bradj

Hey Guys, Colour is Seduce, not many around yet... the only other Ford I've seen on the road in this colour was a new Territory Ghia. Why the ute? 1) I used to drive a corolla... I play bass guitar in a band.. I have 2 massive fender bass cabinets, amplifier head, 2 bass guitars and cramming all that into the corolla was becoming impractical, as well as causing damage to the trim. 2) I am an engineer, and quite often I have to cart bulky items around town, and a ute would be themost practical. 3) PERFORMANCE... for the $$$, an BF XR6T ute was such good value for money. 4) 2 Seats... I'm not ready to settle down yet Finding a dealer in metro Melbourne who had an XR6T manual in stock to take for a test drive was a challenge, since the autos are so popular. Phoned around, and Bayford in Preston had a brand new one on the lot. Took it for a drive, then drove a hard bargain. Buying a car they had on the lot (was brand new, 8km on the clock before I took it for a test) allows for more bargaining, since the dealer was keen to shift it, and delivery on my terms.. had to wait only a couple of days before picking it up. I did the deal early Saturday evening, ending up haggling nearly an hour past closing time, and the sales guy and the manager were getting a bit restless (the sales guy's wife kept calling his mobile asking when he'd be home) So they were deperate to close the deal and go home, I wanted the car, and got it $8,000 less than the price we started off at. Stoked as with the deal, and the car! Brad

From the BF UTE user manual, page 51 "Your vehicle is fitted with an event data recorder, which is capable of collecting and storing data during a crash or near crash event. The recorded information may assist in the investigation of such an event. To access this information, special equipment must be directly connected to the recording modules. Ford does not access recorded information without obtaining consent, unless pursuant to a court order or where required by law enforcement, other govenrment authorities or other third parties acting with lawful authority" Brad

Yeah, I did a bit of reading on the black box in our cars. As far as I know, you need special equipment to access crash/incident data from our cars' black box. Ford/insurance/police need a court order to access black box data. As far as I am aware, Ford service personnell can't just access the black box when the service the car. The black box is separate from the ECU. That's why this unit could be a nice tool for capturing the behaviour of your vehicle after mods or a tune, or if you suspect there is an intermittent problem that may only show up from time to time. Brad

Hi People, Just stumbled across an article in this month's Silicon Chip magazine that I have found very interesting. They've reviewed a tiny data logger that plugs straigh into your ODBII port (in the fuse panel) that logs heapz of engine data for up to 300 hours. Then you plug it into your PC to download the data for review (graphs from O2 sensor, oil temp, speed graphs, stats etc) The best thing about this little gadget is cheap compared to other ODB scanners. see what you think, check out the product specs... PDF the pricing/ordering info is here... pricing Dunno if they're any good, but looks like a very interesting and affordable, providing engine data otherwise inaccessible to most of us. Might order one in the next few weeks. Brad

Hi Guys, Sorry haven't got any pics up until now, been really busy. Will take a few more pics this weekend while I'm putting in the iPod interface and new speakers. Brad

Hey guys & gals, Been surfing around the forum for a while, helped me decide that an XR6T ute was the car for me! So I traded my 2004 Corolla for a brand new BF XR6T 6-speed manual ute. Picked it up last friday and I can tell you it's a tad more fun than the corolla! Gonna keep the engine stock for the moment, but this weekend hope to hook up the iPod, install better speakers, and make a start on installing illumination in the window switches. So a big hello to all, and I'm glad I've found such a fantastic resorce for owners and fans of the XR6T! Brad

Some of you guys are doing pretty well... Just bough myself a BF XR6T Ute, used to have a 2004 Corolla. Corolla cost me $690 RACV Rating 1, medium risk suburb. Corolla got vandalised in March this year, so 1 claim in 5 years, RACV bump up my premium $100 to $790, even though not my fault Now paying $1050 with RACV on the XR6T, which isn't all that good considering I just turned 25, rating 1. Got quoted $785 with AAMI. Will change over when RACV runs out