replicant

Thanks Basil135 - I understand the risks that professional rescue folk have to face with this stuff everyday and appreciate your comments and knowledge which confirms what I understood about the risks. There are lots of things that can hurt you... but part of understanding how to help someone in emergency situations is to understand the risks. For instance, I once worked in a mainframe computer facility that used a (now banned) halon fire quenching system. Halon was very effective but like CO2 removes or displaces free oxygen to starve the fire. Now when I initially was familiarising myself with the facility, I noted the Halon system was there and took the time to understand what it did. While I was there, we had a fire alarm - and boy did I make sure I cleared out of the place quickly, one of my workmates couldn't understand what to make of it until I explained what the water less system did to put out fires. The next time the alarm was triggered he wasn't waiting for anybody... I hate the fact that I have to consider the risk - after all it's my nature to get in and help - which part of the reason I carry a rescue kit in the car and with me when we go skiing or on hand when I go diving. But I'm also conscious that I don't want to present another victim at an accident site.

Ummmm... BF XR6T and V8 Falcons get 'Performance Brakes' as standard which are the 322mm front rotors and 328mm rear rotors (both are ventilated). Yep these are very similar to the Territory ones but nope no premium brakes now. The brakes on my now departed Territory AWD squealed all of the time but the ones on the BF don't - at least not yet as I've still only down less the 4 thou klicks.

The instrument jewel for the DSC (BF XR6T's have DSC now as does XR8 and Ghia, while TC goes in the rest of the range apart from E Gas ones but who needs it in a taxi you may ask) is at the upper left of the instument panel... it looks like those 'slippery when wet' signs and you can miss it sometimes as it's hidden by the wheel rim. In the BA's, the TC indicator is at the bottom right of the instrument panel. The light should illuminate upon start up (as part of the self check - just under the engine check instrument jewel) and only lights up under the following circumstances: - There is a fault with the system - You have turned the DSC off (like if you actually want oversteer eg track situation) - Flashing intermittently, DSC has been activated due to loss of traction or it's decided that given the sensor readings from individual wheel speed (off the ABS sensors), steering angle, throttle pedal position, steering angle and yaw that intervention is required This is slightly different to the AWD Territory where there is an intervening step of TC off but DSC on and then DSC AND TC off. This is to allow wheelspin but still have driver assist with under/oversteer eg driving on sand. I think the SY Territory RWD with DSC works in the same way as those BF Falcons with DSC.

Dogs have owners, cats have staff. By the way every year, there are people who die needlessly of septicaemia contracted from contact with feline urine - mainly old folk. My ex-girlfriend insisted that she wanted a dog - not just any dog but this tiny little poodle that looked like a malnourished rat to me. Sarah kept nagging and nagging about it because I said I didn't want one. I told that maybe she would be content walking it but I wasn't going to be seen dead walking it. She asked why... and I replied because I didn't really want to look like someone who'd drive a mini convertible in a pink shirt. She suggested that because I had her then why was I worried about what other women would think - ensuing conversation ended up being the last one I had with her.

Actually I have my doubts about whether the reverse grid is a good idea or not esp for the fans. In the old Konica series, there were folk who were alleged to sandbag race 1 to save their tyres and get a good spot on the grid for race 2 and use it to get a good grid position for race 3. Whilst the overall driver roster is pretty good, when you get 30-odd cars with similar performance then it ain't going to be good if some of the front runners get taken out in race 2. If we lost say both SBR cars, Murph, HRT and HSV Dealer team in some bingle on the first corner if race 2 then I dunno if the crowds would necessarily be happy if say 8 of the front runners weren't around for the finale. I'm also worried at the 'procession circuits' - Canberra with this format would have been a total disaster and I'm thinking that Shanghai is particularly unsuited too. Being designed for F1 cars, the circuit is constipated... cos' it won't allow anything to pass... there are f@#$ all places to get around someone else without biffing them off. Also the Australian GP will actually be a points round this year - as the trad March date meant it wasn't a part of the regular season.

Nope not a cut and paste just my drive impressions. Not a professional writer - have a day job that funds my other interests/passions in life including cars - although long ago in my chequered past I did train as a journalist.

