Ford New Zealand will be allocated 150 powerful Falcon Sprint limited-edition models, to go on sale in May.
There will be 50 Falcon XR6 Sprint models, and 100 Falcon XR8 Sprint models available here.
The XR6 Sprint will be available in automatic only, and sell for $66,340, while the XR8 Sprint will have a recommended retail price of $74,990 for manual or automatic models.
Ford president and ceo Graeme Whickman, said the company was excited to offer Falcon enthusiasts a car that truly represented the performance DNA of Ford.
There will be just 1400 limited edition Falcon Sprints built, 550 of them XR6 models, and 800 XR8 Sprints. Each will have numbered plates on the engine.
“The Falcon chassis is recognised for its refined ride and fantastic balance but our dedicated product development engineers have taken the opportunity to further hone the Falcon’s dynamic package – ride, body control and performance of the six cylinder turbo and V8," he said.
“We think customers will really appreciate the amount of dedication and work that’s gone into this limited-edition series.”
Visually, the Sprint series will receive subtle exterior design cues to mark their exclusivity, including 19-inch black wheels, upgraded Brembo brake package in gold, black headlamp bezels, a distinctive black rear deck spoiler and new front fog lamp surrounds.
To provide further distinction, the XR8 Sprint adds a Silhouette Black painted roof and black wing mirrors.
Inside, the Falcon Sprint series receives a unique interior featuring Sprint seats in leather/lux suede, chromatic mirror, dual zone climate control with high-series audio, unique shifter assembly and surround and unique gauge cluster with “Sprint” logo. The manual shifter on the XR8 Sprint gains a “Sprint” labelled shifter.
Fundamental to the Sprint development program was designing and building a performance Falcon with the dynamic attributes expected by Falcon enthusiasts.
Packing Power
At the core of the Sprint are two proven engines, Ford’s turbocharged 4.0 in-line six cylinder and the supercharged 5.0-litre V8.
The XR8 Sprint will be powered by a bespoke Sprint calibrated version of Ford’s 5.0-litre Supercharged V8 that develops 345 kW @ 5,750 rpm and 575 Nm @ 2,220-6,250 rpm3. The XR6 Sprint is also a performance powerhouse, developing 325 kW @ 6,000 rpm and 576 Nm @ 2,750 rpm3.
Both engines benefit from a transient overboost function that provides extra performance for up to 10 seconds if conditions allow, specifically intake air temperature under normal operation.
In the case of the XR6 Sprint, performance can lift from 325 kW / 576 Nm to an overboost of up to 370 kW / 650 Nm. In the XR8 Sprint, the transient overboost function briefly lifts power and torque of up to 400 kW and 650 Nm3.
In the XR6 Sprint Ford engineers have added a larger intercooler, sourced the turbo and injectors from the F6, unique Sprint transmission calibration, new lower airbox, bespoke engine calibration and new larger air intake system.
The in-line six-cylinder Turbo engine is considered by many enthusiasts to be one of Ford’s iconic performance engines. It represents phenomenal performance in a high efficiency design.
The Falcon XR Sprint series will be available as an automatic Turbocharged six-cylinder, while the Supercharged V8 will be available with either a manual and automatic transmission.
In the XR6 Sprint, the automatic transmission calibration was revised to take advantage of the increased power and extended torque levels that are available with the revised turbocharged engine. The automatic transmission in the XR8 Sprint uses the Falcon GT-F transmission calibration to ensure durable shift performance.
The development of the Falcon XR Sprint series has benefited from Ford’s $300 million investment in R&D. In the past six years Ford has spent around $2 billion on R&D.
The Sprint programme was led by a team of Falcon Product Development specialists, part of the Asia Pacific Product Development organisation based in Victoria, Australia.
XR6 and XR8 Sprint customers will have a choice of six colours for their vehicles with the ‘hero’ colours being Victory Gold for the XR8 and Smoke for the XR6.