In 2013, Ford Australia made the announcement that the Barra, along with the two cars it powered – Ford’s Falcon and Territory – were running out of time. By the autumn of 2016, the Barra was discontinued. Ford Australia President Bob Graziano cited high labor costs as the reason for this decision in a press statement. He mentioned that their costs were double that of Europe and nearly four times Ford in Asia. Graziano also noted that their locally-made products were unprofitable while their imported products were profitable.

In contrast to Toyota’s globally sold 2JZ inline-six-cylinder engine, the Barra was exclusively produced for the Australian and New Zealand markets. Therefore, support for these powerful engines is primarily available in that region. Not only is there a wide range of performance parts in the aftermarket, but there are also conversion kits available to install the Barra engine in various vehicles, including those made by General Motors subsidiary, Holden.

With the addition of a larger turbocharger and a customized tuning program, the Barra can be easily upgraded to generate up to 800 horsepower, using its stock internal components. By using stronger forged internal parts, the performance potential becomes limitless. Recently, Australian drag racer Maria Passo achieved a striking 2,048 horsepower from a Barra engine in her street-legal Ford Falcon XR6, utilizing methanol as fuel.

Interestingly, Ford Australia attempted to capitalize on the significant hype surrounding the Barra engine by marketing a V8 engine that was part of the same family. However, since there was nothing particularly exceptional about the 5.4-liter V8 engine manufactured in Canada, and due to potentially higher annual registration fees for eight-cylinder engines in Australia, the Barra V8 failed to gain traction.