2016 Ford Falcon XR8 Sprint review

The Falcon nameplate has now slipped into history, consigned now to local car folklore. We take one last ride in one quick bird, The XR8 Sprint

Seems like it has been a long goodbye. News of Falcon’s demise has dragged on and then when the time finally came to put it to rest nothing much was said. Anyway, it’s gone now, extinct like the dodo. The final Falcon, an XR6, will be kept by Ford Australia, while the final few production models went up for auction to raise funds for charity. The last of the limited series Sprints were all quickly spoken for too, snaffled up and stored away, or listed on TradeMe by speculators. There’s currently an XR8 Sprint listed at $85k by one plucky punter.

The XR Sprint was Ford’s fond farewell to the customers who actually cared, the Ford performance fans. There were no final edition XR6s or XTs as the mass market had moved on from Falcon long ago. Excluding the Sprint numbers, Ford registered 244 Falcons to September this year, including 57 regular XR8s, while it moved 404 Everests, not to mention those thousands of Rangers. And so Ford went about creating special versions of the XR6 turbo and XR8, giving them the Sprint badge which was first seen in the early nineties on the Tickford-enhanced ED XR8. The styling was kept intentionally understated; Ford wanted to recreate the look of the early Falcon GTs with minimal aero add ons.

The rest of the upgrades took a similar approach, adding just enough to make it a special Falcon while leaving the GT-F as the ultimate of the breed. The XR8 Sprint gained a few extra herbs via an ECU re-map, taking outputs to 345kW with 575Nm of torque from 2220-6250rpm, making it slightly more powerful than the regular old XR8 and leaving the FPV GT-F as the most powerful Falcon ever. However, Ford also quoted the overboost figures of 400kW and 650Nm, meaning when the conditions are right (largely to do with inlet air temperatures) the computer will allow it to run hard out for up to ten seconds on a wide open throttle.

For the XR6 Sprint Ford added some hardware from the old F6 – the larger intercooler, turbo and injectors – while it gained a better air intake made of carbon fibre, and a Sprint-specific engine and transmission calibration for total figures of 325kW and 576Nm, or 370kW and 650Nm on overboost. The XR8 can be had as a manual, the XR6 with the six-speed auto only. Other upgrades included Brembo brakes with gold-hued, six-pot front calipers, unique 19-inch wheels encased in Pirelli P Zeros and a retune for the suspension.

The rest was cosmetic; unique but subtle stripes and badging, and black detailing for the headlamp bezels, spoiler and foglamp surrounds, while the XR8 gained a black roof and wing mirrors and the interior was trimmed in leather and suede. Ford built 1400 Sprints; 550 XR6s and 850 XR8s with NZ receiving 50 of the former and 100 of the latter, each with their unique number on the engine build plates.

We managed to wrangle a last drive of the Falcon, and a fitting send off, the XR8 Sprint with a six-speed manual. We had hoped to take it along to a private drag racing day, but alas, the spring weather sprung a leak so one last drive review had to suffice. But as we say, it was a nice way to go out.

Like always, the supercharged 5.0-litre is hard to pick as an eight on start-up. The blower dominates the proceedings, even when the engine is wound right out, and you have to tune the ear to pick the beat of the eight. But sound aside, it’s a rocket of an engine. Being supercharged the throttle response is keen, and the torque ever present. Even from idle there’s great big gobs of twist, and when pumping away past 2500rpm, the XR8 is a right jet. It revs nicely, an alarm sounding a warning when you near the limits, closing on 6000rpm, signalling time to pull another gear.

The Sprint shows good toe, just trying to get it all down is the issue. Perhaps the worst combination possible for consistent acceleration runs is a supercharged V8 sending its abundant torque to the rears via a manual gearbox. And there’s no launch function to help ease the pain. We quickly gave up trying, clutch and tyre preservation in the back of our minds for this limited edition, and the 5.12sec 0-100km/h run and 2.89sec 80-120km/h virtually overlay the numbers of the XR8 auto we tested in 2015. The six-speed manual has a good action; it’s heavy but easy to slot around the gate. The clutch too requires a decent effort but lacks for a nicely defined bite point. This is more telling in the day-to-day grind; you feel like you’re constantly slipping the clutch to get it moving while trying not to stall it. You’re probably better off with the auto if you intend to use your Sprint daily but for a fast blast, the manual is fun, and perhaps will be more sought after in later years.

The suspension, a so-called S Spec tune, gets revised spring rates and increased rebound damping. We found the Sprint wasn’t as hard riding as we remember the GT-F or even the regular XR8, but still sporty. The Sprint maintains a sensible degree of compliancy however with just the odd bump ruffling the rear end, but it turns in keenly for a big car, the steering (still with a good old hydraulically assisted set-up) talking away like few do these days and able to transmit that feeling of impending understeer. The front isn’t the stickiest experience you’ll come across, but it grips nicely considering that big lump up front and the lack of any dynamic enhancing widgets. There are no drive modes to fiddle around with, no computer-aided braking to keep you on course, no electronic wizardry lording over a tricky diff.

You realise how easy the modern rockets have become to drive. This is an old analog experience; you have to remember how to brake and change down smoothly at the same time, get the weight on the front tyres to help it turn in and then wait, and wait, to get back on the gas. Always it’s a struggle to get the power down early enough. The TC works overtime to manage the torrent of Newts, even when treading gently on the gas. You need to wait long and proper for the corner exit to start feeding the gas in, and wait for the steering to be pointing straight again before really opening it back up. The Sprint gets treated to a set of Pirelli P Zeros, and slightly wider 265 cross section rear tyres, but on coarse chip road surfaces their extra stick isn’t that obvious. The Brembo brake set-up is good though, with some feel at the pedal and good arresting power too.

The Sprint is a satisfying blast, at least from the driver’s seat, with a determined yet restrained effort needed to get it all right. But there are those things we won’t miss of course, the driving position for one, too high and lacking adjustment, and just the general lack of development that has seen it passed over for safety and convenience features in the last few years. At least the cabin was free of any rattles or squeaks. Perhaps with so few going down the line, they had more time to screw this one together properly, with everything fitting as it should and no bits falling off.

For the Sprint buyer, none of that stuff matters of course. They have a piece of Ford history in the garage, and a nice slice at that.