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2009 FG Falcon And SY Territory MkII Now With Improved Fuel Economy And ANCAP Five-Star Safety Rating For E-Gas Range

There are now more reasons to give the local FG Falcon a serious eyeball if you’re in the market for a stylish and, in our opinion, superbly engineered larger car.
Ford Australia has announced improvements to the Falcon’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissio


There are now more reasons to give the local FG Falcon a serious eyeball if you're in the market for a stylish and, in our opinion, superbly engineered larger car.

Ford Australia has announced improvements to the Falcon's fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, and, joining its petrol-engined siblings, five-star ANCAP safety rating for the Falcon E-Gas range.

According to Ford, Falcon XT sedans with the optional ZF six-speed automatic transmission produced from April 2009, will have a fuel consumption rating of just 9.9 l/100km. This puts it near the head of the rankings for fuel efficiency in the large car segment.

A reduction in CO2 tailpipe emissions – down to 236 g/km – gives the Falcon XT a 5.5 star Greenhouse Rating (for vehicles producing less than 241 g/km of CO2 emissions). For those who may be wondering, these improvements have not come at the expense of on-road power and performance which remains unchanged at a reasonably hefty 195kW and 391Nm.

"The Falcon XT with a six-speed auto now equals the fuel efficiency of the top selling medium-size four cylinder auto model currently sold in Australia," Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela said.

"Customers can now choose a true family size vehicle that delivers fuel efficiency equal with a four cylinder model, while also providing all the traditional benefits of a large car package, such as performance, refinement, interior space, passenger comfort, five-star safety, luggage capacity and towing capability," he said.

The G6 range has also come in for fuel-efficiency improvements, now achieving 10.1 l/100km (an improvement on the 10.2 previously achieved) with CO2 emissions of just 239 g/km post April 2009 production and also achieving a 5.5 star Greenhouse Rating .

The improved fuel efficiency on I6 petrol Falcon sedans results from a new catalytic converter, new engine calibration for improved cold-start performance and changes to the transmission mapping.

The most dramatic improvements however, concern the E-Gas range. From May 2009 production, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) will be standard on all E-Gas-powered FG Falcon sedans and BF wagons, and an option on the XL and R6 Utes (while standard on the XR6).

Those who are up-to-date on the issue will be aware that stability control has been an issue in E-Gas powered cars (and in LPG conversions across most brands and models). Ford engineers have broken through with a special stability control calibration for E-Gas vehicles, combining brake intervention, throttle control and spark retard to improve active safety levels.

Later this year, the Falcon XR6 will also be available with E-Gas.

"The dedicated LPG E-Gas engine will be available as an option on the Falcon XR6 sedan, which will give customers greater choice by combining the lower fuel costs of LPG-powered vehicles with the distinctive visual appeal of the Falcon XR brand," Mr Burela said.

For any of you behind the mail on this, running a Falcon on E-Gas gives you the running costs of a small four-cylinder, even allowing for the fall-off in consumption, and a cleaner-running engine.

The 2009 SY Territory MkII has also come in for fuel-consumption improvements, achieving an almost five percent improvement on five-seater RWD models, down from 12.2 l/100km to 11.6 l/100km and a 1.6 percent improvement in seven seater models, down from 12.2 l/100km to 12.0 l/100km.

The 2009 Territory TX comes also comes standard with side-curtain airbags, cruise control, 17-inch alloy wheels and a full-body colour package for the bumpers, door handles and mirrors, while the TS comes with the full-body colour package, along with reverse-parking camera, fog lamps, leather-wrapped steering wheel, handbrake and gearshift, and a third-row seat as standard.

Ghia models also get the third-row seat, an Alpine rear DVD system, side steps, rear privacy glass and 18-inch alloy wheels.

So check 'em out. The FG and Territory are both darn good cars, full stop. Now they're even better.

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