2008 Falcon Spyshots Good ones time time

[EF Hoon]

the only thing i can see thats diff from the current range is the door handles, have a euro look to them.

[brodfloyd]

I remember what it reminds me of now. (with all that add on rubbish)

[Road_Warrior]

Why the hell is everyone getting would up about what is obviously cladding and fake panels on a test mule?

The body-coloured cladding and fake panels is actually a good idea, it doesnt attract as much attention as a totally black clad car, yet still mask the lines and contours of the car. Some more things to note are:

The exhaust tip on the XT is back to having a cut out in the bumper whereas in the BA/BF it was hidden under the bumper. I think I prefer the hidden exhaust tip except for the XRs

No stupid rooftop radio antenna like the VE

Mirrors are the same as AU/BA/BF ones??

If that red car is an XR, then there is no dual/quad exhaust tips like the VE :(

Chrome/silver taillight surrounds on the red car

Its got the same shoulder line as the AU/BA/BF

Beltline is sloping down towards the front, whereas on the current car its almost horizontal

Boot is shorter than the current car

Wheelarches are not very pronounced

[Cuey]

Houston....we have confirmation!

This is the 2008 Ford Falcon, and it also confirms the earlier pictures of the Car testing in the Bush at You Yangs!

Here is my theory...

Based on other photos already posted in this thread, the best clues come from the Number Plates used.

The Picture posted of the New Mondeo on Page 50 of this thread, had the number plate UNO 921, the car beside it UNO 922, the Falcon in the Red UNO 950, the Falcon in the Bland yellowy colour at the bottom, UNO 917

Compared to other pictures shown of cars in this thread that are cleary Asian, number plates are UNM 956 and the really ugly asian thing with the Zebra Stripes UPK 233

By using your common sense, and noticing that

A. They are all Victorian Number plates, i.e Broadmeadows
B. The current specs for new number plates in Victoria, for testing cars is UNM, UPK, UPO, etc
C. Asian Mules are UNM and UPK
D. The number plates on the Fords are all concurrent UNO!

We’ve all been waiting for this for a long time, and now we have it!

The panels on the red car are designed to give you a fake look. While we can’t draw any detailed conclusions, we however say that

A. Orion falls into line with VE and 380 with an upward slope to the rear
B. Only 1 side exhaust pipe for XR models
C. Fuel Cap remains on the passenger side
D. Exciting Times lay ahead…

[Cuey]

And notice the extra padding around the whole roof archline...look below these to get a better idea of the real shape

[AussieJason]

Originally Posted by 2ndOwner

Looks alot like a 2006/07 Mondeo

Door handles and rear end are very similar, sorry i couldnt find a better pic.
http://images.google.com.au

Actually that pic is pretty good for comparison. I'll bet the rear lights are pretty similar as well.

[Marto GT]

Needs to be dropped about 4 inches lol

[osiris]

dont like the way the boot has been cut in half. that was one of the things tha made falcons and commodores etc practical is the fact that they had large boots. chopping them in half just makes em look crap, and impractical.

personally i love the shape of the current ba/f series falcons. they look the goods, basically.

[nommic]

Originally Posted by Cuey

The Picture posted of the New Mondeo on Page 50 of this thread, had the number plate UNO 921, the car beside it UNO 922, the Falcon in the Red UNO 950, the Falcon in the Bland yellowy colour at the bottom, UNO 917

What if they're all Mondeos :

Looking at the pic 2ndOwner posted up, the slope of the glass, the doorhandles, and the style of the taillights look pretty similar...

[FlipXW]

it may be an xr6 thats why there would be only one exhaust tip?

[Vdouw]

I still think we will be suprised by the out come of the orion either for the better or worse but even with all the cam, i think the surprise will be for the better. But i can't comment further due to all the cam ... i'd only be making myself out to be a complete fool to start making judgement about shape and detail by going off these piccies.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by nommic

What if they're all Mondeos :

Looking at the pic 2ndOwner posted up, the slope of the glass, the doorhandles, and the style of the taillights look pretty similar...

It should be no surprise to anyone in that the Orion is going to share styling cues with the new shape Mondeo...

[sfr rob]

Whats the bet thats the bog stock model, there is no bodykit to speak of really.
What we see here is going to be a lot different once all the crap is peeled off, and bodykit, wheels etc installed. Either way, its great to see an Orion for the first time, even if it is covered up.
I would love to see interior shots.
I just like stating the bleeding obvious!

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Its got the same shoulder line as the AU/BA/BF

If you mean the feature line that runs down the side of the car adjacent to the door handles, I don't think so.

