Ford Australian Barra straight six engine

AFAIK, the turbo and v8 were offered at the same time most (all?) years. XR6 turbo, or XR8, or some FPV version of either. They are strict on speeding and modifications here, but at the same time is see way more "antisocial" driving behaviour than I ever experienced in North America.

Keith Tanner wrote:

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: The Newer falcons here were also available with a v8, so I don't think that was it. Everything from 302s to factory supercharged 5.0 coyotes. The 5.4 naturally aspirated mod motor in the falcon had 422hp in its last iteration. Aussies definitely like their modern muscle cars.

It was the answer to the V8. I remember from reading the magazines of the era that it was also viewed as a bit of a poor cousin, and there was much rejoicing when the V8 Falcon returned. It is funny that Aussies love the muscle sedan, but they're so uptight about speeding these days. It was a little more relaxed when I lived there in the late 80s. Why do the names Falcon and Commodore sound so much cooler than things like Impala to me?

Commodore just reminds me of a company with a marketing department that couldn't sell water in the desert.

In reply to Nathan JansenvanDoorn:

Im pretty sure Keith is referring to the period from 82 to 91 where Ford didn't offer v8's in Falcons. Marketing spin was along the lines that the six had been improved with new technology and as such was a suitable substitute to the v8. It was a time that was near the end of some pretty sever fuel shortages and so manufacturers were trying to give the market what they were asking for, more fuel efficient cars, Wich didn't compromise to much on performance.

The Barra didn't come out till 2002 at which time Ford australia had been back into v8's for about a decade.

In reply to stroker:

I'd say it's a case of purchasing some space in a shipping container for that much stuff. I can see what I can find out from a curiosity stand point.

In reply to daeman:

We'll see if anyone else salutes or expresses any serious interest, I guess... Sounds like the sort of subject that might be an interesting topic for a magazine article. Hmmmmmmmmmm

I think you'll find that the straight 6 is going to weigh as much or more than a V8 and are longer than a JZ engine so you have packaging problems.

Having said that, they sound (to me) waaaay better than any V8 I've heard when in full song.

Disclosure - I own one of the best ever straight 6 engines - BMW S54

In reply to stroker:

In my initial investigations, there's several firms that offer shared container space, I'll need weight and dimensions to get any real idea of price. I'm trying to track down engine dimensions to get a rough idea as to how big of a crate would need to be made for each engine, or alternatively crating a few together. Weight wise, they're between 195-230kgs (say 450-500lbs)

If I were shipping them, they'd be leaving from Sydney, shipping to the west coast of the US somewhere will probably be the cheapest option.

I found this press release while I was digging around that may be of interest to those wanting a bit more detail about the Barra engine