Are You A Happy BA Customer - Page 4 - Ford Forums

NA Thunder · 12-23-2003, 15:51

Jason, your comment was spot on, well done.

Our BA XR6 N/A is great.

On delivery, 15kms on it and unlike the AU III XR6 VCT which was sooo stiff and took a while to loosen up, this thing just wanted to go. Punished her straight away but did also try to labour the gears, bed the rings in just right by annoying motorists around me with considerable alternations of speed.

Brilliant car.

*** The AU was and is a fantastic car, don't get me wrong, NOTHING went wrong during the 28,000kms we had her. As soon as I saw the 1st XR on the showroom floor, I had to upgrade ***

OK Problems.

* Brake shuddering, Rotors replaced twice and machined twice. <WARRANTY>
* One coat of paint on spoiler and boot with metal shavings under the paint. Also jagged sharp edges around egdes of boot. <WARRANTY>
* Steering rack packing it in @ roughly 5,000kms. <WARRANTY>

BIG deal really, especially if you look at the list of problems the Series 1 VT Commodore had! Ford have looked after us. Our service department is great. We are on a first name basis which I don't know if that is a good thing as it shows how many times I've been there but hey....

Around 20,000 we wanted to put a few more horses on her. I wanted to get a 6psi Vortech supercharger installed (and still might <looks around for wife>). We decided on our car being a test vehicle for a package specificly created for the XR6 N/A. $2,800 it cost all up. My signature has the details.

I loved the car before the mods, afterwards, mate everything simply worked better. SSS more responsive, the car braked better (I asked if there was any brake work done, no there wasn't). Everything was sooo responsive yet all settings in the computer are well within safety limits so I'm not harming the car when I give it a squirt..........She would be capable of way more but as I told the guy, this car is a 'keeper'.

The guy took me for a run to see how she handles. He revved her out to 5,400rpm in 1st and second and by the time he was about to change into 3rd, was running out of road. By then we were doing around 140-150kms....mmmm. Here I am with a grin the size of Luna Park.......Then it was my turn....hehe. It doesn't need a supercharger or turbo but it would be nice. C'mon lotto.....Need Supercharger, need GT, oh how I can go on.

Getting that facelift feeling in a Naturally Aspirated Car with no MAJOR work? PRICELESS!!!

22,800 on the clock now and she's just getting stronger.

The Barra 182 and 240T are brilliant inline sixes.....I'm hooked. As for the Boss.....Mmmmmm, I'm so jealous of you guys in XR8's and especially the nicest cars on the road.....THE GT's.

GO THE BA!!!!!!!!! Ford has finally hit the nail on the head.

ianmcginley · 12-23-2003, 20:41

Well what can I say, I ticked the lowest box of satisfaction. I'm happy with the car but only just. Yes it goes hard, it balances like a ballerina and can stop well when it has new pads. Ride quality is great and its a top car (BA N/A XR6) for touring (driving to Sydney is just too easy now).

However Apart from whats under the bonnet and the chassis, the rest of the mechanicals are just too much like a white box computer from your local corner shop. Its a bunch of parts that have been thrown together because they meet a specification without too much thought for their interaction and development. Yes I've got a T5 manual. The quality of this thing is sooooo poor it stuns me it got passed the approval process for admission into the BA product.

Now admitably is it the clutch misbehaving? is the flywheel not smooth? is it the gearbox? or is it related to the differential. I can't get an adequate answer because the people that developed the T5 locally for Ford say that its within the spec that Ford give them, however it is failing to shift at times. However ask this specialist if the problem could be then with the clutch or elsewhere? no idea, I only know about the gearbox mate.

It is this one problem that i'm not settled on getting a GT-P with manual for my next car because I can't be guarranteed that its any better quality specification regardless that its a different unit (Tremec T-3650 or something). Because my current car is a manual and I prefer driving the car with a manual than with the SSS, its a huge interaction with the driver, and being so disruptive I can't handle it being so crap.

