Any enthusiast of hot Falcons has certain ‘code’ number and letter in the back of their head. Right at the top of the memory tree are the letters ‘GT’ and ‘351’. With visions of racing Falcons tackling one of the world’s toughest race tracks, Bathurst, immediately coming to mind. The Falcon GT was expensive and didn’t make a particularly good road car unless you were something of a masochist.

Almost thirty years ago, in the XW Falcon series, Ford introduced another hot machine that sat a slight step down from the GT. One with a significantly lower price tag and that was slightly easier on the backsides of the driver and others occupants.

New codes entered the Ford memory banks: ‘GS’ and ‘302’. Actually, the 302 had been around for while, the number standing for 302 cubic inches, or 5.0 litres, in the new money. The 351 engine displaced 5.7 litres.

FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) runs the hot Ford setup these days and has just announced a special limited edition model called Falcon GS 302. This time around the 302 stands for the power output of the engine, 302 kilowatts, or 405 horsepower. Falcon fans will notice this isn't far below the output of the full-on Falcon GT, which puts out 315 kW.

 

Other numbers Ford fans may contemplate are $54,950 and $49,950 – the prices of the new Falcon GS sedan and ute respectively. This makes the new GS 302 significantly more affordable than the GT, which has an opening price of $67,890 for the sedan. On-road costs have to be added to these prices.

The 302 engine is virtually a recalibrated version of the 5.4-litre GT V8. It has been designed to be slightly more tractable in its characteristics, though it is certainly far from being a soft powerplant. The twin throttle bodies, intake system, headers and dual exhaust of the full GT engine have been retained, the ECU has been revised.

In the same way, the six-speed automatic transmission has been recalibrated to match the new 302 powerplant. The six-speed manual is unchanged.

Peak GS power is developed at 6000 rpm, whereas the GT goes all the way up to 6500 revs. Torque from the 302 is an impressive 550 Newton metres at 4750 rpm.

It makes a lot of sense for FPV to have developed a utility variant of the latest GS as there's a huge surge of interest in high-performance load carriers in Australia these days. There never has been a Falcon GT ute, though we have seen some pretty impressive aftermarket ‘GT’ utilities built over the years (and plenty of duds as well!).

 

The suspension is carried across from the Falcon GT, chiefly because huge forward strides in this department mean that today’s high-performance Fords are considerably more supple in their ride than the models of the 1960s and ‘70s. Yet handling and general road behaviour has improved considerably despite the significantly better comfort.

Visually, the new GS carries decals and badges that show a strong visual allegiance to those of the original models of the 1970s and ‘80s. These are tied in with an interesting striping package.

The sedan rides on 19x8 wheels finished in a Graphite colour. The ute’s wheels are Alpine Silver. Tyres are Dunlop Sport Maxx with dimensions of 245/35ZR19 on both bodies.

To keep the costs under control, FPV chose not to introduce special paint colours for the GS, instead carrying some across from the standard Falcon range. Contact your local FPV dealer for details on colours, and to talk about the extensive option range on offer.

The GS interior features full-GT instrumentation, gear knob and starter button. It's finished in charcoal cloth trim.

This new FPV GS is a genuine limited edition model, with only 325 being built, 250 sedans and 75 utes. They will be individually numbered and will carry a numbered plaque beside the starter button.