I drove both cars (albeit in BA Mark II Form) - when I was choosing my recent car changeover - back to back and here are my observations: The XR8 The big eight has a great engine note even at idle, reminiscent of the rumbling push rod small block V8s that still brings a grin to my face. When let loose, that rumble turns to a bellowing roar - sounds like you are in a playstation game driving V8s around Mount Panorama. It's intoxicating and it's easy to launch consistently than the XR6T too. But then there's the bad news, because the engine is a mish mash from the parts bin at Ford there are compromises. The deep breathing quad cam 4 valve heads don't have variable cam timing (which the Barra inline sixes do) - so whilst they breathe well at the higher part of the rpm band, they don't have a lot of torque down low, the torque is there but it's very peaky. Down at the bottom end of the engine, there's a big hunk of cast iron that is essentially a truck block and it doesn't really like a lot of rpm. Because of this Frankenstein mixture of parts, you end up with a very narrow band of joy... nothing much happens below four thou' and it's essentially time to change up at just over five and a half thousand. Which is fine if you want to row the gearbox (even in the auto) and there's that sonorous sound... but in the real world it gets annoying. But wait there's more, because of that engine possessing that hefty cast iron block you have around 80-90kg more weight directly over the front axle so due to inertia it doesn't necessarily like directional changes like the XR6T. It's not a pig to steer by any stretch, just that in comparison to the XR6T, it doesn't appreciate quick changes in direction (like traffic calming chicanes in suburban streets) but settle into it and it's a better front end than the folk from the General. You do drive it differently from the six more about that later but you'll find that you need to brake before the corner, settle the nose and then try and get early on the throttle to bring up your exit speed. Aesthetically, that engine again makes it self visible with a big bulge in the bonnet. Serving as some differentiation from pudding Falcons, it does make it's mark and has echoes of the Phase III shaker not to mention so many Aussie muscle cars of the past. Personally, it reminds me of a kids tobaggon that's fused onto the bonnet - not helped by my test car's mandarin exterior paint work. Fuel economy wise, not that it matters that much but the V8 will use more gas (and I'd be looking for a six speeder auto or manual - I prefer the auto for the driving I do although the Tremec box is not a bad one if not the slick rifle bolt feel that you get in say an MX-5 but this is bloke's car not a sheila's one) The brakes on the XR8 were standard and I have to say you may want to hunt down the performance brake option in pre-BF machines - but you're an enthusiast driver so you'd be looking for that. The XR6T In contrast, the Rapid Yellow XR6 doesn't have the aural quality of the thundering Boss 290 V8 out of the XR8 but I don't mind the noise either. It doesn't have the taxi drone of the naturally aspirated Barra 183s in the mid part of the range and the deeper note (courtesy of the dual exhaust) is a little more understated - which is appreciated on longer trips where comfort and efficiency are paramount. Talking about efficiency the Barra 240T (and now in BF 245T) is one helluva unit. Okay so it doesn't have that spine tingling roar when you press the loud pedal right to the firewall but it has this massive wall of torque available at all speeds all of the time. Using a single low pressure turbo minimises lag and the 4 litre inline six is responsive and is full of pulling power. It's making maximum torque in BF form just on two grand all the way to four and a half with the engine still pulling like a locomotive when you touch the cut out around six thou. It's a lighter unit than the eight so see comments about the handling. On a windy country road, the XR6T is the smart driver's choice - that mountain of torque means choosing your own gear is optional but you can dine out on the wall of torque in third gear as you nip in and out of the corners. Against the XR8, you'll be carrying in more entry speed, there's a real difference in mid corner speed (or if something happens adjustability, it's more defy and nimble in the 6) and you don't have to nail it coming out as your corner speed is there compared to the 8 which is playing catch up. Exterior wise, it looks just the same as the na XR6s, which means it's a bit of a sleeper until you decide it's time for a big boost attack as you head onto the onramp and want to dance with the traffic. Again performance brakes are the way to go not because of the weight but because of the performance potential. Gas consumption is better in the XR6 too but you only get 17s std in BF for the XR6T whereas the 8 gets 18s std. As a GT cruiser, either car works I prefer the adjustability of the XR6T and the fact that the pennies I saved in purchase price bought the XR Luxury Pack so I didn't have to put up with the 'tire tread' interior finish, got dual zone... and the reverse sensing sensors that are std in the Ghia. Means I got a car acceptable as a company car, not over the top, very quick, no worries about the gas bill with the comfort to match and still came in under budget... who'd have thunk that?

