Ironman

Question is ...... did his aircon disappoint .......or not? ;-)

Thanks for the response 72 ....pretty much what I have discovered but they also seem to want to upgrade the air intake (CAI ?). Just what I suspected...these babies wanna breathe (who doesn't?). Might just do a CAI and a tune and see how that feels although after 2 years I am still pretty happy with the standard rig .....

Wow....30+ rwkw just from a tune, that's impressive! yep, I'll certainly take you guys advice and go have a chat to a tuner ....I'll check out some of the sponsors in Melbourne as I'm moving there after I retire in a few months.

Even terms like 'Xcal' hold some mystery for this old fart Henz but I'll get there pretty quick now Thanks again for the shopping list...... 2.5 grand sounds pretty damn good actually.

Hey thanks for the shopping list Henz ..... even though I don't understand what all the terms mean I'll go educate myself then proceed. To look stock with a bit more zip is exactly what I was after ! Thanks mate.

Question guys (and please excuse my extreme ignorance in such matters) ... If one wanted to really, really keep their T as stock as possible and perhaps just do a minor mod to the air intake/snorkle and get a better tune ....would it be worth it? What sort of improvement might be had? I'm guessing that an FG has 270 at the fly wheel would have maybe 230ish at the rear wheels right? Thanks to anyone who bothers to answer and just so you know ....even though my current lease is only half way through its 4 year term I've decided to retire and buy the T off the lease mob....a v slight tune will be a bit of a retirement present for the car ;-)

Anyone answer Satz's question? Likewise I have had to run through the occasional tank of 95 Ron in my FG and it doesn't appear to make an appreciable difference imo. I suspect some of the guys have their T's specifically tuned to the octane level and this makes sense. As far as I know a stock FG XR6T runs well on both 95 and 98 but below 95 is not recommended. Must say I also don't notice that much difference in performance in mileage or power either between 95 and 98 but I've favoured 98 as it should be 'cleaner' from an engine life p.o.v ....can someone who actually knows (unlike me) elucidate?

hahahaha ....this thread really delivers... am..pissing...self.... Welcome young jacko!!

wow...unbelievable guys (I mean I do believe you and all ;-)) but after the number of company cars I have had over the years of various brands, including a few falcons, my FG XR6T is by far...far...the best made, most reliable car I have ever owned. The only problem I have had after 30k klm and 20 months is the outside temp sensor going haywire and generally always reading 1 degree C ...that's it ....not one rattle squeak etc let alone a major problem. Agree that dealer attitude (I.e. arrogance and greed) sucks.

Anyone ordering an XR6T 50th Anniversary edition out there ...if so what deal & options did you get ?

Late 08 FG just tipping 27,500 clicks. Hasn't missed a beat and as a daily driver, par excellence! Only ever had one problem and typical, forgot to mention for the 15k service....bloody temp sensor (which I recall reading is in one of the mirrors) has never read accurately ....its always seems to show somewhere between 1 and 6 degrees C. Other strange thing, the Ford mobile service bloke mentioned that I should check the rear wheels occasionally as the wheel-nuts can loosen ....bugger me, he was right ....I do it now every month or so as I'd like to avoid one of the rears spinning off when I'm on a Sunday drive up in the sunny coast hills....

Sometimes I wonder if the folk who don't have any issues bother to speak up? Well, in my case, my Dec 08 build XR6T with 16k on the clock has been absolutely flawless. Let alone no major flaws, no minor flaws, not one squeak, rumble or pop. Nothing. Nada. I've had a number of lease cars over the years and the FG is by far the best I've had. Mixed cycle is now 10.1 L/100, the bark from 2nd to 3rd has become more aggressive under load (hehe)...I keep scraping the front overhang when parking at various shops ....and sometimes my ipod classic goes into a fenzy on 'random play', but I can't really complain to Ford about that can I? Interestingly, a month after delivery, I got a call from one of the engineers at Ford and we discussed my customer survey feedback. He was very happy that I couldn't find fault. Soooooo ......I'm one happy little black duck folks

Hi guys, if any of you see me (L/Strike FG XR6T sedan) doing the Glasshouse to Brisbane (Toowong) run daily, or around the sunny coast....usually Caloundra and up as far as Mooloolabah ..... give us a wave ...plate starts with LKJ..... Yeah, I've seen the two FG XR6T's plying their trade on the Bruce hwy ...also early in the morning, twice now I've seen a dark SS ute pulling speeding tradies over before 6am ....terrible...just terrible.

I guess its all about expectations guys. I've had fords since the early 70's 6's and 8's including my favorite old XY 302 V8 (a panel van that no doubt sired a few offspring along the way). I've had my FG T 10 months now and am totally satisfied. The power delivery is just so smooth and effortless and for a thrill, just bang into performance mode and wind her out through 2nd and 3rd gears manually and the exhilaration is still there...just like on day one. In all honesty, when giving this thing some curry, you've only get a few short seconds before you are doing ridiculous speeds as you fly past 160 kph ....on a public road and you gotta pull back. I've even had a bit of fun stomping a few ricer's off at the lights..... Perhaps its because I'm an older guy but I reckon you just gotta appreciate these things for what they are ...a magnificent (probably the best ever) Australian performance touring car.

