Race-bred 380kW Typhoon swirls into action

FORD Performance Vehicles has maintained its quaint tradition of revealing a blistering new "unofficial" concept car – not at an international motor show, but at its latest Family Open Day.

This time round, the Blue Oval skunk works used last Sunday’s ninth annual event at its Melbourne HQ to unveil the most powerful creation it has ever produced: a wild 380kW/700Nm-plus incarnation of its Typhoon sedan.

FPV says the highly-modified, one-off show car was designed specifically to tackle similar turbocharged performance cars that dominate the increasingly popular motorsport discipline of "drifting" – as well as to appeal to its new turbo fan base.

Sadly, however, FPV has no plans to enter production with its DRIF6 hyper-Typhoon.

"There is a tradition at each FPV Family Open Day for a group of volunteers from FPV and Prodrive to create a project car," said FPV managing director David Flint. "This year, they have surpassed all previous projects." DRIF6 is a fully-operational concept vehicle. It features a lightened chassis, racing cockpit and upgraded version of the popular Falcon XR6’s intercooled and turbocharged 4.0-litre inline six.

Built by FPV engineers and technicians with the support of parent company Prodrive, Autotek, Castrol, HIS Hoses, Robinson Racing Developments, Revolution Racegear and Dunlop, DRIF6’s early development was also aided by rising FPR motorsport driver Mark Winterbottom.

DRIF6 employs a hand-made twin-plenum inlet manifold, ram-airbox and a significantly larger (600mm x 300mm) intercooler that feeds a Garrett GT 35/40 turbocharger via custom three-inch pipes.

The straight-through stainless steel exhaust is also a three-inch system (with side outlet), while an upgraded Tremec T-56 close-ratio six-speed gearbox and AP racing twin-plate clutch drive the rear wheels through a locked differential.

Modified specifically for drifting with braided hoses, a brake proportioning valve and a WRC-style hydraulic handbrake, the braking system includes the same Brembo brakes available on F6 Typhoon. They comprise 355mm front and 330mm rear cross-drilled and pillar-ventilated rotors, plus six-piston monoblock front callipers and four-piston rear callipers.

DRIF6’s cockpit was stripped bare and fitted with a rollcage, Momo racing seats with harnesses, a Momo steering wheel, Momo gearknob and ancillary gauges by VDO and Autron.

Five-spoke 19 x 8.0-inch alloy wheels complete the DRIF6 picture.