And that the guilotine was an instrument of humanity. It was designed to make the execution more effective and consistent than the previous practice of using an axe - with the inherent problem of aim which often resulted in more than one strike being required to deal with a victim. And the original crash test dummies were cadavers ie corpses donated to science. Extensive research of the effects under test regimes upon cadavers was used to create the models and benchmarks used with the SID crash test dummies including HIC (Head Injury Criterion) and the maximum allowance shear forces, deceleration and impact values allowable and what the maximum readings would mean in terms of minor, significant and major injury. Even now, chicken carcasses are still used to test the durability of materials to bird strike (including windshields on air craft).

When I was a young fella, my first car was a Expensive Daewoo Torana with a six cylinder red motor, a three speed column change, 4 wheel non assisted drum brakes and when I got it four different tyres, of which one was a cross ply and the others were bias belted (incl one I later discovered was a different width!). It did have seat belts but only for the driver and the front passenger. One thing it did not have was any mechanical grip, when it rained the car would happily slide in oversteer on tarmac at about 20 mph - or about 36 km/h. It also didn't stop well either and it would happily wheelspin all over the place. Which is great when you are 15 years old. One thing the car taught me was how to handle oversteer and at 20mph, the worse that happened was you maybe hit a kerb and the car stopped or possibly a parked car. My Dad knew a few folk (he helped me find the car in the first place - he'd had a GTR-XU1 when I was a kid) and I got permission from a couple of landowners to practice slaloms and circle work on a grass paddock and also on a large gravel car park so I learnt about plough understeer, oversteer, cadence braking and all sorts of skills in a low speed environment where it was safe and everything took forever to happen. As it does when you spin at 10 mph on wet grass doing what in retrospect were mini-gymkhana events with my mates. So later in life when I hit the patch of gravel on a corner or had a situation where the car snapped ie ice, the lessons and importantly the instinct of what to do to correct it (and not to panic) simply happened because I knew how and what to do. Those kinds of lessons get refreshed when I do advanced driving courses and when I jump onto a race kart or spend time on a track etc. Unfortunately, most folk never do a course or get the opportunities that I have. Let alone spend time dissecting what happens (I used to spend time trying to make things go faster so you learn about yaw, pitch, weight transfer, bump and rebound, and roll centres among other things)... And the first time, they have an emergency situation is often their last because the first time they actually get to experience it in a modern car, it's at speeds or four times my 20 mph - and at 100km/h sliding sideways you doing 28 metres/second and it's too late to learn when you heading for that powerpole or lighting standard. BTW if someone can accurately observe without a radar or a laser from a moving car at 100km/h exactly what speed another car passing them was doing ie 180 km/h to a reasonable margin of error of say 10km/h then I'd be surprised. In fact I'd very surprised - using the laws of physics - that's actually saying that they could accurately observe that a car passed and then increased the distance by 22 metres every second thereafter whilst moving and without a static reference point... bearing in mind that a difference of 2.8 metres would be a 10km/h variance - then maybe they should become a fighter pilot. (Or that the average driver would notice in their rear vision mirror - someone 'pushing them out of the way' when in 4 seconds the distance between them was closing the following distance by 80metres ... if they happen to look in the mirror every 4 seconds)

