Andrew50

Mate, We didn't buy these things for fuel economy! Until you flash tune it you can't extract any more horsepower or economy because the ECU won't let the engine tune deviate from the factory settings. Having said that once you tune it your fuel economy really goes out the window because it is so much more fun to drive harder than before!!

Rev limiter definetly and it's at 5800 rpm but since the needle is moving so quick at that stage it looks roughly 6000. It's no where near as harsh as the equivalent Expensive Daewoo model limiter though! When you get more used to it, it can be really nice when you time it just right and as you hit 5800 and change you get a great "woffle" sound during the change without the harsh cutout!! Very, very addictive.

Thanks, Worked! Thank God for the forum!

Hey guys, Need some help/ point in right direction! Have had a squeaky front passenger window for a while: slow to raise and squeaks like glass on dry rubber? Drivers window just started doing it. Have tried cleaning rubber channels etc etc but persists. Any ideas or who to take it to other than Ford Service? Thanks for any help, Andrew

Thanks guys, yeah I did mean the crossover bolts, my terminology was not great. Ok, take your point about not being totally necessary and $13 is typical!

Need help to source replacement rubberised studs on plenum. Guy doing service found 1 broken through and the other 2 cracked (there are 3 total). Ford don't list these as a replacement part. Any help appreciated.

Problem will be the preload on the master cylinder. It is supposed to be factory set to ensure that there is not excessive pressure on the pads and therefore onto the discs. If not set properly (as in mine) the constant pad pressure will overheat the disc causing massive front end shudder/ shake. A competent brake place will be able to reset the pre load. A check of how hard it is to roll the car will tell you if the brakes are binding.

Just wondering how the people with Sportmaxx as OEM tyres are finding wear/ grip / noise etc. I replaced my original SP3000A's with a full set of Sportmaxx only recently @ $220/ tyre for 235/45/17's. I could have put the originals on @ $200/ tyre but decided to go for the German higher tech tyre. Your feedback would be appreciated, I've been told that the Soprtmaxx need higher frequency rotations to extract optimum life?

At the end of the day we don't do enough at Government level in teaching our kids decent driving skills or trauma appreciation (listening to families victimised by road trauma, visiting hospitals and seeing the end results etc) as a pre-requisite to getting their licences and we don't police the roads adequately for un-roadworthy cars, inappropriately powered cars relative to experience. When I learnt to drive it was in 4 cylinder Fords that handled well and was a car club member participating in auto khanas, novice and club rallying. This experience in cars that allowed you to learn your limits without knocking on the "Pearly Gates" has kept me alive all these years. Several of my sons have had accidents (one very serious), wriiten off several cars all within 6 months of getting their licences. They buy a car and the first mods are: loud exhaust, lowered till illegal, illegal wheels, burn out steel wheels for the back and a bloody loud stereo, how can you win?

Mate told about this one and I thought I might share it with this forum. Not too often the "red" boys praise a Ford product. The excerpt is from LS1 forums and was posted by "Goggles Piasano". I had a bit of a chuckle about the poster's name, it's a name that Fred Flinstone used once for those old enough to remember the cartoon series! Re: Gone to the dark side.. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I also recently took an FG XR6 Turbo for a test drive (200kms on the clock), mate these things are insane for a stocker! Got to admit they are a beautiful ride and the ZF auto is as good as it gets. So many people including myself love to hear an 8 at WOT but being passed by an angry big cube turbo the sound is in another world. Can't help with your auto prob except to maybe say that you should have bought the FG. There is not a lot that will better it and if some do then you have all the good hardware already in place to edit for performance most only dream of. Sorry but I hate to admit when the darkerside really gets it right

Guys, Don't get me wrong! I personally would love to own one and given that my BA is stock (getting rare these days!) I wasn't intimidated by the power delivery of the FG, just surprised at the aggressiveness. However in the space of a half hour drive I found it extremely addictive to continue to explore this aggressiveness!! This is still a family car no matter how you look at it and will be driven with a variety of driver skills. Forgot to mention a few things previously: Instrument panel: Prefer BA/BF - fuel and temp gauges now tucked away in the corners and tacho/ speedo gauge graphics in a script form and can be hard to read (I know BA/BF numerals were smallish and I always had trouble working out if the needle was at 160 or 180 *?). Brakes: Initial feel spongy but then solid and consistent with harder use. Diff: Clunk! Only felt slightly when backing off several times. Exhaust: Quieter than BA/BF. In cabin noise: Leaps and bounds over BA & to some extent BF. * Private road

