Ford FG Falcon G6E Drive Impression

Flying Falcon boasting five star ANCAP

For those seeking Australian built luxury and top notch performance along with the reassurance of a five star ANCAP rating look no further than the new 2008 Ford FG Falcon G6E Turbo. It not only has the looks of a prestige imported car - it has all the European luxury appointments and delivers exceptional power and performance to complete the G6E Turbo package.

The G6E Turbo is fitted with the same engine as the XR6 Turbo and is on par with, if not slightly stronger than, the V8 6.0 litre engine in Holden's Calais V series V8. Power in the two engines is the same at 270kW, but the turbo six delivers 533Nm of torque against the V8's 530Nm. As close as this seems the two are very different with the Calais's V8 raw on its way to peak revs while the turbo six accelerates without much fuss, occasionally attracting attention due to the whistle and flutter of the new turbocharger and air induction system.

The Falcon has also grown up on the inside and the G6E Turbo offers an exceptional level of luxury and passenger comfort. The leather-upholstered seats are a standout and both front seats offered excellent comfort on long distance journeys, thanks to the impressive side support on both the base and the seat back. Even the back seat was good although the centre rear seat didn't offer the same level of comfort as the two outer seats but it wasn't too far behind.

The dash layout in the G6E was also impressive with easy to use controls for both the ventilation system and radio. All the switch gear is positioned close at hand and the high mounted LCD screen offers an assortment of display options including radio, heater setting, reversing camera and satellite navigation system (if fitted).

The G6E's sat nav is operated by a remote control which has a cheap looking storage pouch in the centre console, along with the iPod cable. The system is more cumbersome to use than many modern touch screens around. Another area I found a little downmarket was the shiny black centre console and centre dash surround but apart from this the interior appointments are up to standard and the seating comfort exceeded my expectations.

Space throughout the vehicle was good and entry in and out of the rear seats has improved over the previous model. Unfortunately the only rear cup or bottle holders are hidden behind the fold down arm rest in the rear seat back. This is a bit of a let down as even some of the smaller, much cheaper cars around have multiple cup and bottle holders.

The boot has a large litre capacity, but space is somewhat restricted by the bulky trim covering the large sub-woofer in the boot. The boot's floor is set in levels so packing large suitcases or boxes can be a challenge. A wide angle reversing camera as well as reverse parking sensors are standard on the G6E making this one of the easiest cars on the market to reverse and park.

The top of the line G series Falcon is not only very luxurious and comfortable to drive, it also has the power and performance to make your heart occasionally skip a few beats. The free revving inline turbo six has no trouble moving this bulky Falcon along. The ZF 6-speed automatic transmission with sequential sports shift just adds excitement to the whole experience. Unfortunately the life of this iconic inline six will be short as Ford is planning to replace it with an American built V6 engine by mid-2010. Ford however has hinted the new turbo V6 engine will match the high performance levels set by the 270Kw inline six currently fitted in the G6E Turbo.

In July the base model XT FG Ford Falcon, without curtain airbags, was tested by the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) and was awarded a five star rating becoming the first Australian built car to achieve this. ANCAP has also awarded all FG Falcon sedans fitted with and without curtain airbags a five star ANCAP rating. This leaves Holden and Toyota with work ahead to get the Commodore, Aurion and Camry up to this new Australasian benchmark.

The only Falcons that aren't eligible for a five star rating are the XT Falcon wagon as it is still using the previous model's body structure, Falcon utes and the E-gas FG models as Electronic Stability Control (ESC) or Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) as Ford calls it, cannot be fitted to E-Gas Falcons at this stage. As part of the ANCAP test protocols Electronic Stability Control (ESC) must be standard for a vehicle to achieve a five star rating. These results dismiss speculation that a five star ANCAP result couldn't be achieved without a side curtain airbag.

While the performance of the side airbag was good enough to see Ford achieve five stars, adding a curtain airbag ($300) offers protection to rear seat passengers from side impacts. At this stage the only models fitted with standard curtain airbags are the G6E and G6E Turbo models. Ford are to be applauded for the R&D that led to this Australian first, but it would be good to see them take advantage of such a relatively cheap safety device and make it a standard across the entire FG Falcon range.

Standard equipment
Boot mounted lip spoiler
Front fog lamps
Side mirror turn indicators
Dual zone automatic climate control
Front and rear power windows
Sports leather wrapped steering wheel
Steering wheel mounted cruise control and audio controls
Front scuff plates and over head sun glass holder compartment
Premium audio system with 7" colour display, AM/FM radio with 6-disc in-dash CD player, amplifier and 8 speakers plus 150 watt amplifier and sub-woofer
Bluetooth mobile phone integration
iPod integration

Standard safety equipment
Driver and front passenger airbags
Front side head/thorax airbags
Curtain airbags
Pyrotechnic seatbelt buckle pretensioners
Crash severity sensor
Driver's seat position sensor
Beltminder system
Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) incorporating Traction Control (TC)
Emergency Brake assist (EBA)
Anti-lock braking system (ABS)
Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
Reversing sensor system
Reversing camera
Driver fatigue warning

Options
19" x 8" G series 10 spoke alloy wheel-245/35 R19 tyres: $2,000
G6E safety enhancement pack (power adjustable pedals - auto only): $500
Matching spare wheel: $250
Satellite navigation system: $2,290

Test vehicle supplied by Ford Australia.