Ford Barra engine
The Barra is a family of V8 and inline-6 engines used by Ford Australia between 2002 and 2016. The inline-6 engines are unique to the Australian manufactured Falcon and Territory and were developed and manufactured in Geelong, Victoria. The Barra was first introduced in the BA Falcon, named after the "Barramundi" code name used during the development of the BA update engine. The V8 engine, from Essex, Ontario, were discontinued with the FG model, whereas the I6 engines continued production until 26 September 2016, coinciding with the end of production of the Falcon and Territory on 7 October.
Inline 6
All Barra I6 engines are DOHC with VCT and contain 24 valves. They are a development of the SOHC "Intech" I6s produced between 1988 and 2002, which in turn are a development of the 3.3 and 4.1 L push-rod flat-tappet I6, developed in Australia as an "Alloy Head" Crossflow in 1980, eventually in both carburetted and injected versions, which itself was developed from the original iron-head cross flow engine from 1976, and which in turn was developed, again in Australia, from the original non-cross flow family of light Ford sixes which originated in North America as the "Thriftpower Six" designed for the original American Ford Falcon compact of 1959, initially in just a 144 cubic inch displacement.Petrol
Barra 182
This engine is found in the six-cylinder variants of the BA Falcon, and SX Territory, and was produced between late 2002 and mid 2005. This was the first Falcon engine that came standard with DOHC and Variable Cam Timing. This contributed to the significant jump in output over the base 157 kW SOHC Intech engine in the previous generation AU Falcon and a 10 kW gain over the Tickford enhanced VCT engine's 172 kW. It also kept Ford's engine power outputs above those of the Holden Ecotec and L67 supercharged V6 engines found in the Holden VY Commodore.Barra 190
This engine is found in the BF Falcon and SY/SY II Territory, and was produced between late 2005 and early 2008. It is aesthetically the same and mechanically very similar to the Barra 182. Changes from its predecessor include an increase in compression ratio, a slight revision of the cam profiles, a revision of the air intake system, the introduction of dual independent variable camshaft timing, a secondary knock sensor and an upgraded ECU, which allowed for more sophisticated ignition timing and spark control. These changes lead to a slight increase in power to 190 kW.Barra 195
The Barra 195 is the last version of the naturally aspirated I6 engine and is found in the FG/FG-X Falcon and SZ/SZ II Territory. Changes from its predecessor include a new plastic inlet manifold & throttle body and a redesigned cylinder head with 'Fast Burn' swirl changes to the inlet port. These changes achieved power and economy improvements over the Barra 190. The engine also moved to a rear sump design to suit the new FG Falcon front sub-frame.Turbocharged Petrol
Barra 240T
This engine is found in the BA Falcon XR6 Turbo, and was produced between late 2002 and mid 2005. It is similar to the naturally aspirated Barra 182, except it has different pistons to lower the compression ratio, a single Garrett GT35/40r turbocharger, higher base fuel pressure, Inconel exhaust valves, red rocker cover, and an intercooler.Barra 245T
This engine is found in the BF Falcon XR6 Turbo and the SY Territory Turbo, and was produced between mid 2005 and early 2008. It is internally very similar to its predecessor, with the 5 kW power increase found through the changes introduced by the Barra 190. Aesthetically the engine is the same as the previous model, with the exception of the Territory Turbo using a black rocker cover and a top mounted intercooler. In May 2006, the engine received a minor internal upgrade which addressed concerns of bending con-rods, by introducing stronger con-rods.Barra 270T (BA / BF FPV)
This engine is found in the BA/BF Falcon based FPV F6 Typhoon and Tornado models, and the SY Territory based FPV F6X, and was produced between 2004 and early 2009. It is the high-power variant of the Barra 240/245T versions found in the XR6 Turbo. The increase in power is achieved through the use of higher boost pressures from the otherwise under-utilised large Garrett GT3540 turbocharger, a larger intercooler, revised air intake. These are differentiated from the standard turbo engines by the unique FPV blue-coloured rocker cover. With the introduction of the BF Falcon in 2005, the 270T also inherited the upgrades found in the 245T, but the power figures were left unchanged.Barra 270T (FG)
