The front
suspension on the EA Falcon was new from the ground up and
offered a better ride,
handling and longevity. The "variable
assist" power
steering was far superior to the
XF model, and offered the added benefit of delivering
a tighter turning circle (the QE2 putting a XF to shame). Unfortunately for the EA reliability issues
were soon to surface and the model quickly gained a bad
reputation with the Australian motoring public. Some analysts
believe it was Ford's desire to get the new model to market
quickly, without first ironing out the bugs, that caused
the problem.