Ford Falcon AU

2001 February: 97,000 6-cylinder Falcon, Fairlane and LTD's built between October 2, 1999 and January 31, 2001, recalled to replace a rubber throttle cable grommet which can cause sudden loss of power if damaged through consistent hard acceleration.

2000 April: The 2000 update, the Ford Falcon AU II, has addressed a number of criticisms levelled at the original Falcon AU. In particular, the suspension has been upgraded, and stronger brakes with bigger pads and thicker discs (28mm) have been fitted. The much disliked "baleen whale" grille has been replaced by a more conventional one together with the bonnet from the Fairmont except on the XR and the ute. (Some dealers had been doing grille swaps anyway on the AU I.) Rear end styling has been squared up with a new bumper and a spoiler on the boot. 16" wheels are now standard on the base models.

Driver and front passenger air-bags, and seat-belt pretensioners, become standard on all sedans and station wagons. The central rear seat position in the station wagon also gets a 3-point, lap-sash seat belt. Traction control is now standard on Fairmont sedans and station wagons.

Gadgets include a speeding alert chime, which could save you some money if you have a lead foot, and a 100-Watt CD player is fitted to the Forte, Futura, S and XR6 HP models (250 Watt on Fairmont Ghia and optional for S, XR and Fairmont). From July, Carin "satellite navigation is standard on the LTD and optional on Fairlane, Fairmont Ghia and Fairmont".

The (hot) XR8's V8 delivers 200 at 5000 and 420 at 3750 and drives into a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic gearbox. 17x8 wheels are standard on the XR8 sedan and ute and XR6 sedan.

LPG-only fuel will be an option on sedans (92L) and station wagons (115L) from June, which may interest taxi operators and some fleet operators.

Prices: Forte sedan 32,415, wagon 34,415, Futura 36,640, wagon 38,415, Fairmont 39,915, wagon 42,415, XR6 39,715, XR6(VCT) 44,715, XR8 48,965 - 4/2000, including parts, labour and lubricants for first four services (15,000km intervals normally)

Go to the ute, Tickford, LTD, and Ford pages