FPV F6 310 Review & Road Test

This is a serious Aussie muscle car, despite the absence of a large capacity V8

Model Tested:

2009 FPV FG Falcon F6 310; 4.0-litre, six-cylinder, turbo-petrol; six-speed automatic; sedan – $67,890*

Options Available:

Metallic Paint $NCO; Premium Brakes $6375; Dark Agent 19-inch Alloy Wheels $1122; Satellite Navigation $3230; Leather Upholstery $2962; Power Adjustable Pedals $353; Reverse Camera $705

All round supercar performance with room for the family

Too many plastic highlights inside the cabin, despite the quality leather upholstery

CarAdvice Rating:

You can’t always believe what’s printed in car brochures, especially those describing performance cars. They tend to be a little over enthusiastic at times.

“With 310kW of power and 565Nm of torque available from just 1950rpm, the all-new F6 delivers in-gear acceleration that has to be experienced to be believed”.

That’s what the FPV brochure says, but I know what you’re thinking, it’s only a six-cylinder Falcon with a turbocharger and body kit, I mean how quick can it be?

Trust me, when I say the above quote from the Ford Performance Vehicles is no marketing spin, and ‘seriously fast’ is not a strong enough description of what happens when you drop the right pedal in this car and leave it there for a few seconds. “Gone baby gone” is more like it.

This is a serious Aussie muscle car, despite the absence of a large capacity V8 engine or better.

Its not like the previous model F6 Typhoon was short on power, but FPV have pulled off the gloves with the latest F6 edition, 40kW (270kW-310kW) is a serious upgrade when you factor in the whopping 565Nm this hot rod puts out.

While so called turbo lag is virtually non existent and off the mark acceleration is jet like (but not unruly), the F6 310’s principle weapon is its in-gear acceleration, which will leave you breathless and wondering just how quick you can put the finance together.

That’s 565Nm of g-force pulling surge all the way from 1950rpm through to 5200rpm, which feels decidedly supercar like, whenever you bury the throttle from a lazy 80km/h.

That said it would take a brave soul to punch the throttle for anything longer than eight seconds in the F6, such is the unrelenting build up of speed this thing delivers.

The F6 310 is one of those cars, which instantly feels quicker than its generally accepted sprint time of 0-100km/h in 4.96 seconds. In fact, it feels a lot quicker than that.

Nonetheless, Dean Evans from Tarmac magazine ran some on-track acceleration runs in the F6 and confirmed 4.9 seconds to my surprise, but also ran a 12.9 second quarter mile with the needle nudging 181km/h.

You have to keep reminding yourself that this is a comfortable, if not luxurious, large four-door family car, which doesn’t mind shopping mall outings.

Thank god for traction control though, because when you do nail it, you can feel the 245/35 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres desperately trying to grip the tarmac and put the power down.

I’d like to say that 265’s might be a better fit, but I’m not so sure about that, as the electronic nannies make it a breeze to handle.

If you’re coming out of bog standard salesman’s special, such as a Falcon XT or Holden equivalent, take care, as this thing will scare the bejesus out of you, or indent a permanent smile on your face, when you punch it for the first time.

That feeling is amplified ten-fold when you engage the mid-range afterburner, or so it seems, from 80km/h to 120km/h in a sizzling 2.7 seconds. The F6 will max out at a speed-limited 250km/h, should you be lucky enough to have an airport runway with ‘big jet’ capability at your disposal.

The method by which FPV engineers have achieved the extra grunt is not overly scientific, but as simple as strengthening the piston design and dialling up the boost on the Garrett turbo.

But while there’s a tonne of boost on tap and the turbo spools up rapidly, the power delivery remains surprisingly smooth.

There’s induction noise all right, but it’s been dialled down in comparison to the previous Typhoon, which makes this G Series edition, an easier car to live with as a daily drive.

While you can certainly engage the sequential sports shift option if you need to get moving during an overtake, its best to flick the shifter across to the left into sports mode, and let the ZF six-speed auto do its thing. It’s a rapid cog shift and better still, allows your retinas to recalibrate the lens in your eyes to accommodate what has just become a blur.

It seems any car remotely associated with performance these days wears a set of Brembo brakes, but there are Brembos and there are Brembos, these monsters fitted to the F6 are of the latter kind.

