Below is a thread i posted at
www.ls1.com.au a couple of weeks ago. I just joined today as a memeber.
Thought I would share my thoughts on the BA Fairmont Ghia V8 I drove on XMAS day. These are my personal comments. I thought some people might be interested to here an opinion of what the car is like. I have not driven any VY V8s so I don’t know how they compare.
I'm not loyal to any brand. When spending my own hard earned money I want a car that delivers in terms of functionality, performance, economy and financial.
The test occurred in country Victoria a region where there were plenty of quite roads with straight stretches, twisty bits and hills. A place where there was plenty of opportunity to give the car a good squirt. Hopefully there were no hidden cameras.
The car was not mine so I had to be careful not bend it. It was one month old with 5000km on the clock. On the straight bits I went up to 160 - 180, if kept my foot on the pedal it felt as though it wanted to keep accelerating hard. The torque at lower speeds seemed a little better than a VX V8 I drove a month previously, other wise the motors seemed similar.
Traction control worked really well, I accelerated from a stand still in the dirt in a straight line and the wheels griped. Then I tried accelerating from rest around a sharp corner on the bitumen, the wheels gave a little squeal. Overall traction control seems sorted.
A car dealer I spoke to said the Holden V6 traction is better left off as you have a better chance of rescuing your car if it gets out of shape. He also said the Holden V8 traction control works very well.
With the brakes I slammed the anchors on during a few high speed runs. The car pulled up very well. No complaints here. Hoping out of the car I could smell they were working hard.
I tested the handling around corners and the car griped very well, the car just felt planted and stayed on its line. The sports suspension that comes standard did not fell to rigid or firm.
In the press I was left with the impression the BA Ford had a good V8 sound. I thought the standard note was not very noticeable, but slightly better compared to standard VX V8. I don’t know about the note of standard VXII and VY. Never driven them. I assume a V8 enthusiast will need to modify the Ford’s exhaust for a better sound.
Overall I thought the car was very good. With a fleet discount you should be able to get one for under 50K. A manual XT V8 would potentially be an interesting drive with a fleet discount of around high 30’s. Ford Australia has done a good job with engine. From what I hear they have combined several components from the Ford international parts bin to create the Australian version.
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