Ford’s struggling Australian outpost is set to unleash its fastest-accelerating car yet in the form of a limited-edition version of the four-door Falcon GT Boss 335 saloon. Various Australian media reports claim the model will also get various chassis-based performance enhancements.
Known internally at the company’s Ford Performance Vehicles division under the codename Panther, the Blue Oval’s new super-saloon is set to run the same supercharged 5.0-litre V8 as the standard Falcon GT Boss 335 – itself a locally developed version of the Ford Mustang’s 90-degree Coyote unit with unique cylinder heads and renamed Miami. It delivers 449bhp at 5750rpm and 420lb ft of torque at 2200rpm.
Power is channelled through a Tremec six-speed manual gearbox – the same unit used by the Mustang GT500 and Corvette ZR1 – to the rear wheels via a 3.73:1 final drive. Buyers are also likely to be able to specify the new car with six-speed automatic gearbox from ZF running a 2.73:1 final drive.
In standard six-speed manual guise, the 1705kg Falcon GT Boss 335 is claimed to possess 0-62mph acceleration in 4.7sec and reach a top speed limited to 155mph – placing it in the same performance league as the more celebrated Audi RS6, BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG saloons.
However, a new 19-inch wheel package and wider tyres as the standard car’s 245/35 hoops as well as subtle changes to the tuning of the suspension and stability control systems are said to improve off-the-line traction, allowing the Panther to outpace the Falcon GT Boss 335 in the run from 0-62mph, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald citing Ford’s own official in-house acceleration testing.
No official quarter-mile times are quoted by Ford Australia for the Falcon GT Boss 335. But in independent tests it has dipped below the 13sec mark. Rumours are the Panther – not the name it will take into production, apparently – will be even faster.
The fastest ever Falcon is likely to get its first public airing at the Sydney motor show in October, with Australian sales through Ford Performance Vehicles, a Melbourne-based outfit 51 per cent owned by Britain’s Prodrive, kicking off before the end of the year.
