New feature Falcons should have

[Brazen]

On the weekend, I had the chance to witness a feature I think all Falcons should have. Pulling up to horse-riding meet I ran into an old mate of mine who has a VW Jetta, He parked his VW in very muddy clay as there were no more parking spaces on the gravel.

Anyway after the meet, we all went back to the cars and a guy in a Landcruiser said to my mate he will need a tow to get out of the mud, my mate said 'na it will be fine'. He jumped in the VW, turned off traction control, and after a split second as the wheels thought about it the VW hauled out of there like it was on bitumen. All of us were quite stunned. My VW mate explained that all VWs have a EDL or Electronic Diff Lock.

The EDL uses the ABS wheel sensors to constantly direct power to both wheels by using the brakes to split torque 50:50 to each wheel. Unlike traction control, the EDL does not reduce or cut engine power when the wheels slip. So you can rev the guts out of the VW and just power through anything. The VW actually acted like it had a mechanically locked diff (like a RTV) as both drive wheels had power when it went through the mud.

Looking at my big, powerful, rear wheel drive Ford with its 2.3 tonne towing capacity I am just shocked Ford could not see an opportunity to add this simple electronic feature to Falcons, as all of the ABS, traction control wheel sensors are already there. I can never use traction control in mud as cars just bog down when it senses both wheels slipping, but with the EDL the car would continue to power through.

With Falcon utes used on construction sites, other Falcons used to tow horses, caravans and boats an EDL would be brilliant addition. And with the staggering amount of compact, midsize and large SUVs being bought for towing and light off-road uses a EDL would be a great marketing angle to get some of these buyers to reconsider a Falcon.