CDAA

I love the DJR cars, but agree that paying $90k is a little over the top. I owned a beautiful BA XR8 up until recently and thought it handled respectfully. Last week I got to punt my client's BA XR6 across the hillside and I couldn''t get over the difference. The XR6 was a much more balanced thing to drive and felt much quicker thru the corners. The sound of the XR8 was something else I must say. It will be interesting to see how much the Mk2 version will improve the car's balance.

This is terrible news. Christopher Reeves was a true Superman in many respects. May he walk again in the after life.

No wiper issues at 140 km/h that I was aware of anyway. The acceleration speed is quite deceiving in these things. The car rev's so quickly up to 7k you feel like your short shifting, but the speedo tells a different story. I actually haven’t got past third gear yet when fanging it. I chicken’d out at 5000 rpm when I noticed I was already doing 170km/h. The speedo goes to 320km/h- Oh what a feeling!

LOl..funny enough, there is no shunt or brake shudder etc, but the suspension is as hard as hell!! No cup holders either.

Thanks guys for the comments. I don't normally buy imports, but after driving this thing....... I've spoken to a local tuner and they claim there's a few performance edit's for the ECU which alone make the cars performance frightening!! As for bigger body kits etc, they're not for me. Here is a side profile.

Another picture of the back

Well I'm not sure how many of you will appreciate this, but I thought I would risk it anyway and show you my latest car. After much deliberation I decided I would 'try' a sports car for a change from the XR8. The car below is a RZ Twin Turbo Supra rated at around 320 kw in it's current form. The car has CAI, a sports exhaust, Bilstein Suspension, 18"s, but otherwise stock (the way I prefer to buy this sort of thing). The engine is a 3.0-liter twin ohc 24 valve in-line six (redline 6,800 rpm), sequential turbocharging, six-speed Getrag manual transmission, etc etc. To cut to the chase 0-100 gets done in around 4.5 seconds with the 400m down ranging from 12.8- 13.2 (depending on set up). This is my daily driver as I'm now looking for an old Ford to play with. I'm giving the latest Fords a miss for a short while and going to look for XW/XY 351. Let me know what you think. (and save the 'Rice' comments thanks) . Cheers, Colville

Agreed 100% Ian. The F6 is the stand out for sure and IMO provide the best possible resale. For me having owned a BOSS XR8 I would really miss the presence of the bonnet bulge in a BA Falcon now. I think they (FPV) should consider some sort of 'stand-out' feature on the car that is unique to that model. The XR6T also suffers from this problem.

I love it and in black it just looks the goods. Great value for money I reckon. I was going to buy one but decided to try something a little different for a short time....a Twin Turbo Supra I know, I know but I would like to own atleast one turbo charged 'Sports coupe' in my life time. :lol:

Really sorry to hear about it Craig. that's terrible luck, but you know these things happen for a reason. On the brighter side that maybe something to look forward to. Colville

Can't help feeling the same way. Everything I've read about the VZ (not from Holden) has taken same wind out of its sails and these new features are very scarcely positioned across the range. I think the VZ and the BA MkII will now be closer than ever in terms of performance with Expensive Daewoo allowing the XR8 back into the SS ‘s picture due to the minor changes only while Ford have finally got there act together with the gearbox, suspension, 18" and gearing. The SS regardless of its minor improvements is not proving to be any faster with times to date recorded at 13.99 for 400m run. IMO the XR6T with its 6 speed and 3.7's will simply run away further from both XR and SS V8's. For the volume sellers, the XT SSS auto will hold it's own due to Expensive Daewoo opting to up the price, but use with the lesser 175kw V6 and mate it to that terrible 4 speed auto. To be honest, the only place I see ford hurting maybe with the XR6 (N/A) and Fairmont sales. Even at that I'm not so sure as the XR6 is still a beautiful car, just as fast, stylish and more refined based on media reports to date.

It's not just the 6 speed that's worth waiting for, its the 3.7 ratio in the diff. On the other hand if your considering an SSS auto instead, the MkII may not hold much advantage with the exception of resale.

Your an idiot... I feel better now..

Purple is actually a spiritual colour for good luck, not that this matters to me. I bought purple because it's a nice colour and my girls (aged 4 &6) picked it. Thank God Barbie pink was not an option! rednut99, I thought fast 'Black' cars were only for people that were making up for sexual inadequacy? Only kidding mate :lol:

My XR8 has now done 4500km only, but the difference from new is quite noticable. I must say that Police pack sounds interesting plonky!!

Hope all goes well for you Simon. It would be nice to see you enjoy your car as it's been a while between drinks.

