Will Ford Axe the GT line after new release of Orion?

[photn]

Ford need something that will compete with the CLUBSPORT.....we have nothing at the moment........

[FalconXV]

I think the BA XR8 was initially a Clubsport competitor, as it ate the (then current) VY SS, but then Ford dropped the ball...

[Bluehoon]

Has anyone read the latest business case from Tom Gorman?

Hurricane 6.2 on cards for model after orion, yet due to wanting to export and government assistance, ford are under pressure to drop V8 again. Yet they know history will repeat itself, so what to do?

[XA-Coupe]

Originally Posted by Bluehoon

Has anyone read the latest business case from Tom Gorman?

Hurricane 6.2 on cards for model after orion, yet due to wanting to export and government assistance, ford are under pressure to drop V8 again. Yet they know history will repeat itself, so what to do?

The problem is the success of the current 6 pack line up. It makes a better business case to keep the huffed 6 and drop the 8 in the current economic climate.
However, should they drop the 8, they have lost me, probably forever. I will go and buy a VE SS or a Euro.
The 8 is a icon, drop it and they lose another generation.

[irsa76]

If Ford is serious about exporting the Falcon then dropping the V8 is stupid. The logical markets for the Falcon, and the LWB cars if they are still built, are the Middle East and Amercia. Two markets where the V8 is still king.

[Bluehoon]

Originally Posted by XA-Coupe

The problem is the success of the current 6 pack line up. It makes a better business case to keep the huffed 6 and drop the 8 in the current economic climate.
However, should they drop the 8, they have lost me, probably forever. I will go and buy a VE SS or a Euro.
The 8 is a icon, drop it and they lose another generation.

Slightly off topic, but really all relevant...

As the huffed up 6 and the 8 have (loosely) similar fuel usages (if not less an a boosted T) what is the gain environmentally?

I see them using the economy stakes as a lever to ditch the 8 given they aren't selling as many as they would like (6000 GT or something)...??

I would not go to the Ve but, data logging ecu, when the owner does a brunout a fault code is logged...................

Will be interesting to see what transpires..

[MeestaNob!]

I gotta say, whilst I personally dont need a V8, lots of people do. If Ford AU drop the V8 again, they can say goodbye to their local operation within 3 years. When it comes to the Ford/Holden thing, its tribal, these cars NEED to have thumping great V8s no matter what power they're capable of.

Big market for V8s, very big.

That said, model after Orion would be what, late 2009 or so? I'd be VERY interested in a 6.2ltr Ghia or FPV equivilent...

[GT290]

I can't see the v8 being dropped. v8 supercars would become dinosours, the tribes would be lost with no iconic symbolism to define who they are and what they support. Any way there is not much in the economy stakes when it comes to saving fuel. They all drink it when pushed just the same.
I love my GT and as far as HO goes, well I just ugraded the handling and made it an HO and might just go out and get an HO badge for it made for it.
" I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITH NO V8's!" lol

[banarcus]

It's not like our dollar v US$ has suffered at all in the last 2-3 years has it? Surely Ford could absorb any small fluctuations in currency to keep the imported V8 alive in the Falcon? I can't see any other reason why Ford would drop its bundle again.

[mongoloid]

my two cence.

IN 1967 when the GT first came out it was hailed as a great car but took a few years to reach its peak, are we being a bit to early in condemning ford?

I completely agree with the comments about regular falcon drivers having a part of the GT. That was the whole point of Touring cars, to give average joe some race track pride in the grocery getter they were getting about in.

more thoughts to come, its late and im trying to stay awake to be ready for monday night shift...

[HSE2]

Originally Posted by Bluehoon

Has anyone read the latest business case from Tom Gorman?

Hurricane 6.2 on cards for model after orion, yet due to wanting to export and government assistance, ford are under pressure to drop V8 again. Yet they know history will repeat itself, so what to do?

I don't know that Ford are under pressure to drop the V8 from anyone other then sales numbers. The lower end of the market where economical pressures are more prevalent the dropping of the V8 would be understandable especially considering Ford have two V8 engines in the line up.

The 6.2 especially if it is all alloy with VCT will be the engine that brings the punters back to the V8. I will have better weight distribution and better economic due to the fact it wont have to be made by hand in this country.