Try six-pot calipers up front and four-pot down the back, and while they’re optional, I wouldn’t have it any other way, as their stopping power is prodigious.

But don’t think for one minute that every time you tap the throttle, that the F6 is going to go ballistic on you. This is the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde car.

Like most refined speedsters these days, there’s a softer side to all that power.

Drive the F6 without a light foot, as I have done several times this week (in truth not many times) and it’s quite happy to dawdle off to the mall with the kids for the weekly grocery shop.

It’s only when you drive with the intent of flying low, is the lethal power unleashed and your torso pinned to the seat-back of these exceptionally comfortable leather pews, which thankfully cater for a wide variety of body shapes

And while the ride is firm, you couldn’t call it stiff or uncomfortable. If anything, I’d like the option of stiffer spring rates and less movement in the dampers, which might just eliminate the slight body roll on turn in, which currently exists during what can only be deemed as enthusiastic driving.

Despite my personal preferences though, FPV have provided a perfectly liveable balance between ride comfort and handling with the F6.

It looks the part too, especially in this particular paint job they call Dash. It wouldn’t be my first choice, far too much attention from the boys in blue I would think.

The 19-inch graphite wheels look sensational, as does the aerodynamic body kit, which is all rather tasteful.

However, I’m not sure why FPV have gone for the single exhaust tip though, as there is no question in my mind, that twin exhaust tips provide a more balanced look and purposeful look to anything with a factory performance badge.

But I do like the aggressive stance of the F6, with the exposed intercooler through the front splitter, looking like a scene from The Fast and the Furious.

There’s a heap of room in the cabin too with ample head and leg space (front and back), even for those of abnormal height or above my 176 centimetres.

Boot space is plentiful although, not as much depth as I would have expected, but put that down to a full size alloy spare under the floor.

While the leather used to upholster the seats and trim is of a high quality, I’m not a fan of the metal look plastic inserts embellishing the fascia and door trim, as they cheapen the overall feel of what is a respectable interior.

But as far as equipment and creature comforts go, it’s all here including: Reverse parking camera and sensor along with an exceptionally good audio system with full iPod integration. What isn’t standard kit, is satellite navigation, which for this kind of money, probably should be.

And if you’re concerned about fuel economy or are a member of the Greens, my guess is you won’t be reading this review, but despite the ballistic performance of the F6, 12.2L/100km (ADR) and 289 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometre, is highly commendable.

Even at $67,890, I can’t find any other six-cylinder, four-door sedan in the world, which comes close to rivalling the supercar like performance of FPV’s F6.

Ratings:

CarAdvice Overall Rating:

How does it Drive:

How does it Look:

How does it Go:

Specifications:

Engine: 3984cc DOHC six-cylinder (24 valve)Power: 310kW @ 5500rpmTorque: 565Nm @ 1950-5200rpmInduction: Multipoint & TurbochargedTransmission: Six-speed automaticDriven Wheels: RearBrakes: Cross-drilled discs with ABS & EBDTop Speed: 250km/h0-100km/h: 4.9 secondsCO2 Emissions: 289g/kmFuel Consumption: 12.1/100km (ADR)Fuel Tank Capacity: 68LFuel Type: 95-98 RON Premium Unleaded PetrolANCAP Rating: Four-starsAirbags: Front, Side & CurtainSafety: ESC with Traction ControlSpare Wheel: Full sizeTow Capacity: 1600kg (Braked)Warranty: Three-year/100,000kmWeight: 1805kg (Tare)Wheels: Alloy 19 x 8.0-inch#gallery-1 {margin: auto;}#gallery-1 .gallery-item {float: left;margin-top: 10px;text-align: center;width: 33%;}#gallery-1 img {border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;}#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {margin-left: 0;}

Skoda begins production of new engine with Audi, Seat, VW

Skoda has commenced production of a new four-cylinder engine which will be shared between itself, Audi, Volkswagen and Seat.

The all-new 1.2-litre design is a supercharged, direct fuel injection unit capable of producing 77kW and will carry the TSI (Turbo Stratified Injection) family name.

Skoda BOD chairman, Reinhard Jung, said the engine was designed specifically to minimise CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

“This brand new TSI engine provides a unique opportunity of combining environmental friendliness with a well-balanced driving performance.

“With substantially lower CO2 figures, this new engine needs to be seen as a contribution to a significant reduction of average emission volumes in our cars,” he said.

