When is newer not always better ?

[dave289]

What things (design, features, drivetrain) were better on your older model ford to your newer model ford ?

[alecrain]

V8 exhaust sound for one thing.
I reckon the old V8s sound much better than modern, stock cars.

[UNR8D]

the EB i had had plush pile carpets, all i get in the TS is some thin mat with a bit of fur in comparision, the NL fairlane had a better door mouldings/handgrips than the AU.

that being said the AU layout is better than the BF i drive.

[XR6_661]

older model fords had better diffs and gearboxes.

What kinda car comes factory with diff clunk and weak gearboxes!!!

[Citric GT]

Decent vision out of the car. My EL was so easy to see out of in all directions. The BA isn't too bad, but its certainly a step backwards.

Boot access. Each new model comes out with a smaller boot lid/opening. Look at the FG compared to any X or E series car. VE Commodore is even worse.


I reckon the manufacturers must be intentionally trying to kill the sedan. They are designing less practicle examples with every model.

[Auslandau]

The adrenalin rush thinking whether the Landau is going to stop in time ...... the sound ..... and of course the 'raw' fun.



| [/url] |

[Fairlane]

Fuel Economy from the AU to BA.

The fact that every Falcon is heavier than the last one

No Auto footrest in BA Falcons

The fact there is no bloody sunglass holder in my BA, when the AU2 had one.

EF/EL interior styling which absolutely owns anything Ford has come up with since.

The fact that in modern cars you can no longer option up like you used to, It was much cooler to order a base Falcon and load it up with the goodies like LSD, Sports suspension than just buy an XR or whatever.

Ford forcing anyone who wants a luxurious Falcon to have standard leather, I hate leather in a car, Velour all the way, the removal of Woodgrain and of course chrome, both of which appear to be a dirty words, in today's in a world of fake carbon fibre and brushed aluminium.

Higher beltlines in the interior and decresed exterior vision, both get on my goat but it appears to happening to every car.

[Dezza]

Originally Posted by Citric GT

Decent vision out of the car. My EL was so easy to see out of in all directions. The BA isn't too bad, but its certainly a step backwards.

Boot access. Each new model comes out with a smaller boot lid/opening. Look at the FG compared to any X or E series car. VE Commodore is even worse.

I was going to say that. The EA is the easiest car to see out of. I drove a VE SV6 last year, and I just couldn't reverse it properly. The high bootlid with the rear spoiler made it impossible to see where I was reversing. I've driven AU/BAs as well, and they're a lot better but still nowhere near the standard of the EA.

I've also found the drivers footwell is fairly cramped on the BAs. It gets a bit awkward if I'm wearing my steelcap boots, while the EA footwell is great.

[LowEL2XR8]

Glove box in the EL is better than my BF.
Mid range stereo in the EL seems to have better sound than my BF.

[Yellow_Festiva]

The Festiva dash is easy to 'read'... I hopped in a mates newish BMW and we were about to go into a long tunnel. I asked her how to swich the air flow from 'fresh' to 'recirculate' and she didn't have a clue.. nor did I.

Every old guy has a story about being able to repair a buggered engine with some coat hanger wire and a pair of pliers... not possible these days lol.

[prydey]

styling, whether it be interior or exterior, is subjective. its all personal opinion. what one person thinks is a step back, another will think is a step forward.

i'm yet to hop in a newer model and miss things i had in the old model, unless of course its a lesser model.

[ebxr8240]

Fuel consumption hasn't really improved? Weight is another as mentioned..
The XD was around 1320kg..

[Dezza]

Actually another thing I forgot is ease of upgrading / modifying. For example. I put an in-dash DVD player into the EA a couple of days ago. I just had to take out about 4 screws to remove the old headunit, unplug it, then wire it up to the new one. I'd never changed a stereo myself in my life, and I found it quite easy. On the other hand, with a BA you can't do that. The stereo isn't an easy swap.

Of course the advantage to the BA system is security. As I said 4 screws and the EA one pretty much comes out.

[dave289]

accuracy of fuel guage and distance to empty has not been good in a couple of ba's I have had.I have run out of petrol in two different ba's when there is around an eighth of a tank ,I think one saying 53kms to empty and the other time in another one saying about 38kms to empty but yet they ran out of petrol.I have had an na fairlane and also an ef fairmont that would run down to zero distance to empty but still be running and would be right on empty or slightly below but still running, not the ba.

[dave289]

Originally Posted by alecrain

V8 exhaust sound for one thing.
I reckon the old V8s sound much better than modern, stock cars.

Have to agree on that one, my 67 v8 fairmont sounds better and louder at 1,000 rpm than my neighbours bf xr8 at 6,000 rpm. problem is noise restriction these days ,rules ,rules, rules.

[RAREV8]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

The fact that in modern cars you can no longer option up like you used to, It was much cooler to order a base Falcon and load it up with the goodies like LSD, Sports suspension than just buy an XR or whatever.

Ford forcing anyone who wants a luxurious Falcon to have standard leather, I hate leather in a car, Velour all the way, the removal of Woodgrain and of course chrome, both of which appear to be a dirty words, in today's in a world of fake carbon fibre and brushed aluminium.

Some of the options available today are quite different but I managed to tick a lot of extra boxes on my BF XR6- totally different interior, steering wheel, gearbox, diff (LSD not standard!) clock, stereo etc.....

My old landau on the other hand only had 2 options available- leather and a cassette player!!

[vztrt]

Cant get a base model manual anymore (FG).

[Powdered Toast Man]

Originally Posted by Citric GT

Decent vision out of the car. My EL was so easy to see out of in all directions. The BA isn't too bad, but its certainly a step backwards.

The XD-F was the best for vision. You could just about see every corner of the car.

The air-con. Is it me or is the BA air con very weak? Maybe it's just the expanses of heavily raked glass promotes more solar heating, dunno.

[Gammaboy]

Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man

The XD-F was the best for vision. You could just about see every corner of the car.

Thats alot of corners....

[mik]

the diffs are probably are built a bit cheaper than the old Falcon one`s imo, paint and body were better put together in the older cars, on the other hand new cars are so much easier to live with day to day and hugely safer than the oldies with more luxury gadgets, newey is still by far the pick imo.

[Citric GT]

Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man

The air-con. Is it me or is the BA air con very weak? Maybe it's just the expanses of heavily raked glass promotes more solar heating, dunno.

I think the BA air cond is good. The EL was a bit weak though.

[FlipXW]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Cant get a base model manual anymore (FG).

Yep, that would stop me from buying one straight up.

[Turboconvert]

I agree with the stuff said about from au to ba.
No footrest for the auto? No sunglasses holder?
What happened there????

[needaXYGT]

premium sound in the AU is better than the premuim sound in BA/BF and FG!

[Jorgo85]

Originally Posted by Gammaboy

Thats alot of corners....

[needaXYGT]

The air-con. Is it me or is the BA air con very weak? Maybe it's just the expanses of heavily raked glass promotes more solar heating, dunno.

I have found the aircon in the BA/BF's realy good. its something i beleive they have improved on!

[Mr Hardware]

I think fairlane pretty well finished the thread.

Also
why did they put the light switch on the stalk? Headlights should be a switch on the dash. It's just proper!

[minheim]

The fact that my EF GLI had a central locking button to lock/open whereas my AU classic does not.

[snappy]

handbrake

[ebxr8240]

My first was nice but I better keep the one I have now...