DavoWA

Dwellingup area sounds good enough. I could look up some of my old rally maps (tarmac, not dirt!!) and suss a few roads that might go somewhere worthwhile. Any interest in bitumen autokhanas? It requires a bit of control and a bit of right foot, but more brains than outright grunt. (Grunt helps though)

Don't get upset, but I also have a Jag XJS as my other toy. As I use this for some rallies and the odd bit of track work, plus some autokhanas, I found that the DBA discs with Ultimates was a great option. Agree that they are not up to serious track work, but you don't do serious track work in "mobile heat exchanger" that weighs over 2100 kg. The discs and pads got me an extra 2 full laps before brake fade, over the standard items. I would expect the same on the XR, and I WILL try it when it's run in properly.

I ordered mine early December and took delivery 1st week of April. (could have had it last week of March, but get the new rego sticker and start of the month for the lease.) Country dealers apparently only had an allocation of 1 or 2 for the first 12 months, so 2 dealers didn't want to do a "fleet" lease deal. they wanted to keep them for retail customers - more margin - but I found 1 guy who didn't care and just wanted to sell a car. the larger metro dealers would probably have a better capability of getting vehicles, and maybe also able to swing a better deal with the factory.

Had my Premium sound system replaced last week. The system had no power at all. The display still showed the air controls and the clock, but no sound system. Checked mobile phone and all other connections. Dealer replaced (one had to come from Melbourne) no problem. I'm waiting for my CD's to be returned because the dealers aren't allowed to touch the systems. I was told that there are 6 different electronic circuits inside the centre bit, so I think it was probably just a dud soldered connection or something simple like that. Goes into the s**t happens file. Minor exhaust rattle at idle, as another member said, only the heat shield, and fixed now. Only 2000 kms, but it only gets a "little" thrash at a time whilst it's still this new. Emphasise "little". Give the cars a chance to sort themselves out - even consider the old "running-in" principles, and you might find that you will end up with a better "trained" car.

Good idea guys, but I think a "shorter" toe in the water might be a good idea first. Having seen a lot of good things get wasted for lack of interest or too much politics, let's get together and see what happens. A full day or weekend might be a bit ambitious to start with.

Handbook says 230 kmh. Standard BA at 200kmh. Funnily enough - WRX STI = 230kmh!

Oh goody - another oil related question. Just up my alley. Warming up IS a good idea because most engine oils use an additive (as part of the proper recipe) called ZDDP. (Zinc Dialkyl-DithioPhosphate for those who really want to know) This additive is temperature activated, and does NOT work below about 70-75 degrees Celcius. Hence if you drive nice and easy to start with, you are not putting huge loads on any mechanical components and running the risk of "breaking through" the oil film. It is when you "break through" the oil film that you will need the ZDDP to work, and if the oil is not up to temperature, it won't be there for you. This will then increase the wear rate and you will get a lot less kms until some sort of rebuild might be necessary. Ever wondered why cabs get 1,000,000 plus kms with monotonous regularity?? It is because the little buggers very seldom get cold. They are always running. There are some products on the market that get around this problem by other chemical means. Someone in one thread mentioned Castrol Magnatec. This product is one of those that uses a different non temperature related additive system.

Mine's done 886 kms and the only thing thus far is that the damn Command Centre audio has quit. No sound (except the exhaust, which is cool) but I like my music. Visiting the dealer tomorrow. Hopefully just a loose plug or something. In respect of front discs, I have had a couple or 3 C****dore work cars, and an EA and EF, and they all had some degree of brake shudder at one time or another. Machining is the way to fix it, or wait for something like DBA slotted rotors. The reason that new discs shudder is that the discs as supplied by whomever, are machined in a "green" casting state which means that they are not heat treated, so the applications of brakes during the first few kms take the casting stresses out of the disc and they will warp a bit. This is why some warp worse than others, and some not at all. A bit like running the engine in. I'm very happy so far. Plenty enough Mumbo and it handles and it looks good and........

Sorry guys, I made a typo. I will be putting the synthetic in at 3000kms. If the car has had a little bit of "exuberant" driving, there should be no problem with possible glazing of bores or excessive oil consumption. If the car has been "pussied" around, there is a good chance it will glaze the bores anyway, but I'd reckon that any XR6T wouldn't be bought to "*beep*" around with. In respect of what oils Ford use in the factory, most manufacturers put out their supplies to tender and whoever wins the tender gets the deal for 1,2 or 3 years, depending on the manufacturer. Most of the factory oils would be mineral, except for some of the higher spec performance types. I'm not sure what goes in the XR6T engine at factory, but the auto trans and diffs have a synthetic in them. This is a different deal to the actual retail dealerships, as these guys go with whatever they think is the best commercial deal for them, provided the product that they select is an approved grade from the manufacturer. This means that even 2 nearby Ford dealers could be using different brands, but a number of the dealerships are now in "groups" and they may structure a deal for all their dealerships. Just a quick note regarding additives, whilst there are some good individual cases showing evidence of additives having solved or prevented a problem, there are NO manufacturers (as opposed to dealerships)anywhere in the world who recommend the use of proprietary additives in addition to the original spec oils. The main reason for this is that there can be no product performance guarantee from the oil manufacturer as there is no way of knowing how the additives may interact with the original oils. It costs lubricant manufacturers approximately USD$350000 to pass ONE oil type through the API system. The API is the American Petroleum Institute, and it is they who dictate the performance requirements of oils, mostly after a serious amount of input from a number of auto manufacturers. The API rating can be found on any literature from the oil manufacturer. This will likely be something along the lines of API SJ/CF or SL/CF. In addtion to that, there is also a bunch of European specs which can influence the performance specs of oils. These are the ACEA specs, and a good ACEA A2/B2 or (better) A3/B3 is the go for the XR6T. Hope I haven't bored too many people.

Ford recommend a 15w/40 for this engine and it is definitely worth changing before the 15000km service, and worth holding off the synthetic until at least the 15000km change. I am a technical person with an oil company (I won't say which 'cause I'm not advertising) and I do know a little bit about the subject. New engines are not able to be cleaned sufficiently to justify not changing the oil before 5000km, so it is just plain good common sense to do it. I will be changing to a synthetic at the 3000km mark, because if you have at least "tried" the right foot a bit, then you should have no problems with the rings not having already been bedded in. It is primarily for this reason that synthetics have had a bad name in new engines. I have also learned that this engine will not particularly like low viscosity oils. Stay with a 10w/40 or 15w/40 or higher. High cylinder pressures from boosted engines put a lot of load on big end bearings and the oil viscosity is the primary "protector" of the bearings and other things.