Not to get biblical - 'He who hath not sinned may cast the first stone..." IMHO, most drivers do dumb things from time to time. I actually think three of the causes of most avoidable accidents are: Loss of Concentration/Lack of Attention I did an advanced driving course and the instructor (who was ex-police pursuit instructor) set me all sorts of difficult obstacles and made me do the exercises at +15 km/h faster than the others... (he was a good guy and wanted me to be challenged and actually have some fun!). There was a lane change exercise with a series of lights to direct you into one of three lanes under a panic stop/avoid situation. Anyway, instructor ended up doing all sorts of things like changing lights 3 or 4 times during the braking so I'd have to adjust under pressure. Was going well until I got tired and only got one light change which I wasn't expecting. End result, locked it all up and slid - into the right lane. Lesson - had the skills, had the attitude but lacked the concentration. (I hate to think about cars full of screaming kids distracting mums driving SUVs - or those women I've seen with one hand on the wheel while doing their eyeliner in the rear vision mirror! ). Poor Attitude Yes I drive too fast but there are lots of those whinging drivers who simply have a ridiculous attitude. 'Well I can't drive at this corner past 65km/h in my Camry so you shouldn't either..." The amount of times I've driven and never exceeded 110km/h on a straight and caught folk driving Commodores, Falcons and European Cars in my Territory who'd do 120km/h on a straight and slow down to 70km/h around a corner that I could drive around at 100km/h beggars belief. That and the fact that they seem hell bent on not being passed - maybe they are constipated but I always figured if someone managed to catch me then I'm happy if they go past. That and the ones who'll sit behind a caravan doing 80km/h and WON'T pass on a perfect good piece of straight road and create a conga chain of fifteen cars to leapfrog. Not to mention red light runners... and the ones that have been driving for 50 years and have done no advanced training, never spent time on a track and simply don't even understand how to use their ABS brakes... or use something a simple as a seatbelt....Gnnnnh! Lack of Skill And I not just talking about the apparent inability to use an indicator, keep left, maintain a constant speed or stay wholly in a lane... no I'm talking about those folk who fail to see past the tail lights of the car directly in front, don't anticipate places that you need to slow down or conversely places to pass slow traffic. Those who don't know how to enter an on-ramp correctly (and slow down rather than speed up to the same speed) or go around without touching the brakes mid-corner (that really scares me!)... The amount of rear enders I've seen when someone has ploughed into the back of someone else who's at the tail of a queue of slowing traffic... And I'm not blameless either... I drive too fast, get distracted (esp by cute women in other cars or walking down the road - I live near a beach) but I try to maintain my skills, my car and get a car with a huge reserve of safety (handling, braking and power which is why I have a T)... call it survival of the fittest...

Footrest... Most Fords + Jaguars don't have one. Apparently, it reduces the risk of left foot injury in frontal crash testing. The regular pedals are designed to snap off but apparently a Jag X-Type had foot rest (like a lot of early 90s Fords) that in crash testing tended to intrude into the footwell due to the way they are mounted. Once it was removed, the risk of left foot injury was reduced... I don't know if the Volvos (having not driven a Volvo in a long time) have one but most of the Euro Fords don't have them (which is b@oody annoying) Curtain bags apparently don't fit in the AU/BA/BF roof shell (but do in the flatter roofed Territory) - I agree the side bags should be standard and the curtain bags should be there in the next one.

The XR Luxury pack includes: Dual Zone Climate Control (already managed to avoid arguments about the temperature in car several times as I like about 18 degrees and female passengers seem to prefer about 21 degrees) Premium ICC Sound (which is good but not great) XR Leather Seats - this is NOT Leather Seats (which are the standard seats covered in leather instead of cloth) but the firmer sports seats with the bumpy circular pattern suede style facings and suede style inserts on the doors. There's leather on the bolsters, headrests and the XR Logo on the seat backs between the shoulders (where the leather pattern is). I took the BF XR6T with the Luxury Pack as my company car and specified an aftermarket reverse sensing system which the dealer fitted. My dealer tells me you can get the Territory reversing camera fitted instead or in addition to this - as you have the full colour TFT screen. I went for the aftermarket system as there's a display mounted on headlining above the rear window with a visual display (looks a bit like a led display indicating proximity for the left and right side individually). The housings matched to the headlining and looks OEM. It's good as you can see the display in the rear vision mirror when you are reversing. The Ghia has a couple of extra bits like the adjustable pedals and the 8 way memory seats. The regular pedals are fine for someone my size and the seats aren't a problem as I'm the only one who drives my car. Although the rear seats in the Ghia have head rests but I'm not likely to sit in them anyway... and in NZ, the side airbags are standard in the XR6T.

