GM puts more money into Europe as US suffers recalls
March 2nd, 2010
GM Europe has conceded that it is still unlikely to get all the financial aid
it is seeking from governments.
Archive
Posts Tagged ‘Ford’
Car scrappage scheme a ’smokescreen for price rises’
March 2nd, 2010
Car companies have inflated forecourt prices by up to a third to claw back
scrappage discounts, an undercover investigation has found.
Ford Shelby GT500: Aluminium thunder on video
February 9th, 2010
Filed under: Sports/GTs, Opinion/Editorial, Videos, Ford
Our transatlantic cousins have been salivating over the new Ford Shelby GT500 since the car emerged at the start of the week. Because the Mustang name doesn't have quite the same resonance on this side of the pond, we were content to smile, nod sagely and then return to more pressing matters.
That's before we heard the GT500's all-new aluminium-block 5.4-litre V8 heart coughed and spluttered into supercharged life.
Ford's low-key video took all of 7 seconds to remind us that when it comes to blue-collar muscle, no one does it like the blue oval. The new Shelby GT500 develops 550hp and 510lb ft of torque, but what it actually produces is cinematic noise and face-splitting grins.
Thanks to Ford's Special Vehicle Team engineers, the new car is significantly lighter than its predecessor and therefore should return better handling, fuel economy and acceleration. A Focus RS would make more sense day to day of course, but the Shelby's old fashioned drifting potential cannot be underestimated. America, consider our heads turned.
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Snow driving – Ken Block style
February 1st, 2010
Filed under: Motorsport, Videos, Ford
Ken Block has been out in his new Ford Fiesta rally car for the first time, and has chosen a simple snow-covered course to get to grips with the car.
Ignoring the idea of not throwing himself in at the deep end, Block takes the Fiesta up to 110mph as he careers along the icy track in a forest in Michigan.
As well as showing more evidence of Block's driving skills, the video also shows us the insanely restyled Monster Fiesta in action for the first time, and it sounds pretty good to us.
Continue reading Snow driving - Ken Block style
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Ken Block’s race-prepped Fiesta revealed
January 27th, 2010
Filed under: Hatchbacks, Motorsport, Ford, Compact , News
Ken Block's arrival at Ford was always going to mean a lot of publicity for the blue oval's new rally season, but the Fiesta they've given him to compete in the Rally America Championship is a handy reminder that the brand expects to sell a lot of cars off the back of their investment.
Until now Ford has been easing the idea of a desirable supermini onto the size-obsessed American market, but there's nothing subtle about the Monster World Rally Team's Fiesta.
The impressively butch hatchback is built by Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution, the same Swedish outfit that prepares Ford's Pikes Peak hillclimb cars. Inevitably, the Fiesta gets a 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-pot and four-wheel drive. Block gets Italian co-driver Alex Gelsomino.
The team will debut at the first race of Rally America this weekend in Atlanta, Michigan. Once the six races of that Championship are completed Block will exchange his Fiesta for the new rally version of the Focus RS and swap continents to compete in the World Rally Championship.
Expect to see pictures of that car on Autoblog UK in the next few days, but for now check out the promo video to see why the US is about to go monster for the Fiesta.
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