Hi Harasn, I think you may have misunderstood my comments. I brought up the XR8 because I have one and have noticed that it is quite difficult to get the change over figures you received on your XR6's. That’s all mate, not making you out to be a V8 boy or insinuating you like the XR8 in anyway. No one’s perfect :lol:

Pro: Most of them go like stink because they are pushed hard. Con: Because they are pushed hard their life is shortened in many cases. It's a case of value. You pay much less for them so their shortened lifespan is relative I think. If that concerns you don't get one. If it doesn't and you plan to modify the hell out of it anyway it would be my preferred option.

Great colour harasn and change over. You must get better resale for XR6's than XR8's. That colour reminds me of Fanta. Yum.

Excellent pictures. It looks great in the white. These cars would have to be one the toughest looking BA falcons around. If I had to complain about anything it would be that for the money, they should all come with the premium luxury upgrade from Ford standard. After seeing the same body kit on an XR6T at the Motor Show in Adelaide I am also concerned about the quality of the body kit integration. This is an area where I think the FPV's have an advantage. All in all, if I was a 'track' man the DJR would be my weapon of choice.

:lol: Fellow diehard! My admiration for the GT was strengthened today when I drove my dealer principals personal GT, to compare the short shift/standard shift in the Tremec. Apart from the short shift, he had the complete Manta exhaust system fitted, sounds great, but apart from that same as mine. These cars are fantastic....really!! If you really love manuals go the short shift it's worth it. Best of luck Simon Diehard, I'll confess to mmm, the short shift sounds like a great idea. The current long shift is really the only thing I don't like, but its a small gripe in the whole scheme of things.

Very interesting perception Ian of your experience of the VY, AU and BA BOSS powered vehicles like mine. We both seem very close in our experience of these cars; yet differ in way we have perceived each car as a driving experience. That’s Interesting. What you consider is some respects a quality, I consider an experience, which was good for the time, yet, not entirely necessary in a 2004 performance vehicle anymore. We could discuss this in detail, but I think this is a whole new topic within itself don’t you think? I guess at the end of the day we are looking for our own qualities in a car. I agree the BA has turned the page, but for better or worse only the paying consumer can decide. I’ve voted yes and you’ve quoted no…..for now. I do agree with your position with Simons experience with FORD/FPV and I also wish him the best of luck. Cheers, Colville

That’s an excellent point and as I have mentioned already to Simon on another forum, I would only go as far as getting a quote and maybe a report from an aftermarket driveline and/or diff expert. I would DEFINATELY NOT recommend he go ahead and have any work done on his car by anyone other than a approved FORD/FPV repairer. That would be one sure way of letting Ford off the hook (so to speak). You would be taking away their choice to fix it and therefore ensuring they distance themselves from the issue totally. Sad, but still relative I think. Remember they haven’t said they would NOT fix it, they are just asking for more time (at this stage). Very interesting tactics……damn it.

Haaa, your always a good read my friend and thank you for telling me about your experience. I would agree that if you’re not satisfied with the BA models and what they deliver then should definitely not commit to one. I also drove a few VY SS (series 1) before purchasing and found it too close to the driving characteristics of my 1998 AU XR8. Although I very much liked my AU, I expected more from a 2004 model and the BA XR8 was the only one (out of the VY and the Ford) to deliver it. Mine is a manual and I find it has just the right amount of driver input, aggression and drivability without compromising too much on comfort, harshness and ride quality. The same car in auto form however felt quite soft and too ‘Fairmont like’ for me. Although the auto in the VY was horrid, the car’s performance characteristics were generally retained. Getting into the VY from the BA, felt like I was back in my AU again with the same/similar firmness, ride quality and harshness of the AU (which was fine for 1998). Not that this was a really bad thing, I’ve just already done it you see. Having said that I do like the VY SS despite its Holden’ origin and think they look very good and go even better as far as point and squirt. It’s just the other things that made be go for the XR8. I do agree that it’s a little soft with the initial driving experience, but its nothing a good set of springs couldn’t fix if it really bothered you. It certainly doesn’t bother me enough to act, but if you’re after that AU XR8 experience you will need to consider it. Last thing, torque down low I really do miss and the VY was even worse. Having said that the pull from the manual BOSS above 4k is nothing like what the AU could deliver. Swings and roundabouts I guess. Great speaking with you (as always).

Some very fair points Simon, and I guess it's easier for me to say when I don't have the same issues you have. I guess from my point of view I did with my last XR8 and after 12 months of ownership the problem was eventually fixed. During that time however I still loved the car and everything else about it. When the shunt was fixed I simply loved driving it more. Let all hope FPV don't let you down. Cheers, Colville