Ford Falcon 2006 News

It was the second full month of sales for Holden’s VE Commodore and while it remains the best selling car in the country, many of its traditional buyers continue to look at other car segments.Holden declined to say how many new Commodores it expected to sell, but the investment and general buzz of a new model meant expectations were high.Holden sold 5455 new VE Commodores over October, which represented 51 per cent of the large car sales, according to figures released from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries today.A spokesman said Holden was pleased but reserved judgement on how the car was being received by the public."We’re not declaring victory yet," a Holden spokesman said. "We’re waiting till the end of the year to see if the large car market has rebounded because of the introduction of a new car."Holden claimed that a recent decline in fuel prices had a positive effect on large car sales, but uncertainty still loomed."The open fear on fuel (costs) reflects on the consumer confidence in buying a large car, which is why November and December will be educative in that regard."A major Sydney-based Holden dealer said the retail market for Commodores was tough, but fleet sales were buoyant."I can’t get enough Omega and Calais for fleet, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thought we’d sell more to private buyers,” he said. “I expected much more enquiries.”The large car segment was now down almost 20 per cent on year-to-date sales figures as car buyers looked at alternatives.Total car sales for the large car segment were 10,639, with Ford selling 2,945 Falcons (down from 3,642 for October 2005).Sales of the Mitsubishi 380 barely held from the same time last year, selling 944 cars this October compared to 951 last year.The under $25,000 light car segment surged a massive 21.5 per cent in year-to-date sales totalling 9,729. The Toyota Yaris dominated sales with 2,858 – nearly 30 per cent of the total market.The Toyota Camry dominated the under $55,000 medium car segment . More than 3,000 Camry’s were sold in a segment with total sales of 6,422 cars - a decline of 3.6 per cent year-to-date.Overall sales of new cars and trucks in Australia rose five per cent in October with almost 80,000 vehicles retailed for the month.The result took total sales for the year to 802,306, 2.8 per cent below the year-to-date figure at the same time in 2005.Toyota was the top selling company with 18,589 vehicles in October, well ahead of Holden on 12,779 and Ford on 8,691.Year-to-date Toyota was also well ahead with 175,953 vehicles compared to 122,144 for Holden.FAST FACTSTop selling carsHolden Commodore 5,455Toyota Corolla 3,722Toyota Camry 3,205Ford Falcon 2,945Toyota Yaris 2,858Mazda 3 2,585Hyundai Getz 1,594Ford Focus 1,584Holden Astra 1,575Toyota HiLux 4x4 1,457Top selling companies Toyota 18,589Holden 12,779Ford 8,691Mazda 4,769Nissan 4,436Honda 4,433Mitsubishi 4,354Hyundai 3,422Subaru 2,817Volkswagen 1,980