Whats my next car then? who knows, but at the moment it won't be a Ford Falcon derivative with a manual shifter. SSS or SMG varieties don't do it for me either. Regular "H" pattern and a clutch for me at the moment thanks.

Theres my 20cents ;-)

fullthrottle · 12-23-2003, 20:50

do these xr6s use the same gear box as the xr6 turbos? If so then I can totally understand your dissatisfaction. When i took the XR6T for a test drive i had problems shifting the gears too. Had a couple of hard brakes cos I was having difficulty downshifting and lost focus!

But the XR8 models and above, it is totally different...slips into gear without much effort (upshifting or downshifting). I can gurantee you that.

Nobby · 12-23-2003, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by ianmcginley

Well what can I say, I ticked the lowest box of satisfaction. I'm happy with the car but only just. Yes it goes hard, it balances like a ballerina and can stop well when it has new pads. Ride quality is great and its a top car (BA N/A XR6) for touring (driving to Sydney is just too easy now).

However Apart from whats under the bonnet and the chassis, the rest of the mechanicals are just too much like a white box computer from your local corner shop. Its a bunch of parts that have been thrown together because they meet a specification without too much thought for their interaction and development. Yes I've got a T5 manual. The quality of this thing is sooooo poor it stuns me it got passed the approval process for admission into the BA product.

Now admitably is it the clutch misbehaving? is the flywheel not smooth? is it the gearbox? or is it related to the differential. I can't get an adequate answer because the people that developed the T5 locally for Ford say that its within the spec that Ford give them, however it is failing to shift at times. However ask this specialist if the problem could be then with the clutch or elsewhere? no idea, I only know about the gearbox mate.

It is this one problem that i'm not settled on getting a GT-P with manual for my next car because I can't be guarranteed that its any better quality specification regardless that its a different unit (Tremec T-3650 or something). Because my current car is a manual and I prefer driving the car with a manual than with the SSS, its a huge interaction with the driver, and being so disruptive I can't handle it being so crap.

Whats my next car then? who knows, but at the moment it won't be a Ford Falcon derivative with a manual shifter. SSS or SMG varieties don't do it for me either. Regular "H" pattern and a clutch for me at the moment thanks.

Theres my 20cents ;-)

You should definitely wait until the series 2 model comes out, it has a brand spankin' new 5 speed (maybe 6, cant remember) gear box and will have a nicer interior and all the other obligatory improvements (including sunglasses holder, just you watch!).

If you're basically happy enough with your car (which you seem to be, gear issues aside), its certainly worth waiting for.

bossxr8 · 12-23-2003, 22:42

Don't hold your breath for new gearboxes.

CDAA · 12-24-2003, 04:50

Only the premium models initially will be getting the new gearboxes (auto and manual) in late 2004. May only be FPV's and maybe XR8 and the turbo. As bossxr8 said, don't hold your breath for the N/A XR6 and other non premium models.

GT BLOKE · 01-26-2004, 13:41

We've had our XR8 for nearly two weeks and with only 870km on it, I don't have any dramas, yet. Will wait and see.

My only concern is that it makes my EB GT seem inferior !

image001 · 01-26-2004, 23:38

2 words....

Absolutely marvellous!

RED_EL_XR8 · 01-27-2004, 03:49

Climb into Merc Silver BA = Happy

Turn Key, listen to that note = Happy

Giving her a Rev = HAPPY re ecstatic..

Getting the turned heads the EL got when it was new = Happy

Service cost = happy enough

Looking at resale = not so happy

Comparing resale/sevice cost equation against 3 series BMW = happy again

Always room for improvement but the BA is one hell of an improvement. I'm happy.

Timmeh · 01-27-2004, 04:03

We've just replaced our Honda Accord with a manual BA XR6 N/A... I hope to be able to post in this thread as well. Somewhat worried after reading other threads on the BA, but here is hoping we have a trouble free run.

Cheers... Tim