Grass said "Pity Ford won't release the real STi, the one they base their awd rally car on..." The Focus WRC is a purpose built rally car which bears about the same resemblance to any Focus as a V8 Supercar has to a Falcon GT - ie not very much. There is talk of a Focus Cosworth - even proto runners in the previous shell but nothing for a while. The Golf GTi is a pretty good car, the Focus will be something like that - more powerful, cheaper and will handle well (most of the Euro Fords have done so even the Ka, through Fiesta, Focus and the recent Mondeo that AU doesn't get especially the ST models). It won't grip like AWD off line or in wet/slippery conditions but in some respects the RWD or FWD variants are more fun to drive than the AWD ones. Anyone driven a Coupe 4 compared to a regular Monaro or even the RWD vs AWD Territory on dry tarmac? With about 166kw, it's going to be close in power to the WRX and at least it looks reasonable... after the styling cockups at Subaru you'd think they'd have thought a lot before the new nose... this from the company that had a car seemingly inspired by a door stop (the SVX)... I drove warmed-up Euro Ford hatches over here in NZ for years and for the kind of driving I did they were great value and I could wring their necks without feeling they were going to turn around and bite me somewhere soft and vulnerable. And there weren't many folk even in Subies and Evo that got to the ski hill as quickly as I could - helps if you have every corner memorised into pace notes.

I mentioned this because I spend a lot of time driving along open country roads getting to ski hills or away on dive trips and have often been one of the first to arrive at an accident site... and even I haven't been the first to arrive, often the first person trained in first aid with basic equipment eg extinguisher, first aid kit, warning triangle, hi vis gear, torches and tools. Now the guys in emergency services are great professionals and I think they do a superb job. Often if you do happen upon an accident scene, as someone trained in first aid I think you have an obligation to try and help folk out - figured karma what goes around, comes around. Now, the first thing you do at a site is try to ascertain risks and severity. You make assessments on relative risk, try to secure the scene and decide on priority for tasks including getting help and providing help. Now with my background, I'm aware of the risks of injury to self in helping others. It's something you consider when deciding a course of action - but I do know that with a hybrid that there's much more unknown risk. Sure a conventional combustion car is risky with fire and the electrical system can hurt you (the voltage off the ignition is pretty nasty). But it's reasonably easy to figure out how to turn off the ignition with the key. On the other hand, a damaged hybrid contains all sorts of stuff like capacitors, batteries with nastier stuff than lead acid (and more of them) and much more wiring - along with the combustibles like fuel. Earthing a capacitor is going to do some serious damage if it passes thru you and it's not obvious if a panel is charged. Call me a luddite but the thought of being fried does make me worry if I did find a severely damaged Prius. Much more so than a conventional car - not to mention all the nasty stuff in the batteries...

