FPF BA XT and Futura

There are two engines available on the BA Falcon XT and the Futura, a highly modified version of the old Inline-6 or the new powerful V8 from the United States.

We'll start with the I6 since it is the most popular. As mention before, its a highly modified version of the old and trusty 4.0L Falcon I6. It was sent over to the United States for there engineering expertise and it came back as arguably the best in its class. Featuring 4 valves per cylinder (compared to 2 in the VY Commodore), twin-overhead cam-shafts (compared to only one in the VY Commodore and duel VCT make it extremely revvy like it wants you to go faster. And that is definitely not a hard thing with the base model producing 182kW and 380Nm of torque that comes out in a much more sophisticated sound that the previous model.

But, if your after performance then the all-new 5.4L V8 from the United States is the way to go. Featuring 3 valves per cylinder it kicks out 220kWs at 4750rpm and 470Nm'of torque at just 3250rpm. But, from some testing, it has shown that it can be fairly thirsty because of the added weight.

Putting all that power to the ground is a state-of-the-art Independent Rear Suspension setup. It is called Control Blade and is a similar setup to the award winning Focus and Jaguar X-Type. This setup is standard across the sedan range with the wagon and Ute using the old leafs at the rear. But for the sporty buyer, you can option on a sports suspension or for the rugged type you can have a heavy-duty setup that has a much higher rise height for rural buyers.

Interior

The first thing you will notice after sitting in the interior of either the base XT or Futura is that it is much classier and prestigious that any previous Aussie base models. With luxury velour seats with power adjustment for the driver to the CDU screen that controls the trip-computer, air-conditioning and audio system and gives it a real up-market feel. For the sporty buyer it has silver inserts in the dash, center console, door handles and the gear knob and they will love the standard 'Sequential Automatic Transmission' that is a first for Ford where you can have either a fully automatic gear box or you can move the lever to the left and have a fully manual gear box where you pull the lever backwards to go up a gear and push it forwards to go down a gear.

Other equipment on the XT include front power windows, CD player, audio controls on the steering wheel, duel stage airbags with the option of side ones. You can also option on a DVD based Satellite Navigation system, reverse perking system and power adjustable pedals. Also a first for Aussie cars, a high-tech saftey computer that detects where people are sitting, how bad the impact was, where the impact was and it then sends out that information to the airbags.

If you get a Futura you will have all the XT luxuries along with rear power windows, upgraded trim, rear cup-holders and arm rest, cruise control, better stereo.

Exterior

The exteriors of the XT and Futura are fairly much the same except the XT has a more sporty head light setup where as the Futura is more luxurious and it also has more prestigious alloy wheels. The rear end of both the cars is one of the prettiest ever on a four-door sedan. Its cross between a Aston Martin, BMW 7-Series and a AU3 Falcon and is absolutely stunning.

BA Falcon XT and Futura