Best Carbon Fibre Upgrades for the Ford Falcon FG and FG-X
The Ford Falcon FG and FG-X are still two of the best blank canvases in Australia for tasteful carbon fibre work. I am Riley Baginski, founder of RB Innovations, and the short answer for the best carbon fibre upgrade on an FG or FG-X right now is the shifter surround, which has just come off the line and is on its way back into stock. Beyond that the FG platform is in active development at our end, with new interior and engine bay pieces moving through CAD and mould tooling. Below I'll walk through what is shipping, what is being built, where the FG and FG-X actually differ, and the order I'd fit them in for the cleanest result.
Why the FG and FG-X still get carbon
Every FG owner I talk to says the same thing about the cabin. It is roomy, the dash is honest, but most of the trim is grey, soft-touch and very 2010. Carbon fibre is the easiest way to lift the interior into 2026 without going down the painted-piece rabbit hole. On the engine bay side, the Barra is a proud lump of a motor and it deserves something more interesting than the OE plastic coil cover. None of this is about adding power. It is about making the car look the way it should have left the factory.
The Falcon also responds well to carbon because the cabin is a mostly horizontal, flat-faced design. Glossy weave parts catch light cleanly across a wide surface, which is why even one piece like the shifter surround changes the whole feel of the car the moment you sit in it.
The piece that is shipping now: FG/FG-X Carbon Fibre Shifter Surround
This is the FG product I'd put first on any build right now. The shifter surround has just finished a production run and will be back available shortly. It is the part of the cabin you stare at the most, every gear change, every time you reach for a coffee out of the cup holder. The OE surround is grey plastic that scratches if you look at it sideways.
The RB version is an overlay, not a replacement. It is 3D scanned and moulded to sit directly on top of the factory FG/FG-X shifter trim panel, following the exact contour for a flush fit with no gaps or raised edges. The factory trim stays in place underneath, completely untouched. Install is five to ten minutes start to finish, no clips, no wiring, no tools. Clean the surface, position the overlay, press firmly. Automotive-grade double-sided tape creates a strong bond without any permanent modification to the cabin. Nothing is cut, nothing is drilled.
It comes in three finishes, gloss twill, gloss forged carbon, and matte forged carbon, all priced at $400. Pick the finish based on the rest of the car. Forged carbon has the random tile pattern from the purpose-built prepreg forged fabric and reads more aggressive in person. Twill is the classic 2x2 weave that pairs nicely with chrome and silver interior trim. Both are real prepreg carbon under a UV-resistant clear coat. Neither is better than the other, it is character not quality. I covered the trade-offs in detail in my piece on how forged carbon and twill weave compare if you want the longer read.
What is currently being designed and tooled for the FG
The Falcon range at our end is being expanded right now, deliberately, one piece at a time. We don't push parts out the door before the fitment is right, so most of what is in the FG queue is currently sitting in CAD or working through mould tooling. Without committing to dates I won't be able to honour, here is the kind of work that is going through the workshop for the FG platform.
A redesigned dry carbon coil cover is the headline piece on the engine bay side. The current V2 listing on the site is the previous run. The next iteration is being designed to retain the clearance for -10 AN breather fittings while improving panel fitment and finish consistency further. Real prepreg dry carbon, autoclave cured, in a choice of gloss and matte finishes across both twill and forged carbon. Install on the Barra is straightforward but it is not a five minute job, the cover bolts onto the rocker cover with 8 torx bolts and you have to pull the oil cap and disconnect the breather line before you can lift the factory piece off and drop the carbon one on. The notify-me list on the existing product page is the best way to be at the front of the queue when the next batch is ready.
On the interior side, a full replacement set of carbon fibre door pull cups is also being tooled. The OE door pulls on the FG and FG-X are a known cracking and breaking point with daily use, so the goal is a piece that both lifts the look of the door card and solves the failure mode for owners who've broken theirs. Install on each pull cup is one torx bolt out, then the factory cup pulls straight out of the door card, and the carbon replacement drops in the same way. Per door, about five minutes including putting the screwdriver away.
Beyond those two, the FG platform is getting attention across a wider list of interior touchpoints and engine bay extras. Categories that are firmly on the roadmap include carbon mirror covers, radiator shroud, and the ZF gearshift knob itself. I am not naming specific product styles or commit dates here because those decisions get finalised at the mould stage, not in a blog post, but the platform is far from done.