Front Suspensions - there isn't anything inherently wrong with a MacStrut setup - some BMWs still use it. However the VZ uses one one piece arm to locate so it's a little old-fashioned in its setup... the Nissan Super-Strut ala Primera shows where this has developed to... I'd expect the VE to do something similar and retain the McPherson Strut. The pro and cons of McStrut front ends are pretty well known - they are cheap and easy to manufacture/assemble. The strut has to be reasonably tall (Colin Chapman tried using very short ones in some Lotus variants but they didn't work) and in theory there's a problem with stiction where the initial friction on the strut can temporarily give a non-linear response to bump. The double A-Arm on the Falcon might be what a lot of race cars use (and incidentally what both the Late model camira and Falcon V8 supercars BOTH have under Project Blueprint) but it has actually been around since the original Falcon... but in theory it possesses theoretically better geometry. Driving wise, the Ford has more weight over the front end so in the Forte and Futuras it tends to understeer more easily - could be the crap tyres though too. The steering on the Falcon has been described as 'razor sharp' ie it has initially strong turn in (or initial response to steering) and is fairly sensitive just off centre. Some folk think that this means it doesn't have a lot of 'sneeze factor' and makes the car busier with small steering corrections. This may be true but in the sportier variants, this makes them pretty deft esp in the XR6T which doesn't have the extra kg's over the front axle the hefty iron block V8's have. The XR6T (and for that matter the 'Phoon) are a lot easier to change direction eg chicane or traffic calming flip flops than the XR8 which doesn't seem to want to change direction as readily. The Late model camira in FE2 format ie SV6/SV8/SS doesn't have the same turn in response or the same sensitivity just off centre but they grip reasonably well. The chassis is a lot lighter in the front end and they grip reasonably well but they tend to ride very firm compared to the Falcon. They also tend to crash about more on potholes and a bit more reactive to bumps. With the huge amounts of power assistance that seemed to be added to cars these days, neither car has especially good feedback and feel but enough for most folk. Rear ends are interesting. The Ford has two rear ends, the Hotchkiss one in the wagon/ute (ie live axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs) and the control blade IRS. The wagon/ute suspension means a flat floor and no intrusive suspension towers - it's been criticised for being a billy cart setup but it serves the purpose well which is load carrying. If you are wondering, the V8 Supercars use a live axle with coil springs and a Watts Linkage to help locate the axle. This is the Falcon rear end developed for the XE Falcon and eventually replaced with a wishbone setup with the AU - note the AU IRS is not the same as the BA/BF. On a race track, the smooth surface means that the problems with ride and the heavy axle (diff and half axles) flapping about on mid corner bumps aren't a major. A lixe axle possesses certain characteristics that are good in race cars - it's cheap, strong and it maintains constant camber and track throughout the suspension travel (more on that later). Ironically, control blade was originally developed for another wagon. The Mondeo wagon introduced control blade (the sedans still use a strut rear end setup) and it works pretty well. It's pretty cheap to make compared to a double wishbone setup and provides most of the same advantages of more complicated multi-link IRS. It's in the Focus, as well as the other cars off the same platform ie the Mazda 3 and the Volvo. In developing the Territory, Ford made a good choice in levering development costs with the BA as it offers great characteristics for the Territory in terms of ride and grip as well. The Late model camira uses a semi-trailing arm setup (the original Late model camira used a live axle with coils and a panhard rod) with coil springs and a toe control link. During the 80s, Opel/Vauxhall developed a turbo variant of the Carlton/Senator (from which the Expensive Daewoo IRS idea was pinched) with a couple of extra links which have ended up in the sportier versions of the Commodore. ST Arms don't have the same geometry advantages of a double wishbone and under load tend to increase camber. That's why you'll hear that Commodores tend to wear the insides of the rears - this happened a lot with Police cars which carry a tonne of gear in the trunk. The ST IRS also tends to under severe sudden loads to tend to yaw more - ie it can get interesting with oversteer more readily. Fine if you expect not so good if you're mum driving home in the wet with the kids. Driving wise, the Fords ride better although the grip levels are fairly close. I think that the Ford reacts better to mid corner bumps and is less likely to do something spooky under duress.

Carver... It may only do 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds... but how many times do you drive alone or with only one passenger? Unfortunately, because they are handbuilt at the moment with a production run of only 500 this year they are 30,000 euros each which is pretty steep. If I won Tatts however, that would be one of the first things I'd buy (after paying off my mortgage and sorting out some stuff for family and friends)... If it was as much fun as it looks, it would be a perfect thing to take up to the shops and back - and leave the XR6T for one of those open road big boost attacks...

Same could be said for petrol cars, try rescuing someone from a crashed petrol car and think about how explosive petrol can be... I'd imagine that there would be a isolation switch somewhere for the electro-hybrids, not to mention a way to safely earth all electrical systems first... and again the same thing could be said about normal cars in that the battaries in them can usually produce a few amps, all it takes is 100 milliamps (0.1 of an amp) to actually kill someone... Infact almost any electrical appliance used around the house has the potential to be leathal if something goes wrong... I just find it a little amusing when I heard that you'd need to do nearly 800,000 km to break even on fuel costs compared to getting a same sized car in a petrol only version... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, petrol is explosive, yes petrol is flammable. But I can smell petrol, I can see petrol. I can tell if petrol is leaking... and I can see/feel the heat from burning petrol... But I can't see electricity, the very large capacitors in hybrids contain massive charges and I would not where to look to find an isolation switch. Even if you turn the switch off, completing the circuit for a capacitor will probably kill you - providing I could find the switch and earth the systems... anyone carry a multimeter in their boot ? I carry an extinguiser though!

