Reviews
Gallery 1
Cold, hard numbers. You don’t often admire an accountant. But when you have to award something as big as this, you want the authority only digits can deliver.
This battle between Ford’s last pair has been brewing a long time. Traditionally, the hottest Falcon’s packed a splayed eight. But when Ford Oz cooked up a turbocharged XR6 in 2002, suddenly the XR8’s halo didn’t shine quite so bright. And the measly 6psi flowing through its snail hinted that, if FoMoCo so wished, the range-topping Falcon could be a blown six-pack.
This split the Falcon faithful, with the XR6 Turbo vs XR8 rivalry raging ever since, nowhere fiercer than online, with few chances to settle the debate on an even playing field, until now.
Need proof the gloves were off? While the XR8 Sprint’s blown 5.0-litre V8 musters 345kW/575Nm, the XR6 Turbo Sprint’s 4.0-litre six drums up 325kW and 576Nm – that one extra newton metre crowning it as Australia’s torquiest-ever engine.
But we’re not calling this fight from the spec sheet. We’ve set both against each other on the circuit and drag strip, and used the cold hard numbers from each stoush, in their entirety, to decide the fastest last Falcon on these pages.
You can imagine our disappointment with our first XR8 Sprint’s times. We couldn’t blame conditions, as the sun was high above Heathcote Raceway in rural Victoria, the air cool and our automatic example on correct tyre pressures and toting a quarter tank.
But no matter what we tried, the XR8’s precious Pirellis couldn’t push it to 100km/h any faster than 5.07sec. A 182.35km/h trap speed was fitting of its overboost-induced 400kW/650Nm, but its 13.14sec quarter couldn’t dream of becoming a 12 with such rampant wheelspin during launch.
The XR6’s trick lay at the start line. Turbo lag (the XR6’s peak twist arrives 450rpm later at 2750rpm) gave its rear bags a chance to hook up while the XR8 simply hosed its hoops with too much torque, making it “a bitch to launch” – to quote Morley – even with launch control. Moving the duel to Winton Raceway at Bang For Your Bucks only confirmed the six’s knack.
Although this new XR8 Sprint wore fresher tyres than the last examples, its DIY-shifter made launching exceptionally difficult. After seven attempts, twice that of the XR6 Sprint, it passed in a best 0-100km/h time of 5.03sec and 13.05sec quarter. Our fastest run yet, but not enough to catch the six.
The XR8’s extra power only chipped in at the trap’s radar. Its 185.48km/h at Winton just pipped the XR6’s 184.11km/h and suggested it’d reel in the Turbo if given enough tarmac.
You’d think, then, the XR8 would trump the Turbo on a roll from 80km/h. Now we’ve done three 80-120km/h runs with the eight-pot, and two with the six, and you couldn’t floss the gap between the average of each data set, because there isn’t one. Both cars will, on average, evaporate the overtaking increment in 2.66 seconds.
So far as we’re concerned the XR6 should nose ahead on a strip everytime – unless you’re on an airfield. But while we’re happy to crown one the strip king, a question-mark still hovers over those unattainable 0-100km/h times.
We’re not saying the Sprints aren’t capable of proving their engineers right. Internet forums report they’ve achieved such times with the same cars we used. However, because we can’t verify the runs or the conditions in which they were tested, we can’t help but see them as too optimistic. Or maybe our stars just never aligned.
To be honest, with 24kg less to point at corners, and a further 30kg less resting on all tyres, we expected the XR6 to rip around Winton faster. Its 1:40.7sec lap was already nine tenths clear of last year’s XR8 (albeit on a new surface) and 2.6sec faster than an F6 Typhoon. But surprisingly it was the XR8 that emerged the clear star, its 1:38.4sec lap tearing 2.3sec out of the XR6 Turbo’s time.
Both cars wear the same rubber, brakes, and suspension hardware albeit with unique tunes. So what was the XR8’s ace? While its drivetrain couldn’t exploit a drag strip, it proved a juggernaut on the race track.
The stark difference in urge came down to the XR8’s stonking supercharged eight. While the XR6 would start to gasp near its 6200rpm redline, the XR8 simply pulled harder as the revs climbed higher.
The XR8 was stronger on the picks, too, neutralising 100km/h in 36.73m as opposed to the XR6’s 37.16m. Along with a longer stop, what the data didn’t reveal about the XR6’s anchors was the dull feedback, despite it using the same six- and four-piston Brembo arrangement as the XR8.
In the tight stuff the XR6 Turbo Sprint was better, taking Turn Nine’s apex 4km/h faster than the XR8. For reference that’s only 0.1km/h slower than an MX-5, its lighter nose proving a more agile ticket.
Stepping back to look at all the data draws interesting conclusions. You certainly wouldn’t predict the less-powerful Sprint claiming the strip and the heavier one the circuit. But picking a winner?
To cut it fairly though, nothing beats objectivity. And to settle this we’ve defined each car’s performance just as Bang For Your Buck’s trusty formula does. We’ve arrived at a winner based on the Sprint with the most points. You can refer to the above breakout for a more detailed rundown but, as it reveals, the fastest ever production Falcon is… the XR8 Sprint. Surprised? Disagree? You know our email address.
Many would consider the 351ci V8-powered GT-HO as Ford’s greatest Falcon (you’ll have to wait 23 pages to find out whether we do), so having a six-cylinder bobbing up as the fastest ever just before the credits roll would’ve been a bit awkward. And, the V8’s gruff burble and blower whine just sound right.
However, as an accountant knows, you can’t argue with numbers. All hail the eight.
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