Just saw my first 2015 Falcon on the road.

[timothyds]

It was a ute looked good with the Aston Martin like front. I hope they sell well as they are the last of the Australian Fords. I'm worried for the future of rear drive card in Australia I hate front wheel drive. If I win power ball I'm going to buy an xr8 and an ss before they are gone.

[jaykay]

Oh it has been a looooong time so here goes......

:worthless:

[BLACK 346]

Yeah, saw a sedan a couple of weeks back. Front looks good, rear look bloody terrible.

[team illucid]

Yeah, saw a sedan a couple of weeks back. Front looks good, rear look bloody terrible.


Just like the VF then.

[MARRA]

FORD have definatly upped thier game when it comes to marketing thier new products. Seen NYE there was a "Mustang" Music Stage in Sydney. Seemed to have shifted thier thinking from Motorsport to more general mainstream marketing.

[Woodchukka]

Saw both a ute and sedan while in Canberra. The sedan looks OK however the rear on the ute does not match the front at all as far as I am concerned.

[Pickles]

FORD have definatly upped thier game when it comes to marketing thier new products. Seen NYE there was a "Mustang" Music Stage in Sydney. Seemed to have shifted thier thinking from Motorsport to more general mainstream marketing.

I think you're right, & I think that for marketing purposes, at the moment, they're on the right track,...very positive marketing from Ford for the last several months, which I haven't seen before,......shame they never adopted the same tactics years ago.
I remember when we bought our RS Focus and we had a few issues created by Ford themselves, (not the Dealer), & it was said to me on that day by Dealership staff, "Martin, sometimes we think that Ford don't want us to sell their product"!!
Pickles.

[BigAnt]

I haven't seen a sporty model yet, but the falcon I saw didn't look as good in person as it did in the pictures I've seen.

[graphicgoose]

FORD have definatly upped thier game when it comes to marketing thier new products. Seen NYE there was a "Mustang" Music Stage in Sydney. Seemed to have shifted thier thinking from Motorsport to more general mainstream marketing.

I beg to differ. To a degree, yes they're promoting the Mustang and Ranger etc...but not the Falcon. They're relying on social media to promote the final Falcon, which is a little insulting for loyal Ford fans. Most people who aren't on Forums etc would have no idea there's even a "new" Falcon out...

[Jamolad]

Had a quiet NYE at home due to sick kid so watched the Sydney fireworks including all the lead-up and didn't see anything that promoted the Ford brand or any of their vehicles, so did you have to actually be there for their marketing to reach you?

[VNV8]

Still has the same shitty interior that has hardly changed since the BA. I would've considered an XR6T or F6 if they had just improved the taxi interior, but they're nowhere near the VF or even VE on the inside IMO.

[graphicgoose]

Yeah I agree. I'll be upfront and say I've been a Ford bloke ever since I was a kid and I previously owned an FG XR6T and most recently an FPV FG Mk2 GT with the SC 5.0L and manual trans. Loved the GT when I first got it, that engine is addictive and a magical thing...but then I started to notice issues with it and Ford were being less than helpful and I lost my love for the car unfortunately.

So I went and had a test drive of an Auto VF SSV Redline which had been lowered and had a W310 pack on it (which from what I've read so far is rather overpriced, but does have the advantage of maintaining warranty) and I was hugely surprised at how much I actually enjoyed driving the VF. I'd driven a mates VF SSV ute before which was manual and when the VF first came out I'd drive an auto SS...but I don't know, maybe I was just in a more receptive headspace but I found the Redline to be really enjoyable to drive. The Brembos felt so much stronger/had more bite than the ones in my GT and the auto gearbox was really smooth and nice to just cruise around with. The FE3 suspension also felt nicer to drive around in than my GT which had Shockworks coilovers fitted. I was that impressed I actually ended up buying an MY15 Auto SSV Redline in Prussian Steel Grey. Love it!

The rear IRS suspension setup on the falcons can EAD. It's 2014, diff bushes really shouldn't be an issue anymore! You either keep spitting the factory ones (which give crazy axle tramp, to the point it sounds like the diff is about to come through the floor of the car) or if you fit stiffer aftermarket ones the rear end clunks, bangs and whines and detracts from the feel of driving a modern GT. My GT had only done 7,000kms and I destroyed my control blade bushes on my FPV driver training day and was advised to do the diff bushes at the same time...my rear end then sounded ridiculous, so much clunking and banging and diff/tailshaft vibration/hum...eh

In contrast the Redline is super quiet, comfortable and all-in-all a nice place to be. It really doesn't feel fast at all compared to the GT, but just feels a whole heap more sophisticated and refined. The interior in the GT is getting extremely long in the tooth now and the stereo has an inherit hiss that you can't get rid of an only gets worse when adding aftermarket amps etc. The Bose system in my Redline sounds great for a factory system!

Then there's fuel economy...I'd be lucky if I got 400kms out of a tank of fuel around town in the GT, where as I've been getting 450-500kms a tank from the Redline around town in auto guise. The AFM system must really help out eh?

The auto in the Redline is super smooth and I can happily drive around sedately. The new models come with paddle shifters, so that is a nice compromise for when I want to go for a blat through the hills and actually drive the car more aggressively.

The Redline also comes with factory forged alloys in staggered arrangement and higher profile tyres, something my GT never did, which is a nice touch. Makes the ride a lot more comfortable than I'm used to. All the gadgets and tech is cool too, I like the HUD more than I thought I would.