Force 6 And Force 8 Are Alive

[Fat-Tony]

Have seen the force 8 in the flesh not finished though. No front or rear bars or no deck lid spoiler at the time. Can tell you though it will get a rear spoiler different to what is currently available!

Also can tell you the car I saw was Sillouette in colour & had very red full leather interior!!!!!

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Ok I can confirm they have a little lip spoiler on the rear like a senator

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[phantomchic]

Now wouldn't a FPV V8 Fairmont be a GTHO equivelent

If ford bring out another HO I'll put my hand up now I've got at least 2 kids to sell.

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theres plenty of neighbourhood kids round me that I'll gladly kidnap and trade for an HO !!

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Hey I got 4 of em.. that's gotta be worth something,.,,,

[YOOT]

So if Ford release a Fairmont Ghia with FPV engines, then they will be releasing the fastest depreciating car in Australia with the fastest Aussie engine.

Sounds like a very good reason to stray well clear if you ask me. Maybe as a second handy in 3 years time when they have droped 50% of their value.

I'll stick to the utes thanks.

[theblackpig]

I went from an lowered and worked AU Fairmont Ghia to a BF Typhoon. And I miss the creature comforts of the Ghia like the real power seat (a seat which only see-saws isn't a real power seat). The memory seat and wing mirrors. And the incredibly well sound-isolated cabin (even with my 2 1/2" zorst).

I find the Typhoon's interior is very loud, with a clash of too many shades and textures - a bit of silver, a bit of carbon fibre, a bit of grey suede, a bit of smooth black leather, a bit of stamped leather, a bit of textured plastic, some silver stitching, etc. - Somebody obviously couldn't make up their mind!

And I don't much care for the big three pillar wing. By the way, this is purely my own personal taste and is no criticism of anyone ('cept the person who 'designed' the interior).

So I got a duck-tail wing for the boot. Had some work done to tone down and clean up the interior (got the silver saddlebag stiching dyed black, am replacing the silver plastic interior trim on the console with dark carbon fibre). Upgraded the sound system. Worked the suspension and fitted big wheels. But now I realise what I'm doing is trying to turn my Typhoon into a Force 6.

So good for Ford! They've recognised that some of us performance car buyers want the grunt of a 270kW 4 litre turbo 6 with the refinement of European car. The Force 6 and 8 are a great tactical counter to Holden/HSV's VE luxo models. And given the opportunity to drive a true luxury/performance vehicle for 1/4 the price of the European equivalent, I can't see too many Force 6/8 leasers beign concerned with speculation about the depreciation rate.

I just wish they'd launched the Force 6 two months ago.

Edited 02/10/06 09:45 AM by theblackpig

[saleen]

So if Ford release a Fairmont Ghia with FPV engines, then they will be releasing the fastest depreciating car in Australia with the fastest Aussie engine.

Sounds like a very good reason to stray well clear if you ask me. Maybe as a second handy in 3 years time when they have droped 50% of their value. 

I'll stick to the utes thanks. 

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it's a car, not a property investment dude.

[Fat-Tony]

anybody would think you buy a car to make money, they cost more than women

[YOOT]

anybody would think you buy a car to make money, they cost more than women

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No but show were it makes sense to through more than you have to down the drain for the sake of what? Driving slowly through a populated cafe region with your windows down?

[BrentS]

Before FPV leapt into the Force 6 and Force 8 projects, maybe the development $$$ would have been better spent on getting the GT a little more competitive, or on sorting out the long list of niggling quality faults that a lot of people on this forum have mentioned. FPV are not a huge operation.......the more resources dedicated to other models such as the "Force" models etc would surely mean less resources available to improving the existing GT/GT-P and Typhoon models.

I don't want to flame FPV too much, as in truth I may own one in the next 6 months anyway if things go to plan, but gee, they're letting the great GT nameplate slip a little. If you're competing in the top rung of the local V8 sports sedan market, you've really got to keep on the ball. In 3 months time it'll be year 2007....... yet FPV have campaigned the Boss engines, virtually unchanged, since late 2002 or thereabouts. Is that competitive? Does that strategy really provide what it takes to remain at the top of the tree? Personally, I don't think so.

I believe FPV have had the opportunity to make running tweaks and changes to their V8s in particular to keep them very competitive, but have sat on their hands. Whether its new diffs, different cam, variable cam timing, Bilstein shockers etc the opportunity has been there to make incremental improvements, whilst not destroying resale values on the older models.

I'm still holding a vague hope that FPV will throw us some sort of a bone with the BF II GT. Maybe a lower diff ratio, or a tweak to the exhaust headers? Something incremental just to entice potential customers to splash out $65K+ on one of their cars? Yep, probably living in hope.............

[jonom]

This is so true FPV really need to make some improvement to engine output to keep competitive in this market as HSV and Chrysler St-R8 seem to be leading the way now. Maybe they are just waiting for Orion to bring out all the new changes.

[BrentS]

Jonom,

Agree that the big $$$ development items will be held until Orion arrives, but FPV have to sell cars between now and late 2007/early 2008 when Orion arrives. A company can't just pull down the shutters and say "stuff it, we'll just wait until the new model comes and go and play cards until then..."

The model cycle of Australian cars is a bit weird in that way. Ford (and also Holden) do stuff all for ages, maybe adding a new pinstrip here, or a coffee cup holder there and call it Series II or Series III, then they'll come out with an all new car that has massive changes to sheetmetal, interior, mechanicals etc. Simultaneously, such big changes mean that resale values of the 'old' model go into freefall. At the same time, the the all-new models inevitably have quality control issues for the first 12-18 months or so until the myriad of production line and component bugs are sorted out.

Maybe a few more meaningful, incremental changes are a better option? Suppose that was what I was trying to say. I'm certainly NOT advocating that FPV scrap the BOSS engine and go through the massive expense of developing a whole new engine for the 18 months until Orion arrives, but maybe just some smaller things to keep the pace. If I'm shelling out for $65K for a GT, or more for a GT-P, then I'm already heavily invested in the car.....another $1-2K for a better diff, or different cam or whatever really isn't going to make me not buy the car. Probably the opposite in fact. I'd happily pay a few $ more for a better "stock"car than go through the hassle and risks of after market mods, with all the insurance implications etc.

Brent.