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If you’ve been reading MOTOR for the past few months, you’ll know that the XR8 Sprint is not a perfect car. Not by any stretch. But it makes the number-two slot right here for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, it is, without a shadow of a doubt, the fastest V8 Falcon ever made in this country. Yes, the XR6 Sprint pipped it across the quarter and to 100km/h at BFYB recently, but only by a tenth-and-a-bit on each occasion. Meanwhile, the XR8 showed the turbo-six the way around Winton by more than two seconds and had a higher lap v-max.
On balance, I’ll call that a dead-heat, but for sheer presence and feel-good factor, the blown V8 has the otherwise impeccable six shot to bits. And let’s not forget that the whole fast-Falcon thing was predicated upon Bathurst-winning Falcs bearing bent-eights. Sure, the turbo-six was a ripper and has featured more than once on this list of all-time greats, but if we’re talking heritage and heart-strings, then we’re talking V8s.
But even forgetting the significance of being the last man on earth, the XR8 Sprint really does it for us as a performance family-car. Nought to 100 will take just on five-dead; the quarter consumes about 13-dead. Not only are those numbers quite sensational for something that doesn’t have a European passport and/or all-wheel drive, they’re positively astounding when you consider the Sprint still maintains that Falcon tradition of being able to do it all day, every day, in 45-ambient with a fishing boat hanging off the back.
So where did the Sprint go wrong? In a few areas, most notably in the way that power-station of an engine suddenly shows up just how old the basic platform is. Fact is, you won’t really find anything under an FG X that a suspension engineer that worked on the BA Falcon of 2002 wouldn’t recognise immediately. The result is a car with way more engine than chassis. Okay, so a lot of hairy-chested blokes claim to enjoy that, but we’ll take sharper steering and more mechanical grip over balls and bravado any day. Thanks very much.
Meanwhile, perhaps the best thing about the XR8 Sprint is that it’s still attainable. It hasn’t been around long enough for values to be affected by the collectors out there, yet it’s utterly destined to earn the double-edge-sword tag that is ‘collectible’. If you want one, though, grab one as soon as you can; the mood of the market suggests that this is one Falcon that will spend more time in climate-controlled garages than it will on the road. Which is, if you ask us, missing the whole point.
IN DETAIL Engine: 4951cc V8, DOHC, 32v, s/c Outputs: 345kW/575Nm Weight: 1869kg Price: $59,990
What’s our fave Falcon? Check out MOTOR’s take on the top 10 Fast Ford Falcons ever made here.
