Ford FG Falcon G6E Turbo

Road Test - Ford FG Falcon G6E Turbo

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

Anybody even remotely interested in cars owes it to themselves to drive a car like the Falcon G6E Turbo at least once in their life.

The top line Falcon is as refined as anything -- and we do mean anything -- on the low side of the luxury car tax threshold (the Ford is priced at $54,990), but it's the car's Saturn V booster-like performance and tenacious grip that will endear it to drivers. Think kick-boxer dressed in Giorgio Armani…

On light-throttle openings, the turbocharged DOHC 4.0-litre six can be heard working away, but sounds more like a gale rushing through a drafty house rather than the typical turbo whistle one would expect. Once the driver's right foot approaches anything like half throttle, the ZF six-speed automatic transmission holds gears and the engine revs rise rapidly, accompanied by a thrilling howl.

Anyone who says that this engine can't compare with a V8 (Ford's or anybody else's) for dramatic decibels is fooling themselves.

Even at low revs and on light throttle, the engine sounds threatening -- and the threat is not imagined or affected. A large part of the joy in driving this car is learning quickly just how much fuel to feed it for the optimum acceleration, balancing torque, transmission shift points, the road and the speed to achieve the sort of performance that not long ago was in the realm of six-figure sportscars only.

Is there a downside? Fuel economy suffers if you use the available power. For the week we had the car, it averaged around 14L/100km -- which included a fair swag of freeway driving and some quieter moments around town (during school holidays too, when the traffic was much lighter than usual). There was only one trip of roughly 50km which involved any significant speed and sustained high torque. So if 14L/100km puts you off, this Ford is not for you.

At a steady 100km/h, it would hover around 7.5 to 8.0L/100km, but who wants to drive this car at just steady open-road speeds all the time?

For most of the week the Ford was in our possession, there was frequent rain and the turbo engine would regular break traction around town with little provocation. If buyers don't want to be tagged as 'hoons', they will quickly need to come to terms with driving the Ford with some finesse. That's not always easy. All that power is way too tempting.

Much has been said about the ZF six-speed automatic transmission -- including a little criticism. The reviewer had been informed that the ZF box was inclined to 'hunt' at around-town speeds. Based on this particular car, that wasn't quite the case, although prior to the engine reaching normal operating temperature, the ZF did seem to be a little busier than expected. It would, however, on occasion, thump into gear if the engine was on boost.

In its defence, it was smooth most of the time and far more responsive in sequential-shift manual mode than many similar transmissions sampled lately.

On one occasion, the G6E Turbo, cruising at 60km/h, exhibited a cycle of mild surging, accelerating lightly and then dropping back engine revs. It only happened the once and was not particularly noticeable. We're not sure whether this was an issue with the ZF or the engine doing its own thing?

How does the G6E Turbo handle cornering and typical lumpen Aussie roads? With aplomb... The vehicle tested appeared to be one of the Field Evaluation Units that Ford provided for the original launch program, so it was presumably not completely typical of production cars. No surprise then that the steering rack rattle mentioned in our original launch reviews is still there. Overall though, the car offers steering of a very high standard.

Turn-in is adept, the car reacting promptly through what seems like a quite direct steering ratio. There's little sense that the car, which handles nice and neutrally, is unduly throttle-sensitive. It maintains a constant radius through corners, which doesn't vary with (gentle) applications of throttle and there's little weight transfer, camber change or any other nasties if the driver lifts off. As the car enters the bend, it settles down in a precise attitude, allowing the driver to wind off lock progressively.

This reviewer believes that some European brands could reacquaint themselves with some of the finer points of suspension tuning from a phone call to the chassis engineers at Ford Australia.

Admittedly, there's probably more latitude available in fine-tuning the ride and handling of a rear-wheel drive car with a long wheelbase than most front-wheel drive cars. The Falcon's suspension is very compliant, but well controlled, and isolates the occupants from the worst excesses of typical country roads without any sort of floating or crashing over bumps.

Packaging and safety have been covered in our launch reviews, so we won't re-open either of those cans of worms -- except to say that someone has buggered up fitting the gas-filled struts in the boot of the Ford. Instead of damping the boot lid closure, they dampen the boot lid's opening, meaning it's easy enough to slam the thing shut, but opening it is like trying to pull shut a fly-wire door against the closer. In other words, lifting the boot lid against the combined effect of gravity and the gas struts is a royal pain in... the boot?

They say the devil's in the detail and if that's so, the devil is a McDonalds patron, since the two cup-holders in the centre console are a good size to accommodate small and regular Maccas cups. They are also deep enough to be useful, which is not as common in automotive design as you might think.

Other devilish details include the fact you can remove the key from the ignition without locking the transmission in Park, which must be the work of the devil in a moment of nostalgia.

There are the trip computer adjustments and menu settings, which require the driver to reach forward to either side of the instrument binnacle (with both hands to expedite changes). You also have the handbrake that doesn't quite release fully, triggering an audible chime as you drive away.

Our correspondent, Joe Kenwright, has already commented on the fuel filler for the new FG range of Falcons. It doesn't lock with the central locking and there's no lockable fuel cap for it -- on a car priced at nearly $55,000 yet! Even the age-old system that Falcons have had -- going back to at least the EA model -- of a separate button-push to flip open the flap would have been preferable to nothing at all.

Headlights are good. They provide a good long-distance throw, even on low beam. As for high beam, it's possible the car could be seen from the moon.

Seats are very comfortable, but occupants sit deeply ensconced in them. That's not a problem in itself, but it's just a little quirky in a way. Seats today tend to be flat and a little hard with stiff side bolstering. The Falcon takes a little getting used to in this regard, although it's not a bad thing in itself.

There was some squeaking from leather and plastic making contact at times, but in the main, the G6E Turbo is very quiet. Even with serious rubber, there was little noise from the road over a range of different surfaces.

Instruments are easily legible and the switchgear is generally simple to decipher and use. The indicator and wiper stalks offer a well damped movement and such things as the lane-change facility and auto headlights proved useful.

It's unnecessary to hold the key at the 'Start' position for the engine to fire, just turn to 'Start' and release for the engine to start. Apart from being a sort of labour-saving device, this system also ensures that it's not possible to re-engage the starter motor if the engine is already running.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and a hell of a lot of beholders have had their say concerning the new Falcon's looks. It has to be said that the G6E Turbo is a thoroughly modern-looking car with real flair about it. Finished in Ego (a dark grey) with some chrome, the test car was both subtle and imposing -- if you can imagine that.

We're at a loss as to explain why the Falcon range is not selling quite as well as expected. A lot of buyers will be put off by the fuel consumption and others won't care for what seems like status quo styling already mentioned, but this is a genuinely well conceived car that deserves to sell in better numbers than it is.

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