fordcortina.com.au
General Cortina => Cortinas in the Media => Topic started by: CortinaD on August 22, 2007, 03:37:22 PM
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Source: Wheels: November 1973.
New Cortina: FORD CHACES AWAY THE FAULTS
Ford of Britain has just released a new
Cortina…Ford Australia’s immediate
reaction was "there will be no change
for some considerable time." But
Australia will see the improved Cortina’s
in April/May next year. MEL NICHOLS,
in London, has the story.
This article was typed and submitted by Matthew Woolard
FORD BRITAIN has released a new Cortina - with the main improvements concentrating on ride and handling.
The new car also has a completely redesigned dashboard with new instrumentation, control layout and ventilation system.
There is a new grille, and a lot of work has gone into making the car quieter. Overall, the aim is to make the Cortina look and feel much more sophisticated.
The new model goes on sale in England this month. It isn’t known when nor how many of the improvements will be incorporated into the Australian Cortina. Officially, Ford Australia says only: "There will be no change in our car for some considerable time," but local sources inside Ford indicate the new Cortina, incorporating most of the improvements, including the new interior, will go on sale in Australia in the second quarter of 1974.
But sooner the better - because the ’74 modifications, particularly those to the control and instrument layout, improve the car a lot.
Essentially, the "aircraft" type binnacle dashboard has been diced and replaced with a flat dashboard similar to that of the Cortinas that preceded the TC model and also the Fiat 132 sedan. The accent is on simplicity and ease of driver comprehension.
More importantly, the minor controls have all been switched over to a new stalk-operated system. This gives you indicators and horn on one stalk on the left of the steering column, and lights and wipers on two more stalks on the right of it.
Like the dashboard, the ventilation system returns to a style almost identical to pre-TC Cortinas - Ford frankly admits the slit vents in the top sections of the dash that it introduced in the TC range don’t work well enough, and it has reverted back to the old "eyeball" outlets.
The Cortina has been given a very basic styling facelift: only the grille is changed, apart from a couple of jazz-up flashes across the boot panel on the higher-priced XL and E models. Instead of the basically blacked-out grille with one central chrome strip running across it, as on the current Australian Cortina, the new car has a more pronounced and wider central band of horizontal strips that flow across from side-to-side, giving the car a lower, more subtle appearance.
The headlights are now rectangular halogen units on the XL, E and GT model, too, although whether or not the Australian car will use them is another matter. Ford Australia may prefer to stick with round headlights to maintain identification with the Falcon and Fairlane, rather than the Escort.
Underneath, the most work has gone into the suspension. Ford wanted to overcome criticism of the Cortina’s harsh ride and as a result it has softened both the springs and shock absorbers, compensating by fitting anti-roll bars front and rear. Previously, a roll bar was on the front of only the GT and GXL models.
To back up these modifications, the bushes which insulate the body from the suspension sub frame have been redesigned, increased in size and changed from rubber to micro-cellular polyurethane. The steering geometry has also been slightly altered.
Under the bonnet, the only change is adoption of the 1 600cm3 American Pinto-type overhead cam engine instead of the old-pushrod 1 600. But the 1 600 TC Cortina sold so poorly in Australia it has been dropped so this change won’t make any difference here.
To match the new 1 600 engine, which develops 53.7Kw [72 bhp] at 5 500 rpm, the ratio’s of the four-speed gearbox have been re-thought, and are now closer. To improve drive-trian smoothness, the tailshaft is now a two-piece unit on all models. Since the Australian Cortina uses a Falcon drive-train, this isn’t likely to affect our cars.
As you get into the new Cortina, it seems more airy and modern than the current Australian model. This impression comes from the new dashboard, which doesn’t close in around you quite like the old binnacle-style job.
The dashboard is well-planned and very functional-looking, but not at all unattractive. Coming across from the left it gives you first the passenger’s eyeball event, then a wide, flat-lidded glovebox, a central section housing the heater/vent controls and the radio, a small section beside that for the cigarette lighter and two piano switches for the hazard flashes and heated rear window. Then comes the wide instrument panel, which houses a big tachometer, a smaller central split gauge for fuel and temperature then the big 120 mph speedo with the driver’s ventilation eyeball finishing it all off. The whole lot is topped by a clean and fairly hefty padding surround.
