Car Review - Road test FPV GT and love it

[Elks]

Some more good news about the lastest FPV.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/...12-CAR-review/

CAR Reviews


Statistics
How much? £47,500
On sale in the UK: Now
Engine: 4951cc 32v supercharged V8, 450bhp @ 5750rpm, 420 lb ft @ 2200-5500rpm
Transmission: 6sp auto, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 4.9sec 0-62, 155mph, 20.5mpg, 325g/km
How heavy / made of? 1863kg/steel
How big (length/width/height in mm)? 4970/1868/1453mm

CAR's rating
Handling ****
Performance ****
Usability ****
Feelgood factor ****
Readers' rating ****

Ford FPV Boss 335 GT (2012) CAR review By Ben Oliver

First Drives 07 May 2012 07:00


Ford’s Australian outpost has built its most powerful car ever: the Ford Performance Vehicles Boss 335 GT. That’s 335 kilowatts, by the way: 450bhp to you and me, from a supercharged five-litre V8 engine shoe-horned into the bodyshell of Ford’s standard, rear-wheel drive Falcon saloon. With a bonnet bulge the size of Uluru and that power output stencilled into its black racing stripes, the Boss ain’t subtle: it looks and sounds every bit as fast as it is. But can the Boss 335 GT transcend its family saloon roots to deliver a world-class performance car experience? We test the FPV Boss 335 GT to find out...

FPV Boss 335 GT: A product of the downunder musclecar sanctuary
Australia’s devotion to the muscle car easily exceeds America’s. It builds them far better, and has continued to do so despite conditions which ought to have killed Aussies’ appetite for big, powerful, thirsty cars stone dead. The heyday of US muscle cars ended abruptly with the oil crisis of 1971: they died overnight in an automotive mass-extinction event on a par with the demise of the dinosaurs. But Australian muscle-car culture was just hitting its stride. That year it produced the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III, the new Boss’s spiritual forebear and now the most valuable Australian-made car, with genuine examples changing hands for €750,000. And it kept on making them through the seventies.

The heart of the FPV Boss 335 GT: V8 muscle with a helping hand from Prodrive
Times ought to be tough now too. Australian fuel prices are closer to Europe’s than America’s, and it suffers some of the most stringent speed-limit enforcement in the world. But Aussies’ enthusiasm for thunderous, thirsty V8s seems undimmed, and they seem to build them better with British help. Just as Tom Walkinshaw helped found Holden Special Vehicles, David Richards’ Prodrive is a partner in Ford Performance Vehicles and the ‘Miami’ engine in the Boss is Prodrive’s first engine project. This is significant: Richards has a stake in Aston Martin, and while the Miami engine won’t end up in next-gen Astons, don’t bet against Prodrive engineering whatever does power them.

Driving the FPV Boss 335 GT
Like many other Aussie cars the GT is pleasingly Spartan, doing away with the fripperies to keep the price down. So the glovebox falls open with a clunk, the silver cabin trim looks sprayed-on and the boot is barely trimmed and has no grab handles to pull it shut.

But the stuff Aussie drivers actually need is prioritized, such as long gearing and some of the world’s best seats to cope with long, long distances.

And those distances will feel a lot shorter in the GT, if you’re prepared to brave the speed cameras. Based on an American Ford V8 block used in the current Mustang 5.0 GT and Boss 302 the Boss 335 engine develops huge linear thrust and the acceleration feels quicker than the claimed 4.9sec 0-60 time. From inside the whine of the supercharger dominates but from outside there’s a terrific rip from the exhausts accompanied, usually, by the sound of the rear tyres ripping at the tarmac.

The Boss 335 GT has traction control, but the system’s main contribution seems to be to blink at you from the instrument binnacle to tell you you’ve lost traction. This can be provoked at will; fortunately the Ford’s natural chassis balance allows you to keep the car pointing where it’s meant to go. It has quick, accurate steering and a fine ride; not up to the standards of the best European sports saloons, but streets ahead of most US muscle cars.

Verdict
So is it any good? It certainly comes at an attainable price. At AUD$71, 290 or £47,500 the basic GT is less than half the price of the similarly powered Audi RS5, which costs £115,000 after local import duties, though the recent strength of the Aussie dollar makes both look more expensive. Ford currently has no plans to bring its rowdy Aussie cousins here; they would need to be cheaper, so the exchange rates alone rule it out. It’s a shame; the Aussie muscle car is just what we could do with right now; simple, exuberant, distinctive and fun.

[Nikked]

I wonder how some exports of the FPV's would go in england, shame about the exchange rate.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Nikked

I wonder how some exports of the FPV's would go in england, shame about the exchange rate.

Didn't they try several years ago? Took over a bunch of XR6 turbos I think. Must not have got off the ground.

[Nikked]

The Xr6 turbo export was a NISPRO thing, they tuned a few of them and exported them.

