Carbon air intake for Ford XR6 Sprint

Ford is adding a dash of supercar to its new XR6 Turbo Sprint with the addition of an Australian-made and developed carbon fibre air intake.

Designed by Melbourne engineering firm Premcar and built by Australian Defence Force supplier Quickstep Automotive, the new intake improves air flow for the 4.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engine.

Combined with other detail changes to the exhaust and calibration, it’s responsible for lifting the previous FPV F6’s 310kW/565Nm to 325kW/576Nm for the Sprint, or 370kW/650Nm on overboost.

With space at a premium, using carbon allows for the intake to have thinner walls than using traditional plastic, which means the inside cross section can be larger while being no larger externally.

Other advantages are the resistance to changing shape under load or heat and an almost 50 per cent weight saving over the equivalent plastic item, though when the saving is 203g, we don’t reckon even Mark Winterbottom would be able to feel the difference.

Ford is keen to highlight initiatives such as this as evidence that it will continue to support local manufacturing expertise even when its own manufacturing facilities shut down in early October this year.

With companies like Quickstep Automotive and Geelong’s Carbon Revolution, who provide the carbonfibre wheels for the Shelby GT350R, it appears Australia still has a role to play in vehicle manufacturing.