If you want economy - check this out (perfect for heading down to the shops for milk, bread and the morning papers)... www.carver-europe.com

Well I just got a job where I could have a company car... I got a BF XR6T with a fully maintained lease and a fuel card. That way I don't pay for fuel or rear tyres for that matter... And I get about 14.4litres/100km, which is about 0.6 litres worse than the POS Buick engined Late model camira Acclaim (13.8litres/100km) that I got to use until my T arrived (had to wait as it was 'built to order') and it's about 1.2 litres better than the Territory AWD (15.6litres/100km) that I had at the last job. I spend a lot of time in traffic commuting, it's about 25km to/from work and in the morning it's about a 40 minute drive and in the evening it's just over an hour. I'd get better economy if the air-con wasn't on 'antarctica-mode' all of the time instead of winding down a window... but I get hay fever and I figure that the pollen filter takes some of the smog out of the air I get to breathe. Having said that I figured that the Territory was an economical vehicle... try taking 4 passengers, 6 steel dive tanks, scuba gear for four folk, luggage for a weekend for five (including 3 women) and four mountain bikes without having to tow a trailer or use the roof bars + be in great comfort for three or four hours driving. And it was great for ski weekends. And try recycling the materials in a Prius at the end of its useful life... or have a think about whether you want to try and rescue folk trapped in it after a crash... with all that elec-trickery at seriously high voltage lying around in very large capacitors I'm having lots of second thoughts about it...

JetPilot Sticker? Judging from the number of 'K&N Filtercharger Equipped' decals on the POS grey imports (don't get me wrong, there are some really good grey imports) I see doing the 'main street cruise' on Friday nights in the city - it must instantly grant to the equipped car - noisy exhausts, really weird negative camber geometry on the suspension, 'spinner' hub cap covers, bass heavy audio systems that value volume over quality and car seats that have collapsed seat rails as the squabs are on the floor pan (either that or we are breeding a new race of ugly, poxy faced midgets with bad mullets... That and the urge to want to drag me every set of traffic lights...

Guess I can't figure out why you'd want to go and cut a whole in the roof in the first place. Reduces bending and torsional stiffness - plus reduces headroom and removes some of the sound deadening in the roof - and adds weight... I usually burn enough fossil fuel with the airconditioning set to 'Antarctica mode' and the windows wound up to avoid the heat, smog, pollen and humidity - at least with the dual zone you can always offer to turn it up in the passenger seat.

silhouette black... and Glenn is right - it does look good for about 3-4 years which is about when the car goes back to the lease company and I get a new one. (The last vehicle was a silhouette black Territory for a year and one half - but I changed jobs and gave it back to the old company... now I get to have an XR6T instead...) Had 4 out of 5 red cars in a row prior to that though... the only exception being a polar white XF S Pack and I didn't have another Falcon for 12 years...

Two things to look at... see if you can get the car on a chassis jig and see if it is actually straight. You might not have pranged the car but it could have built bent or worst still been damaged prior to sale and repaired (very unusual for a Ford but not completely unheard of with some other marques). The other thing to look is whether anything was damaged during the lowering process or whether the pre-load on the springs are the same. Also I've seen springs that started out the same height but after some track sessions ended up being different heights - didn't happen with the Eibach ones but did happen with some of the others. One of the things to check is ride height - it may have been okay when the car was set up but the suspension can settle and may do so unevenly.