For those as yet that haven't had the fortune to drive a new FG turbo the following shortish report might answer a few questions: Local dealer provided an auto turbo with approx 250 kms on the clock. The day was fair but the road was damp in places from overnight rain. Exterior: Still not sure, too much black & cheap plastic. Don't like the "family" policy ford are adopting with wheel styles, same as focus, mondeo, XR8 etc. Should be more individual. Under bonnet: What a change!! Plumbing more like it should have been in the first place! New inlet manifold, turbo, plenum, intercooler etc Interior: Colouring was bland but higher quality materials gives it a classier look than BA/BF. Feels smaller, more constricting with the way the centre console ramps up. The ICC console looks and is more haphazard than the very well thought out BA/BF series e.g. the traction control button can easily be accidently pushed (now to some that's not an issue but believe me it is!) and I couldn't even find the "on" button for the radio? Anyway back to the drive. Drive: Quiet, solid, smooth, responsive what's the big deal? Taking off from first set of lights briskly and hit approx 3000 rpm when all hell breaks loose!! The new Dunlop Sport Maxx on a slightly damp road have just been lit up, the arse has stepped out and traction control has kicked in and I have no power for approx 1 - 2 secs. WTF!!! Try again and this time tyres light up through first, back off and changes to 2nd, bury foot and tyres lightup again? Behave myself and cruise to next lights to try manual mode, forget it, even worse. This was an auto on new tyres (Dunlops do grip very well when new) on basically a dryish road. Engine sounds great at WOT (a bit more refined than the BA/BF although I prefer the throatier sound) with a nice addictive "wooffle" at each gear change. On the open road the overtaking "overboost" feature is great but Ford have taken the torque back a bit on this (I still remember my BA before Ford reflashed to fix an overboost rare problem some people were having. Mine still felt much stronger on kickdown). This is probably good since kicking 2 gears down in the FG at 100 km/hr made me feel uneasy like the rear was lightening up too much, not a stable feel. Basic cornering is a fair leap in refinement and handling over the BA especially. ZF box is not surprisingly as good as ever although I didn't like the "compulsory" kick down feature when in full manual mode. I prefer the 4 speed's ability to fully hold gears when accelerating. Conclusion: Felt like a very comfortable, excellent handling 70's muscle car!! Pull up next to a 297 clubbie at 80 km/hr in top gear and tickle the throttle and the car leaps forward, clubbie gives you a WTF? look and you know that given the slightest chance you will bury him, he stares straight ahead, respect. Would I buy one? Heart says yes, head says no. This is a car that a would own to drive exclusively, my turbo I drive 5% of the time. I would NOT let my wife drive this thing daily or anyone else for that matter. The new FG is very potent and deserves respect and skill if unleashed. It would not be that hard to take it past DSC & traction control. I drove both the auto and manual BF Typhoons only 6 months ago and this car would easily own both and feels more aggressive in power delivery. Sorry for the length but had to share my experience which was far too short!!

Funny, I thought exclusivity changed that formula? Look at the 40th Anniversary GT or Cobra versions which are actually appreciating and will continue to do so. Now the F6 isn't quite as exclusive as these but much more so than a base turbo. Have you got any comparative figures? I would be very interested to know if that is the case.

FPV will always depreciate slower than a base model sourced variant. BF MK2 is a very well sorted out unit and even better in R-Spec guise. The manual I drove for a while was sheer poetry in motion. However the FG does have lifted the level on several fronts: interior styling, new manual gearbox ( a huge improvement over the last), better dynamics but exterior styling is still up for debate esp "rocky racoon". The G6ET looks like the pick of the crop with a beautiful interior and a classier exterior. On a performance basis according to the latest Wheels tests (FPV F6 vs GTS & G6ET vs Calais) the G6ET appears to be faster than the FPV 310, go figure? Go with your head and your heart will follow, BF financially would be a better choice.

What about..... A hyundai excel with full body kit + huge aero rear wing, massive fart cannon and steel wheels on the back only!!??!! Fully sic, mate!! But it's a front wheel drive you moron!!! Damn near ran into the back of car in front cause I was laughing so hard!!! Also can't stand most of the previously mentioned esp chev badges on holdens, I pity the drivers who obviously feel ashamed to be associated with GMH, is it really that bad? And so called "interceptor" (what a dumb ass name!) wheels with no tread rubber on the back of what seems like every P plated commodore, even my 18 yo son's!!! Where did I go wrong?? It must be his mother's fault, they're not my genes, can't be.........

1.3L KB Laser (1985) manual, beat that!!!

