Ford Falcon (XF)

The Ford Falcon (XF) is a full-sized car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1984 to 1988. It was the third iteration of the fourth generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XF)—the luxury-oriented version. Between 1993 and 1999, this series provided the platform for the Falcon utility ( XG and XH) that was sold alongside the fifth-generation Ford Falcon sedans and wagons.

Overview

The XF sedan and wagon range was sold between October 1984 and February 1988, with the utility and panel vans running through to March 1993.

In 1980, Ford Australia planned to phase out the full-size, rear-wheel drive Falcon after the 1982 XE model. It was to be replaced by a smaller front-wheel drive car derived from the Ford Telstar/Mazda 626 platform, in a program dubbed Project Capricorn. However, the market success of the XD Falcon against the smaller Holden Commodore saw Bill Dix, who became CEO in 1981, cancel the project. Ford instead began development of the EA26 Falcon program, a new full-size, rear-wheel drive car range. The XF Falcon was conceived as an interim facelift for the XE Falcon until the all-new car was ready to go on sale.

The XF Falcon continued the sales leadership of its predecessor. It remains Ford Australia's best-selling Falcon model ever with 278,101 built. The production total was boosted by a prolonged run of the utility and panel van models, Ford not having developed an EA Falcon-based replacement for the commercial vehicle range.

Powertrains

XF models were available with a choice of 3.3 or 4.1-litre engine six-cylinder engines. The 4.1-litre unit was standard on Fairmont models and the S-Pack.

Power and torque outputs for the carburetted 3.3 and 4.1 litre engines saw little or no change from the preceding XE series; engineering revisions were aimed at improving fuel economy and driveability. The 3.3 litre engine's maximum power and torque outputs remained at and . Maximum power for the 4.1 litre engine decreased slightly from , while torque increased from

The optional 4.1 litre EFI engine underwent a significant upgrade for the XF series, with a switch from Bosch Jetronic LE to Ford's EEC IV electronic fuel injection system. Maximum power output increased from to , and maximum torque increased from to . An XF Falcon S-Pack equipped with the EFI engine and four-speed manual transmission tested by Wheels magazine in 1984 accelerated from 0 to in 9.3 seconds, ran the standing in 16.4 seconds, and ran to its 4500 rpm redline in fourth gear for a top speed of . These performance metrics were only marginally behind the respective 8.9 seconds, 16.3 seconds and recorded for a 1982 XE Fairmont Ghia ESP equipped with a 5.8 litre V8 and four-speed manual transmission.

From 1 January 1986, Australian Design Rule 37 came into effect, requiring all new cars to be equipped for operation with unleaded petrol. ADR 37 specified emissions standards that Ford met by the fitting the Falcon with a catalytic converter, and Falcon engines were modified for running on regular grade 91 RON unleaded fuel. Power and torque outputs for the carburetted engines fell slightly; the 3.3 now produced a maximum and , and the 4.1 produced a maximum and . Conversely, maximum power output from the 4.1 EFI engine increased slightly to , although torque fell to .

Transmissions available were 3 speed column shift, four- or five-speed manual floor shift, or the much more popular three-speed automatic with the selector lever located either on the floor or the column in cars that seat six. In three-seat utilities and vans, the three-speed manual on the column was standard.

In October 1986 a further update was released, which saw availability of the five-speed manual transmission, previously only available with the 3.3 litre engine, extended to both carburetted and fuel-injected 4.1 litre engines. Equipped with a 4.1 litre engine and five-speed transmission, the Falcon GL sedan's fuel economy was quoted as city cycle and highway cycle.

Specification levels

* Falcon (utility and panel van)
* Falcon GL (utility, panel van, sedan, and wagon)
* Falcon GLS Ute (utility)
* Fairmont (sedan and wagon)
* Fairmont Ghia (sedan and wagon): the luxury Ghia featured a 4.1-litre fuel-injected or carburettor inline six-cylinder engine, and a trip computer that calculated fuel consumption and driving times, among other things. The drive line consisted of a ''BW40'' three-speed auto with either a 2.77 or 2.92 LSD and four-wheel disc brakes. A wagon variant of the Ghia was made available from October 1986.

The ride and handling were described as competent, but the unpowered steering was heavy at low speeds with an overly strong castor action after performing a manoeuvre such as a U-turn. Power steering was an option on higher-specification models, which in contrast was described by some as too light.

An optional "S" pack was available on some models, featuring body stripes, fog lamps, styled wheels, Falcon "S" badging, steering rake adjustment, driver's lumbar support, driver's seat tilt and footrest, and sports instrument cluster.

Ford produced some limited-edition, value-packaged vehicles during the XF series, including the Falcon Silver Edition sedan of 1985 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Ford Falcon in Australia. Also, a six-seater GL-based Falcon Family Edition sedan and wagon were offered in 1986. These limited-edition vehicles featured unique versions of two-tone "style-tone" paintwork.

File:1986-1988 Ford XF Falcon GL sedan 05.jpg, 1986–1988 Ford Falcon GL sedan
File:1987 Ford Falcon (XF) GL station wagon (2015-11-11) 02.jpg, 1987 Ford Falcon GL wagon
File:1985 Ford Falcon (XF) Silver Anniversary sedan (2015-07-03).jpg, 1985 Ford Falcon Silver Anniversary sedan
File:1988 Ford Fairmont (XF) sedan (2015-07-09) 02.jpg, Ford Fairmont sedan
File:Ford Fairmont Ghia XF Sedan.jpg, 1986–1988 Ford Fairmont Ghia sedan
File:Ford Falcon XF Utility.jpg, 1990–1993 Ford Falcon utility
File:1988-1990 Ford XF Falcon utility 02.jpg, 1988–1990 Ford Falcon utility
File:1990 Ford XF Falcon Panel Van 01.jpg, Ford Falcon Van (XF)

Nissan Ute

The Nissan Ute was a badge-engineered version of the XF Falcon utility sold by Nissan in Australia from July 1988 to September 1992. Nissan Utes were sold as a result of a model-sharing scheme known as the Button car plan. In an attempt to rationalise the Australian automotive industry, the Button plan induced car manufacturers to share core platforms. For this particular vehicle, XF series Ford utility vehicles were rebadged as "Nissan".

Nissan did not offer the various equipment levels of the Ford donor vehicle, instead offering only two basic trims (DX and ST) without the option of an "S" pack. The plan was generally considered a "disaster" by the industry, as the car buying public steered clear of the badge-engineered vehicles. Furthermore, spare parts could often be purchased from only the original vehicle maker—as was the case with the Nissan Ute. The model code was "XFN".

Motorsport

Due to the lack of a V8 engine, the XF Falcon was not suitable for involvement in the Australian Touring Car Championship, with most Ford supporting drivers and/or teams electing to race the Ford Mustang or Ford Sierra RS Cosworth under the new Group A regulations.

The XF Falcon, however, was raced in the AUSCAR series, with Jim Richards winning the first AUSCAR series in a XF Falcon. XF AUSCAR's were fitted with 5.8 L 351 Cleveland V8s (subsequent Falcon models in AUSCAR racing would use the 5.0 L 302 cid V8), and had an aero kit designed by Ford Australia designer Wayne Draper.

References

Further reading

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{{Ford Falcon

XF
Cars of Australia
Cars introduced in 1984
XF Falcon
Sedans
Station wagons
Coupé utilities
Vans
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
1980s cars
1990s cars
Cars discontinued in 1993