Ford Falcon four-cylinder

And it's also the last chance for the Australian public to overcome an historic aversion to four-cylinder large family sedans.

It is probably already too late for the long-term future of the Ford Falcon - at least as a locally designed and build car - but first impressions are the Ecoboost 2.0-litre four-cylinder direction-injection turbo Falcon has performance close to the venerable 4.0-litre in-line six-cylinder now installed in the FG Falacon.

It joins the LPG - powered "EcoLPi" Falcon and the turbodiesel Territory as part of a three-pronged strategy to improve efficiency in Ford's large vehicles. Ford is expected to announce the locally designed and built Falcon will be replaced by a global platform vehicle - potentially as early as the Detroit Motor Show in January.

That is in part due to product rationalisation and the also fact the six-cylinder can't meet the Euro V emissions standards that will come in to force from 2016. 

The timetables for vehicle production means the local product will continue until at least 2016 and in the interim the EcoBoost is expected to headline the drive to halt the slump in Falcon sales.

It deserves that expectation - a brief drive on the ride and handling track at the Ford proving ground shows the 50kg shaved off the front axle make the Falcon a precise and willing steerer.

The acceleration tests then prove it is almost a match for the six-cylinder engine now fitted to the XT, G6 and G6E models the 2.0-litre turbo will be fitted to.

The key will be getting people in cars to appreciate the quality of the new product - and in the fuel consumption figures Ford won't release until closer to the vehicle's launch in early April.

"EcoBoost is the replacement for displacement and is no longer about the number of cylinders but about capability," Ford Australia president and CEO Bob Graziano says. He's right - and he's wrong.

Arch-rival Holden has managed to consistently outsell Ford based on the VE Commodore the beats the Falcon on styling, not engineering. Ford has added equipment and cut prices across the range with the launch of the updated "Mark II" car due in dealerships later this month but its year-to-date sales of 15,882 are more than 9000 vehicles down on this time last year.

The Commodore's decline isn't nearly as dramatic, but Australians are shifting away from large family sedans and a four-cylinder Falcon, while a brilliant engineering exercise, probably is a case of too little, too late.

It's taken three years for Ford to engineer the EcoBoost for the Falcon and the final performance figures are expected to be higher than the 177kW/320Nm the same engine generates in the Volvo S60. Power and torque numbers don't tell the whole story but they will influence potential buyers who will compare them with the 195kW and 391Nm of the six-cylinder Falcon - and ignore the four-cylinder's 60kg weight saving.

History will also hurt the EcoBoost Falcon. The last time a four-cylinder was put in an Aussie family car was the infamous 1.9-litre Starfire engine Holden shoved under the bonnet of the VC Commodore in 1980.

The performance was so poor that drivers kept the accelerator flat to the floor and the claimed fuel economy benefits over the six-cylinder model evaporated. The Falcon doesn't deserve the comparison ... but Ford will have to persuade new car buyers otherwise.