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It would be clever marketing if they kept the bulge, as people will like to relate there XR8's to the super cars, however from an aerodynamics point of view its probably better without...

I have this clunk in my auto AU XR6VCT. I have taken it back to the dealer about 8 times for this noise. APPARENTLY everything is within tolerence. They did change the diff oil which fixed it for about a month then it came back again. As much as I hate it, I learn to live with it. If I boot my car, then suddenly take my foot off, it sound like it hangs onto the gear for a second, then a loud bang as it upchanges and the whole car shudders! :( According to one of my mates who is an apprentice in the workshop, he reackons they replaced the whole diff on an AU XR8 3 times! I really really hoped this wouldn't be the case with BA but it seems it may be. Dam Ford, it's a known problem, surely when spending half a billion dollars on the car of the year, they would have realised this problem!

How about THE FPV?

Here is a quote from drive.com.au regarding the XR6T Ute, "The shifter in the five-speed manual was smoother than earlier examples, but the auto is still the way to go. It keeps the turbo on the boil and, believe it or not, is quicker than the manual." So confusing! I have an auto AU which annoys me but have only heard bad reports about the manual BA. I drove the manual turbo the other day, and while it didn't seem too bad, it wasn't the slickest manual on the planet. Auto: has SSS, driver can be slack, supposedly handle more torque than T5, and according to drive.com.au is quicker! Yet my experience with the AU is that its indescisive, slow and unrefined. Manual: More control/fun, possibly easier to 'beef' up to handle more torque, would have to be quicker to 100km/h as the auto has a very tall first (about 80km/h!).

Ride will be firmer and handling I suppose better but the tyres would cost a fortune! and the rims for that matter!

Sounds good, thanks for the advice, now I have to wait till March till the car get here....

Edit: Merged here. Hey guys, I was just wondering if any of you did anything special when running in your cars (apart from not thrasing it!)? Also do you think it would make a difference if you used optimax instead of unleaded or vice versa during this period? Apparently a car is never REALLY run in till about 10 000km, but babying it all the time doesn't help either. Thanks.

Thanks guys, how bad was the sound quality? maybe it was just the line you were using? I'm thinking it would be great to have mp3's running for a long trip!

Does anybody have the Auxillary Audio Plug-in option? If so where exactly is the hole? Any photos would be much appreciated as I would like this option but not if it spoils the BA's nice dash... Thanks.

Thanks for the pics. I think red it is! now I just have to wait for my AU to sell.....

Cooler air has a higher density than hot air and thus burns better in the cylinder - producing more power. This is why people run cold air intakes, to get the outside air unaffected by heat from the engine. Also, because the intakes are usually sucking outside air from the front of the car, the air is then RAM air and thus pressurised to greated than standard atmospheric condition (ie greater density) and even better again. There is big gains to be had (particularlly on a forced induction engine) of getting the car to breath as efficiently as possible. Cold air intake, hi-flo filter, possible changes to airbox and MAF (Mass airflow meter) exhaust manifold, hi-flo cat, exhaust and muffler etc etc.

From what I remeber, I think the drivetrain loss from the auto in AU (BA is virtually the same) was approx. 28%. For example my modfied AU is 160rwkw * 1.38 = 222kw at the fly, conversly 222 * 0.28 = 62 therefore 160rwkw. I believe (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the drivetrain loss for the manual AU (once again, virtually the same box in BA) was approx.18% (or 1.26 * rwkw). Therefore: Manual BA XR6T should be approx. 190rwkw (240kw fly) Auto BA XR6T should be approx. 173rwkw (240kw fly) Give or take a few KW depending on ambient temperatures and discrepencies in the dyno as well as how well the engine was run in and these figures should come pretty close to the mark. So the guy with 197kw at the wheels, if an auto should get 271kw at the fly and if its a manual 248kw. I'm guessing its an auto, because a proper exhaust on a turbo engine will yield more than a 7rwkw increase and 271kw sounds awfully similar to Fords statement about it being "easily" achievable. Hope this helps guys!

Yesterday I spoke to a sales rep at my local dealership and his story was different to what the service boys told me a month or so ago. Apparently he reckons as long as the car doesn't heat up, you can change whatever you want. He said that one person he sold to has already put an exhaust on and they will honour his warranty so who knows?!? I'm guessing the ECU must keep a log of the temps or something otherwise it would be hard to tell.

