Peter Luxon is working on a new giant diameter exhaust

It was a good gadget until morley tipped it over

No need to worry about the cops; it's all above board

The end result is a 3.5-inch pipe from the turbo incorporating the new cat and then a split into two 2.5-inch pipes, a big-capacity muffler, more twin 2.5s over the axle and a rear muff that retains the twin-pipe layout. As well as making the most of the limited clearance, the twin 2.5s ensure that the system flows slightly better than a single 3.5 would, and they do so without the annoying drainpipe harmonics (and sheer decibels) of some big-diameter set-ups.

So what are the Falcon’s other limitations? Well, the Garrett snail is good for 600 neddies, necessary to get the volume needed while pegging boost at about 6 psi, as the factory does.

So Ford used another method of limiting backyard development, in this case the injectors, which are rated at about 300 cc. Luxon flings those and fits a drop-in replacement with a 360 cc rating, allowing the engine to be pushed beyond 300 kW without the dreaded lean-outs under big load. Keeping the juice up to the bigger squirters is a supplementary fuel pump – a big Bosch unit mounted in the engine bay.

Phase II also incorporates a big cold-air scoop behind the left-hand headlight and, of course, the Unichip with boost control, which allows Luxon to override the factory fuel, ignition and boost settings.

Despite the fact that everything added is either hidden behind other components or painted black to keep the rozzers guessing, the end result is no shrinking violet. Call it 330 kW at 5500 rpm or so, with max boost of about 10 psi at 4000 rpm, tailing off to eight or nine pounds at redline and you’d be pretty close to the mark.

Fully sick, they call it out my way.

Out on the open road, there’s absolutely no way you’ll mistake the Phase II APS XR6T for a standard version. Torque is never more than a heartbeat away and it doesn’t come in small doses.

Flex your ankle in any gear and the XR6 bolts for tomorrow like very few road-going contraptions (and even fewer with four doors and a golfbag-sized boot). There’s a bigger sneeze as you come off the gas (the cold-air system) and a slightly noisier note (the cat) under full load. But that’s detail gear, and the headline stuff is the amazing flexibility and outright poke you’re suddenly packing. It’s one of the few cars around in which you’ll happily leave the traction control switched on…in the wet, at least.