FPV Pursuit Reviews

Rod Barrett led the driving crew on a deep dip into the heart of Australia with a pair of FPV test cars fitted with the upcoming Coyote V8 engine.  He is not talking detail on the new GT, which comes to showrooms in the final quarter of this year, even though the test cars are obviously fitted with the four-pipe exhaust system coming on the updated and upgraded FPV flagship.Barrett put 10 days of driving into two cars, taking a loop run up to Darwin and back from FPV headquarters in Melbourne before a final sign- off on the new car.  "One was a new GT mule and the other one was our, let's just call it our 'new V8'," Barrett laughs."The run was for mileage accumulation. We need to put at least 30,000 kilometres on one car and a significant amount more on the other car with the 'new V8'.  "I was going to Darwin anyway for the V8 Supercar round. So we mapped a course north. The engineers flew up and did some hot tests and then we came back through Mount Isa."Barrett says the long drive was a major education on the engineering work that goes into a new FPV model. The only unplanned stoppage was to change a tyre.  "It's good for me. There is a five-page form for me to fill out every night," he says."I drive it not like an engineer, but like a punter. So it was good.  "It was like a working holiday. I had 10 days behind the wheel and up to 980 kilometres in a day."Not surprisingly, Barrett describes the coming Coyote-powered FPV as ‘a phenomenal car’, without going into any details on performance or the vital emissions changes to meet legal changes in Australia.  He says the Coyote change is the biggest in at least seven years, since FPV first put its current 5.4-litre V8 into the Falcon."The whole car changes because of that powerplant. There are lots of new things, like the next exhaust," Barrett says.  "I'm now looking forward to the release. For all the cars with the 'new V8' we're aiming for the motor show in Sydney and Bathurst, that sort of timing."

I might not be racing a car, but I'm racing around doing a lot of PR as are most of the drivers.  And the teams are also playing catch up on work, plus catch-up on a well-deserved break.Our workshop has plenty of work to do building a brand new race car for Skaifey and me for Phillip Island in September and Bathurst in October.  The benefit of this break is that we can also rotate our staff through some holidays to catch up with some well-deserved rest because they worked right through Christmas last year to get our new Holdens built.  So we basically have a skeleton crew on all the time at our Banyo headquarters.Mark is really excited about the new race car.  We both have to get comfortable in the car which is difficult for him and me because he has longer legs and a shorter torso than me.So getting the seat, steering wheel and pedals in a comfortable position for both of us will end up as a bit of a compromise.  I will have to stretch a bit more to the pedals, but I'll be closer to wheel.We drove together for HRT in 1999 and had a two-stage steering column we could push or pull about an inch, which is something our team is looking at.  Obviously you can't change the seat which is anchored down, so our legs will be a bit compromised for space, but we've got away with it in the past.Speaking of car-building, it's good to see V8 Supercars has now started building two prototypes to iron out any problems before the teams start building their race cars.  It's definitely a good concept and will make racing cheaper.However, with the chassis and components identical and only different Ford and Commodore shells, there is some skepticism among the fans about retaining that all-important Ford-Holden rivalry.  The teams will also have a challenge coming to terms with some of the technical issues such as the 100kg lighter weight and independent rear end.I hear they are thinking of staying with the spool diff, but having a custom housing so we can swap in a Detroit Locker or Salisbury. Interesting to hear that we may get those options for varying circuits and conditions.Our team, along with FPR, HRT and SBR have been testing various diffs to get the feel of where they work and where they don't, how they hook up and how they change the feel of the car.  Either has its pros and cons. It doesn't matter to me which one they go with.We've given our feedback and now it's up to the category to make their decision.  The idea is to allow more passing, particularly for drivers to dive down the inside into a corner and still have enough turn to be able to avoid running into the side of the car they are passing.All drivers are scared of that because you don't want to gain a place only to cop a points penalty through contact.  The other reason for the possible change of diff is to minimise the amount of damage our cars are doing to the tracks.The initial cost of all the car of the future changes will be huge, but in the long term it will be cheaper on running costs.  It should also make it safer with bigger wheels and brakes, and lighter cars.I was surprised and delighted at the weekend to see that Valentino Rossi has made a comeback to MotoGP just weeks after breaking his leg.  The sport really needs a charismatic rider like him and it was almost a fairytale comeback with a fourth place, denied of a podium by our very own Casey Stoner.No doubt he would have had the best doctors, best prep and best recovery, but it still takes an enormous  amount of personal courage and talent to come back so quickly after the biggest accident of his career and then to perform so well.  What a star.I'll also see a few F1 stars when my wife, Nat, and I fly to Europe for the Spanish GP in August.  However, I'm a little disappointed because I have to fly home before the Sunday race for a rookie day and test day the next week.  It would have been nice to see Mark Webber win another race, but at least we will be there for the practice and qualifying.

