Ford Falcon XR6 Sprint, XR8 Sprint and HSV GTS 2016 review

Joshua Dowling reviews the Ford Falcon XR6 Sprint, XR8 Sprint and HSV GTS with performance, fuel consumption and verdict.

These are the fastest and most powerful cars Australia has ever produced and will soon be gone forever.

In true Australian spirit, their manufacturers kept the accelerator on their toes as they approached the finish line.

Ford - contrary to popular belief, Australia's oldest and longest-running automaker - has made a gift to itself and its fans.

To commemorate the 91st anniversary of local production, including the 56th anniversary at Broadmeadows, Ford let its engineers build the Falcon they always wanted to build.

The turbocharged XR6 Sprint and supercharged XR8 Sprint, both powered by engines assembled in Geelong, are the culmination of decades of know-how.

Holden's fast car division, with a little help from an American supercharged V8, freshened up the look of its performance flagship HSV GTS before uncorking something truly extraordinary next year.

However, at the moment these cars are the best of their kind, bringing mere mortals more money per dollar than anywhere else in the world.

It's time to see what we'll be missing when our homegrown heroes are replaced by four-cylinder, V6-powered cars.

Falcon XR6 Sprint

By Ford's own admission, the Sprint siblings were "built by enthusiasts for enthusiasts".

The changes go far beyond subtle black exterior elements and badges.

Suspension and steering have been recalibrated to optimize the Pirelli P Zero tires (the same type found on Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini) and Ford has left nothing on the spares shelf by fitting racing six-piston brake calipers up front and four-piston brake calipers. rear piston calipers.

Then they "breathed" on the engine, speaking in language.

Ford engineers know the 4.0-liter six-cylinder engine like the back of their hand. Inline-sixes, designed and built locally, have been installed on the Falcon since the introduction of the first in 1960.

The turbocharged six-cylinder engine appeared almost by accident. In the late 1990s, Ford Australia thought the Falcon V8 era might be coming to an end again; for a while there was no obvious replacement for the Canadian 5.0-litre V8 Windsor, which will be discontinued in 2002.

So Ford Australia secretly developed a turbo-six as a backup.

The turbo six turned out to be better than Ford had hoped: faster and more efficient than the V8, and lighter over the nose, which improved the car's balance and cornering feel.

When Detroit eventually gave the go-ahead for another V8 (an American, but locally built, 5.4-liter overhead cam V8 dubbed the "Boss"), Ford Australia decided it could also offer a turbocharged six, as it had already done most of the development work.

The Turbo Six went on sale with the BA Falcon in 2002 and has been with us ever since.

Despite being the best engine Australia has ever produced, it has never sold as well as the V8. While the turbocharged six has its own appeal, muscle car buyers crave the roar of a V8.

Die-hard fans always find this hard to believe, but the numbers don't lie. The turbo six is ​​still faster than the V8, even in Sprint guise (see below).

Here's another telltale sign: while the power is slightly lower (325kW compared to the supercharged V8's 345kW), the XR6 Turbo Sprint outperforms the XR8 Sprint by just 1Nm of torque from 576Nm. Who said that engineers are not competitive?

Turbo power is more linear than a V8 across the entire rev range. Between gear shifts, a subtle “brrrp” sound is heard.

The occasional minor intervention of the stability control system on a narrow and demanding stretch of road is the only thing that dares to slow down the XR6 Turbo Sprint.

It's exhilarating to drive and feels more like a sports car than a sedan.

There is nothing better than this. Until we move on to the XR8.

Falcon XR8 Sprint

While the core of the XR8 engine is made in the USA, all internal parts, including the supercharger, are assembled together in Geelong along with the six-cylinder assembly line.

It's essentially the same engine as on the latest Falcon GT, but Ford intentionally left a performance gap for its icon.

The XR8 Sprint has less power than the GT (345kW vs 351kW) but more torque (575Nm vs 569Nm).

But that proved to be a moot point, because with all the updates, the XR8 Sprint rides better than the last GT. Only the icon is missing.

Thanks in no small part to the excellent Pirelli tires, the XR Sprint flattens bumpy roads and handles corners better than any other Falcon before it.

The howl of the supercharger is great. It's so loud it makes your back tingle and your ears ring.