The new engine has forced the expansion of Skoda’s manufacturing plant in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, which yesterday celebrated 110 years of constant engine production.

Skoda’s head of engine manufacturing, Milan Stanek, was delighted with the decision to produce the new TSI at Mladá Boleslav, a site that made more than 270,000 engines and half a million transmissions last year.

“This new unit is going to be one of the most important engines for the company, and we are indeed pleased that it is our plant that is going to manufacture it.”

November 18 marked the 110th anniversary of the first official ride on a Laurin & Klement motorbike produced at Mladá Boleslav in 1899.

Skoda Works acquired the engine plant in 1925 which later went on to become the Skoda Auto we know today.

by Tim Beissmann

Mini, Rolls-Royce collaboration set to go ahead

According to a report published by Autocar, BMW will give the green light to a project that will see a super-luxury version of  its Mini Cooper created by Rolls-Royce.

The report confirms news posted by CarAdvice back in June, and says that at least one prototype has already hit the road with the project likely to be revealed to the public by mid next year.

Following a trend that started in the 1960s, the super-luxury Mini will adhere closely to the same formula with an interior-only revision deemed worthy of the Rolls-Royce name.

Toyota Camry Hybrid to save 1100 litres of fuel per year

The upcoming Australian made Toyota Camry Hybrid will save approximately 1100 litres of fuel in a year of city driving compared to locally made six-cylinder rivals.

Corporate manager of product planning, Mr Peter Evans, said Hybrid Camry’s fuel consumption and emissions would rival small and compact cars. 

The fuel savings during 20,000km of city driving will be at least 1100 litres or $1329 a year, based on pump price of $1.20 a litre of regular unleaded petrol.

“Those savings will be multiplied by two, 10, and even hundreds for fleet owners – and many of their drivers will save even more by covering far greater distances,” Mr Evans said.

“At the same time, Hybrid Camry – with combined power of around 140kW from its 2.4-litre petrol engine and powerful electric motor – will produce less than 150 grams per kilometre of CO2.

“That’s the sort of result you’d expect from a car with less than half the power of Hybrid Camry and a much smaller engine displacement of around 1.3 litres.”

Mr Evans said that most Australian’s do most of their driving in built up areas making the city cycle more relevant.

Final testing will confirm the Hybrid Camry’s fuel saving ability, expecting at least 5.5L/100km on city cycle.

“Using the same amount of fuel, a Hybrid Camry could travel at least 175km compared with just 100km for the most efficient six-cylinder car produced in Australia.

“Even on the open road, we expect the official figures to show Hybrid Camry will use around 25 per cent less fuel than the best of the local big sixes.

“Looking at the combination of city and highway driving, we are confident of recording fuel economy in the low 6.0 litres per 100km range.

“By driving Hybrid Camry, the savings on fuel and therefore on people’s wallets will be huge – and there is also a significant environmental benefit,” he said.

Mr Evans said Hybrid Camry will also have other fuel saving features as well as the petrol electric motor.

“Our engineers have tuned the suspension and steering for Australian conditions – and they have included technology that improves overall driving performance and safety,” he said.

Toyota plans to release the Hybrid Camry in February 2010.

by Adam Marshall

Holden Caprice US police deal threatened by Ford’s new Taurus

Holden’s opportunity to export its Caprice model to police in the US is under threat as Ford’s American division plans a replacement for the popular Crown Victoria.

Chevrolet last month unveiled the Caprice PPV (Police Pursuit Vehicle) and announced that it would aim to sell the long wheel-base Australian as a police-only vehicle from early 2011.

But Ford – who currently builds around 75 per cent of all US police vehicles – is due to showcase its new Police Interceptor in the first quarter of 2010 before its launch at the end of 2011.

Ford’s Crown Victoria successor is widely tipped to be the new Taurus, which is currently the only car it makes with similar dimensions.

Ford claims the Police Interceptor has been under development for 14 months with input from its “police advisory board” and will be built in the US with improvements to fuel efficiency, quality and durability.

The outgoing Crown Victoria is powered by an 186kW/402Nm 4.6-litre V8 and is equipped with fire suppression technology and bullet-proof door panels.

Ford says it sells around 45,000 as police vehicles each year.

The 2010 Taurus SHO with the EcoBoost V6 puts out 272kW and 495Nm and seems the best fit from the current Ford stable.