More than 20 years after he hung up his helmet - although he never 'officially' retired - he is now the elder statesman on the test team at Ford Performance Vehicles.  Moffat's advice and tweaks are part of the development program for every new FPV model these days, which is why he is caught by a Carsguide reader during a drive yesterday in a thumping FPV GT.There is more to new-model development than straight-out track time, which is why the Moffat run is happening on public roads close to the FPV base at Broadmeadows and why the bonnet is up for investigation work in one of the pictures.Moffat has only come back into the official Ford family this year despite his many successes for the blue oval brand at Bathurst and in the Australian touring car championship.  His final season as a driver, in 1989, was spent driving a turbocharged Ford Sierra and he won his very last start - sharing the car with Klaus Niedzwiedz for victory in the Fuji 500 in Japan.Although the GT is a regular production car, FPV is now into final development of the upcoming Coyote-powered V8 models which pick up the latest engine developments from the USA.

But peak motoring body the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries believes consumers are confused enough to warrant a broad-ranging education program about what ESC is and what it does.The Transport Accident Commission has already been running an ad highlighting the merits of curtain airbags and ESC. It has been endeavouring to lift awareness among buyers about what they do, via websites like howsafeisyourcar.com.au.But with Victoria moving ahead for the compulsory fitting of ESC to all passenger cars from January, the FCAI believes now is the time to increase awareness among car buyers.Despite TAC's efforts some carmakers like Honda believe consumers are still confused by the different acronyms used to describe the various systems. However, FCAI spokesman, James Goodwin, believes it will be difficult to mandate a single naming strategy."It comes down to marketing," he says. "All systems are different to some degree."Goodwin also believes it would cost too much to standardise the terminology on imported cars because the volumes are relatively small. Carmakers use different terms for the proprietary electronic stability program invented by Bosch and co-developed with Mercedes-Benz.Subaru Australia spokesman, David Rowley, says Subaru's own research shows a higher awareness among buyers of its own electronic stability control system, called vehicle dynamic control."Our customers tend to look in depth at the features of our cars," Rowley says. He backs an education program as “something worth considering" but balks at a name change. "A lot a brands have invested a lot of intellectual time in creating a point of difference with their various stability systems," he says.What they call it -Electronic Stability Control (ESC) - Holden, HSV, JeepElectronic Stability Program (ESP) - Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Renault, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, Skoda, Peugeot, SuzukiDynamic Stability Control (DSC) - Ford, FPV, BMW, Mazda, Land Rover, Aston Martin, JaguarVehicle Dynamic Integrated Management (VDIM) - ToyotaVehicle Stability Control (VSC) - LexusVehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) - Nissan, SubaruDynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) - VolvoElectronic Stabilisation Program (ESP) - Audi, VolkswagenActive Stability Control (ASC) - MitsubishiVehicle Stability Assist (VSA)- HondaAutomatic Stability Control + Traction (ASC+T)  MiniMaserati Stability Program (MSP) - MaseratiPorsche Stability Management (PSM) - PorscheStability and Traction Control - FiatStabiliTrak -Hummer

The most successful driver to strap into a Ford, with four Bathurst wins and a matching set of touring car championship trophies, has just been brought back into the blue oval family.Moffat has been mostly ignored for the past two decades - and not just because he chose to race for Mazda and Holden after his Mustang and Falcon heydays - although he managed to do nicely as a driving instructor with BMW, which kept him in a classy car for a long time.  It seemed like nobody at Broadmeadows knew what they had.Yet Moffat is a dead-set legend and draws Brock-sized crowds whenever he shows up at a motoring or motorsport event. Ordinary people want to talk to him, want his autograph, want to stand beside him for a picture.His new job as an ambassador for Ford Performance Vehicles shows the company he championed is finally getting serious about leveraging its success and its heroes.Dick Johnson is also back in the family, after being punted at the end of 2008, Ford has finally appointed a new motorsport manager in former F1 man Chris Styring, and Moffat's speedy son James has been recruited as part of the Ford Performance Racing squad for 2010.The push comes right from the top, as Ford Australia's latest president knows the value of history and heritage and heroes. It's taken Marin Burela a while to get things in place, but he promised action when he hit Bathurst last year and he has now delivered.Moffat will do a great job for FPV and Ford, but it's Styring who has the big challenge. Ford has only eight cars in this year's V8 Supercar championship and that means he has to do the best with what he has while also building for the future.Mark Winterbottom and James Courtney are quick and promotable, but Ford also managed to punt the crack Triple Eight team under previous bosses so Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes are now part of the red team at Holden. And that is going to hurt.Still, something is better than nothing and Ford has a lot of good stuff to celebrate. Now it needs to to tell the rest of Australia that it's committed to the Falcon and the new generation building their own legends in the mold of Moffat.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

