Boosted Falcon

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I got thinking after owning several different performance cars over the years and my most recent purchase a Subaru WRX.

I would like to know what brings you back to owning/ building a turbo falcon?

Easy to work on, generally pretty well made and parts are fairly cheap.

Also, no RWD no care.

I havent even built/owned one yet

Never left

but TUFED6 summed it up.
add moderately unique to the list

The WTF factor on peoples face when you fly past them.

The sound that the factory central locking actuators make.

EFFalcon wrote:add moderately unique to the list

This. Most people who see my xr say the e-series is their favourite falcon shape. Even my biased commodore mates. People love the shape of e-series. Nice/modded ones are unique when most cars these days are new (post-2000)

And the Windsor and i6 can sound good

im gana go with.
im used to all the shit that fucks up and know how to fix it all.

i really cant be bothered learning a new sort of cars issues.

How everything can be fixed with cable ties, silicone and a hammer. Or a combination of the 3.

superhuS! wrote:How everything can be fixed with cable ties, silicone and a hammer. Or a combination of the 3.

Only Headgaskets require going to that extent.

As said avove, plus their a proper sedan shape & don't look like a giant hatchback like some of the later stuff. Newer models are too big and heavy imho. And the interiors are phucking good for a car of their age.

How stiff the chassis is.

Are you actually interested to know for a future project Matt or is this thread for entertainment purposes only?

What can i say, i like lifter noise...

Cheap cars that only need a few small mods to make sick cruisers and dailys.

My EF ghia bought at 260,000km's, it was mint.. $1300

Chopped the springs, 1 coil off the front and 2 off some heavy duty set at the back, did the trick with the shock hats on the rear.. bought a camber / castor kit off here for cheap... car handled 100 times better, it was very predictable if it ever slid sideways (we all know how slippery these get in the wet... haha) lowered for like $100 was a little bumpy but **** it, didn't worry me driving it 16 hours strait from Newcastle to past Bundaberg in 1 day.

2.5" lukey exhaust from wreckers, $80

Thats probably my mods list done, it was a great car for $1480.


Learnt how to rebuild a car at the end as well haha

The fact that my ba xr6 turbo motor in my el @ 1700kg, gets the same fuel economy as my wifes 07 corrola with it's screaming 1.8 vvti 4 banger @ 1650kg. (why is her hatch so fucken heavy?)

That i can fix everything myself, It cost less than 50 bucks to service it, It doesn't come from the factory chewing oil just under Toyota's limit for warranty engine replacement, I can run into a manga, smash the bumper and buckle the shit out of the rear end only to put a tennis ball sized dint in the bonnet, Connecting a trailer with poor wiring pops the indicator fuse instead of smoking the instrument cluster, It's big because it has lots of space not an interior full of plastic fill in panels. It's held together with nuts, bolts and screws not 10,000 plastic clips that break when you look at the dash board.


I think of some more later

Bought a perfectly good EL engine with 230,000km's to replace my 400,000km old engine for $100 within 1 day of writing a wanted thread on the forums. Go to pick it up and it comes with a free gear box.

$312 and a few days to do a full engine and gear box swap from an EL engine to an EF engine after blowing the original motor up, including driving from newcastle to sydney to pick up the engine... and that was my first time pulling an engine out / putting one in.

Fuel + trailer hire = $112
Engine + gear box = $100
Oils and coolants ~ $100


.... the satisfaction when it fired up first click, priceless (i know, bad joke )

Pretty much all of the above is why I like E-series... I've never been dumb (or smart?) enough to buy anything else.

The unfortunate thing about turbo E-series is that sometimes they are/have been owned by dickheads....

The seats in my 97 EL are more comfortable then the new Vito at work.
If i wanted to sit on a concrete park bench I'd do it at the park, not in the van i spend most of my working day in, you German morons.

I've been in a VR V6 running 15psi, and it felt nothing like my EF on 7.
Masses of torque off boost (as you'd expect). Able to cruise along just above idle in any gear without lugging - throw it back a couple of gears and it'll leave black lines.
I don't think you'll find any other car that's as rewarding(fun) to drive as a turbo falcon for anywhere near the price.

Agree with all the above, plus their handling. Not that it's the best there is, but that it's so damn predictable and controllable.

Never once felt nervous in an E-Series, turbo or not, even before I knew how to hold a slide in one.

Also love how versatile they can be. Seen them dumped on their nuts; lifted on Duelers; full country spec with bars, flood lights and big flappas. None look unusual unless they've been attacked by someone with taste in their arsehole.

Nikk O'lass wrote:What can i say, i like lifter noise...

there is nothing like the sound of an unshimmed regrind cam !!

Bipolar wrote:Agree with all the above, plus their handling. Not that it's the best there is, but that it's so damn predictable and controllable.

Never once felt nervous in an E-Series, turbo or not, even before I knew how to hold a slide in one.

