Falcon XR6T

A heavy car such as the XR6T with a big extent of mods and suspension work feels surprisingly close to a fully fledged race car actually, unless you mean big cars are unpredictable and hard to control (which you would be wrong aswell). I have driven many EVO's and GTR's and don't get me wrong, theyre beautiful cars to drive, the EVO for example being tight and compact it does resemble a race car in braking, cornering etc. and the GTR... That was the best Japanese car I had ever driven, it handled those long, sweeping corners with great balance and precision but the XR is so much more appealing an fun to drive, and it does in fact feel like a race car.

I've never driven or owned a base model BA so I don't know what their like (and by the sounds of it I don't want to), but I can assure you (by what you've just said), the XR6T is far better engineered. I've done just under 95,000kms since 2003, I have NEVER, EVER had a problem with it, it is COMPLETELY sound in the cabin which means absolutely no rattles and the ride quality is nothing short of astounding compared to your Japanese cars, I've had a run against a 240kW EVO VIII and beat him down the quarter CONSIDERABLY (with only 20kW extra over him it must be the 883Nm of torque...). I also took the Falcon down to Mallala when it just had a bigger front mount and a Flash tuner and blew away a BMW Z4, R33 GTR (only mods were minor suspension), WRX STi, Two EVO Makinen Editions and an RX7. This was all to my surprise, I expected to be at the back of the pack (For a relatively stock XR6T I was posting 1.22sec around Mallala!). So if you haven't ever driven an XR6T it's worth your while mate, they are the benchmark of Australian performance cars.

After the release of Ford's first turbocharged car they couldn't have gone alot better. I've drove one, I got one, and I'm modifying one. And I was just wondering if Australia has finally faced up to the Japs after their defeat at Bathurst. Being extremely cheap to modify (I have over 260rwkw at less than $35k including the cars purchase price), I belive that the weight can be disregarded in this case because of the huge torque it has over the Jap cars and the huge power you can make very cheaply (I've started this thread again because I lost the other one). And plus, if a family occasion pops up you can always take them and friends with you, don't see many GTR's with a towbar do ya? Have your say...

Graham West Workshops did my XR6T, it's all part of an MRT performance package.

I borrowed my mates slicks, the run was at A.I.R.

Yes I am really only solely talking about an XR6T but have included other Australian manufacturers for the Holden/HSV lovers, hence an Australia against Japan subheading, to tell you the truth I'm not the greatest fan of V8's because I think they are overated an are all bark and no bite. For example, I think if you chuck an XR6T amongst the V8 Supercars with the same extent of modifications they have, the XR6T would rip the V8 a new exhaust hole. So it's not really about stereotype Aussie V8's against little turbocharged Jap cars. Because I think the XR6T is the best family Australian and Performance car ever made I want to put it to the test against legendary Japanese cars such as the Skyline and Evo, I have the specs now all I wan't to hear are the opinions.

OK lets get this thing going, now I happen to think that the new BA Falcon XR range looks aggressive as, as does the VY and VZ Holden range, I know Skylines do too but (firstly) I want to know how many of you prefer the look of the BA XR range to any of the GTR's ever made.

Great points there and I know they are different cars for different people which makes it hard for me to start the topic but I'm just trying to compare them bang for your bucks, I'm not really aiming at the older market such as EL etc. I'm more aiming at the (Ford/FPV: BA and up) and (Holden/HSV: VT and above). So thanks for your reply, just letting everyone know that I'm just seeing where Australia WEIGHS up against the Japs, lol.

Just wondering where Australian cars sit on the scale these days, e.g XR6 Turbo, HSV Clubsport etc. against the mighty Jap road warriors. As some of you may know, the XR6T, XR8 and HSV clubsports etc. are very cheap and easy to modify compared to some highly priced Japanese cars that are diffcult to get parts for. So in a competition of bang for your bucks I'm wondering if Australia has finally pulled away from the Japs with cheap modifications with huge gains, another plus is the insurance isn't high, cars such as the XR6T are very fuel economic compared to a rotary (such as Japan's mighty RX7), and is still capable of taking friends and family around with plenty of room. Has Australia finally overtaken the Japs after their defeat at Bathurst? Have your say...