BA Futura Sedan

[dusty]

My Boss is in the process of making one of his most important decisions, wether to Lease a BA Futura or a VY Commodore Aclaim. We got to drive the Futura today and while I usually drive a Mondeo wagon (Its at the panebeaters at present) he gave me the keys for the return journey. I have not had much experience driving large 6 cylinder cars but this one was I have to say, very nice,quiet,plenty of power and the sequential gearbox was very interesting. A simple + or - symbol would be helpful on the gate but obviously its up to change down and so on (may be not obvious) .The engine is far smoother than the old single cam unit and much more relaxed when the tacho needle ventured further around the dial. It does not make the whole car twist on its suspension when revved whilst stationary and the engine doesnt seem to "shiver" or give the occasional hiccup when idling. As to the interior, its one model up from the base XT so the creature comforts are all there and the vinyls are soft enough to the touch but little things such as the steering wheel which is moulded from the exact material as the mark one Mondeo (1999) which I drove for three years, it is soft and spongy and has reach adjust ( like the Belgian) but my 99 cars wheel had no texture left on it after 140,000kms and was totally smooth. This leads me to believe that the interior may not be as hard wearing as the Belgian Ford. Now thats a steering wheel!! (Copied by GM for the VY , well, close anyway) Over all its a big leap over the AU but some more attention to material choices may have given it a little more mmmmm ..... factor. Something I believe the base model Mondeo mark 2 definitely has. Should hopefully get to drive the VY soon (when the boss hits up the salesman from Holden) Also a thumbs up for the exterior ,tight panel gaps and far, far nicer to look at. Boot (trunk) is a
bit small with narrow entry and rather shallow,
enough waffle ,
Cheers,
Dusty