The new instruments are beautifully lucid. Simple dials with white figures on black backgrounds and white needles, they look really good and work excellently. A new rheostat for the instrument lighting is just below the driver’s vent eyeball and is easy to reach. At night, the heater/vent controls in the middle of the dash are lit.
The small warning lights for indicators left and right, oil pressure, headlight main beam and electrical failure are arranged neatly in a strip between the tach and speedo where they are easiest to see.
Apart from the suspension improvements, the new stalk-operated minor controls are the ’74 car’s most important feature. Ford has picked a rather different system in that it uses three stalks instead of the more normal two. It takes quite a while to get used to this - the confusing part is having the indicator stalk on the left of the column, like that of a Fiat.
Some people at the British Press release were criticising the placement because they said it was too much of a hassle having the indicator stalk worked by the hand that has to look after the gear changing or automatic selection. But really, it’s not a significant point once you get used to the layout.
In feel and in reach from the wheel, the left stalk is excellent, placing the push-the-tip-in horn right at your fingertips. On the other side of the column, it is a little harder to reach the short stalk that turns the side lights and then the headlights on and the flashers. The longer stalk in front of it for the two-speed wipers is much better placed.
In total the system works well, and the sooner we get it on the Australian car to replace those stupid toggle switches on the dashboard the better.
How much better does the car ride and handle? Well, the ride feels immediately softer and more supple, though not by much, and there is a feeling of better body control as you move down the road. Obviously, with the new roll bars front and rear the body does not move about so much. In the corners, the car is tauter, more secure and pleasanter to drive. It hangs on well and is more precise, although there is still that centre vagueness in the rack and pinion steering, and a period of little feeling at all as you move the wheel across dead-centre. This is enough to let the car move about in moderate to strong winds above 60 mph on the open road.
The modified steering geometry and revised suspension bushes eliminate harshness and a lot of feedback from the steering, making the car nicer to drive on rougher roads. But whether those modifications will be made on the Cortina Six and can cure its problems remains to be seen.
Certainly, though you feel you can pitch the new 2-litre into the bends with more security and enjoy it more than before. Which all means that the car handles well.
So far as the ride goes overall, it is better but it is still not really good. You benefit from the softer springing which makes cresting bumps a softer feeling because you come down more gently and your highway ride is more relaxed and supple. However, the basic design inefficiencies of the trailing arm/coil spring rear suspension are shown when you counteract ripply surfaces and you feel the shockers working pretty damned hard to keep it all under control. If they ever [and they will] get a little soft your backside is going to take a pounding. On bigger bumps you still get a degree of tail hop, although not as soon nor as much as before.
There is about the same nose dive under brakes, but the car feels more secure now.
For England, Ford has supplemented the new range with an "E" model, the equivalent of our XLE model. This car is a luxury package 2-litre with real wood on the fascia and door tops and a really beautiful new knitted nylon trim that Ford calls "Savannah". Soft and extremely comfy to sit in, as well as very pleasing to the eye in its pale shades, this trim really gives the E a luxury impression. It is a new material that Ford says has proven exceptionally strong and resistant to stains. However, it may not be suitable for Australia’s hotter, harsher conditions.
Taking about heat, the new ventilation outlet system is an improvement on the slit system of the Aussie car. You get more volume and you can direct it better. Conditions for judging the ventilation were appropriate: Merry Old England has been hot this summer. I’ve been thinking I’m in Victoria, not the Olde Sod, for the past two months. Often with the heat it is quite muggy, rather like the way it is in a Sydney February, and on just such a day I found the new vents quite good.
All up, Ford’s ’74 changes to the Cortina are gimmick-free, honest-to-goodness improvements. Nothing has been changed for change’s sake, which is how it should be. Now it’s just a matter of waiting until the good points are incorporated into the Australian Cortina - although with the new and radically-changed Torana coming up soon to give the Cortina curry it’s a pretty safe bet Ford Australia will add in quite a few more modifications when it does upgrade our car.
Notes for article pictures: Dashboard is all new with three steering column stalks and relocated instruments and minor controls. Slit air vents have been replaced by old style eye-ball system.
Adoption of anti-roll bars, front and rear, mean Ford engineers could go to lower rate springs and shock absorbers to give a superior ride and more responsive handling with improved roll stiffness. We hope they are right.
Suspension changes are designed to improve ride and road holding. Front and rear anti-roll bars are now standard. Styling changes are few with rectangular headlights the big switch.