In the BA series, the base model is the XT. It's this version which is the basis of this road test report. The XT replaces the AU's Forte. The XT is available as a sedan and as a wagon. We'll look at the sedan.

Covering some 2,663 kms, over 11 days, in Perth and the south-west of Western Australia (Albany, Denmark, Mount Barker and the Stirling Ranges), ample opportunity was provided to assess Ford's newest Falcon. The first impression when you open the driver's door is that this interior looks good. As you make yourself comfortable, you soon realise that even the door trims look good. Yes, the cabin environment does indeed look good. You become comfortable in the driver's seat quite quickly and once all the adjustments are made you appreciate the easy and convenient nature of the seat's operation. Then you notice the controls are laid out nicely before you and it's a fairly simple task to forget the last car which you drove and acclimatise yourself to, this, the new car. I especially liked the easy aspect of tuning the car radio's pre-set positions. This is very good and it makes you wonder why so many car radios can only be pre-set after reading the owner's manual whilst accompanied by an engineering specialist and a rocket scientist for a second opinion. With the priorities attended...... (the seating and the radio)...... it's time to hit the road!

Quickly you accept that the BA has more than ample power. The test car is fitted with the standard 4-litre 6 cylinder engine, mated to the optional 4-speed automatic transmission. Driving is a pleasure as the steering and suspension each work very well, indeed. The car handles well. It's a make you feel good type of set-up. This car is very comfortable at highway speeds. And comfortable around town, too. There's no need for the driver to search for a foot rest for the left foot..... there isn't one! But as a joke, presumably, there's a vinyl section in the carpet in place of a foot rest. How much does a foot rest cost these days? Back to the driving, though, have you noticed when driving a car with manual transmission, you seldom (if ever), slip into overdrive when you're around town. It should be the same for a car with auto transmission. A car in overdrive labours at 60 km/h when in overdrive. The Falcon deserves a transmission which offers a block-out on overdrive when one's driving in a low speed zone. Cars are not comfortable when labouring along and this includes Falcon. The sequential manual over-ride on the auto box is simple and, if you prefer a manual, is probably quite rewarding to use. But, for reasons unknown, it works backwards! You pull the lever back to go up a notch, push the lever forward to go down a notch! Very strange!

Braking deserves a special note. Whilst not complaining about the brakes and whilst recognising my driving style rarely produces a requirement for emergency braking, it seemed to me that the brakes were just adequate at best. Upon application, the brakes certainly do the job, but not once did the brakes impress me. Although the brakes on some cars do! Maybe the pedal was a little soft, maybe we each have our own preferences.

The BA Falcon XT sedan is well equipped. Standard features include single CD player, AM/FM radio, trip computer, power operated front windows, central locking, remote door/boot locks and air conditioning. Power steering and independent rear suspension are standard, too. Driver and front passenger air bags are included, whilst side airbags are optional.

What about the nice range of colours? The test car is Ice Mint Silver (a light silvery green metallic), one of 10 attractive colour choices for the XT model. It's my view that Ford offer a better choice of colours than Holden offer Commodore buyers. The interior is a nicely presented multi-shade of grey, which looks good and it feels good too..... very good really.

As you would expect with a sedan the size of Falcon, the interior is roomy..... more than adequate for an average family. In fact, the car is nearly 5 metres long! The boot is roomy, too. But, sadly, it seems cost-cutting, may have robbed the boot of a properly sized cover over the spare wheel. As the spare lays in a well in the floor, this means that the boot carpet will eventually sag into the well, as the cover is smaller than the wheel!. This new car doesn't deserve this type of cheap cost-cutting as the boot carpet will pull away from the rear-end of the car and look, well, shall we say, rather second-hand after just a few loadings and unloadings of luggage. In it's favour, the Falcon's back seat rests fold forward to accomodate odd shaped items in the boot. Sadly, the release knob on one side of the seat back was missing on the test car. This isn't good for a car just a few months old! Another quality problem was the cover over the cup holders in the front centre console, as it was out of alignment!

Fuel economy is noticed in the Falcon as there's a standard trip computer which relays the fuel consuption. Although Ford suggest 7.2 litres per 100 kms, the best figure I achieved for highway running was 10.3 litres/100. That's a big difference, so maybe the trip computer was wrong! Hmmmm, maybe not! Expect to use more fuel around town. Fuel usage is unleaded petrol. Although, an LPG option is available.

Make no mistake, the BA series Falcon is quite pleasurable to drive and to live with, but let's face reality...... it could be better. Simple things like more effective brakes, an overdrive block-out on the automatic transmission for city driving, a proper cover over the spare wheel, decent low-beam headlamp coverage, a driver's footrest, better interior sun-visors and reversing the sequential gear-change usage would dramatically improve the car's drivability.