Holden has re-engineered and re-aligned its entire performance car range with the introduction of the VE Commodore, introducing a new model – the SS V – as the performance flagship.In response, Ford has upped the ante on the BF Falcon and its highperformance Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) derivatives.And if that's not enough, 2006 saw Chrysler introduce the stove-hot 6.1-litre V8 powered 300C SRT8, which represents the biggest and most powerful V8 engine you can buy in a muscle car today.HOLDEN COMMODORE PERFORMANCE MODELSHolden's flagship muscle car gets a new designation with VE – it's called the SS V. Below that is the SS, which roughly equates to the outgoing VZ Commodore's SV8 model. And, at the entry level is the SV6, which gets the high-output version of the 3.6-litre V6.There's no mistaking the performance intent of SS V, with its huge wheel arches, in-your-face front air dam and purposeful rear wing. Inside is a new touch – a racestyle flat-bottomed steering wheel and jet fighter-style instrumentation.It's powered by the L98 6.0-litre V8 producing peak outputs of 270kW (5700rpm) and 530Nm (4400rpm).(VE's engine is very closely related to the VZ's L76 6.0-litre, which produced 260kW and 510Nm.) The L98 is standard on SS and SSV (it's a $4700 option elsewhere in the range). What's changed dramatically is chassis refinement. The VE performance models offer levels of turn-in, steering feedback, grip and driver involvement that's up there with some very capable Euro cars – most of which can't hold a candle to 270kW either.SS V rides on 19-inch five-spoke alloys shod with 245/40 Bridgestone Potenzas, while SS and SV6 share 18-inch slotted five-spoke alloys and 245/45 Potenzas.SS and SS V are available with six-speed transmissions – both the manual and auto are six-speeders – and the auto is a slick-shifting masterpiece. SV6 gets either a sixspeed manual or five-speed auto.You want performance? Both V8 models will shatter six seconds to 100km/h and go on to annihilate 14secs for the standing 400m.Comparable times for the SV6 are 7.5 and 15.5sec respectively. Quite simply, the new VE doesn't hang around.HSV has an over-riding desire: To stand alongside elite luxury brands like BMW and Audi with its head held high. And now, with its VE Commodorederived vehicles, it can. The brand wants – needs – customers to see it as a stand-alone marque, separate to Holden.The new E-Series GTS and Senator are exactly the right vehicles for those buyers. GTS is boldly a performance car, rolling on massive 20-inch alloys (the biggest ever fitted to an Australian production car) and equally huge tyres.Rears are massive 275/30 section Bridgestones, while fronts are 245/35. The slightly more subtle and rounded Senator has Europe even more directly in its sights – and cars like the BMW 5-Series need to be worried.Visually stunning without being gaudy, both are instantly differentiated visually from Holden's lineup. Power and torque are up, albeit modestly, to 307kW (from Holden's 270) and 550Nm (Holden: 530).But the biggest news with these cars is at each corner, beneath theskin. They share something with the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and new Audi TT – HSV's elite entrants boast Magnetic Ride Control (MRC) suspension.This allows them to change from ultra-taut supreme handling machines to super-smooth cruisers at the flick of a microchip.HSV's entry-level E-Series offering – Clubsport – lacks the miracle of MRC, but it packs exactly the same underbonnet punch as GTS and Senator.Priced in the early-$60,000s, it's around $12,000 easier to slip into – about midway between Holden's SS V and HSV's GTS.FPVNothing Holden can offer in the sixcylinder department can hold a candle to Ford's prowess with tweaking big kilowatts from its in-line 4.0-litre six.Producing an amazing 245kW in standard trim inside Falcon XR6 Turbo, thanks to a turbocharger with intercooler, Ford Performance Vehicles ups that to 270kW in its hi-tech F6 Tornado ute and Typhoon sedan.That's more power than the straight six-powered BMW M3, and although the Beamer lacks a hairdryer, there is the not-so small matter of the $80,000 extra, above the price of the Typhoon, you must spend to acquire one.FPV's Force 8 is powered by the quad cam 5.4-litre Boss 290 V8, which manages near-HSV outputs despite having 600cc less engine capacity.FPV's 'Force' models, like HSV's offerings, are aimed squarely at corporate executives who want an Australian-built alternative to European luxury marques, according to Ford boss Tom Gorman.Both FPV models are available exclusively with the world-renowned, slick-shifting ZF 6HP26 high-torque six-speed automatic transmission, which manages to snatch sophisticated shifts in the face of awesome grunt from both engines. Both models also boast supreme stopping power thanks to Brembo brakes – four-piston callipers at the front and single-piston callipers at the rear. An even more powerful Brembo brake system with six-piston front callipers and four-piston rears is optional.CHRYSLER 300C SRT8If you really, really want to stand out in a performance car, plant your rear end in one of these babies. The Chrysler Street and Racing Technology (SRT) version the 300C knows no equals, and boasts exclusivity-factor up to here.With a class-leading 317kW and a 0-100km/h time in the mid-five-second range, plus a competitive $71,990 pricetag, the Chrysler 300C SRT8 is the first SRT vehicle to be powered by a 6.1-litre Hemi V8, which offers not only Australia's biggest muscle car engine, but 25 per cent more power than the 5.7-litre standard engine.With 20-inch alloy wheels, performance-tuned suspension and Brembo brakes, the 300C SRT8 is engineered with stopping power to match its incredible capacity to accelerate.Since going on sale in its 5.7-litre V8 and 3.5-litre V6 guise the 300C has carved an unprecedented 30 per cent share in the sub-$100,000 large segment. The 300C SRT8 is the second SRT branded vehicle to be sold in Australia, joining the high performance Crossfire SRT6.The 2006 Chrysler 300C SRT8 connects with the road via a new wheel and tyre assembly consisting of 20-inch forged alloy wheels shod with high-performance Goodyear F1 245/45 (front) and 255/45 (rear) threeseason asymmetrical tyres.Power-adjustable sport seats with suede inserts are standard up front – they're heated, naturally, and come with memory functions.