The XR8 has less growl at lower revs compared to the XR6, but once it hits 4000 rpm it's all set.

The epic noise makes the sound sound faster than it really is (as we found out by installing timing equipment on the machine), but who cares?

However, it turns out you can have too much of a good thing. The howl of the supercharger begins to stutter around tight and twisty corners as the V8 overpowers tire traction and stability control kicks in.

Fighting the XR8 up a winding mountain pass makes you feel like you've conquered a climbing wall. It takes all your concentration, but the reward is great.

There is nothing better than this. Until we hit the HSV GTS.

HSV GTS

The HSV GTS immediately becomes more comfortable as soon as you get into it.

The cabin has a more stylish feel, and the car features more technology, including a touch key, head-up display, steering wheel switches, higher-resolution displays, lane departure warnings, as well as adjustable suspension, stability control, and exhaust modes.

The GTS would love to have a few extra gadgets at this price: $98,490, a massive $36,300 to $43,500 premium over fast Fords.

But the GTS also feels like more money has been invested in it.

On the road, it sticks like chewing gum to a movie theater seat cushion.

You can feel the chassis through the seat of the pants and the steering wheel, more so than the Falcon. After you sit in Ford highchairs, you will feel like your butt is only a few inches from the road.

We've driven the supercharged GTS many times over the past three years, including from the HSV plant in Clayton to Mount Bathurst Panorama.

But I have never enjoyed or appreciated the GTS as much as I did in this test.

The GTS is a heavy beast, but it easily handles our narrow band of road climbing the edge of the mountain.

The surface is smooth, but the corners are tight, and the GTS is completely unflappable. It feels smaller than it is thanks to well-chosen suspension, superb brakes (the largest ever fitted to an Australian production car) and nimble steering.

Another trump card up the HSV's sleeve is the supercharged LSA V8. It's like a combination of both Ford engines: enough growling at low revs (like the XR6) and screaming at high revs (like the XR8).

It's amazing and I'm shining - until the road ends.

The buzz of adrenaline and the tee-ting-ting sound of cooling components in the background soon fills me with sadness.

We will no longer build such machines.

Verdict

The results of this side-by-side test are academic because these cars are designed for the die-hard, and at this late game, you won't sway anyone.

Whatever the case, our rankings happen to be in the same order of speed, with the HSV GTS in first place, the XR6 Turbo in second, and the XR8 in third.

We love each of these cars not only for their epic 0 to 100 mph speeds, but also for how mature they handle tight corners and wide open roads.

The bad news is that there aren't really any winners; all three cars go to a dead end.

The good news is that anyone who buys one of these classic future models is not going to lose.

How fast are you going now?

Ford doesn't release official 0-kph times, but engineers believe you can squeeze 100 seconds out of the XR4.5 Turbo and 6 out of the XR4.6 - we drove 8 seconds in both models on the roads of Tasmania in March. Now we're starting to wonder if the stretch of road we used was a downhill.

For this comparison, we tested all three cars 30 minutes apart on the same patch of pavement at the Sydney Dragway.

While HSV claims a 0-100 mph time for the GTS in 4.4 seconds, we got four 4.6 seconds in the first four passes in a row, improving on our previous best of 4.7 seconds in 2013.

The XR6 Turbo knocked out a couple of 4.9-litres right off the bat and then slowed down as the engine bay soaked through the heat.

The XR8 made several attempts to reach 5.1s because it constantly wanted to fry the rear tires. We aborted the mission the moment we felt the tires slip to keep the engine from overheating and bothering us.

We're not the only ones that haven't come close to Ford's 0 to 100 km/h claim. The sports car magazine got similar numbers from the Sprint siblings (5.01 for the XR6 and 5.07 for the XR8) on different days and out of state.

So, Ford fanatics, beware of your poison and your keyboards. We've gone to great lengths to get the most out of XR Sprints. And before you accuse me of bias, I'll give you the full story: my last new car was a Ford.

Here are the numbers below. The ambient temperature was ideal - 18 degrees Celsius. We have included odometer readings on each car, showing that they have been broken in. In the interests of parity, all cars had an automatic transmission. As the numbers show, the HSV GTS accelerates to 60 km/h faster and just starts from there.

