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GT vs GTS
Bruce Newton
16 June 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au
Now with full FG benefits and running an upgraded Boss V8, FPV's GT is in the best shape of its life. But can it match the HSV GTS's new 6.2-litre punch?
Mount Gambier Airport, 11:00pm. Water is streaming across the runway, rolling down the HSV GTS’s silver flanks and over the FPV GT’s black eye patches. It's enough to make you cry. Having driven day and night to get here in Australia’s two highest horsepower production cars, we’re rewarded with this. The farmers are happy and we’re happy for them. But why did it have to rain now?
The precipitation has cost us the chance to add another chapter to the enduring legend that is the Holden versus Ford V8 rivalry. Like it or not, for all the millions of dollars invested in crumple zones, dust sealing, noise minimisation and ergonomic iPod adaptors, when it comes to these cars, it’s all about who’s top dog. That’s quantified on the strip, where every tenth of a second counts.
And on this two-day run from Melbourne to Adelaide the schedule says it’s on this evening, on the main 1.5km runway of Mount Gambier airport that we find that out.
But then, the schedule didn’t take into account the low that started dumping its load. It’s no isolated shower either; we’ve been dodging rain ever since we collected the FG GT from outside Ford’s national headquarters in Broadmeadows about, oh, 11 hours ago.
Melbourne, early afternoon. It only takes a few minutes to realise that the GT has progressed markedly from its BF predecessor and the impression is made – surprise, surprise – by what’s under the bonnet.
There’s a lightness and immediacy of response from the latest iteration of the dohc, quad-cam Boss 5.4 V8, the long-stroke engine displaying a willingness to rev quicker and further than ever before.
Click here to continue article
Boost Master - FPV F6
Bill McKinnon
13 June 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au
FPV's F6 isn't just the company's best car by some margin, it's also quite probably the greatest performance car Australia has ever produced.
These may be the last days of fossil-fuelled performance, but as far as the Australian car industry is concerned, the internal combustion era will end with a whopping great 300kW-plus bang rather than a whimper.
Whether your response to this is “Good on ’em!” or “Irresponsible *******s”, history will show that the 2008 F6 from Ford Performance Vehicles was one of Australia’s great cars.
It has taken a while to get it right, though. The 2004 F6 Typhoon I drove after the car’s launch was a real disappointment, being considerably less coherent, polished and reliable than its donor BA XR6 Turbo. FPV, it seemed, had stretched its unique force-fed, big-six performance strand too tight.
The 2008 F6 drives like a jet – both literally and metaphorically.
Rather than the mechanicals dominating the senses, it is the rush, compression and expulsion of big volumes of gas that defines this engine. You hear it spin the turbine to a high-pitched, wicked whistle. When you lift off the accelerator, excess pressure flutters off the turbo compressor and through the blow-off valve. And when the Garrett turbocharger is pumping the full 0.91 bar (13.3psi) into those cylinders, you feel all that air (and fuel) launch the F6 up the road with an effortless, exhilarating violence few engines can match.
In fact, I can think of only two: AMG’s 6.2-litre V8, and Porsche’s 3.6-litre twin turbo flat six.
FPV’s finest now produces 310kW – 40kW more than previously – at 5500rpm. However, it’s the torque that really does the business, with 565Nm (a 15Nm increase) available from just 1950rpm all the way to 5200rpm.
Click here to continue article
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FPV GT (top), HSV GTS (above) and FPV F6 (below)
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Bruce Newton
16 June 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au
Now with full FG benefits and running an upgraded Boss V8, FPV's GT is in the best shape of its life. But can it match the HSV GTS's new 6.2-litre punch?
Mount Gambier Airport, 11:00pm. Water is streaming across the runway, rolling down the HSV GTS’s silver flanks and over the FPV GT’s black eye patches. It's enough to make you cry. Having driven day and night to get here in Australia’s two highest horsepower production cars, we’re rewarded with this. The farmers are happy and we’re happy for them. But why did it have to rain now?
The precipitation has cost us the chance to add another chapter to the enduring legend that is the Holden versus Ford V8 rivalry. Like it or not, for all the millions of dollars invested in crumple zones, dust sealing, noise minimisation and ergonomic iPod adaptors, when it comes to these cars, it’s all about who’s top dog. That’s quantified on the strip, where every tenth of a second counts.
And on this two-day run from Melbourne to Adelaide the schedule says it’s on this evening, on the main 1.5km runway of Mount Gambier airport that we find that out.
But then, the schedule didn’t take into account the low that started dumping its load. It’s no isolated shower either; we’ve been dodging rain ever since we collected the FG GT from outside Ford’s national headquarters in Broadmeadows about, oh, 11 hours ago.
Melbourne, early afternoon. It only takes a few minutes to realise that the GT has progressed markedly from its BF predecessor and the impression is made – surprise, surprise – by what’s under the bonnet.
There’s a lightness and immediacy of response from the latest iteration of the dohc, quad-cam Boss 5.4 V8, the long-stroke engine displaying a willingness to rev quicker and further than ever before.
Click here to continue article
Boost Master - FPV F6
Bill McKinnon
13 June 2008
www.wheelsmag.com.au
FPV's F6 isn't just the company's best car by some margin, it's also quite probably the greatest performance car Australia has ever produced.
These may be the last days of fossil-fuelled performance, but as far as the Australian car industry is concerned, the internal combustion era will end with a whopping great 300kW-plus bang rather than a whimper.
Whether your response to this is “Good on ’em!” or “Irresponsible *******s”, history will show that the 2008 F6 from Ford Performance Vehicles was one of Australia’s great cars.
It has taken a while to get it right, though. The 2004 F6 Typhoon I drove after the car’s launch was a real disappointment, being considerably less coherent, polished and reliable than its donor BA XR6 Turbo. FPV, it seemed, had stretched its unique force-fed, big-six performance strand too tight.
The 2008 F6 drives like a jet – both literally and metaphorically.
Rather than the mechanicals dominating the senses, it is the rush, compression and expulsion of big volumes of gas that defines this engine. You hear it spin the turbine to a high-pitched, wicked whistle. When you lift off the accelerator, excess pressure flutters off the turbo compressor and through the blow-off valve. And when the Garrett turbocharger is pumping the full 0.91 bar (13.3psi) into those cylinders, you feel all that air (and fuel) launch the F6 up the road with an effortless, exhilarating violence few engines can match.
In fact, I can think of only two: AMG’s 6.2-litre V8, and Porsche’s 3.6-litre twin turbo flat six.
FPV’s finest now produces 310kW – 40kW more than previously – at 5500rpm. However, it’s the torque that really does the business, with 565Nm (a 15Nm increase) available from just 1950rpm all the way to 5200rpm.
Click here to continue article
New Ford Performance Vehicles Falcon Range Released
Performance Comparo: Falcon XR6 Turbo v Falcon XR8 v Commodore SS - The Verdict
Performance Comparo: Falcon XR6 Turbo v Falcon XR8 v Commodore SS - The Verdict
FPV GT (top), HSV GTS (above) and FPV F6 (below)