Monday's announcement that Ford would reduce output from its Broadmeadows plant was not an excuse for the company to cull its workforce, he said."It hasn't been determined that there need be any jobs cut," Mr Jones said. "Some voluntary redundancies are likely but we'll be working to see that anyone who needs a job can keep a job."Ford workers would meet next week to approve the company's enterprise bargaining agreement and discuss the threat to jobs, Mr Jones said.Co-ordinating rostered days off so that the plant could be shut down, taking accumulated leave and adopting a nine-day fortnight were all measures the union would be proposing to minimise actual job losses."We haven't even started talking with Ford about those yet," he said.On Monday, Ford announced a slowdown of its assembly line to reduce output to 360 vehicles a day from 450.It is the second time this year Ford has responded to falling demand for its Falcon large sedan and Territory SUV, after slowing output from 520 vehicles a day in February.Ford Australia president Tom Gorman said the company was looking at other cost-saving measures, but some jobs would have to go."We haven't announced numbers but I want to stress it is not a linear thing," Mr Gorman said. "If our production capacity is coming down 20 per cent the workforce reduction would not be similar. We're working through all our alternatives and not taking a slash and burn mentality."We are still evaluating all other cost reduction initiatives. It will take two or three weeks before we can finalise those and we aren't in a position to discuss them at the moment."Ford's plan to develop and export the next model Falcon, due in 2008, would not be affected, Mr Gorman said. The business case for the car, codenamed Orion, had already been based on a smaller market share for locally made large cars, he said."When we look at our next round of models we've already adjusted. We had a certain set of assumptions for volume and we have adjusted those already."I don't think large cars will ever again be a 20 per cent plus segment. If it's in the neighbourhood of 15 per cent you have a marketplace where you can make something of it. Add exports and you have a viable business," he said.The catalyst for the cuts came when large car sales did not recover as much as anticipated in August and September despite the arrival of the new VE Commodore and Toyota Camry.Mr Gorman said Ford had been looking forward to the VE regenerating interest in the large car segment."When people get interested in a segment they go out and do comparative shopping — and that suits us because we've got a very competitive product," he said.Large cars sales could still recover if petrol prices stabilised."I still think it's too early to say it's not going to bounce back. I don't know whether it's a residual effect of petrol prices. Clearly petrol prices have backed up quite a bit — which is good."