Ford Performance Vehicles is introducing an ‘entry’ level V8, to be known as the GS. However, buyers should be quick as 50 have already been snapped up ahead of this week's showroom launch. FPV will build just 250 sedans and 75 utes, priced at $54,950 for the four-door and $49,950 for the ute.Images of the GS were leaked on a dealer website several weeks ago, forcing FPV into damage control. But FPV boss, Rod Barrett, was all smiles as he rolled out his new baby.He says the GS is designed to bridge the price gap between the XR8 and the FPV GT. "There is a huge price difference between the two, in excess of $20,000," he says.However to differentiate it from the XR8, the GS gets more equipment so it can wear the FPV badge. "We feel that in this economic climate we wanted to offer people a chance to get into the FPV family without going all the way to a GT," Barrett says. "We believe this car offers the pricepoint, content and power that does that."The GS runs a recalibrated 5.4-litre V8 GT engine from the FG that produces 302kW at 6000 revs and 551Nm at 4750 revs. The detuned engine shares its twin throttle bodies and intake system from the GT, headers, dual exhausts and a recalibrated engine control unit with the GT.Buyers have a choice of a standard six-speed manual transmission or six-speed sequential automatic. Barrett says the 302 is a perfect entry point into FPV, which steps up to the turbocharged F6 at 310kW and the full GT-spec V8 at 316kW.The special edition GS gets GT-spec suspension, brakes and dual exhausts, unique GS striping, 19-inch graphite alloys on the sedan, charcoal cloth interior, GT instrumentation, gearknob, starter button and badging, a premium stereo with iPod and Bluetooth and dual zone climate control.Externally there are GS and 302 graphics on the car. Each car will also get exclusive build plates. Barrett says the GS was well received by prospective buyers. "This is the best focus group that we've ever done for a car," he says.However, despite its popularlity Barrett says it is unlikely the GS will become a permanent part of the FPV lineup. However, he says he will consider another special GS series when the new FPV Falcons are launched on July 1 next year. It will all depend on discussions being held now between Ford and FPV on a V8 engine strategy across both companies.

Ford Performance Vehicles boss, Rod Barrett, says although his heart his willing, the FPV chequebook is reluctant to open in the service of returning the GT-HO to the road.The poor sales response to Holden Special Vehicle's hot one-off W427 Commodore is believed to have indirectly cooled FPV's desire to recreate the halo Falcon. HSV built just 137 7.0-litre V8 W427 sedans with a pricetag of $155,000.The Clayton carbuilder had originally intended to build up to 427 hot Commodores, referring to the car's cubic-inch capacity. Barrett admits he was a keen spectator to the whole W427 process. "I think there was a huge learning experience for us in that car," he says. "I'd hate to think that I would be putting a car on the market that was as expensive as that. "I would like to be able to do something at an affordable price for the man in the street."Despite the sobering W427 experience, Barrett's desire to build a GT-HO remains strong. "The GT-HO is a dream of mine," he says. "I'd love to be in charge of FPV when we bought out a GT-HO."Dealers around the country hold thick files of prospective orders for a GT-HO but Barrett admits the mystic surrounding the original may not transfer into modern-day sales. Despite keen interest, the company has not even crunched the numbers of how many it could build or sell.But Barrett is adamant it would not be a limited-edition Cobra or special 40th anniversary car. "It would be something entirely unique," he says. With such a car comes a responsibility not to "stuff it up", he says. "I've always said I'm not to prepared to even think about it until we've got all the hardware we require and the financial resources to do it properly," he says.A GT-HO needs to be a car that has unique performance, handling, braking, aesthetics, colour and limited build number "and it needs to reflect what the Phase III was", he says."Whether I'm there, or any man that follows me into the chair at FPV, it is a very brave move to put out a GT-HO if you don't do it right and don't have the financial backing to do it right."Barrett admits 2011 would be an ideal time to introduce a new GT-HO, which would mark the 40th anniversary of the Phase III car. "It is a constant question, it's the question that comes up at every car club event I go to," he says. "I love it but it is so far away from being a reality at the moment it's just off the table."FPV is on track to sell about 1975 cars this year, just 3 per cent down over last year's figure of 2035 cars.Barrett says the full tally is still good considering the economic meltdown. "We're not too bad considering the state the rest of the industry is in," he says.V8s still make up most of the FPV volume with 41 per cent of cars being six cylinder models. "Going forward, we're heading for a pretty good year under the circumstances," he says.Barrett also believes buyer confidence is coming back into the market. "Inquiry levels are up and I'm very confident about the future of FPV," he says.However, FPV's figures still trails arch-rival HSV by a significant margin. HSV sold 4778 cars last year and to the end of July, sold 1551 cars.

