2005 FPV GT-P Reviews

But this is the 21st century and things have changed. Today, even the born-again Falcon GT is better as an automatic. Yes, truly.We have driven the latest car from Ford Performance Vehicles and we would choose the six-speed automatic ahead of the traditional manual.Even Ferrari has moved away from old-style manual shifts to the latest generation of Formula One-inspired manu-matics.Volkswagen's Golf GTi, with its breakthrough Double Shaft Gearbox, shows what can be done when you apply technology and automatic programming to a manual gearbox.Ford has made a similar switch with its latest ZF automatic gearbox, which is about as good as it gets in the self-shifting world.The imported gearbox has just been fitted across the BF Falcon range, right up to the king of the hill, the GT-P.It comes with the promise of silky shifts and the chance to still go manual with a touch-change mode. This means a forward push for a downshift and a slight backwards tug to move up a gear.There is a lot more than the self-shifting six-speed to the BF upgrade at FPV, but the gearbox is the star.FPV spent a lot of time, money and effort on the upgrade. Much effort was concentrated on the new-age turbo twins, the F6 Typhoon and the Tornado, but the GT and the GT-P also came in for significant makeovers.Each has a new look with a fresh, more aggressive front, upgraded brakes, 19-inch alloy wheels, twin-outlet exhaust, extra engine electronics and even a wider selection of new-look stripes along the sides.It's easy to see the changes and the GT and GT-P really stand out.The timing is good because Holden is winding down its Monaro program. There will still be HSV coupes next year, but the muscle-car pacesetter is going.FPV managing director David Flint says: "The BF FPV range represents a significant step forward in performance, safety, efficiency and, most importantly, the fun of driving."These cars are fabulous and continue to deliver on our brand promise of providing great-value, high-performance vehicles."Those are big promises, but the GT has been a favourite of ours since it returned to the Ford catalogue, and we were keen to get into the '05 update car.WE WERE so impressed when we first drove the GT that we gave it a score of 19/20.And there is still a lot to like in the latest FPV GT-P.The engine is eager and has more than enough go for any job, the ride is sublime, and the new look makes a suitable impact.It is a great car to hustle down through a favourite set of curves, and the brakes — now with six-piston Brembo calipers from Italy inside the front alloys — are great.The gearbox is just plain fantastic. It means you don't have to suffer a series of leg-press exercises on the clutch in traffic or fight with a heavy manual shift.Yet it still has six well-spread ratios and the chance to take full manual control. Sweet.It should be the first choice with every Falcon buyer, from the XT right through to the GT-P. But . . .The GT-P was a disappointment in several areas and the car has slipped back on our ratings scale, despite the latest improvements.How can that be, particularly when it has so much good stuff?First, the GT-P test car had totally unacceptable tyre noise. At first we thought the boot was open, because there was so much drumming, but it seems to be a reaction between the grippy Dunlop rubber and coarse-chip country roads.John Bowe, who has done a lot of development driving for FPV, believes that earlier harsh treatment — which would have "feathered" the edges of the tread blocks in the tyres — could have caused the problem.We also found the driver's seat was set far too high, even on the lowest setting.FP-V says this is a problem, and believes it could be down to the six electric motors used for seat adjustment in the GT-P, which has a noticeably higher seat position than the GT.We also missed the raunchy rocking at idle, which has been tuned out of the quad-cam V8 to meet new emission regulations, and found the fuel consumption was far too easy to push beyond 17 litres/100km with keen driving.Still, the GT-P is a very good car and the six-speed auto makes it more enjoyable for more of the time.But we came to the hot Falcon at the same time that one of the last Monaro coupes was running through the test garage — and the Ford did not match the Holden for feedback and seat-of-the-pants driving enjoyment.It is a sublimely enjoyable muscle car, and never better as an automatic, but it just didn't ring our bells.

Although, don't be surprised if it makes a song and dance about having a couple of extra ratios in hand without needing to operate a clutch pedal.The BF FPV range is now blessed with the six-speed automatic transmission and has mated it nicely to the two powerplants in its range, the 5.4-litre V8 and turbo six.We're getting to know the range-topping sedan, the V8 six-speed auto GT-P, with plenty of grunt and a full load of equipment.The heart of the matter is a 5.4-litre quad-cam 32-valve V8 that produces one of the most delicious V8 burbles delivered by a road-going vehicle.The silken, creamy V8 rumble turns into a sensational wail without hesitation, with the new top end of the Ford bent-eight helping it to breathe deeply and deliver.When driven in isolation – without the awesome 550Nm of the Ford Typhoon to put it to shame – the V8's 520Nm of torque gives the GT-P an easy gait and pulls high gears up long inclines without fuss. But the peak of 4500rpm doesn't help it deliver the low-down shove of the 550Nm Typhoon or the HSV LS2's 530Nm.What the GT-P does do is put the outputs to good use with the new automatic transmission. While the manual and auto gearboxes in both the old Ford and current Holden V8 products are far from slick to use, this auto delivers the best of both worlds – so much so that this committed manual gearbox fan would be opting for the $1250 six-speeder behind either FPV powerplant.In "D", it's a smooth, quick-changing transmission that makes the best use of the outputs, with a flick to the left upping the ante and bringing PERF (performance) up on the gear-indicator LCD display.That doesn't degrade the shift quality but it does make the shift pattern markedly more aggressive, changing down under braking and holding gears longer as required.Manual shifts are performed in the direction of the inertia of the vehicle – down-changes are performed by pushing the lever forward (the weight-shift direction under brakes) with the upshifts complete by pulling back (under acceleration), the right direction.Changing gears in the manual mode won't be overridden by the gearbox unless the throttle is pushed through the detente at the end of its travel – Ford has deemed this an emergency override feature.The ability to hold gearshifts and not be overridden prevents unsettling upshifts mid-corner, something BMW, Mercedes-Benz and a few others should realise.For a car that weighs 1855kg, the GT-P is light on its feet. It still feels a little heavy in some of the tighter corners, but bowling along a windy, flowing country road has the GT-P in its element.It stops sharply again and again, thanks to the big Brembo calipers and ventilated discs, turning in crisply without too much body roll and faithfully following the instructed line.Grip is considerable and the rear end (with the traction control switched off) is difficult (but not impossible) to shake loose.It can cruise comfortably as well, with a decent ride quality, but it's far more enjoyable with the V8's hackles up.The cabin trim may not be to all tastes but it is a comfortable interior for occupants, with drivers below 180cm tall able to use the electrically adjustable seats, the reach'n'rake adjustable steering and the adjustable pedals to get comfortable. At 191cm, I adopted a stooped driving posture, which was required to get decent forward vision – the seats are mounted too high, due to the extra electric seat motors. If you're tall, spend less and option up a GT.The extroverts can spend $595 for orange stripes, combining with the "Menace" purple paintwork to great effect. The high-quality premium sound system – complete with subwoofer – also makes sure the GT-P is noticed, being louder than the paintwork and stripes The only niggles were the optional satellite navigation system that sporadically wouldn't read the mapping DVD and the lack of a footrest for the left foot.Committed V8 fans will happily forgo the Typhoon's torque for the sake of the power bulge in the bonnet and the burble beneath it – and it's easy to see why – but I'd be opting for two fewer cylinders and a turbo.