The Caprice with the 6.0-litre Gen 4 V8 compares relatively closely with 260kW and 517Nm of torque.

With around 70,000 police vehicles sold in the US each year there is still an opportunity for Holden to export close 25,000 Caprices each year.

Both new vehicles will be considered by police departments and emergency services when orders are taken next year.

by Tim Beissmann

Holden reintroduces second shift as V6 demand grows

Holden has today reintroduced the second shift at its Port Melbourne engine plant on the back of rising local and global demand for its 3.0 and 3.6-litre V6s.

Production has increased from 240-320 to 440 units per day, a move that Holden powertrain lead executive, Mr Martyn Cray, says reflects higher export orders and a short-term rise in vehicle production at Adelaide.

“Holden has received an increase in orders for our global V6 engines which are exported to markets including South Korea, China and Mexico and we are lifting production of our engines as a result.

“We are also seeing increased local demand for Commodore after launching the new Spark Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI) engine,” he said.

The daily rate will remain at 440 until the end of the year before dropping back to 400 through January and February 2010.

Mr Cray says the existing workforce will operate the reintroduced second shift, after a lack of demand forced the Fishermans Bend plant to switch to a single shift in June.

“The past year has been an incredibly challenging time for Holden’s manufacturing workforce as they manage their lives around changes in our production schedule.

“We managed to retain a skilled workforce through difficult times because we were confident things would turnaround. We are now able to lift production from within our existing team.”

Holden Vehicle Operations at Elizabeth will continue on a single shift despite production rising from 310 to 340 cars per day earlier this month.

by Tim Beissmann

Video: McLaren MP4-12C development

McLaren has today released a video showing the develop process behind its upcoming MP4-12C.

The video also shows a rare, behind the scenes glimpse at McLaren, including interviews with some of the people that make everything happen. Enjoy!

Video: Bugatti Veyron plunges into lagoon in the US

With 1001hp at its disposal and a price tag well into the millions of dollars, the Bugatti Veyron certainly demands attention wherever it goes.

Unfortunately for one Veyron owner in the United States, this meant his most disastrous moment was caught on tape as his hypercar plunged into two feet of saltwater.

Earlier reports stated that the driver was startled by a low-flying pelican whilst talking on his mobile phone, although this latest video shows the Veyron casually leaving the road without prior incident.

No doubt this new evidence of the events leading up to the crash will wreak havoc on his insurance claim, resulting in one very expensive public service announcement about the dangers of driving while using a mobile phone.

Ford Australia President optimisitic on 2010 sales figures

Ford Australia President Marin Burela is hopeful that the automotive industry will continue to fight back in 2010 with predictions of national sales up to 950,000.

The self-confessed “glass half-full” forecaster expects the sales to soften in the first quarter after a solid end to 2009 before a kick-up in the second quarter continuing through the rest of 2010.

“I would not at all be surprised if we start to see some 930s/940s (thousands of sales) on a regular basis when we get into the second quarter and into the second half of 2010,” he said.

His optimism comes on the back of strong October sales where Ford sold 8240 vehicles and the industry as a whole was up 2.2 per cent on October 2008 with 80,813 sales.

“We exceeded our expectations in terms of volume in the month of October.  I’m very confident that we will continue to see that trend in November, and I think the industry overall will probably finish up somewhere around that 920,000 maybe 930,000.

“We’ve seen a significant uplift in the last few months which is really helping all of the manufacturers as well as all of the employees.”

Burela says the result is a far cry from 12 months ago when figures of low-800s were feared, and believes that the combined efforts governments, unions, manufacturers and suppliers working together have had a great impact.

“When we really get focused on what it takes to get out there and move forward there’s a lot that can be achieved.

“It’s exciting times for us, but we need to be cautious in terms of our optimism because there’s a lot more work that we need to do to truly get the industry back to where it needs to be,” he said.

Tariff reductions – halved to 5 per cent from next year – are just one reason to exercise caution according to Burela.

He says while the reductions will place significantly more pressure on the industry’s ability to absorb changes, his company has not been sitting on its hands.

“We have been working very diligently across our total organisation, with our suppliers, with our manufacturing teams, with our distribution network to find efficiency opportunities to offset some of those tariff changes that we’re going to see.

“Am I satisfied that we have achieved the ultimate goal?  The answer is no, it’s very much a work in progress.  Am I happy with the progress we have been making?  The answer is yes.

