Ford Falcon XR6 - Any good?

[Fiddlemesticks]

Am emigrating late Feb and looking at the Falcon XR6 as my prospective purchase when i get there. I'm thinking of a 02/03 car, which i think is a BA model.

Whats the aussie view on these cars and are they any good?

[JRX7]

go for the XR6 Turbo, meant to be very good. and plenty of potential for tuning.
enjoy!

[pombstard]

XR6 has same running gear as basic XT - as said above, XR6T is supposed to be much better. Basic handling is good, though a bit soft, and ride is very good. Interior room is nothing special considering the size of the car, and fuel consumption is, well, sh!te. Watch for build quality on Falcons though - dodgy in my experience, which includes 2 BA Falcons from new and access to a fleet of BA Falcon utes.

[madazrx7]

Had a BA XR6 until recently (now with the ex, along with the house and just about everything else...)

Ours was the auto (wife's choice), I thought it was quite good really, 184KW, fuel economy was much better than our previous (EF) Falcon. Comfy and quiet (remember I have a Vito van and RX7 track car to compare to...)

If you're after performance, then yes, the XR6Turbo would be very good.

[robinoz]

On the subject of falcons. Seems the VE SS kills the Falcon GT by a country mile. Falcon is a heavy car but does have a nice balance.

[hsvgtscoupe]

If you have to buy a F**d then I agree with the others, the XR6 Turbo is the best option. HOWEVER... you should look at the SSV8 in the Holden stable or any 12 month old HSV - you'l get great performance, equal fuel economy and you don't get called a fordhead . My 5.7l V8's have all returned 12litres per 100kays on highway & 16litres per 100 kays average. If you drive any of these like you stole them (and you will) expect half that economy regardless of 6cyl turbo or N/A V8.

[pombstard]

hsvgtscoupe said:

...and you don't get called a fordhead

Can't have that now, can we???

As for fuel economy, my first XT returned about 11-12l/100km generally, and would dip to about 18 for a thrashing. My second was LPG powered, and all I can say is, don't bother - gutless and thirsty. Our utes were LPG and we would be lucky to see the right side of 20l/100km - 23 was about average, though that was with a lot of urban work.

We also used to run Commodore 3.8s and they were neither any more reliable nor economical. I reckon the Ford had the edge for handling and ride though.