Superfast Ford fuels speed row
Superfast Ford fuels speed row
Mark Hinchliffe
02nov04
A FORD Falcon potentially faster than many expensive European supercars has prompted a call for vehicles to be speed-limited.
The FPV Typhoon, priced at $58,950, has so much thrust Ford has refused to release its acceleration figures because of concerns about negative reaction from the safety lobby.
Ford Performance Vehicles product planning manager Mark Behr acknowledged the decision not to release the figures was prompted by recent complaints about car advertisements highlighting the maximum speeds of powerful cars.
Independent tests conducted by The Courier-Mail show the car can reach 100km/h in second gear but its top speed was not found.
Pedestrian Council of Australia chairman Harold Scruby said the release this week of the turbocharged Typhoon should be the catalyst for speed-governing of vehicles.
"In generations to come people will look back on this era like the Wild West when people walked around with a gun on their hips," he said.
"These people (car manufacturers) are the cowboys of this century."
The Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) Typhoon is a souped-up version of the turbocharged Falcon XR6T.
Its four-litre, six-cylinder turbocharged engine gives it torque, or thrust, only slightly less than a $1.1 million, 5.7-litre, 10-cylinder Porsche Carrera GT.
It has more torque than a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Ferrari F430.
Mr Behr said Ford's advertising campaign, under the Performance Inc name, would work responsibly within Advertising Standards Bureau's new codes of practice.
"Most vehicles are featured in static shots in our ads," he said. "And we are the only company that offers free driver training with the sale of our performance cars."
The Pedestrian Council of Australia has recently had ads for the Mitsubishi Magna and the BMW Mini withdrawn after successfully complaining to the ASB.
Mr Scruby said these decisions put motor-vehicle manufacturers and advertisers on notice that the Pedestrian Council would complain about any advertisement which breached the ABS code.
"Why are they releasing these vehicles on our roads when the motorway speed limit is 110km/h?"
He called for speed-governing of vehicles and for speedos to be limited to showing 130km/h.
RACQ external relations general manager Gary Fites said FPV's advertising plan was "most encouraging".
"Very often the irresponsible advertisers are those who have more mundane vehicles, not the performance car manufacturers," he said.
Use sense to govern road speeds, say experts
Mick Daly
3nov04
MOTORING authorities have rejected calls for purpose-built high-performance vehicles to be speed-limited.
The debate over whether speeds should be capped was sparked after The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed Ford had refused to release acceleration figures for its new FPV Typhoon model because of concerns about negative reactions from the safety lobby.
The suped-up vehicle – priced at $58,950 – has more thrust than two of the world's fastest cars: the Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo.
Although its top speed is not known, independent tests have found the vehicle – which comes with unique safety features including dual front and side front airbags, four-channel ABS and electronic brakeforce distribution – is capable of hitting 100km/h in just second gear.
Its release this week prompted Pedestrian Council of Australia chairman Harold Scruby to suggest vehicle manufacturers were "the cowboys of this century", living in a lawless "Wild West".
However, Mr Scruby's calls for vehicles to be speed-governed and speedos to be limited to 130km/h have been met with disapproval by authorities.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau safety research and education director Joe Motha said it was not practical to speed-limit vehicles.
"If you were to regulate strongly against manufacturers, you would need a powerful argument detailing how the benefits of such a move outweigh the costs," he said.
Despite statistics showing 46 per cent of fatalities on Australian roads between October 2002 and September 2004 occurred when speeds reached more than 100km/h, Mr Motha said most accidents happened at speeds below the limit.
"Also, drivers sometimes need to get themselves out of dangerous situations," he said. "For example, if you're overtaking a truck on the highway and a car is approaching in the opposite direction, you need that power to be able to accelerate past it."
Mr Motha said it was up to drivers to abide by existing speed laws and take responsibility on the roads.
RACQ external relations general manager Gary Fites said there were more important issues than speed-governing vehicles.
"People come to grief at any speed," he said. "We have far higher priorities in reducing our road toll, such as improving the state of our roads system and better educating young and inexperienced motorists." The Courier-Mail
here http://carsguide.news.com.au/news/st...E21822,00.html