...following on the heels of the hot F6 E unveiled a couple of weeks ago.And one lucky Carsguide reader will be among the first to get behind the wheel of this awesome machine as our Guest Tester.The new vehicle will be released nationally on September 1, but FPV is not releasing much in the way of detail, except to say the mystery car will again pay tribute to Ford’s rich muscle car history.“Our next model to be revealed is something we’re really excited about,” FPV’s general manager Rod Barrett said. “The beauty of being a local manufacturer is that we can respond relatively quickly to market demand.“And this new V8 vehicle -- along with our recently released F6 E -- is a product that we envisage will be warmly welcomed by fans of the blue oval,” he added.“With plenty of FPV DNA running through its veins, our new addition will, like the rest of our range, be easily identified on the street and from behind the wheel as an FPV product.”And you could be the one to fly to Melbourne to drive this car for a weekend in October, as Carsguide’s Guest Tester. You’ll also have a guided tour of the FPV and Ford Performance Racing workshops, hosted by one of FPR’s V8 Supercar drivers.After the test drive, your review of the car will be published on carsguide.com.au, with photos of you at work behind the wheel.To enter, in the Comments box below tell us in 50 words or less why you want to win. Do not provide telephone numbers or house address, but let us know if you saw the competition in your local newspaper and which one it was.This competition has now closed.You must be over 25 and hold a current full manual licence to enter. Tell us if you saw the competition in your local newspaper's Carsguide section - because during each of the four weeks of the competition, each participating newspaper will announce a ‘shortlist’ winner from among their readers, who gets a great FPV prize package worth $80. Check back in your paper each week to see if that’s you.The competition closes at 5pm EST, Friday September 11, and the name of the Guest Tester will be announced in your local Carsguide section, and here, the following week.This competition has now closed.This competition has closed, and with all the great entries, the Carsguide Guest Tester judges had a difficult task. But the final winner was Nikki Robbins of Brisbane, with: “Our FPV who art not released, What say be they name? Thy colour range? Thy engine size? On quarter-miles how shall thee run? Give us thine fearless V8 brute strength, Forgive thee less-fortunate in Holdens, Lead us not into disappointment, But deliver us thine test-drive, Ford ever-and-ever, amen.” Congratulations to Nikki, and to all the entrants — there’ll always be next year... 

"What you are going to get is 310kW and 565Nm in something that looks like a 5 Series BMW," Ford Performance Vehicles boss Rod Barrett says. "When you put your foot down it is going to go ... and at a pretty good price advantage. "This really is our Euro competitor."At $79,740 the F6 E - built off Ford's award-winning G6 E Turbo at a price premium of $23,000 - slips into the FPV range alongside the V8-powered GT-E."I think it is more about choice," Barrett says. "We make these iconic go-fast cars like the F6 and the GT and that is the base of our range ... it's what our core business is about. But there are some people that we do not cater for in that range that want a bit more luxury and refinement."They don't want stripes and big wings and black wheels. They want a bit more leather and woodgrain and chrome and I don't want to lose them."Barrett says the overwhelming success of the F6 and the demand for the G6 E Turbo was enough for FPV to shift plans for the F6 E off the back burner and give it some exposure as a concept car at the Melbourne Motor Show earlier this year."It was obvious that there is a demand there for it - not significant, but a demand," Barrett says.The F6 E will be built as a limited production vehicle with plans for ‘less than 50’ this year."It is not a limited edition just a limited production run," Barrett says. "If it were to take off and there was demand for 100 or a 150 then we just keep building them - it's there to be built."Barrett says the F6 E is another model in the FPV range against which rivals HSV cannot set a direct competitor. "They have the Senator in V8, which I would say is our GT E competitor, but they don't have a turbo six and this is the luxury version of that F6. I really think the top end of town will take to this car ... it will cater for the non-V8 crowd."The F6 E is powered by Ford's proven 4-litre turbo-charged DOHC 24 valve in-line six coupled to the ZF six-speed high-torque automatic transmission with Sequential Sports Shift.In keeping with the luxury theme the cabin features seats in shadow leather with the F6 E logo embossed on the headrests, a dark walnut woodgrain finish on the dashboard and doors, sports leather steering wheel with cruise control and audio mounted switches, dual-zone air conditioning and memory on adjustable pedals.Dynamic stability control, side curtain airbags, reverse parking camera and reverse sensing system, electronic brakeforce distribution and ABS are also standard.Barrett says FPV sales have held up better than the industry-standard large cars numbers with 911 sales year to date against 1154 for the same period last year."Under the circumstances I will take that ? especially when you consider last year we were launching new models and had the Cobra sales," Barrett says.