Not sure of the number's though.

[mik]

a good review, but so it should be.

[Moby Vic]

How does FoA only manage to get 450 hp with a supercharger when we get 420 hp naturally aspirated with the 5.0? (Yes, you get considerably more torque.)

[Auslandau]

Detuned to the max ...... 2 reasons ...... for later development ..... and to not wake up those with the power to say 'Supercar scare' from 40 years ago.

They are very underrated by saying they are 335 kw's anyway. They are getting more on the Dyno stock and with a tune are hitting 400rwkw.

[Elks]

That 335 kw is the official rating as GM's top rating is 325 kw. Most are producing better than that at the wheels. And it's widely guessed that he real number is closer to 370 fwkw. Which is no doubt why they comment that it feels faster that 450 hp.

They are in a pretty soft state of tune too. I went for a ride today in one the had aftermarket intercooler injectors airbox and a tune and was dynoed at 440 kw at the wheels. Thats 590hp in US money.

There is also a thread elsewhere on here. A stock auto GT ran a 12.5 quater mile at WSID this week. Not bad for a family car.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Moby Vic

How does FoA only manage to get 450 hp with a supercharger when we get 420 hp naturally aspirated with the 5.0? (Yes, you get considerably more torque.)

Being a septic you may remember a rather famous slogan from one of your countrymen:

Speak softly and carry a big stick

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by Moby Vic

How does FoA only manage to get 450 hp with a supercharger when we get 420 hp naturally aspirated with the 5.0? (Yes, you get considerably more torque.)

I think Ford Australia's only goal with the blower was to get more low-end torque. The N/A 5.0 can get 335kw (448hp) on its own, which is only 8 more HP than the Boss 302. Ford needs a GTDI (EcoBoost) version of the 5.0

[RASER]

Originally Posted by Nikked

I wonder how some exports of the FPV's would go in england, shame about the exchange rate.

Total rubbish B/S excuse, HSV export to UK, they are priced similar, end-of-story

Ford USA want to kill off the Falcon, fair enough its there money and company after all.

She [Falcon] did have a good and long innings all the same, and i have no regrets in the 3 i have owned.

Bring on the $30k F150's!!

[Moby Vic]

This amuses me:

Australia’s devotion to the muscle car easily exceeds America’s. It builds them far better, and has continued to do so despite conditions which ought to have killed Aussies’ appetite for big, powerful, thirsty cars stone dead. The heyday of US muscle cars ended abruptly with the oil crisis of 1971: they died overnight in an automotive mass-extinction event on a par with the demise of the dinosaurs. But Australian muscle-car culture was just hitting its stride. That year it produced the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III, the new Boss’s spiritual forebear and now the most valuable Australian-made car, with genuine examples changing hands for €750,000. And it kept on making them through the seventies.

So this author thinks Phase IIIs were built through the seventies? What did they actually produce, 300 Phase IIIs?

The English always get America wrong as well. Yes, our musclecar era ended in the early '70s ... but it began again in the mid-'80s and has continued unabated.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by Nikked

I wonder how some exports of the FPV's would go in england, shame about the exchange rate.

i don't know why FPV has never shown an interest (at least publicly) in export. i mean it's not like they have a Ford badge on them, and it would only ever be a niche product (as it is here).

[Moby Vic]

V8s aren't big sellers in England, are they?

Even an FPV Falcon wouldn't really be attractive to the people who buy Aston Martins or Jaguars or M5s, would it?

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by RASER

Total rubbish B/S excuse, HSV export to UK, they are priced similar, end-of-story

Ford USA want to kill off the Falcon, fair enough its there money and company after all.

She [Falcon] did have a good and long innings all the same, and i have no regrets in the 3 i have owned.

Bring on the $30k F150's!!

Are you still here, you're a waste of space.

[nstg8a]

isnt it more a case of walkinshaw importing the hsv's to pommieland, rather than hsv exporting them?

[My poor XF]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Are you still here, you're a waste of space.

People are liking the posts???????

[Chopped]

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/microsite/vxr/vxr8/index.html

We got the RS. they should get the GT.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Moby Vic

This amuses me:


So this author thinks Phase IIIs were built through the seventies? What did they actually produce, 300 Phase IIIs?

The English always get America wrong as well. Yes, our musclecar era ended in the early '70s ... but it began again in the mid-'80s and has continued unabated.

I think he was referring to Australian companies continuing to build muscle cars throughout the 70's, not the ph III.

[UKXR8]

Originally Posted by Nikked

The Xr6 turbo export was a NISPRO thing, they tuned a few of them and exported them.

Not sure of the number's though.

As far as I can tell that number is 0. I've looked long and hard for 1 of these cars and haven't found any.

I contacted nispro and never heard anything back.

Contrary to what you may have heard there is still an appetite for V8s over here, plenty of big German V8s cruising around despite the governments attempts to kill them off with massive road taxes.