How can you not be excited to see getting back into with a modern-day interpretation of the classic E-Type? Well, there is that one little issue with the that Jag announced during the . In this day and age, a 380-horsepower V6 just doesn’t cut it, supercharged or not. At least not when .
Yes, we know the horsepower wars , but if Jaguar wants the F-Type to be taken seriously, it just plain needs a V8. And according to Car and Driver, it’s going to be getting one. At least, eventually.
C/D says the F-Type will eventually get a version of Jag’s 5.0-liter V8, although it doesn’t know which one. Speculation says the supercharged variants in 470- and 550-horsepower states of tune are the most likely, as the base V8 only makes five more horsepower than the planned V6. The report also surmises that the initial roadsters will be six-cylinders when they debut in 2013, with the V8 models appearing further on in the production cycle.
From the headlines-we-never-expected-to-see file: “Stick shifts popular again…” Yes, we thought , what with every carmaker bemoaning low take rates and reports that has decided to in both its sports car and throughout the range of models. But lo and behold, it seems that manuals accounted for 6.5 percent of new vehicle sales during the first quarter this year, the highest take rate since 2006, according to Edmunds.com numbers cited by USA Today.
This surge in popularity comes despite a 10-percent drop in the percentage of new models offering stick shifts in the past five years, according to the report. The change in consumer behavior has surprised some automakers, including , who told the newspaper that demand for a manual in the is nearly 10 percent, more than double the automaker’s original forecast.
Of course before we get too excited – or give credit to the Car and Driver – let’s keep in mind that a decade ago, when we first started to hear the groundswell against the manual from automakers, the take rate for manuals was still running above 8 percent. And we’re still faced with an inevitable demographic shift as Millennials, born after automatic transmissions became dominant, grow up. The best we can hope for is to teach those willing to learn and hope to keep the manual tranny around as long as possible.
UPDATE:The Focus ST has officially been added to Ford’s configurator. to build one yourself.
Well now, the inexpensive performance game just got considerably more interesting. has officially dropped pricing on its upcoming 2013 Focus ST, and it starts at $24,495 (*including a $795 delivery charge). That kind of coin will net you a EcoBoost 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine good for a whopping 252 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, along with a torque-steer compensation system that works in conjunction with electronic power steering to keep the nose pointed in the right direction. If you’re keeping track, those power metrics are slightly north of the figures Ford had previously released. A variable-ratio steering rack toes the line between sport and comfort while the sport suspension sits the chassis 10 mm closer to the ground than the stock configuration.
That fire-spitting four-cylinder breathes easy through a free-flowing exhaust, and interior options like Recaro bucket seats give the cabin a little pedigree. Of course, massive wheels and plenty of aero work are both part of the package as well. What’s more, Ford says it will give early buyers a GoPro HD Hero2 Motorsports camera when they pick up the keys. Sweet.
The entry price puts the Focus ST well below fellow front-drive competitors like the and , but within spitting distance of playful hardware like the twins and the all-wheel drive . Suddenly, it appears we live in a world where cheap speed is in abundance. Head over to the for a closer look and be sure to click for the full press release.
Well now, the inexpensive performance game just got considerably more interesting. has officially dropped pricing on its upcoming 2013 Focus ST. That kind of coin will net you a EcoBoost 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine good for a whopping 252 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, along with a torque-steer compensation system that works in conjunction with electronic power steering to keep the nose pointed in the right direction. If you’re keeping track, those power metrics are slightly north of the figures Ford had previously released. A variable-ratio steering rack toes the line between sport and comfort while the sport suspension sits the chassis 10 mm closer to the ground than the stock configuration.
That fire-spitting four-cylinder breathes easy through a free-flowing exhaust, and interior options like Recaro bucket seats give the cabin a little pedigree. Of course, massive wheels and plenty of aero work are both part of the package as well. What’s more, Ford says it will give early buyers a GoPro HD Hero2 Motorsports camera when they pick up the keys. Sweet.
The entry price puts the Focus ST well below fellow front-drive competitors like the and , but within spitting distance of playful hardware like the twins and the all-wheel drive . Suddenly, it appears we live in a world where cheap speed is in abundance. Head over to the for a closer look and be sure to click for the full press release.
“I’m not a doctor, but I play one on television.” So went the script for countless television commercials of yore, featuring the stars of medical dramas capitalizing on their on-air personae to shill for pills, HMOs and what-have-you. But one television doctor didn’t hesitate to jump into action when duty called – medical training be damned.
That actor is one Patrick Dempsey, who most might recognize for his role as Dr. McDreamy on the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. He’s also a consummate race car driver – arguably today’s Steve McQueen or Paul Newman – competing in such events as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Baja 1000 rally raid. These seemingly disparate aspects of Dempsey’s life, however, converged when a kid flipped his in front of the actor’s house in Malibu last week.
Having rolled the three times, 17-year-old Weston Massett was trapped inside the wreckage when McDreamy came to the rescue, crowbar in hand, to get the kid out of the car, nursing him until the airlift arrived and following him to the hospital. Massett is expected to make a full recovery from the concussion and stretched optic nerve that were his only injuries to speak of. for the television report.
Is the driver of this driving under the influence? From the looks of this four-minute-long video where he or she pinballs repeatedly between ditch and center line and narrowly misses oncoming traffic, it certainly looks like the wheelman is soggy drunk.
This four-minute+ video catches all the stupidity from the first off-road foray at about 40 seconds all the way to an expertly executed nosedive into a ditch. The impromptu videographers do a a fine job commentating on every jerky move as they attempt to warn oncoming drivers.
