So this is it. This is the last Falcon GT
and the final FPV. The GT-F ends a 47-year reign that began back with the XR
but at least the GT is going out on a high. It’s not the GT-HO reloaded to take
out the HSV GTS but the GT-F 351 is still the fastest, most powerful GT ever.
With FPV a dead duck, development funds for
the GT-F must have been as easy to come by as an Ebola vaccine, engineering
upgrades restricted to a new engine control unit. But with electronics being as
important as the hardware, a new brain has helped enliven the supercharged V8.
The Bosch 9.0 engine management system allows for a more sophisticated engine
tune and has helped extract 351kW from the supercharged 5.0-litre with no other
hardware changes.
The
GT-F is a visual standout from every angle, inside and out
Measured to DIN standard, the GT-F makes
351kW at a wailing 6,000rpm while there’s 570Nm of torque from 2,500- 5,500rpm
when the eight is skulling 98 octane. Word is the ECU allows for some
‘overboost’ when ambient conditions permit, spiking the peaks by some 15 per
cent. So when the gods of overboost are smiling, the output rises to somewhere
in the vicinity of 400kW and 650Nm. Independent Dyno runs in Oz seem to verify
this too.
The
GT-F gets the six-piston front Brembos (four-piston at the rear), which it
needs given the Falcon’s tendency to run out of brakes when pushed hard
To harness the extra grunt, FPV has bolted
on its R Spec suspension kit previously used on the, er, GT R Spec funnily
enough. We’ve never had the pleasure of this set-up before, and wow, what a
difference it makes to the character of the GT. It’s stiffer in the springing,
and the damper rates are tuned to match. The bushes are starched and the
mounting points are reinforced too. Out back, there’s a beefier roll bar, the
control arms are located more securely and the toe setting is honed to improve
the GT-F’s turn in. For the hardcore, there’s the ability to adjust the rear
camber too. And there are wider 275/30R19 Dunlops. Rounding off the upgrade are
355mm drilled rotors and six-pot Brembos up front, with 330mm discs on the
rear.
The
GT-F is powered by a supercharged 5.0-litre V8
The suspension seems overly firm at first,
the GT’s great urban ride sacrificed but it all comes together when you up the
pace. We thought the GT-F would become a surface to air missile upon
encountering its first bump at speed (too soon to insert any airline quips
here) but it’s somehow able to claw back some of the regular GT’s suppleness
and compliancy over testing ripples and lumps. The stiffer set-up has removed
that initial sponge from the GT’s turn in that would see it lean into the bend
before settling into its cornering groove. The GT-F is primed for action, the
steering response and turn in are transformed, the big GT reacting more
instantly to inputs. The front end now has big teeth that bite hard into the
turn, while the feedback has also been intensified. Revisions to the rear plant
the GT more firmly with a load of mid corner grip while the back end is less
likely to twitch under power loading.