Stories about engine issues is true. Ford guy in Geelong driving new FG XR8 he was evaluating pulled into servo my son was working at and had a yarn to him about it. Said the XR8 was great in the handling department with honest grunt BUT he has a T on order himself, said it was ballistic! He did say that they were also having head failure as well as a small % of bottom end self destructs. I know they will sort it out but disappointed to see them take a virtually bullet proof engine and make it now vulnerable. Speaking about salesmen, I went in to local dealer to eye ball the FG XR series and the guy I spoke to very honestly said that the turbo was delayed due to some engines having bottom end problems, an honest salesman?!?

All of us value our cars so here is a little bit of very good advice. I have had my oil changed every 7,500 kms .I.e mid service purely for my peace of mind. Turns out I was quite right to do so. The temperatures generated by the turbo variant of the 4L gives the oil a really hard time. Any reputable mechanic with turbo experience will strongly urge you to adopt this policy.

In geelong also with stage 4 restrictions. Use car wash out of hours (no attendant), their water/ my sponge and Morning Fresh detergent. That's right detergent! Excellent local detailer recommended this as a very gentle and effective cleaner (he uses this in his business). My car has had the paint protection and the look and feel of the paint work after this type of wash is unbeatable. I have seen people use the $@%* brush on brand new cars and I almost cry. The crap that people wash with those brushes is unforgiveable (trucks/ boats/ dirt bikes/ trailers etc)!

Driven both lately just to answer exactly the question you raised. Verdict? Not so easy!! Loved the manual box, I found it positive and very easy to use, shifting was a dream. The whole package of clutch/ shift and box was without flaw. Running the manual in WOT through every gear and slamming the shift as fast as possible, this car did not miss a beat and put a smile on the dial much bigger than my first XR6T drive back in 2004. Down side - maybe having to be a bit busy in heavy traffic but so is any manual. The auto makes the F6 feel a bit tame in real world conditions, great on the drag strip but the car feels different with the manual box, a more " high performance feel?" Personally, the manual no question. Wife would take the ZF. Now that's really cleared it up for you hasn't it?

You will have to excuse me for obvious ignorance but a few questions: What the hell is a Zorst? I hear reference to this continually from members of the dark side and thought it was some sort of aftermarket exhaust system commodores use frequently? If it is colloqial term for an EXHAUST system then I'm sorry but it sounds lame. Are all of you absolutely certain that the bung does not affect emission control? Tampering with that will cost you big time and with the louder note sooner or later constable plod (a knowledgeable one) or the EPA will twig and force you to fork out for an emission test that you really, really want to pass and that's talking from experience!.

Mate, I thought the auto was great too until I did a very stupid thing - I took a manual F6 for a test drive I know we all can't afford Typhoons BUT this thing was amazing!! The clutch was beautifully weighted and during many runs at WOT through every gear where the shifts and the clutch were slammed through it never slipped once. I couldn't believe how much incredibly serious fun it was and the most amazing part is that I never once wrong slotted even though the spacing is nice and tight between the gears. After only 20km of open road and traffic I was so at ease with the box and clutch takeup that I could do anything with it. I know the manuals/ clutches in the T are not in the same league but imagine!

Forget RACV!! My car from new was insured with them. After 4 months added CAI and K&N filter. Rang to disclose mods only to be told that according to their policy they enhance performance in forced induction cars and they will not be able to offer cover under those conditions. Tried supervisor level and same story. Re-insured with AAMI and no problems, mods listed on policy. They were more concerned about visually obvious external modifications. If it's legal they'll insure.

Steffche, Got dealer to change oil @ 3000km "peace of mind" service (this means that they should pick up anything that is about to fall off before you give them a "piece of your mind"!!) then at 7,500km intervals (half way to each service) till the 30,000km service then as per the book. The 'T" will vary power delivery (more noticeable when at stock levels) according to ambient temperature: it loves cold dense air! As for minor mods, don't worry to much about increased air induction or free flow filters etc, you will not notice any difference in reality, forget about theory. Also don't screw around with the exhaust, you won't get any benefit over stock exhaust with stock or mild tune states. Although I would love to go the Nizpro way and completely change how the engine breathes by removing approx 3m of restrictive factory plumbing I don't have $5000 spare, hence other affordable mods - custom tune to 240 - 250 rwkw will keep the smile going for a while without changing anything else!!. I didn't attempt any mods till after warranty expired but everyones different depends on what you have to lose.

I'm still running 17's but although there were a lot of quality horror stories about the Dunlop OEM's I actually found mine to have no fault right through to 45,000kms when they were changed out. Wet and dry traction was excellent however they were very noisy and other people had a lot of problems. I hunted high and low with a tight budget and found the Hankook K105 Ventus Prime. If you look up the tyre comparo link previously posted it does rate them highly. I find dry and wet traction very good, low noise and the front end points and responds much better than the Dunlops. Best of all is the price - $180 each but before I get inundated I know a tyre dealer and he lost money on this deal!!