What Problems Have You Had?

[mickq]

Overall, a very good car and a hoot to drive.

Looks good (Always stops foot traffic when you have it parked at a shopping strip!) and turns heads (under acceleration or letting revs drop naturally from highish up in the rev range, and people turn and look: a very distinctive sound!) Hint: if you havent done it already, find a straight stretch of road and jump out, getting a friend to drive it. Have him drive towards you in 2nd at 2500revs. About 10m from you (preferably with you not standing directly in front of the car...) have him floor it, and run it up near redline, and then shift into third and floor it again. Have a listen to the noise...its VERY different from what you hear inside the car, and sounds totally awesome. The pops as the throttle is lifted off from 2nd to go into third is unreal. Its a very distinctive (and awesome) sounding car, and it explains why it turns so many heads. SOunds quite mean and high tech.

Only return-to-dealer item:

On starting the engine, Oil hose burst/disconnected, spraying some oil on the engine (lots of smoke for a minute). Later I tried starting engine. Engine then ran at 2000revs. When pulling up at lights it would rise to 2000 revs then settle back near idle, but didnt sound quite right. Parked it, rang roadside assist.

But when I got it back from the dealer (several hours after they got it - which was 5 DAYS aftre I called roadside assist!) I noticed three things:

1) Power seemed down a little - I am wondering if they made boost/wastegate/engine management changes as well

2) Turbo makes a much more pronounced turbo whine above 4000rpm or so

3) There is a much more pronounced whoosh when taking my foot off the accelerator at med or high boost - almost sounds like a pop-off valve. May be tied into problem 1)

Will be taking it back and having a chat with the guys who serviced it to ask if they did anything other than fix the leaking oil pipe.

Overall I dont mind this from happening as it can come under the "sh*t happens" rule, even if the car has only done 1400kms.

Things I am watching or will get done when the first service occurs:

RHS of rear numberplate light not working, although I checked tonight and its working again! (Maybe dodgy connector)

Minor driveline lash, but not worthy of a complaint at this stage. Careful application of acceleration can largely eliminate it. (May still bring it to their attention though)

One thing I notice is that after driving, when you turn the engine off, some time later (next few mins) the engine bay temperature peaks. Pays to drive the last 100m more slowly (ie off major boost) and also consider letting the car idle for a min before killing the engine - to let the turbo cool a little - if you did some spirited driving right up until parking.

Clutch pedal squeaks/creaks about 50% of the time for the last 2cm of movement as you let the clutch out.

Occasional knock under acceleration or braking from rear of car. My initial investigation seems it may have been due to the wooden spare tyre cover in the boot not being held on tightly enough by its retaining strap. Tightened this strap, and noise stopped, althouth now seems to be back again...will check to see if starp is loose again.

Comments:

Would prefer the accelerator pedal to be slightly higher to make for easier heel-toeing without having to do Yoga with my foot: anyone know if the accellerator pedal is adjustable?

Ford roadside assist SUCKS. Basically from what Ive seen its just a glorified towing service. I expected them to be able to fix small problems (eg my blown hose) without needing to wait 5 days before its even towed to a dealer!

The fuse box lid (near driver right knee) is poorly/cheaply designed: should be hinged or similar, and better designed so it aligns and "locks in" more firmly. When you take it off, it feels like a Kia component when you try to put it back on!

The traction control is excellent...much better than I expected for a local car. Only rarely would I call it intrusive. It makes putting power down pretty much idiot proof, and increases the speeds an average driver can do safely and with confidence. Of course, connoisseurs of speed will turn it off...

[WBT56]

It makes putting power down pretty much idiot proof, and increases the speeds an average driver can do safely and with confidence. Of course, connoisseurs of speed will turn it off...

It worries me that an average driver thinks they need TC to go fast. I put that in the same category as the people who think they can use ABS to pull up late.