FG vs FG-X fitment, what carries over
This trips up a lot of buyers and it is worth being clear on. The FG (2008 to 2014) and FG-X (2014 to 2016) share most of the interior, so the shifter surround above carries across both shapes without modification. Where they differ is the front and rear bumpers and the headlight pattern, but those are exterior styling parts and not in the current FG carbon range. If you are running an XR6, XR6 Turbo, XR8, G6E, or G6E Turbo on either chassis, the shifter surround will fit your car. The one case is if you have a manual car the shifter boot retainer will not fit due to the added thickness of the overlay, in which case we are currently working on a solution.
Two builds the FG carbon range suits best
A subtle XR6 Turbo or G6E build is where this gear really sings. The interior carbon takes a stock-looking cabin and gives it presence without screaming, and the matte forged shifter surround works particularly well on the darker G6E trim. If you want a real example of a Falcon that's done this kind of build properly, the FG G6E Jet build feature we ran is a useful blueprint for restraint over volume.
Carbon fibre vs vinyl wrap and ABS on a Falcon
You'll see vinyl-wrapped trim, painted plastic and ABS dress-up parts sold for the FG too. They are cheaper at the till but they don't last in our climate. Vinyl wrap bubbles and peels at the edges within two to three Australian summers if it is sitting in the sun, painted plastic chips along stress lines, and ABS yellows and warps with heat soak in the engine bay. Real carbon fibre is structurally stiffer than ABS, doesn't deform under heat the way wrap does, and won't peel because the weave is the part, not a sticker laid on top of one. If you want to compare what's available on other models while you wait for the FG queue to grow, you can browse the full lineup at carbon fibre parts by make and model.
Care, longevity and the Australian sun
Real carbon under a proper clear coat is happy in the Australian sun for a long time, but the clear coat needs the right care. Wash with a pH neutral shampoo, dry with a fresh microfibre, never use a polish that contains solvents. Avoid leaving the bonnet open on a 40 degree day for hours at a time. The heat soak around the engine bay is fine, the failure mode is direct UV on parked carbon, which ages the clear faster than any other variable I've tested. For the full care routine, including what I'd actually use on a freshly fitted carbon piece, my guide on how to look after carbon fibre parts long term is the easiest read.
Where to start right now
If you've got an FG or FG-X today, the move is to get the shifter surround on the notify list and pick your finish in advance. It is the cleanest single-piece upgrade in the FG range and the only piece I can point you at as a near-term buy. The rest of the platform is being built around it, and the goal is to make sure every new FG release fits the same way, looks the same standard, and lasts the same length of time.
FAQ
Is the FG carbon shifter surround a replacement or an overlay?
It is an overlay. It sits on top of the factory FG/FG-X shifter trim panel, held in place with automotive-grade double-sided tape, and follows the exact contour for a flush fit. The factory trim stays underneath, completely untouched. That makes it a five to ten minute install with no tools, no clips, no drilling, and no permanent modification to the cabin.
Does the shifter surround fit both the FG and the FG-X?
Yes. The shifter surround is cut to fit both the FG (2008 to 2014) and the FG-X (2014 to 2016) without modification, and it suits every variant across XR6, XR6 Turbo, XR8, G6E, and G6E Turbo. The only thing to know is currently the shifter surround overlay will not work with manual cars
When will the coil cover and door pull cups be back?
The next runs of those parts are working through redesign and mould tooling at the moment, so I'd rather not put a date on them than give one I can't keep. The notify-me-when-available forms on each product page are the cleanest way to get a direct heads up the moment a batch is ready. That list goes first before anything is posted to social.
Will any of these FG parts fit a BA or BF Falcon?
No. The current parts are cut to FG and FG-X fitment only. The BA and BF interiors have different dash architecture and the older Barra layout uses a different coil cover footprint, so the FG pieces won't drop on. A BA/BF range is not currently in the queue.
Are these real carbon fibre or carbon over fibreglass?
Real carbon all the way through. RB Innovations does not put fibreglass behind the cosmetic ply on any FG part. The shifter surround is genuine prepreg carbon, and the dry carbon coil cover is autoclave-cured prepreg with a high fibre-to-resin ratio. The carbon you see is carbon every layer.
Ready to look at parts
The whole platform lives at the Ford Falcon FG carbon fibre parts collection. The shifter surround is the live near-term buy, and the notify lists on the rest of the page are the way to be first in line as the FG range grows. Runs are deliberately small, so getting on the list early is the difference between catching a batch and waiting for the next one.