1987 Ford Falcon Fairmont review from Australia and New Zealand

Paint is faded.

Minor electrical fault.

Once again ford has prooven its self against holden.

As is now with the new 2003 commodore and 2003 falcon, holden appears to still be lagging behind in last years technology.

It is pure fact that a ford will always offer a smoother and quieter ride, better equipment on all models, especially base models, and heavier towing capacity, but it goes beyond that.

With an 1984 ford fairlane and 2003 commodore side by side, it was tested, the 1984 fairlane was able to take you from standing still to full acceleration, (foot slammed on the floor) with not one slip in the transmition, a quiet and smooth departure and no pausing making the passengers slide forward as the vehicle changed gears.

The commodore took of rapidlly, sounding more like a four cylinder than a six, sliping into first, second and eventually third. The car paused several times, softlly throwing you forward in your seat as you lost acceleration while the transmition changed gears. The revvs were accessive and were expressed by high cheap four cylinder sounding engine noise.

Whilst I was not one to judge, but was shocked to at a better ride in a 1980's fairlane, with faded paint, high kilometres and rust than in the brand new commodore.

I soon found no matter how far back in years you go with the commodore (for example 1992), it will always lack the smooth and quiet quick acceleration of a falcon or the long drive quietness as well.

In my opinion if you are looking for a vehicle that will offer little to no std equipment levels, bland interior and perhaps styling then a commodore is the way to go.

However if you want a vehicle that will out perform and offer a high quality level of equipment accross the range then choose falcon.