges in todays time, XR8 started in the 90s, it has a solid name behind it.

GS was around in the 70s wasn't it?

For features I'm putting money on auto up/down windows on all 4, YEAH BABY!

Yep the 70s names are all forgotten......

No one has ever heard of Pursuit, Super Pursuit, Futura, GT or GTHO either have they?

But the 90s did give rise to a lot of "solid" names like GL, GLi, S and Forte didn't they? These were also discontinued and replaced with something else as they "baggage" that needed to be discarded and give the product a fresh new beginning.

With the exception of AU3 and possibly AU2, XR8 has ALWAYS been slower than the XR6........

As I have said many time before, almost all of the "bring back the XR8" fans are not driving one now, have never bought one new and in many cases have never ever owned or even driven one at all.

Ford are in the business of selling NEW cars. Making a model that appeals to people who don't want to actually buy one NEW is just silly.
The FG XR8 was almost salesproof while the FG/2 GS 5.0 seems to be doing reasonably well.

But as you are so keen, why don't you buy a GS, remove the FPV stripes and starter and fit XR8 badges? It will cost you maybe $200.

It will be rather unique as I have never heard of ANYONE making a fake XR8 while there are squillions of fake GTs and XR6Ts.

[R-Design]

I think people are lementing the fact that you can buy an SS Commodore for $40k on the road (after discount), while the entry level Ford V8 is approx $55k. I really don't think the badge on the boot or stripe package makes a difference.

How does Ford justify the extra coin for a GS over a XR6T?

[flappist]

Originally Posted by R-Design

I think people are lementing the fact that you can buy an SS Commodore for $40k on the road (after discount), while the entry level Ford V8 is approx $55k. I really don't think the badge on the boot or stripe package makes a difference.

How does Ford justify the extra coin for a GS over a XR6T?

Maybe it is because it has a supercharged V8 that has a lot of development costs to be amortised.

The XR8 was $45k in 2009-2010 which was EXACTLY the same price as the XR6T and withing a couple of hundred dollars of the SS. It hardly sold.

When I bought my FG2 XR6T ute in April all the new SS utes (not demo or last year plate) were around $45k with the SSV ute at $53k. Sedans were dearer.....

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yep the 70s names are all forgotten......

No one has ever heard of Pursuit, Super Pursuit, Futura, GT or GTHO either have they?

But the 90s did give rise to a lot of "solid" names like GL, GLi, S and Forte didn't they? These were also discontinued and replaced with something else as they "baggage" that needed to be discarded and give the product a fresh new beginning.

With the exception of AU3 and possibly AU2, XR8 has ALWAYS been slower than the XR6........

As I have said many time before, almost all of the "bring back the XR8" fans are not driving one now, have never bought one new and in many cases have never ever owned or even driven one at all.

Ford are in the business of selling NEW cars. Making a model that appeals to people who don't want to actually buy one NEW is just silly.
The FG XR8 was almost salesproof while the FG/2 GS 5.0 seems to be doing reasonably well.

But as you are so keen, why don't you buy a GS, remove the FPV stripes and starter and fit XR8 badges? It will cost you maybe $200.

It will be rather unique as I have never heard of ANYONE making a fake XR8 while there are squillions of fake GTs and XR6Ts.

90s gave birth to the XR6 and XR8, they're popular names, no?

Fairmont Ghia was around in the 70s, and it died out with its age group, replaced with G series.

Who said I was keen on buying an XR8? I said maybe it would be more suitable to rename GS to XR8 given we have a pretty strong following of XR8 fans here.

I've bought two new cars from Ford in the last 4 years, well 3 if you count the totaled Focus insurance replaced for me. Just not Australian made Ford, because they don't make what I like, maybe I would have if they didn't decide not to build the Focus here.

Given I'm buying another car either this year or next, given I've heard some rumors that Dodge might be bringing the RAM here in 2014, it could join my fleet.

I've also got a Falcon, which the ONLY reason I have it, is because it came up cheap and I didn't have to go out of my way to drive it home as I was looking for a project car.

Hell, maybe call the XR6T, Falcon ST and the GT, Falcon RS.