Power Train wise, I'd like to see the following: Direct Petrol Injection for the Inline Six (increased power and improved economy), further refinements to the dual independent timing and reduced friction/noise from the valve gear as well as further tuning of the intake and exhaust tracks (perhaps a different inlet manifold for the turbo six) For the high performance Falcons (XR6T and XR8), it would be nice to have a carbon reinforced prop shaft to improve rigidity - and I not holding my breath for something like the option 2.90 diff for the XR6T. The current ZF box can stay, I like it and forget those stupid flappy paddle gear (eg Aston Martin) shifts they are annoying. It would be nicer if the shifter was a little closer to the driver too. The T56 will do as well although improvements in the shift and slightly shorter throws would be an improvement. Ford could consider AWD but I can't actually see a market for it even in a high performance variant - the Coupe 4 sold in negligible numbers. Chassis wise - Ford should build the next one with a wider engine bay so that the engines (esp the V8s) actually fit in the engine bay. They could consider using a variation of the front A arm design of the Territory suspension to achieve slightly better geometry but keep the current behind the axle steering as there are reasons the Territory has the rack location different (AWD, centre of gravity, roll centre etc). I'm still not convinced about the electric active steering in the 3 series just yet so maybe a linear rack for the FPVs next time? XR6T and XR8 brake spec should go across the board as should the DSC. Mainly as I think it will save more lives with non-enthusiast drivers in the XT and Futura. And no run flat tyres. The use of hydroformed steel one piece panels for better fit and tolerances, tailored blanks and finite element analysis to reduce weight but maintain strength as well as some other materials in certain locations eg magnesium seat frames or rocker covers. I can't see anything other than steel panels or suspension arms at this stage because the Falcon has to be durable and value for money. Adjustable headlights (like european fords) with the Xenon for the high performance and premium models would be good as well as ones that respond to steering. Side curtain bags to go with the side impact bags and airbags would be a good start too! Interior wise, find a VW Passat as a benchmark for interior trim quality - the 380 missed the boat completely which Expensive Daewoo will be aware of acutely. The current VZ is a generation behind in this area so the VE will have to pull finger. Leather wrap for the handbrake and the shifter would be good too. Ford have done a superb job with the functionality (pity about some of the materials which is why the new Passat is mentioned) of the interior of the Territory so maybe the design team can do a similar job with the Falcon eg the drink bottle holders with a bungy in every door, the rubbish receptacle with the dishwasher safe insert in the centre console, the laptop storage under the front seat etc... The Boston Acoustics audio system in the 300C would be a good benchmark for audio quality too. The ICC needs better graphics than my old childhood Late model camira 64 and the dash info panel on the Late model camira is a good place to start for functionality (and the ability to adjust many items such as light delay etc would be handy too). The windscreen needs to be more upright and I think the VE makes a mistake with the rear light being too fast (ie flat) which makes water difficult to clear without a wiper and compromises the utility of the boot as the lid is too short eg Accord Euro. It would nice if we could get the Falcon seats to have a lower hip point as the Ford has a higher one than its competitors. Reduced windnoise from the mirrors (which should be bigger) and A pillars would be handy. Further differentiation between the XR6 and XR6T would be good although they have sold a lot of XR6 despite having no extra power than the base models - good marketing though! More differentiation between the premium and hi-po models compared to the taxi fleet would be nice too! E - Gas should stay and maybe a diesel option for Territory - would be good for the environment if they made a hybrid for the cab fleet! Think that's all on my (mostly achievable) wish list - are you listening Mr Ford?

300C is a US built car... and its rubbish. Nothing fits particular well, the quality of the hard plastics is Daewoo Lanc... oops Expensive Daewoo Barina ie the Korean one not the European one. The whole 'bling-bling' thing makes me want to 'puke' although the stereo is pretty good. I think you should compare the 300C to a XR6T - it's a Ghia or Calais competitor and neither of these are really on my desired car list. I think I'd go back and get another Territory AWD before I looked at any of these 3 as it's much more practical - esp once they stick a turbo petrol in one. The only well put together US assembled cars I've driven have been the M Class Merc and the X5 - neither of which were screwed together anywhere as well as the E Class or the 5 series equivalents - I think my Belgian assembled generation 3 Mondeo ST (the one Australia didn't get) was put together better than either of these.