Also love how versatile they can be. Seen them dumped on their nuts; lifted on Duelers; full country spec with bars, flood lights and big flappas. None look unusual unless they've been attacked by tony martin.

Fixed

NUT347 wrote:The WTF factor on peoples face when you fly past them.

+1 especially where I live most of the town have gen3 commonwhores. An think they are the ducks nuts.

Bipolar wrote:Agree with all the above, plus their handling. Not that it's the best there is, but that it's so damn predictable and controllable.

Never once felt nervous in an E-Series, turbo or not, even before I knew how to hold a slide in one.

Definitely agree with this, I've been saying this to my mates as well over the last few weeks. I prefer the handling of my EF ghia on chopped springs, over the handling of my BF XR6T on kings SSSL rears and SL fronts most of the time... just because of how predictable the EF always was. Never ever felt the slightest bit nervous in my EF no matter how sideways it was or what speed it was going... and even if they were chopped springs, in the 130,000km's I was driving with them... they were never going to fall out and I still had suspension travel, slightly stiffer but 1 coil cut out of like 10 means it will be around 10% stiffer? wasn't too stiff anyway... in my opinion after all the driving I did it was safe and an improvement over the standard setup.

The BF is too fat and heavy, the IRS might have something to do with the slightly unpredictable feel and maybe sway bars need to be thicker... not quite sure... there's too much body roll. I do feel nervous pushing the BF, though it is easy to control sideways... and it does handle very good, it corners and rides better than the EF but you just don't know how far you can push it.

I love fords because everyone else hates them

Mr. CVE wrote:

Nikk O'lass wrote:What can i say, i like lifter noise...

there is nothing like the sound of an unshimmed regrind cam !!

Try filling a tin bucket with gravel and leaving it on top of an unbalanced washing machine.

Bipolar wrote:Are you actually interested to know for a future project Matt or is this thread for entertainment purposes only?

I have been considering returning to e-series for a while Todd, so I'm generally interested in why people do. Also to tell you the true (without starting an argument) I have owned a few cars now which have had better steering, braking and performance (in factory spec) plus easy bolt-on mods as I am also sure other people have either owned or driven as well. So that's why I'm interested in why/ what brought you back.

Sweet.

When you get past all the bullshit, most people who are real drivers will tell you they enjoy exploiting the handling characteristic of anything that isn't too sloppy. Especially pro racers who talk about the powerless shitters they used to burn around the streets in.

Never left.
Love the shape of all EA-EL.
Cheap to buy. Cheap to fix.

Love the history that people have on them, that's gets posted up from time to time.

Revengelane wrote:

Bipolar wrote:Are you actually interested to know for a future project Matt or is this thread for entertainment purposes only?

I have been considering returning to e-series for a while Todd, so I'm generally interested in why people do. Also to tell you the true (without starting an argument) I have owned a few cars now which have had better steering, braking and performance (in factory spec) plus easy bolt-on mods as I am also sure other people have either owned or driven as well. So that's why I'm interested in why/ what brought you back.

I know where the fairlane is

am i the only one on here that has always had eseries and have them piling up.
that doesnt really like the shape/look of them and never has :p

i dont mind them but its certainly not why i have them.

Malakai wrote:The sound that the factory central locking actuators make.

+1 gotta love this noise when its going 10 minutes at a time if you bump the button

i love the fact that they might be a future classic as there is no tickford no more and that theres not many people realise the potential they possess the fact that parts are cheap and plentifull but the thing i personally i love the most about e series is how reliable they can be and also how hard/harsh u can be on them and they just keep running

Alot of people dont associate reliability with e series but my current EL XR6 has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. This includes the BA and BF work utes I had for a while. I converted it to manual because it was cheaper to buy a conversion than have an auto shop do a auto service.

I do long distance trips and couldnt bare the thought of doing the trips in anything other than my EF V8 fairmont wagon or the XR6.

Agreed. My EL has had the least issues of all my cars, and I've owned it 4 times longer than any of them. If you treat them like a $2000 shitbox then that's what you'll get, but there's little reason they shouldn't be reliable if you look after them properly.

They're in between the inefficient cars of yesterday and the disposable cars of today.

Gozza's turbo EB last did ~40000k's before it needed any decent kind of attention.

Bipolar wrote:Gozza's turbo EB last did ~40000k's before it needed any decent kind of attention.

And probably would have done another 40k if I hadn't bought it and started doing powerskids into 3rd....

<3 when people get a different "superior" car and look down there nose on those poor cunce with E-series like they're better than them.

Unless you got a Bentley or something your still the same shitcunt with a different pile of crap. Fact that they even still browse these forums says it all.

Lol I ran my ef out of oil. Thought it was fucked. Put some fresh oil in it and a few days of ticking later it was back to normal. It heals itself farken

cheap and reliable... and they dont look too bad either haha