I enjoyed reading the latest wheels but lost a lot of respect for them when they stated on the front cover the GT to be 300kw. Even though they tried justifying it in their article, it was simply a marketing stunt to get readers attention. A quote direct from MOTOR October, "One Ford engineer told MOTOR that part of Ford's quality accreditation to ISO 9002 meant accurate reportage of power figures." Why play the readers for fools just to sell a few more mags? How many other facts have they blurred?

Thanks for the pics, I don't think that photo turned out right, cause it does look to have an orange tinge to it. It doesn't look as vibrant as the real venom does on AU's. How similar is the Acid rush colour to the golden-ish colour available for VX's?

My AU XR is hot chille red (series one red -venom is series two onwards) so I like you am looking for something a bit different. Hmmm, I think I need to seem them both in the flesh to compare.

Has anyone got any good quality pictures of the XR6 in red? I cannot find any anywhere! I am looking to order soon, and cant decide between the red or acid rush. Has anyone seen these colours in the flesh? if so what did you think? If you have pictures can you post? Red never goes out of season, I am worried that the acid rush will end up like the Expensive Daewoo Tiger orange or whatever it was called on VT1+2. It looked ok then, but now it looks terrible. Thanks in advance.

That raises a good point. What is there to fix the T5? Apparently the 5-3 shift is very poor, even when matching the revs. Can this be solved? If so how much would it cost? Also, how much would it cost to beef up the internals of the manual so it can handle more torque? (it will need it once they start getting modified) Does anyone have any times for the auto?

Actually the XU6 would still cane an XT. Figures from November Wheels show: XT 0-100km/h 8.4sec, 400m 16.1sec Supercharged S 0-100km/h 7.6sec, 400m 15.4sec Considering the supercharged S has 171kw I would asumme the 'special order' XU6 uprated to 200kw, would kill the XT, and standard XR6, and probably even the V8 Fairmont, however it would not stand a chance against the turbo XR6. I don't know why anyone would pay over $50k for one when they could get an XR8 for about the same or a XR6T for 45k. Also, the real reason for the delay of the XR8 has to do with fitting the damn engine in! apparently all the engines are ready, but the bonnet bulge has to be slightly re-engineered to accomodate it. It takes a long time to make all the appropriate tooling adjustments to get the right measurements. Not just a 2 minute 'enlargement'.

Well, I had my car dynoed before I took it to J Mock and it was 145kw at the wheels. This was already with many mods such as exhaust, extractors, unichip etc. I think the VCT is about 115rwk stock, not sure. I have spent way to much time and money on my car, and if I could go back to square one I would probably say go the stage 2 turbo. The dyno chart from mock says 160kw at the wheels, but who knows. Only thing is, be careful with insurance on the turbo because that is something very obvious. I am happy with my car, it keeps up with an AU3 XR8 and a VX SS, however it has cost now me $55 000 total after all the work. Cars are a black hole, I love doing them up but the money just dissapears. Now I wish to sell and get a BA XR6T however I will lose so much on mine... oh well, that's the price you pay for such a hobby I guess. Anyways, back on the topic, I reckon, go the turbo....or buy my car :D Hope this helps.

Apparently you can still place a 'special order' for an XU6 if your really want one. I just comes with all the gear from the clubsport, and I think it has been bumped up to 200kw. Either way, they will not make one unless you ask for it, and I don't see why anyone would when the XR6T is cheaper, quicker and much nicer... :D

I found the place that do the Turbo's for about $5000. Turbo Systems Australia Phone: (03) 9706 6322 Dandenong, Victoria. Also if your interested, I went to Jim Mock motorsport in altona, and I got 160kw at the wheels from an AU1 XR6 VCT (which is for sale if anyone is interested) and he gets even more grunt from the non-VCT model. You may prefer this because everything looks stock under the bonnet and was a reasonable price. Jim Mock Motorsport (03) 9399 4401 Altona, Victoria. I hope this helps you. Good luck.

There is a place in Dandenong, Victoria, that offer Trubo's for AU's for about $5500. I can't remember who they are, but I think they are affiliated with Gas Research. I have an AU and was looking into that as opposed to upgrading to a BA.

Today I spoke to my local Ford service division, and informed them of my intent to purchase and modify a BA XR6T. According to them ford have instructed that they be absolutly tight on warranty issues. The guys reckon even changing the exhaust or anything, no matter how small will void the warranty!! This has shattered me, considering they didn't really mind honouring the warranty on my AU and I have done heaps to that.... :(

This information came directly to me from a high level employee of a major component supplier for Ford. The major problems are with the station wagon, so don't expect to see any of them real soon.