I'd like to see better photos, but I think the feature line will be close to Mondeo and NOT the step as in AU / BA / BF.

The door handles are pull style (as in Territory) also.

[kocho]

Remember that Wheels magazine with the blue Ford Orion? I reckon the tail lights will look nearly the same as them. It sort of looks like it in that spy shot.

[XR8putts]

I hope that Ford have used alot of BA/BF parts to throw us off whilst testing, because those pics look at lot like the current range, and thats not a good thing.

One thing I have noticed, the stance. Now that is one thing fake pannels, cladding and tape cannot cover - and the stance looks shocking, identical to the current range.

The pic with the XT(?) braking, confirms no LED rear lights - atleast on the lowerspec. Traditional position of high brake light is dissapointing too, the VE's top of the rear windscreen posi is much better; looks more modern and is safer too.

Absence of wheel flares is disapointing too. I'm not jumping on the VE flare band wagon, more the classy BMW, Iosis style - flares done right add so much to a car, and these spy shots show that Ford have forgotten about the flares. For the reccord the VE flares are horrid.

Ford have done a great job of hiding the door scallops and roofline though, interesting to note were are yet to see a decent front-end shot! And why the XXXX didn't they bother to cover up the handles with tape and put that shocking zebra tape all over the car?! It's so early in the process and they have already given so much away, IIRC the VE didn't lose its zebra stripes/post-it note squares a month or two before release. :

[JoesAu]

i was told the rear door line on this new falcon are alot straighter and flatter, in that pic the line looks pretty staight to me and flat compared to bseries so i'd say thats it then. I think i should start heading up to the you yangs, my dad said lately theres been test cars overtaking him at like 160km's so there punching the s h i t out of em near the youies.

[hydra_hlz]

Originally Posted by philxy351

it may be an xr6 thats why there would be only one exhaust tip?

Yep yep that could be it, maybe the new XR6 will be made a bit more distant to the XR6T and the XR8. So maybe the XR6T and XR8 have the twin exhaust system, or maybe they're leaving it for FPV.

[LeadFoot81]

The wheel arch flares are there, theyre just not as pronounced as the over the top VE ones.

[Polyal]

People remember, this could be anything! Suspension could be from a 2 year old mule, hell they would reuse AU prototypes if they could.

One car might have only one new system in it.

[Mongoose]

Oh well, guess my hopes of them remaking the XA-XC are going to have to wait until the next next falcon :(

[FlipXW]

out: Those guys on the ls1 forums are already bagging it lol : . With all that plastic and fake panels i think its a bit early to be making judgement calls. Any way even those wheels cgi's look better than the VE and apparently the real thing looks much better than those.

[BadMac]

Originally Posted by philxy351

out: Those guys on the ls1 forums are already bagging it lol : . With all that plastic and fake panels i think its a bit early to be making judgement calls. Any way even those wheels cgi's look better than the VE and apparently the real thing looks much better than those.

Dude, the wheels CGI was the VE, it just had a couple of changes to make it look Falcon.

Anyway, it pretty hard to tell much from the photos, in fact its easy to tell more from what the photos don't show, ie its safe to assume the covers are either to hide changes/features or to distract the eye. The open parts Ford don't care about. So:

Top of doors, bottom of doors, rear windows, guards, boot. All hidden.
So rear pillar changed, I hated the AU/BA/BF one so thats a very good thing.
Top of doors very conventional.
No vents in front guards.
Aerial in cnetre of roof, I hope thats just something for data capture cause its really ugly.

[FPV8U]

Originally Posted by BadMac

No vents in front guards.

Thank god for that, was hoping they wouldn't follow the Fake Vents trend...

[JAKHMR]

I like the sloping front door lines leading towards the front headlights!

[AC]

Originally Posted by Mongoose10

Oh well, guess my hopes of them remaking the XA-XC are going to have to wait until the next next falcon :(

F N Aye :ticking:

[MattyB]

Originally Posted by The Monty

Its gunna be red!!

lol! I S2 U

[Jayden]

Originally Posted by philxy351

out: Those guys on the ls1 forums are already bagging it lol : .

Thats what they live for. But im sure some ford fans bagged the holden the second after they knew what it was.

[Iphido]

BA suspension will be essentially used. But modified. Alloy parts, better shocks (monotubes?), better isolation, etc..

I agree with puts99 about the brakelights. LED's and highmounts are what is required these days. Safer, better looking, faster.

[fou_bleu]

has anyone thought we might be looking in the wrong place? Ford usually puts all next-gen parts in 'current' gen cars and only realeses(:S) the bandaged mules much closer to 'birth'? Or am i just thinking outside square as usual?