The FPV F6 Ute is a vicious mongrel, in more ways than one.It mixes old and new into a dauntingly powerful package that can you make you laugh and shortly thereafter swear and/or cry, depending on the outcome.We're in a six-speed automatic, which might normally cause me dismay, but with 565Nm and 310kW running through the clever ZF six-speed auto (a no-cost option), I'm not really missing the clutch pedal.The reprieve for Ford's engine plant is a blessing for its staff, as well as fans of the turbocharged in-line six — the four-litre turbocharged and intercooled powerplant is monumental.Not only for the block's longevity — it dates back to the 1960s at least, although it is rumoured to have powered Noah's Ark — but the newer bits teamed with it provide such mammoth outputs.When the newest incarnation was unveiled there was a snicker of laughter when the torque ‘mesa’ was shown, as it's no curve — 565Nm from 1950 through until 5200rpm, with a 300rpm gap before 310kW is delivered.The powerplant has work to do, overcoming the inertia of just over 1.8 tonnes of Australian utility, but it does it with eerie and unearthly ease.A gentle prod of the throttle spits the tachometer needle into an abundance of torque, whisking the F6 Ute away from standstill with little apparent effort and a minimum of fuss.It's a subtle, quiet engine given the sort of outputs on offer — there's a real woosh at full throttle and a bit of the turbo whinny when stepping off the right pedal, but extroverts will be sorting out the exhausts PDQ.Anything more than that can see the rear-end skipped, stuttering and fighting to remain faithful to the direction of the front (dictated by sharp and meaty, if heavy steering) if the surface is uneven.Add any moisture and the stability control system gets busier than a pub pokie room on pension day, and that's without the benefit of a dropped clutch.The rear end is light and ye olde leaf-sprung rear end's penchant for wiggling — it's like Beyonce with too many short black coffees on board and in some ways more amusing.The retention of the rear suspension is no doubt due to the desire for one-tonne Falcon ute models, something its immediate opposition doesn't have any more.Despite the heritage-listed back end and 35-profile tyres, the ride quality isn't too bad — nothing a few big bags of sand in the tray would temper nicely.Bolt a couple of big lockable toolboxes in the rear tray and that would work as well.A surprise, given the astronomical performance potential, is the fuel use — Ford claim 13 litres per 100km, whereas we had numbers around 16, but given some of the enthusiastic driving a number in the 20s would have been likely in a V8.The test car was a bit of minstrel in colour scheme — white paint, black highlights and tonneau and dark 19x8in alloy wheels, wrapped in 245/35 Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres.Features on the F6's list includes dual front and side head/thorax airbags, a prestige audio system with 6-CD in-dash CD stacker and full iPod integration.The test car is hauled to a standstill in eye-popping style by big cross-drilled and ventilated front discs, with optional Brembo six-piston calipers — standard fare is four.The rear end gets and slightly smaller cross-drilled and ventilated rear discs with single piston calipers.Complaints are few — rear vision when head-checking over the right shoulder for a lane change is largely pointless and the rear tailgate mechanism can be a little deadly on fingers.The F6 ute is a not really a workhorse — it's too low-slung and without enough payload for real work — but as modern Australian-built muscle cars go its A-grade, with brawn to burn.FPV F6 UtePrice: from $58,990.Engine: four-litre turbocharged DOHC 24-valve in-line six-cylinder.Transmission: six-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive, with limited slip differential.Power: 310kW at 5500rpm.Torque: 565Nm at 1950-5200rpm.Fuel consumption: 13 litres/100km, on test 16 litres per 100km, tank 81 litres.Emissions: 311g/km.Rival:HSV Maloo ute, from $62,550.