This engine is found in the FG/FG-X Falcon XR6 Turbo, and was produced between mid 2008 and late 2016. Although the power figures for the revised turbo engine mimic the old FPV turbo I6, the engines are quite different. It has a redesigned low-profile log style intake manifold, a smaller turbocharger which spools faster, a new intercooler, redesigned pistons to increase compression. The end result is that the FG XR6 Turbo is faster than the FPV's BF Typhoon although they share the same power output. This engine introduces a transient over-boost feature for a maximum of 10 seconds when optimal atmospheric conditions are met when under full throttle, which increases torque to a maximum of 586 Nm.Barra 310T
This engine is found in the FG Falcon based FPV F6. It is the high-power variant of the FG XR6 Turbo's Barra 270T. It was produced between mid 2008 and mid 2014, ending production when FPV shut down. Featuring a larger turbocharger and intercooler, different pistons to reduce compression, and larger injectors than its less powerful sibling, it was the first engine manufactured in Australia to produce more than per litre, producing 310 kW at the flywheel.Barra 325T
The final and most powerful variant of the Barra engine featured in the FG-X XR6 Sprint. This engine is the most powerful six cylinder produced in Australia and was built in very limited numbers, with only 500 for Australia and 50 for New Zealand. Each engine had its own numbered build plaque attached to the rocker cover, which is painted in the same colour as the Territory Turbo rocker cover. The engine is based internally upon the Barra 270T, with extras added from the Barra 310T variant such as the turbo, intercooler and injectors. In an Australian first, Ford also employed a custom designed carbon fibre air intake which increased airflow by 45 percent. It was chosen to base the engine on the 270T instead of the 310T due to the increased compression ratio. The engine yet again employs Ford's over-boost feature, which when the correct conditions are met will increase engine output to 370 kW and 650 Nm.Internals
According to Ford Chief Program Engineer David Burn and Program Manager Justin Capicchiano, there are differences in the internals between turbo models, however no forged internals have been used.Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Barra E-Gas
This engine was launched in 2002 with the BA Falcon and was a development of the Intech E-Gas engine. The E-Gas engine is designed to run on autogas only. It features a low-performance, high-reliability, low-maintenance Vialle closed-loop single-point venturi-style LPG-injector-less carburetion system in lieu of the standard sequential petrol injection system. This engine was carried over to the FG Falcon with only one option of a 4-Speed automatic transmission, without traction control but was replaced in mid-2011 by the EcoLPi system, which featured the ZF 6HP26 6-speed automatic transmission and traction control as per fitted to the petrol models.Barra EcoLPi
This engine was launched in 2011 as a replacement for the E-Gas engine. It features a liquid phase injection autogas system, allowing for much higher power and torque than previously.Discontinuation
On the 23rd of May 2013, Ford Australia confirmed that the Barra engine would be discontinued along with the Ford Falcon and Territory by October 2016. Ford Australia's engine manufacturing operations ceased on 26 September 2016 and car assembly on 7 October 2016. Ford Australia president Bob Graziano cited unprofitability due to high labour costs and dwindling market share for the demise of local manufacturing.V8
The Barra V8s, manufactured at the Essex, Ontario, Canada engine plant, are based on the Ford modular engine. All have a displacement of 5.4 litres and are SOHC with VCT incorporating three valves per cylinder. The Falcon was the first vehicle in the Ford world to have the VCT Modular engine.The Barra V8 line is the V8 5.4 L upgrade for the all Falcon models excluding the XR. The higher-performance V8s in the Falcon range were known as the Boss 260/290/302/315 and differ from the Barra V8 engine as they are DOHC with four valves per cylinder.
Common specifications to Barra V8s
Bore: 90.2 mm
Stroke: 105.8 mm
Displacement: 5408 cc
Number of valves: 24