Helped by the exceptional driving of his Triple Eight Ford teammate Jamie Whincup, the pair won the first Bathurst following the death of nine-time winner Peter Brock early last month.Lowndes reached the pinnacle of his career 10 years after his previous victory with Greg Murphy in a Holden Racing Team Commodore.It was a win that Lowndes steeled himself to pull off to pay the ultimate tribute to Brock, who carefully guided and moulded the 32-year-old into one of the most accomplished drivers in the world.But minutes before the 1000km race blasted away, Lowndes was so choked up with emotion that Roland Dane, the team principal of the Brisbane-based Triple Eight squad, gave him the option of standing down from starting and letting Whincup take the helm for the opening stint.Lowndes rejected the offer and started the race which was marred by a succession of crashes and a record number of 10 safety cars.Thirty-seven of the 161 laps were run under yellow-caution conditions.Lowndes and Whincup were chased hard by the eventual runners-up, brothers Todd and Rick Kelly in the Toll/HSV Holden.Former Formula One test driver James Courtney pulled off an ironman performance in the Jeld-Wen Ford he shared with Glenn Seton, finishing third after doing a double stint.Courtney fought a cramping left hand over the final 10 laps to keep the Stone Brothers Ford ahead of his more accomplished teammate Russell Ingall, who was a fighting fourth with Luke Youlden.It was a day when $1 million-a-year driver Lowndes earned every cent of his pay packet, along with the much more conservatively paid Whincup."It was always going to be special to be the first one to have their name on that trophy," Lowndes said as he fought back tears in reference to the Peter Brock Perpetual trophy commissioned in the last few weeks following the legendary driver's death."It was always going to be emotional and we knew the press would focus on the Brock side of it so the best way I could pay my respect was to put my name on the trophy.""In many respects I think this weekend will hold as the No. 1 result for me."Whincup, who starts contract negotiations next week, may have just raised his value considerably, particularly as he blistered across the top of the mountain in the second sector consistently quicker than Lowndes.And it was Whincup who flung the Triple Eight Ford into the lead, sneaking underneath Todd Kelly on lap 110 just after a restart.The Triple Eight crew performed faultless pit stops in a race that lasted a few seconds short of a marathon seven hours.The worst of the string of crashes was by Team Kiwi Racing's Paul Radisich who was trapped in his mangled Commodore for 20 minutes before being freed. On lap 73, Radisich ran off the road and head-on into the wall near the GMC bridge.Rescue teams cut a whole in the roof of his car to extract Radisich from the wreck. He was lucky to escape serious injury.Pre-race favourite Mark Skaife, starting from pole, crashed out on the first lap.The Holden Racing Team driver was struggling for pace and was running off the racing line on the climb up the mountain when rookie Jack Perkins smashed into him from behind.

Less than 20 laps have been completed in the past hour with two separate safety car periods for crashes to Michael Caruso and Paul Radisich.

The Falcon drivers battled from sixth on the grid, steered cleared of continuing carnage around them, and sprinted home in the final seven-lap dash to take the chequered flag.

Skaife, who drove the last of the flying laps, finished in 2min 07.422sec to earn his fifth Bathurst pole, just one behind all-time leader Peter Brock, who has six.This year's trophy has been named in honour of Brock, who died last month in a crash during the Targa West rally near Perth, and Skaife remembered him after his super lap."Everybody from 'red land' is so supportive and hoping the red team brings home a special victory for Peter, if that happens," Skaife, who will drive tomorrow's endurance race with teammate Garth Tander, said.The front row of the grid tomorrow will be left empty as a mark of respect to Brock, who won the Bathurst 1000 a record nine times.Skaife was third fastest in this morning's practice session at Mount Panorama, with Todd Kelly and Jason Bright nipping ahead of him in the early hours.But Skaife, who is defending the title he won at Bathurst last year, said he wasn't expecting to move too quickly this morning, but knew he would be hard to beat later in the day."I needed to work very hard on the first sector as yesterday I didn't do a good job there," Skaife told Channel 10."But it was a great lap, and good enough to be there (in position one)."This is the best race track you'll ever drive around, and this afternoon, the ambient temperature is right up and the track temperature is up, so that's as fast as you're going to go."Toby Forage is editor of FOXsports.com.au

Circuit: 6.213km1. M Skaife / G Tander (Holden Racing Team Commodore) 2mins:07.4221secs.2. J Bright / M Winterbottom (CAT Ford Performance Racing Falcon) 2:07.7292.3. R Kelly / T Kelly (Toll HSV Dealer Commodore) 2:07.7919.4. J Richards / A Jones (Tasman Motorsport Commodore) 2:08.0657. 5. S Richards / P Dumbrell (Jack Daniel's Racing Commodore) 2:08.5399. 6. C Lowndes / J Whincup (Betta Electrical Falcon) 2:08.5403.7. D Canto / L Holdsworth (Repco Valvoline Cummins Commodore) 2:08.5841.8. G Murphy / C McConville (Supercheap Auto Commodore) 2:08.6663.9. R Ingall / L Youlden (Caltex Racing Falcon) 2:09.0987.10. S Johnson / W Davison (FirstRock Home Loans Commodore) 2:09.5437.

