Spied: Ford begins testing new RWD platform in America

You never know, GM might want the SS Ute to be a new El Camino...

I'd buy that in a heartbeat. Have a cool little hauler to go Autocrossing and Drifting.
 
Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo... oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please
 
Or the fact that the engine has never been produced or sold here. The v8's are at least using standard parts bin stuff, or at have the ability to bolt in the American equivalent.

It's not about being original, but being cost effective. The Xr6 turbo would be cool to see and might even get them the "No turbo No care" market.
 
Or the fact that the engine has never been produced or sold here. The v8's are at least using standard parts bin stuff, or at have the ability to bolt in the American equivalent.

It's not about being original, but being cost effective. The Xr6 turbo would be cool to see and might even get them the "No turbo No care" market.

The engine seems to have been fairly reliable here, though I thought it had basis on one of the american engines
 
^^ apparrently that's the reason why the VE ute development has been fast tracked. Nothing official yet though.
 
The engine seems to have been fairly reliable here, though I thought it had basis on one of the american engines

It may, but Ford hasn't made an I-6 for the US market in nearly 20 years. And ours was never updated with the twin cam cylinder heads. The engine may be reliable but things break and people need parts, and those parts have to be kept in stock.

Since Ford already has their various displacement v6's and some smaller displacement v8's, the Aussie I-6 is just added cost that isn't needed.
 
How times have changed. It appears at the moment the Australian devisions of GM and Ford are currently designing ALL the cars that Americans will buy in 2 years. In 2009 when a American walks into a GM or Ford dealer and comes out with a RWD V8 then you can pretty much guarantee that the Australians designed the thing.

at this rate, thats not a bad thing, it'll up the quality of the Ford cars being sold in its supposedly home market.
 
HAHHAHAA, no....

Falcon's have a rep (just like the commodore) for shit build quality :D (hopefully it isn't justified with the new falcon, the commodore doesn't seem to suffer as much as its predecessors - or you could read drive.com.au's reviews which claim the commodore has massive panel gap yet have never actually taken a picture of it)
 
The OLD Falcon and Commodores have a rep for shit build quality. The VE and BA have really stepped up to the plate and the new Falcon will only be better.
 
It may, but Ford hasn't made an I-6 for the US market in nearly 20 years. And ours was never updated with the twin cam cylinder heads. The engine may be reliable but things break and people need parts, and those parts have to be kept in stock.

Since Ford already has their various displacement v6's and some smaller displacement v8's, the Aussie I-6 is just added cost that isn't needed.

You could get the old 4.9 Liter push rod Straight 6 as late as 1995/1996 in a F-150.
 
Ah, the 300ci. Not a bad engine.

A bullet proof engine at that (they won't die those damned things)

And saying Ford won't bring the XR6 Turbo over here 'just because' is frankly a weak and stupid argument.

Ford is the one that listened to its buyers and kept the live axle in the new Mustang (after it's already designed for the IRS in back.) So I think the chances of the Turbo I6 coming over are fairly good.
 
You could get the old 4.9 Liter push rod Straight 6 as late as 1995/1996 in a F-150.

You got me there, but thats not the same engine (even in factory modified form) as the Aussie 6.

And saying Ford won't bring the XR6 Turbo over here 'just because' is frankly a weak and stupid argument.

You didn't read what I said. I didn't say "just because." I provided a logical reason for it. The engine (in it's more current forms) hasn't been sold in the US. The Aussie engine is so redesigned from any 6 they have sold in the US for the past 30 years that it would be an expensive car to keep parts around for. Especially compared to the v8 models which more than likely share a large number of parts with the American counterparts (or guaranteed the US v8's can be shoved in it's place).

It makes more economic sense to just bring the v8 cars over, and avoid the 6's, unless they want to bring the XR6 turbo's over as some special editions. Thats doubtful considering they still insist upon keeping the v8's top of the line when the turbo 6 has plenty of room for more power.

I'd love to see the Turbo models come to the US, I like turbo cars (or their potential for cheap extra power), but considering Fords hemorrhaging cash ATM, it would be a good idea to save the costs of shipping/producing and storage of all these replacement parts.

Ford is the one that listened to its buyers and kept the live axle in the new Mustang (after it's already designed for the IRS in back.) So I think the chances of the Turbo I6 coming over are fairly good.

Ford claimed to keep the live axle because of it's customers, I find it BS. Plenty of reports have shown it was done more for cost reasons. They couldn't be bothered to fix the axle hop issues in the last generations Cobra. And the new Mustang's platform is so tied to the live axle, that converting it to IRS is impossible without redesigning the chassis.

Ford listens to it's customers so much that it watered down the fusion and sold the 500, before shit sales made them change their tune. Ford's listened to their customers so much they brought the US the new Mondeo, the new Focus a proper RWD car (the Aussie Falcon/ute's)...

Oh wait, no they didn't. In fact they decided to give us a new Taurus!
 
Top