BF F6 Typhoon: Fast Ford Falcons

We’ve nominated the F6 Typhoon here, but in reality all the FPV-branded turbocharged six-cylinder cars deserve a spot on the dais.

In a nutshell, the Typhoon was FPV’s take on the XR6 Turbo, kicking off with the Series 2 BA in late 2004. From there the Typhoon badge was applied to the BF model (Series 1 and 2), with all those cars getting a boosted up version of the XR6T’s engine with a total of 270kW and no less than 550Nm of torque.

From the FG model on, the Typhoon tag was dumped and the car became simply the F6. But power had grown to 310kW, torque was 565Nm and the performance was simply amazing. Still is.

And for those who didn’t want the spoilers and skirts, FPV also offered a BF Series 2 incarnation dubbed Force 6, which got all 270kW but much less of the bling. It had a very discreet bootlid lip (spoiler is too strong a word) and the interiors were about as plush as a Falcon ever got. Lovely, in other words, especially in that dark red FPV called Oxblood.

Like any Falcon from that era, the FPV stuff was brilliant at long-distance running. Point it at the horizon and you could hop out at the end of the day, 1000km or so in your wake, and still feel like dinner and drinks. We should know.

They weren’t totally at home on a race-track, but for the way 99 per cent of people used them for 99 per cent of the time they were on the target. The F6’s output wasn’t bested by a Ford turbo-six until the very last XR6 Sprint of recent times, and even though it could feel a little laggy in some circumstances, the reality was a superbly flexible car that was smooth, refined and felt like a rocket when you sunk the clog.

They worked best as autos (as the Falcon turbomotor always did) and fuel economy actually improved as FPV screwed more and more power out of them. And just to prove that these were proper Australian performance cars, they were incredibly responsive to a bit of a tickle-up in the workshop. In fact, some tuners screwed enormous horsepower out of the things (though you might want to take a pass on that one second-hand).

One of the biggest achievements of these FPV sixes was to convince the buying public that they were the real deal. That was something arch-rival HSV had never really been able to do, despite having access to a supercharged V6 back in the day. But where a HSV was a V8 or nothing, the force-fed sixes from FPV proved to those high-end buyers that the brand offered choices and suggested that variety really is the spice of life.

And an F6 Typhoon or Force 6 was a spicy little number indeed.

IN DETAIL
Engine: 3984cc 6cyl, DOHC, 24v, turbo
outputs: 270kW/550Nm
Weight: 1805kg
Price: $63,460

What's our fave Falcon? Check out MOTOR's take on the top 10 Fast Ford Falcons ever made here.