The 31-year-old New Zealander was directly hit by Ford driver David Clark at the top of the Mount Panaorama circuit during the Fujitsu series race."Porter clipped the wall, and Dave had nowhere to go and hit the drivers door at about 200km/h as Porter had come to rest in a blind spot," a witness at the scene said.Ambulance crews and paramedics worked with Porter at the scene before a helicopter flew both him and Clark to hospital.Both drivers are reported to be in a critical condition, suffering from serious head, neck and chest injuries.Confederation of Australian Motorsport president Colin Osborne said CAMS and V8 Supercars Australia have initiated support services for the families of both drivers.Porter spun sideways near Reid Park on the climb up the mountain, stalled and was left stranded in the middle of the track in an area blinded to oncoming traffic.Chris Alajajian put his car sideways and ripped the rear of both his and Porter's car.Clark, who also put his Falcon sideways in an attempt to escape collision, then crashed directly into the driver's side door of Porter on his driver's side.Police closed the circuit immediately after the accident, which happened on the 12th of the race's 14 laps.Racing resumed after an hour delay with the Bathurst 1000 qualifying session.Gemma Jones, a reporter for The Daily Telegraph who witnessed the accident on big screens at the event, said: "A third car had nowhere to go, lost control and slid sideways into one of the stricken cars."The impact was enormous due to their speeds. They were doing about 200km/h on that part of the course. It threw the cars in opposite directions."The first marshal to one of the cars appeared to check the driver's pulse. "He was unable to open the doors and motioned to other marshals nearby that he needed the 'jaws of life' to get the driver out."Porter is currently based with the Gold Coast Msport Racing team.He celebrated his 31st birthday only last Monday.He is married with a one-year-old son.Western Australia-born Clark, 26, lives in Adelaide and is married to Leah with three children - Kyle, Ashleigh and Reese.He is making his debut in the Fujistu series this year.Porter was scheduled to partner Dale Brede in Sunday's main race, diving for Team BOC Falcon.The Bathurst weekend was already set to be a sombre affair with memorials and tributes planned for late racing great Peter Brock, who died in a crash during the Targa West rally almost a month ago to the day on September 8.Brock won Bathurst a record nine times and was 61 when he lost control of his Daytona car and hit a tree at high speed.V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane said the accident reiterated the dangers of the sport."Motor sport is an inherently dangerous sport," Cochrane said."It's a terrible accident and our thoughts are with the families and we just hope for a good outcome."We just have to wait and see."With FOXsports and AAP

Holden's Mark Porter and Ford's David Clark have both been taken to hospital after a heavy crash in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar series race.Ambulance crews and paramedics attended to both Porter and Clark at the track for over an hour, the NRMA Careflight helicopter departing the track a short time ago.Officials have yet to comment on the accident. New Zealand born Porter, 31, is based on the Gold Coast and is married with one child.He was scheduled to also contest the main Bathurst 1000 race for the sixth time this weekend in the Team BOC Falcon shared with Dale Brede.Western Australian born Clark, 26, lives in Adelaide and is married with three children.The accident occured on lap 12 of 14 of today's Fujitsu series race.Porter spun sideways near Reid park on the climb up the mountain, stalled and was left stranded in the middle of the track in an area blinded to oncoming traffic.Chris Alajajian put his car sideways and ripped the rear of both his and Porter's car.Then Clark, who also put his Falcon sideways in an attempt to escape collision, crashed directly into the driver's side door of Porter on his driver's side.Police closed the circuit immediately following the accident.Racing resumed after an hour delay with the Bathurst 1000 qualifying session.AAP