If they confirmed this engine in the specs that has been reported I would order it today.

During the all ford day (weekend) I had the first chance to really see what fuel economy was like on my GT. While the weekend started out with that intention the type of driving encountered made getting a best case reading impossible. Best of intentions.

For the weekend I did 612 kms and used 69 litres for a return of 11.4. Giving the type of driving it was getting especially on the way home. (Average speed over *** by fair margin) Anyone interested in the specifics can PM me. For the weekend it blew one of the F6s out of the water and they were driven the same way, nose to tail (side by side : ) if you get my drift

[GXL078]

Originally Posted by GT290

I can't see the v8 being dropped. v8 supercars would become dinosours, the tribes would be lost with no iconic symbolism to define who they are and what they support. lol

How many in the tribes know the difference between a 5.0L pushrod Windsor (that ceased production in 2000) and a Modular DOHC 5.4L .

[Wally]

Originally Posted by xcgxl

On a Mustang H.O. means High Output. I grew up being told by people who owned GTHOs from new that was what it meant! I believe that the "handling option" tag was just introduced to calm people into thinking they were a less brutal and safer car then they could be, in the wrong hands. To ward off a "super car scare" pre THE SuperCar scare if you want to think of it that way. Now I was only a kid when the H.O.s were built and Im just going by what I was told at the time, by people who drove them, at the time. Hence I have never liked the term "handling option" it just sounds wimpish and downright fake! GT H.O. for "Handling Option". What exactly were they handling? Who gave a crap that it may have had slightly bigger sway bars or whatever, they were bought for their "high output" and that definition just sounds so much more believible, don't you think?

Doesn't matter what people told you or what you imagine, HO meant Handling Option. It included things like manifolds, rear swaybar, different valve train and carby.

As far as the US HO, well GM had an HO too. But the HO Ford engine was a 1972 Cleveland with so much emmission compromise it only put out about 205kW, hardly a "high output" compared to Boss 351 from the previous year and indeed the Aussie "HO" Clevelands.

[GT290]

Originally Posted by xcgxl

How many in the tribes know the difference between a 5.0L pushrod Windsor (that ceased production in 2000) and a Modular DOHC 5.4L .

Haha...yes that is a good point you make. I know that but its still a cult thing just being ford and holden and v8 muscle. even if our road cars are nothing like the track cars today. When they made the BA GT they made it look like it just come from a track and even though its engine is different to what they race I for one love the concept and cannot see it being axed.

[Rev28K]

Didn’t Howard Marsden say “Australians have always talked V8’s but bought 6’s”?

I.E. a lot of people like the idea of a V8 and love having it as the top of the tree yet a lot of people can’t afford it (or think that they can’t afford it, whether fact or fiction, due to purchase price, running costs, insurance, social pressures, etc.) and wind up with a 6.

In some ways Ford and GM have painted themselves in to a corner with their V8’s. Whoever drops them first looks a bit wuss, even if they have market leadership. If there is something that sounds better than a V8, performs better than a V8 under all conditions, is cheaper than a V8 and has less shortfalls than a V8 then why not use it? Luckily Ford has the Mustang V8 (and commercials) program to make the numbers stack up better. GM have their LS engines (commercials, Corvettes, Camaros and Commodores) and variable displacement on the horizon to help them.

[FORD3V]

what sorta times we talkin with the 3valve fairmont?

[Bossxr8]

Holden are selling V8's at around 25% of total sales. If Ford built a decent V8 that was available across the whole range with atleast 270kw like Holden do then they would sell more. The 3V engine is pretty underpowered now compared to the 270kw 6.0 Holden have. Although the turbo engines cut into V8 sales they should realise if they offered something better they would sell more of them. The longer they let them die off the worse it will get. I think they are currently only selling around 15 per day which is pretty low.

[CAMS290]

Originally Posted by photn

Ford need something that will compete with the CLUBSPORT.....we have nothing at the moment........

Have you been hiding under a rock ???

Ever heard of a F6 ?

[StookEB]

I think alot of this "discussion" is pointless. V8 are a classic car, and the 3v is not meant to be powerful, although it can be just ask certain sponsors on this site.