[Guest BAnter]

WBT56

I feel the opposite. I race a powerful track car (without traction control, though there'd be times when it would be great) and have long been interestd in performance driving.

On the road, though, I drive a VTII SS with the traction control on. Even though the SS TC is pretty crude, it helps me to be both quick (when appropriate, of course) and safe on the road. Unlike when I am racing, when I am on the road my skills aren't as sharp. I haven't been practicing beforehand and I am not 100 percent focussed like on a track, plus there are many more variables on the road. So TC helps keeps things smooth and less ragged, which is faster anyway - that's why in siome situations it would be advantageous on the track too.

Tail out attitude looks good, but its the slow way round, particularly in the dry. TC helps most people be quicker most of the time.

I also am very pleased to have it on the road in the wet - it has saved my bacon several times, as has ABS!

By the way, I have raced an ABS car too. Once you learn not to brake very hard without bringing in the ABS, you can still use the ABS to your advantage - like in very late braking into corners. Michael Schumacher probably could do without it, but the rest of us mortals benefit from the help!

[Guest booze]

dont you think that there seems to be WAY too many problems here with the new falcons??? it doesnt seem normal to me...I wonrder what theyll be driving like after 100,000k!!!

[NT TURBO]

Like a bombadore after 1000k's...nah bombadores'll never drive that good!!!! :blahblah:

[Guest booze]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm k then....if you say so

[HellionXR6T]

Like a bombadore after 1000k's...nah bombadores'll never drive that good!!!! :blahblah:

LOL. Hey just look at the VT hitlist for problems/defects. Pretty impressive, some rotors may be warping but at least the brakes STOP the car!!! Recall No. 1 wasn't it from memory?

GEN III engine anyone? I'd like my whole engine to be rebuilt 3 times in a year, quality stuff there. "FACT", I know someone that has gone through this same exercise, great motor, if they were designed properly, anyone wish to replace the gearbox when shifting from 2nd to 3rd while we are at it?

The BA has it's problems but lets be realistic here. It still is a damn good car. They just cut more corners to bring down the price and offer more for the price.

[Redhawk]

ed- says it all, no matter how good the car is built, drive it like a maniac (all the time) at some point things will go....'snap'.. law of physics.

Apart from the whistle at the windscreen, no probs with mine. My El XR6 at the same stage of life had 6 problems, nothing major but.

[mickq]

Traction control is a good thing, not a bad thing.

If it stops ham fisted drivers from losing it, that is a good thing, not a bad thing.

If it stops skilled drivers from losing it that 1 in 100 corner where things were slightly different than anticipated, that's good.

People who drive fast will do so regardless of whether they have TC or not. Having TC on when doing that same driving helps safety in general: that is good.

that's not to say in the hands of a skilled driver, TC being off wont allow them to do things better and faster, but it also requires more concentration, is closer to "the edge" and there is a fair argument that you shouldnt be doing that kind of driving on the road much anyway. (In my opinion its best summed up: there is a time and a place for everything)

Im all for 4 wheel slides, power slides and similar techniques based on losing or nearly losing traction, but they need to be applied carefully on the roads for obvious reasons.

TC allows me to, when I want, drive hard with less risk of getting it out sidewards more than anticipated. It also allows me to drive fast in the wet with less risk.

Im not just concerned about the risk to me and my car....there are also other people on the roads who shouldnt be exposed to you drifting towards them sideways because you used a few mm too much throttle on the corner with the TC turned off...no reason my trying to do the perfect corner should be exposing them to danger.

As long as there is an "off" button for the TC, then I think every car should have it. It would save hundreds of lives per year it it were more widely used.

[Dagabond]

12,295 view's goddam!! :eeek:

Taking my T in for an oil change tommorow I've got 2 minor problem's that I need to have fixed at the same time.

1. Ticking sound coming from the steering at low speed's or when stationery, started a while back and is just getting louder and louder.

2.Belt squeal when the engine's cold.

Both simple fix's hopefully.