[R-Design]

Originally Posted by flappist

Maybe it is because it has a supercharged V8 that has a lot of development costs to be amortised.

The XR8 was $45k in 2009-2010 which was EXACTLY the same price as the XR6T and withing a couple of hundred dollars of the SS. It hardly sold.

When I bought my FG2 XR6T ute in April all the new SS utes (not demo or last year plate) were around $45k with the SSV ute at $53k. Sedans were dearer.....

2009-10 XR8 didn't sell as everyone was waiting on the new 5.0 V8, then it came out at a vastly higher price point and everyone said WTF. People who wanted a cheap performance Ford went the XR6T everyone else went elsewhere.

Consumers don't care if Ford made a mistake on their V8 pricing model, they only care about what they can afford within their budget. Ford blew it and now they're suffering the consequences, its that simple.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by R-Design

2009-10 XR8 didn't sell as everyone was waiting on the new 5.0 V8, then it came out at a vastly higher price point and everyone said WTF. People who wanted a cheap performance Ford went the XR6T everyone else went elsewhere.

Consumers don't care if Ford made a mistake on their V8 pricing model, they only care about what they can afford within their budget. Ford blew it and now they're suffering the consequences, its that simple.

It may surprise you to know that Prodrive had a big say in the RRP, since they
were the ones putting up the development cash and taking most of the risk..

Without sounding to pessimistic, I can't see Ford digging too deep with a +2014 GT,
maybe enough change to differentiate from XRs but not much more..

[gtfpv]

different dash , and clusters , slightly better sound systems , xt to go . GS to go XR8 to return , power unchanged , different body kits , different wheels .

[TC200six]

These are the features that Fords in other countries have that the Falcon doesn't

Active Park Assist
Adaptive Cruise Control
Blind Spot Information System
Ford Smart Key
Heated/Cooled Front Seats and Heated Steering Wheel
Multicontour Seats with Active Motion
Heated rear seats
Digital radio
Multi-colour LED ambient lighting

I should expect most of these features should be available in the G6E, at least.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by flappist

Maybe it is because it has a supercharged V8 that has a lot of development costs to be amortised.

The XR8 was $45k in 2009-2010 which was EXACTLY the same price as the XR6T and withing a couple of hundred dollars of the SS. It hardly sold.

When I bought my FG2 XR6T ute in April all the new SS utes (not demo or last year plate) were around $45k with the SSV ute at $53k. Sedans were dearer.....

That's also ignoring what XR8 retailed for pre BF2. It was only $45k after VE launched and Ford matched SS's price drop when it replaced SV8, and relied on the luxury pack XR8 and XR6T to sell against SSV.

[UberKnee]

Keyless entry/start seems like a logical choice, especially for FPV.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by flappist

My prediction, not a lot.

The difference between the BF and BA was not huge.

There will be evolutionary upgrades such as later model transmissions or minor suspension changes and some tweaks to the ICC etc. but all in all it will be mostly the same.

There are no holes in the current model range that could be fixed cheaply or easily. The FG2 has basically everything that people want to actually spend money on.

As far as the almost constant "bring back the XR8" whine I am fairly sure it wont happen and even if it did it would be replaced by either an even louder "XR8 is too expensive" whine if the XR8 was supercharged or a spectacular "XR8 is too slow, XR6T and SS are much faster" sook if it is not.

I would like to see Ford introducing models to encourage buyers to spend above $40,000 for a Falcon,
not exactly sure how to do that but the diesel was very successful in lifting Territory transaction prices.

Performance Image?
Perhaps a switch to a baby 4.0 V8 in lieu of the I-6, something with power and economy
to take Falcon forward with a performance image and slightly higher price whilst leaving
the 2.0 Ecoboost to gather sales in the $ 35K - $40K envelope..

That plan differs from GS becoming XR8 in that it retains the price integrity of the
high series V8 cars whilst offering buyers in the low $40ks something interesting
that Holden most likely will never do..

My Falcon line up:
Ecoboost 2.0 (179 Kw, 350 nm)
4.0 V8 Coyote ( 250 Kw, 430 nm)
5.0 S/C Coyote.

The latter two could be built locally by increasing the mini line at Geelong to replace I-6 production..