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Australias Best Cars
The best Falcon yet.
Traditionalists will cry out “what the” when they see that the large under $60k winner for 2012 is the Ford Falcon Ecoboost G6, forget the fancy name it’s a four cylinder Falcon! But the Ecoboost is arguably thebest mainstream Falcon ever built, bettering the scores of last year’s winner, its sibling the LPG fuelled six-cylinder Falcon EcoLPI in some key areas.
The fact that the Falcon is a winner again, in a different guise, underscores the work that the manufacturer is doing in trying to arrest the slide of large car sales in Australia by providing consumers a number of viable alternatives to the big six. And like last year where the judges thought the LPG Falcon was as good if not if not better to drive as the comparable six-cylinder petrol version, it’s a similar story with the new Ecoboost.
And thankfully the line ‘the Falcon is powered by the tried and proven in-line six-cylinder‘, something we have been saying for decades it seems can now be replaced with the line “by the new 2.0 litre turbocharged engine”. Definitely a sign of moving with the times.
The new engine developing 179kW [240hp]of power and 353Nm [260 lb-ft] of engine torque might be slightly below the petrol and LPG Falcon in terms of maximum outputs but the key differenceis the engine torque and where it’s developed. The Ecoboost,with its smaller capacity and turbocharged engine develops its maximum torque at just 2000rpm, at a better more useable rpm than the six‘s, where it develops its max torque figure at 3250rpm, some 1250rpm higher. Engine torque is the key ingredient in providing strong acceleration off the mark and an overall satisfying drive experience, and the Ecoboost with just 2.0 litres at its disposal performs as well as the bigger six.
You can have the best engine in the world but if the rest of the car is off the pace then it will soon picked up on, especially with the Aust Best Cars criteria. Thankfully the Ecoboosts underpinnings are just like last year’s winner, the Eco LPi, but with some improvements. The lighter four cylinder engine reduces the Ecoboosts weight by some 109kgs [240lbs] and shifts the mass away from the front axle, improving weight distribution. The result is a Falcon that has much better steering precision and handles directional changes nearly as well is its smaller stable mates. The volume selling model we tested , the G6 has a much better tyre and wheel package as standard equipment that improves not only the Ecoboosts prowess through the witches hats but also delivers an improved ride quality, especially on second class roads.
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