Ford’s last ever Falcon has been revealed, and it’s a beauty. Under the bonnet of the barnstorming 4.0-litre turbocharged XR6 Sprint, though, it’s more Australian than ever — with a carbon fibre air intake designed and built in Geelong that is a first for the 120-year-old car company.
The 2017 Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo Sprint will likely be the fastest Falcon ever produced by Ford’s Australian factories in Broadmeadows, with a big power bump from the last model’s 270kW/533Nm in the standard model to a huge 325kW/576Nm in the Sprint edition and overboost temporarily pumping things to 370kW and 650Nm. The $54,990 car will be faster in a 0-100km/h sprint than the XR8 Sprint it shares a nameplate with, and part of that is due to Ford Australia’s uniquely designed carbon fibre air intake.
Designed and built in conjunction with Ford’s supplier Premcar and Quickstep Automotive in Geelong, the carbon fibre intake is lighter and more efficient than existing plastic intakes; it’ll be raw-finished rather than coated, and will be hand laid by Quickstep in four layers. It’s 46 per cent lighter than its plastic equivalent, and although that’s only a saving of 203 grams, it’s the extra strength of the intake that will stop it flexing under the fast-flowing air intake of high revs and heavy boost.
Working in carbon fibre, too, means Ford was able to maximise the intake’s internal surface area and provide as large a cross-section as possible without increasing the size of the part itself. [Ford]
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