To answer your question ice186...my FG XR6T with ZF sitting on 2000 rpm is doing 124/125 kph so I guess at 110 it would be around 1850 - 1900 ...they're an absolutely incredible box and so silky smooth. Running on 98 octane I get very low 9's on the trip from Brisbane to Glasshouse Mountains ...around town 12.3 - 12.4 l/100klm. It's fun driving around with the instantaneous consumption calc on .....it kinda drives you crazy watching how it varies! By my reckoning, optimal fuel consumption is at 105 - 115 kph....still close up to about 130 kph ....from there it seems to climb slowly....It's probably much safer to drive with the avg displayed not the instantaneous so you focus on the main job at hand ....hahaha.

Went from 95 EF falcon to FG XR6T. The old EF had over 200K klms on it and still going strong. Had just spent about 4k on it (suspension, brakes, cooling system etc as I was giving to the missus and kids for a daily driver and wanted to do the right thing ...you know -> Dad in the new car and the wife and kids in a death trap ....I wanted my girls be be safe). About 2 months after all that work done my 18 y.o P-Plater son wrote the bloody off, not his fault, all I got was 2.5k red book value from the father of the girl who turned in front of him. Yes, I shed a tear over fate on that one ...but at least the lad was safe, all the bags popped and the old EF and its new radiator etc crumpled nicely to protect him.....and just to think ....on that fateful day, the son had jokingly asked if he could just take my new FG XR6T "up the road for a quiet drive" without the P's on of course .....you know what my answer was hehe...

Glad to hear you survived it mate ....did you ever get your memory back as to the events leading up to the accident?

based on what ZAP says...I'm just flabbagasted that a dealer doesn't know this? On a related question, does anyone know whether owners manuals are/have been made available online eg in adobe format ? This would certainly go a long way to sorting these sorts of problems out.

Well done spic ...it feels good ...don't it ? hehe ...just thought I'd help keep the thread alive but also wondering how our hard working site supporters are faring ....are we ok on the money front, or do we need to go on a 'dash for cash' ? p.s I'll get rid of this horrible avatar soon and get a pic of ye olde FG-T up here soon ....

Hey thanks heaps Ron .....that's a relief as I was going to get some quotes from Ford as well as ultratune etc.

As a new FG XR6T owner....this has thread has taught me alot ....I'd love to know which services MUST be done by ford as I'm coming up for my first biggie @ 15,000.....

I gotta agree with what many are saying here....I test drove both the VE SS and the FG XR6T extensively before going with the T and the SS (imo) sounds nice and is much more predictable to drive ...that linear power delivery is something aint it? and very relaxing ....compared to the brute force of the XR6T. The T won me in the end and I find the engine, transmission and even to some degree the suspension are so beautifully sorted that once you have a feel for it ...you own the open road. Getting up in the sunshine coast hinterland in the hills on those long winding, 'big-dipper' roads in just cream your pants stuff and at speed (eg 140 - 200) on the longer sections is just the bees knees and the car really does shrink around you.....just gotta remember to steer positive and point this baby where you want it to go ...and she obeys.... The ZF box and the 'rush' of the T on the open (and lonely) road are what a performance vehicle is all about. Not sure I agree that the SS is a better handler at speed ...I found both very well balanced and the T at say 180+ seems to hunker down and hug the road very well ....I haven't noticed any 'floatiness' at all if YOU drive the car and don't try to correct all the time. Yesterday there was just a tiny bit of moisture on the road and in manual shift mode I opened her right up (really truly open) in 2nd and for the first time she completely broke traction and would'nt regain until I backed off ...wow, was a bit shocked but me and the lad had grins a mile wide on our gobs. I agree that the traction control is there to :"assist" ...not take over (I never tried this in an SS btw). If this happened at speed whist overtaking I reckon some smelly stuff would start squirtin out of the old pantiloons.... Overall...I just love my FG T sedan....just wish there was more places to have a bit of fun ...damn thing get to speed limit no matter where you are within a few short, but fun seconds ....ah well .....also ...with a good mix of city and country driving Im getting around 12.2- 12.4 l / 100klm ....pretty damn good and vastly superior than any of the ford or Expensive Daewoo 8's I have owned...but it still seems like you can see the bugger drink when you're having fun!

Hey thanks for that TAB.... I really didn't understand the learning factor at play until now...I thought it was just general familiarisation and enjoyment that seemed to improve the drive.....now I know ...it feels almost like a 'third leg' for a reason haha....and thanks for the advice on servicing ...I keep missing the early ones (the first compulsory is 15k ..just checked service manual).

When I first picked up my FG at christmas 08 with mostly city driving and zipping around the place, I was getting 16-18 lt/100 klm .....now at around 6000klm with city driving all week and a drive to Glasshouse Mountains every saturday, I'm sitting stable at 12.3 - 12.6 (avg 12.4) lt/100 klm. My estimate is (based on my style of driving) total city driving = 12.6 lt/100 klm, total highway = 12.0 or a tad under with an evenly mixed cycle at around 12.4. Happy with that.