Supercharged Falcon zooms in

40 V8 GTs are expected in first shipment next month - just in time for Kiwis' Christmas wish lists. Photo / Supplied

It's the fastest and most powerful Falcon GT - and Ford is believed to be crunching the numbers to ease its price in New Zealand against the strong Australian dollar.

The supercharged 5-litre V8 GT is the latest in an upgraded sedan and ute range from Ford Performance Vehicles and is listed across the Tasman at A$71,290 - or around $93,000 at this week's exchange rate.

Ford New Zealand wants to make the GT as competitive as possible, if only to highlight the V8's 335kW/570Nm output against the 325kW/550Nm delivered by the 6.2-litre V8 GTS from rival Holden Special Vehicles.

Ford has been working late into the night to fix the price. "They (executives) are working on the price as we speak," said Ford NZ corporate affairs chief Tom Clancy. "But I have no indication of where they are at."

The new FPV line-up (GT, GT-P, GT-E, GS Ute) is expected in New Zealand next month. In the first shipment will be 40 GTs. The current GT is priced here at $80,745.

Ford Australia has hiked the price of the FPV range by 4 per cent, or between A$2040 and A$3400. Such a rise in New Zealand would bring the GT in at around $83,000, roughly up $3000 on the current car.

FPV general manager Rod Barrett defended the GT's new price tag in Australia. "What we are giving you is a 6 per cent increase in power and a 4 per cent increase in price, and we think that is a pretty good equation," Barrett said.

The 5-litre V8 (codenamed Miami) replaces the 5.4-litre V8 Boss unit in the FPV line-up.

It was developed by FPV partner Prodrive for a total investment of $45 million. FPV will pass on some of that investment cost to customers.

FPV is building the Miami V8 in two states of tune - a 315kW/545Nm version for the entry-level GS, and the 335kW/570Nm unit for the GT, GT-P and GT-E vehicles.

Both engine variants hit peak power at 5750rpm, but the GS delivers peak torque at 2000rpm and the GT at 2200rpm. The GT engine hangs on to torque all the way to 6000rpm; the GS unit falls away at 5500rpm.

The only difference between the two engines is the electronic calibration, say FPV engineers.

Chief engineer Bernie Quinn said low-to-mid-range torque was the key achievement of the supercharged engine, giving the new GT class-leading 80-120km/h overtaking punch and strong everyday performance.

"Maybe once every six months you might get to peak power at 6000rpm, but every day you get into the car, you feel the torque," he said.

Both engines will be offered with a revised six-speed ZF automatic transmission or revamped Tremac six-speed manual transmission with a new ZF twin-plate clutch from the Mustang GT500. The GT with the manual 'box weighs 1855kg.

FPV began its search for a new V8 five years ago when it found its 5.4-litre Boss V8 would be too expensive to modify to meet the Euro 4 emissions regulations that came into force across the Tasman on July 1 this year.

It chose its parent company's then secret Coyote V8 (the new Mustang engine in the US) and began its development programme.

Prodrive took the Coyote V8 apart, fitting new high-performance components. Engineers decided on supercharging.

It offered better low-down response and a more compact engine package.

The supercharger came from Harrop Engineering, the Melbourne company which also supplies blowers to HSV sister company Walkinshaw Performance and Ford Racing in the US.

While the supercharger adds 13kg to the engine's weight, the alloy V8 is still 47kg lighter than the outgoing Boss engine. The Boss badge will stay, if only for tradition.

Most of the work for the new FPV V8 range has gone into the development of the V8 engine. But there are new-look wheels, a fresh stripe kit reminiscent of the 1970 Boss Mustang and FPV badges for the key fob and steering wheel, replacing the Ford blue oval.

FPV says it expects the arrival of the strong new engine to more than double sales of its V8 models from just 766 in Australia and New Zealand last year to more than 2000 a year.

Meanwhile, Ford Australia is working on styling concepts for the next-generation Falcon - and the final product could continue the car's rear-wheel drive history.

Ford Motor Company president Alan Mulally said at the Paris show that it was important to leverage Ford Australia's 50 years of experience with rear-wheel drive sedans.

"We are going to have great rear-wheel drive platforms, and the vehicles that we have them on are on global platforms," he said.

"So we are going to work with all our customers around the world to make sure they have the products they want."