HSV GTS

from 0 to 60 km / h: 2.5 s

from 0 to 100 km / h: 4.6 s

Odometer: 10,900km

Falcon XR6 Sprint

from 0 to 60 km / h: 2.6 s

from 0 to 100 km / h: 4.9 s

Odometer: 8000km

Falcon XR8 Sprint

from 0 to 60 km / h: 2.7 s

from 0 to 100 km / h: 5.1 s

Odometer: 9800km

Limited editions

Ford will build 850 of its flagship XR8 Sprint sedans (750 in Australia, 100 in New Zealand) and 550 XR6 Turbo Sprint sedans (500 in Australia, 50 in New Zealand).

Since 2013, HSV has built just over 3000 LSA-equipped 6.2-litre supercharged V8 GTS sedans and 250 HSV GTS Maloos (240 for Australia and 10 for New Zealand).

When will it end?

Ford's engine and die plant in Geelong and the car assembly line at Broadmeadows will shut down on October 7, ending 92 years of local production of the blue oval marque.

By unfortunate coincidence, that date falls on the Friday before the iconic Bathurst auto race that helped Ford and Falcon make their mark.

Holden Commodore still has roughly 12 months to go after the Ford plant closed.

The Holden's Elizabeth production line is due to close at the end of 2017, followed by the closure of the Toyota Camry plant in Alton, the birthplace of the only locally assembled hybrid car, in December 2017.

For its part, HSV says it will continue to operate outside of its Clayton facility, but will instead be adding fleet parts and doing cosmetic work on eligible Holden import vehicles.

Falcon XR6 Turbo Sprint

Price: $54,990 plus travel expenses.

Warranty: 3 years/100,000 km

Limited service: $1130 for 3 years

Service Interval:12 months/15,000 km

safety: 5 stars, 6 airbags  

ENGINES: 4.0-liter, 6-cylinder, 325 kW / 576 Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic; rear drive

Thirst: 12.8 l / 100 km

dimensions: 4950 mm (D), 1868 mm (W), 1493 mm (B), 2838 mm (W)

The weight: 1818kg

brakes: Brembo six-piston calipers, 355 x 32mm discs (front), Brembo four-piston calipers, 330 x 28mm discs (rear)  

Tires: Pirelli P Zero, 245/35 R19 (front), 265/35R19 (rear)

Spare: Full size, 245/35 R19

0-100km/h: 4.9 s

Falcon XR8 Sprint

Price: $62,190 plus travel expenses.

Warranty: 3 years/100,000 km

Limited service: $1490 for 3 years

Service Interval: 12 months/15,000 km

safety: 5 stars, 6 airbags  

ENGINES: 5.0-liter supercharged V8, 345 kW/575 Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic; rear drive

Thirst: 14.0 l / 100 km

dimensions: 4950 mm (D), 1868 mm (W), 1493 mm (B), 2838 mm (W)

The weight: 1872kg

brakes: Brembo six-piston calipers, 355 x 32mm discs (front), Brembo four-piston calipers, 330 x 28mm discs (rear)  

Tires: Pirelli P Zero, 245/35 R19 (front), 265/35R19 (rear)

Spare: Full size, 245/35 R19

0-100Km/h: 5.1 s

Click here for more pricing and spec information on the 2016 Ford Falcon.

HSV GTS

Price: $98,490 plus travel expenses.

Warranty: 3 years/100,000 km

Limited service: $2513 for 3 years

Service Interval: 15,000 km / 9 months

safety: 5 stars, 6 airbags  

ENGINES: 6.2-liter supercharged V8, 430 kW/740 Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic; rear drive

Thirst: 15.0 l / 100 km

dimensions: 4991 mm (D), 1899 mm (W), 1453 mm (B), 2915 mm (W)

The weight: 1892.5kg

brakes: AP Racing six-piston calipers, 390 x 35.6mm discs (front), AP Racing four-piston calipers, 372 x 28mm discs (rear)  

Tires: Continental ContiSportContact, 255/35R20 (front), 275/35R20 (rear)

Spare: Full size, 255/35 R20

0-100Km/h: 4.6 s

Click here for more pricing and specs for the 2016 HSV GTS.

Do these latest editions pay homage to the history of the Australian sports sedan? Tell us what you think in the comments below.