“Although it’s hard and we could all say: ‘It’s too hard, we can’t do this’, I’m confident that with the right leadership and the right attention to detail we can continue to carve out a business for ourselves that will be viable.”

Burela said price adjustments for the Falcon and Territory are being considered but insisted that the movements of the market would most likely determine his company’s strategy.

With Falcon sales up 3.4 per cent on October 2008 and Territory rising by almost 11 per cent in the same period, Burela says Ford is looking to boost production above the current 270 cars per day by the end of the year.

He also confirmed that there is no non-production days planned for the rest of this year or for 2010, but stopped well short of implying that overtime could make a comeback.

“We don’t want to be too optimistic.  We’re in a good place right now, we’re selling everything we can make, our imported cars are doing great work for us.  We’ll make a decision in the next couple of weeks in terms of what we need to do, how we go out there and get those cars that we’re looking for.

“Let’s just see where we are when we move into 2010, but I think next year will be an exciting year.”

by Tim Beissmann

Zenvo ST1 – Danish Supercar

First it was Sweden with their bespoke and mind- warpingly quick Koenigsegg. But at least that was plausible, given Sweden’s long-standing stake in the automotive industry. Now it’s Denmark’s turn, with a car more powerful than the Bugatti Veyron and from what we know, just as expensive.

On a recent trip to Sweden via Copenhagen airport to drive the Koenigsegg CCX, we all agreed that Denmark has the world’s best hotdogs and more blondes than any of their Scandinavian neighbours.

But what we didn’t know at the time, was that the Danes had well and truly entered the Supercar business, in the form of the hand-built Zenvo ST1.

Folks from this part of the world don’t like to blow their own trumpet, which is probably why you’ve never heard of this thing.

We found out by accident. Moments before we were due to hop on a plane in Italy bound for Denmark, we read an email from the Koenisgsegg PR who said the client had taken his CCX to Spain, and well, there was no car to drive!

A quick Google search of “Danish supercars” revealed a surprise, and what’s more, it wasn’t far from the rather average pension we were holed up in.

The guy on the other end of the phone said the Zenvo was real all right, but that they were bypassing the prototype phase, and going straight into production, which meant, we were a month too early for a test drive.

In the end, Koenigsegg called us way too early in the morning to be anything but important news, to say that she had a car we could use, so the Zenvo was placed in our archives and forgotten about.

That was a pity, because with its 7-litre turbo and supercharged V8 pumping out a head-spinning 1,103bhp (822kW) or 103bhp more than the Veyron, the Zenvo ST1 is absloutely the real deal.

Torque output at 1,430 Nm is simply off the charts, and when working in concert with that outrageous power figure, acceleration from 0-100km/h should (will) be less than three seconds, and substantially so.

But keep your right foot hard up against the firewall for just 8.9 seconds, and you’ll see 200km/h on the dial. That’s rocket ship quick.

Top speed has been electronically limited to a mere 374km/h, for safety reasons!

Wider than a Lamborghini Murcielago, and longer than a Porsche Carrera GT, the Zenvo STI is the definition of extreme.

Designed by Christian Brandt, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, his brief was to make the car look fearsome. We think he followed his instructions to the letter.

Supercars are usually 80 percent sports car and 20 percent race car, but Zenvo boss Jesper Jensen, wanted 40 percent race car.

He said, “It wasn’t important to be the fastest car in the world, we didn’t want to be compromised in the wind tunnel”.

As you would expect of a supercar with a price tag north of AUD1.3 million, carbon-fibre makes up the body panels on a steel chassis, while the transmission is an oil-cooled six-speed manual using a Zenvo developed twin-plate clutch.

Suspension is an exotic double-wishbone set-up on all four corners, and the top shelf adjustable gas-hydraulic shocks are by Ohlins.

Massive 335/30 tyres on 20-inch rims help put the lethal dose of power to the ground, as it’s not so light at 1376 kilograms.

Inside the cabin looks as good as anything from Pagani or Koenigsegg, with superbly styled switchgear and layer upon layer of Alcantara and leather.

Just 15 Zenvo ST1’s will make up the first series production although, we have heard that there are several more models on the way, including a slightly more affordable car.

CarAdvice hopes to be able to bring you a review and video of the Zenvo ST1 next year.