![]() It worked well on the road in reducing aero drag and improving fuel economy, but at racing speeds it led to a handling imbalance that made life tough for Ford teams. The AU Falcon in base model form shows what a slippery shape Ford created with its ‘New Edge’ styling. ![]() However, it also polarised public opinion. 295 was an 11 percent improvement over the previous EL and set a new benchmark for fuel efficiency. When released for public sale in 1998, the AU featured Ford’s ‘New Edge’ design language which with a Cd of. Larkham’s high expectations of the AU Falcon’s track performance were widely shared when it debuted at the beginning of the 1999 season. I thought ‘wow, what a slippery car, this thing is going to be fast’ but that was on the proviso you could then put a really strong aero package around it for racing - which frankly Ford didn’t do.” It had a very laidback windscreen angle and drop-aways at the front of the bonnet and sides of the boot. “I actually got excited when I first saw the AU before it was released. “There’s no question the basic shape of the AU created more lift than the VT Commodore and we had to contend with that for the whole time we raced the car. “We knew the basic body shape of the car worked against downforce because when viewed in silhouette (side view) its top half (body outline) was shaped like an aircraft wing, so it provided plenty of aerodynamic lift at racing speeds,” said former AU Falcon V8 Supercar driver Mark Larkham. His runaway win at the final championship round of 2002 at Sandown showed that they were really starting to get a handle on the AU by then, but its racing days were all but over. Ambrose and SBR really clicked when they joined forces in 2001 and by 2002 the young Tasmanian charger was proving more than a match for the Commodore drivers on occasions. Marcos Ambrose on maximum attack in his Stone Brothers Racing AU Falcon at the 2002 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
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