New Falcon: Seats, trim and colours unveiled

FORD Australia has commenced a staggered reveal process for its vital new Barra Falcon, starting with the release of information on seat, interior trim and exterior paint.

The new Falcon is expected on public sale in October and is a far more dramatic revamp than a normal mid-life update, with new engines, suspension, sheetmetal and interior among the changes.

Here's what Ford had to say about its interior plans this week, although it's worth noting it only dealt with mainstream models and not the sporting XRs. Watch out for more updates regularly.

Seats

A $10 million-plus development program has resulted in all-new seats for Barra. Headlining the change is four-way power adjustment across the range - a first for Forte and Futura - with the top-spec Fairmont Ghia featuring six-way adjustment.

The four-way adjuster controls the height and tilt angle of the seat cushion, while the Ghia adds powered fore and aft movement.

Forte, Futura and Fairmont seats will have deeper bolsters for the backrest and cushion to improve lateral support, with the seat centre section divided horizontally by deep seam lines.

A three-panel backrest and three-panel cushion design will be identical across the three non-leather trimmed models, with the material varying according to model.

Included in the redesign are greater cushion height adjustment, increased fore and aft track travel and an upgraded backrest recliner mechanism while the backrest has been heightened and the headrests are bigger. Neatness has been addressed by fitting plastic covers over the seat tracks.

In the rear, the seat shape and squab angle have been altered in search of greater comfort, the 60/40 split-fold mechanism has been made more secure while the centre armrest is bigger and will feature two integrated cupholders.

All seat cushions have a vibration isolation mat with flat springs inserted to help improve ride comfort and Ford has applied for a patent on this technology. Computer-aided engineering has also been used to tune the seats to match body and floor vibration modes to help dial out unwanted vibrations.

Also, the seat trim is attached to the foam pads by a new method that holds the material tautly in the seam grooves using a new hook and loop system that is similar to velcro.

The seats were designed by international auto supplier Lear in consultation with Ford Australia and local supplier Air International, which has set up a new facility inside Ford's Campbellfield assembly complex to supply the seats and other components for Barra.

"What we wanted to do with the seat was give a very sporty feel ... so that it wasn't seen as anything but a comfortable and sporty, dynamic seat to sit in," explained Marcus Hotblack, Barra Falcon manager of interior design.

"We wanted to give the seat much more comfort, and a feeling of being involved, of sitting in the seat, which is one of the criticisms of today's product."

Trim

Grey, the universal interior car colour, has been banished from the Barra.

Instead, it will be replaced by a three-shade colour family called "stone", joining a black called "warm charcoal" which has been around during the AU era.

Two-tone trim is available with warm charcoal and stone on Forte, or an all-stone two-tone effect on other models. Warm charcoal is also available throughout as a monotone interior.

Each Barra Falcon will have its own individual colour scheme, pattern and texture, while the top of the range Fairmont Ghia seats will come with standard leather.

Seat trims will be finished with a velour fabric and will reflect the colour theme of the dashboard and door trims. The seat bolsters will carry a plain colour, while the centre section has a geometric pattern, replacing the organic patterns previously seen.

Here's what each model has:Forte: A dark, boxed geometric pattern
Futura: A slightly softer velour of a different construction with a three-dimensional overlapping panel graphic in the centre section
Fairmont: A more textured velour with a subtler boxed pattern. Larger bolsters are also fitted
Fairmont Ghia: All-leather seat in warm charcoal or stone, or as a no-cost option, a leather/cloth seat is available. The Ghia seat is also more heavily bolstered and has an individually styled headrest.

"We had some very clear customer objectives in mind for Barra," explained Sharon Gauci, Barra Falcon manager of colour and trim design. "We wanted to very much create a "wow" factor in every car, we wanted every car to be sophisticated and beautiful.

"We learned that feel of the fabric was very important with our customers, and a velour or velour-like trim was loved by our customers, so we thought that was an important base to be working with for the Barra program."

Paint

Five new exterior metallic colours have been added to the Barra range, with seven colours being carried over from AU.

The new colours are:Phantom: A deep purple that Ford says will be the "hero colour" for sports models
Acid Rush: A hot yellow echoing Holden's Tiger Gold
Ice Mint Silver: Tinted silver with a hint of green which replaces liquid silver
Mercury Silver: A neutral silver that replaces meteorite
Blue pearl: A mid/dark blue that replaces monsoon.

Ford Australia design director Simon Butterworth said the creation of new colours came after the design team identified "holes" in the Falcon's palette.

"What we found was we had a clustering around the dark area and quite a few light colours and a big void in the middle. And we really wanted to get some interest in that middle area," he explained.

Mr Butterworth said he saw it as a priority that Ford stamped its authority on blue, the colour of its logo.