How fast are the Ford Falcon XR6 and XR8 Sprints?

Ford doesn't make a 0-100km/h claim, so we did our own test. 

Ford won't say exactly how quick the XR Sprint editions are -- even though they borrowed a HSV GTS during development for back-to-back testing.

So we did some testing of our own.

Last Friday we did 0 to 100km/h times in a HSV GTS, the fastest and most powerful Australian-made car -- to date.

We recorded a 4.7-second time in a HSV GTS manual before, but wanted to see if the auto was quicker.

Using the same satellite-based timing equipment used by Holden and Ford (and the rest of the industry for that matter) we repeated the 4.7-second time in the HSV GTS auto.

You will read faster times elsewhere, because the car buff magazines tend to use drag strips with sticky start lines. They will also spend as long as it takes to come away with a low number.

For the record, HSV says the GTS can do 0 to 100km/h in 4.4 seconds, and Ford insiders say the XR6 Turbo Sprint does the same feat in 4.5 seconds and the XR8 Sprint in 4.6 seconds in testing conditions.

We test on normal road surfaces in order to replicate real world results.

While it wasn't a back-to-back test (the Ford preview drive was in Tasmania, the HSV was tested in Sydney) we used the same timing equipment to test the new XR Sprints this week.

We heard a whisper the XR6 Turbo Sprint could pip XR8 -- and the $100,000 HSV.

But try as we might we couldn't better 4.7 seconds. Yes, a dead heat. Still impressive when you consider the XR6 Turbo Sprint is just over half the price of the HSV flagship.

We then tested the XR8 Sprint automatic. Perhaps this would finally give us a pecking order.

Both Holden and Ford fans have plenty to crow about

Then out came the number: 4.7 seconds. A three-way tie after more than 10 tests in each of the three cars.

You're forgiven for being skeptical at this point, because I would be too.

Had I not done all three tests myself, seen the results with my own eyes, and taken photos of each result as proof, I would not have believed that all three cars recorded the same 4.7-second time.

The only difference is that the HSV GTS was 0.1-second slower than both Fords to 60km/h, and then reeled back that loss on the way to 100km/h.

We'll do this test again -- on the same road, same day, back-to-back – once the Fords make it back to mainland Australia.

In the meantime, both Holden and Ford fans have plenty to crow about.