There’s high drama at various points throughout the video, and in the end, the driver is lucky that the conclusion isn’t worse.
Before you ask, from the audio, it sounds like the videographers called the cops before starting his camera. We assume the authorities showed up soon after the truck’s violent sudden stop, and presumably hauled the driver off to either jail, hospital or morgue. Either way, watching the video is a sobering reminder of the stupidity of driving under the influence. Watch the video by , but bear in mind there is some foul language.
Ex-engineer Richard Parry-Jones is now chairman-designate of the UK’s Network Rail. Having looked into the futures of both car and train development, he believes that by the end of this decade the most Earth-friendly internal-combustion engine cars will be about as polluting, on a per-passenger basis, as high-speed electric trains.
Parry-Jones says carmakers are targeting 40g/km of CO2 tailpipe emissions by 2020. If the “average” occupancy of 1.6 people-per-vehicle stays the same in eight years, that would equal 25 gm per person per kilometer and put such cars in the same environmental category as the cleanest mass transit.
Since the emissions of electric cars and trains is usually given as zero, we’re assuming he means diesel-electric high-speed trains; life-cycle emissions wouldn’t be a valid comparison since those aren’t factored into a car’s tailpipe number. According to of , right now you’d have to load four folks in a small diesel topped up with ultra-low sulphur fuel to get down to 42 grams per passenger per kilometer (gpkm), which would put you right with one of Virgin’s Voyager class diesel-electric trains at 75-percent capacity. If you want to go all the way low, though, you’ll need a 50cc two-stroke and a passenger: at that point you’re rocking just 19.5 gpkm. Slowly.
If you are still stuck driving a prematurely rusty 2004 Ford Freestar or Mercury Monterey minivan, you have our deepest sympathies. But for all your suffering, you might still gain some small measure of satisfaction from .
Remember launched by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last year? Well, the good news is that NHTSA has upgraded the issue to a full-fledged engineering analysis, according to The Detroit News. Specifically, the Feds are trying to figure out whether there’s any difference between the 2004 models, vehicles that have engendered 22 reports concerning rust in the rear wheel wells, and 2005-2007 models, for which there are no registered complaints. (A 2006 model is pictured above.)
More than 82,000 vehicles are potentially affected by the rust problems, according to the report, with symptoms including difficulty latching the rear seats and anchor plates that have detached from the vehicle.
It’s almost DLC time again at – Tuesday, May 1 will bring with it the Top Gear pack, a true goulash of automobilia. At one end you have the 2012 Hennessey Venom GT, a car that automotive historians will look back on and say “Wow.” At the other end you have the 1977 AMC Pacer X, a car that we look back on and say “Wow.” In ‘between’ are the: 2011 SuperSportVan, 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII, , 1966 Lotus Cortina, 1992 Galant VR-4, , 1990 RS and .
The bad news is that the TG pack won’t be part of the Season Pass, so you’ll need 560 MS points, or $7, to make it yours. But if you throw down the fresh amounts you’ll be able to enter the new Community Rivals Mode with the Hennessey Venom GT. Set a leaderboard time with it and you could win one of the 100 unicorn cars Forza will be handing out every week.
to check out the video and have a look at the wares in the gallery of high-res screenshots.
When rolled out their outrageously styled three years ago, car buyers took notice. It’s eye-catching exterior styling, well-appointed interior and affordable price was just what a lot of family sedan buyers wanted.
Few will admit it, but carmakers sat up and paid attention, too. However, Andy Palmer, executive vice president for global planning, doesn’t mind telling the world that his company certainly saw the significance of the midsize Korean sedan. So much so that they briefly halted design work on the 2013 .
“We even delayed development by a short amount just to check that the (new Altima’s) proportions were right, the (package) was right (and that) the product overall was right,” Palmer tells Ward’s Auto. “I’d say they (Hyundai) are our major point of reference.”
But with the Altima as the second-best selling car in its segment, Nissan is focusing not on the Sonata, but on and the No. 1 best seller: .
“If you keep coming with better cars and better communications, telling better stories, over a period of time,” Palmer says. “I guarantee you’ll be talking about Toyota and Nissan.”
You wouldn’t think $7.7 million is something to complain about, but then again, you’re probably not in the running to be CEO of General Motors. Despite the fact that GM is no longer the largest company in the world – or, depending on whom you ask, even the largest carmaker – it’s a big job. On most days, we imagine it’s a pretty thankless one too. So when you compare the salary of GM CEO Dan Akerson to that of his cross-town rival at , perhaps $7.7 million does seem like chump change compared to Alan Mullaly’s .
And according to a report in The Detroit News, GM apparently isn’t happy to see its CEO sitting in third place among Big Three CEOs when payday comes. GM’s proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday said that the company is having an “extremely difficult” time hiring qualified executives because of limits to compensation set by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury has capped the amount Akerson and other execs can make as part of GM’s 2009 bailout.
Here’s a thought: Maybe GM just needs to do a better job emphasizing all the benefits that come with working for the General, like getting to drive a gratis.
We’ve had the good fortune of getting up close and personal with quite a few of Icon 4×4’s creations, from their off-road wares like the and to one-off restomod hot rods like their . While few people may be able to afford the company’s offerings, the creativity and thought that goes into each of their vehicles is something everyone can appreciate.
We have a particular affection for Icon and its latest project, the Bronco. We went for a brief drive in the very first example just before it made its debut at last year and fell in love with every detail of the modernized off-roader. Every trim piece on the car has been laser cut or machined from stainless steel. The unique gauge cluster is inspired by Bell & Ross watches. The interior aluminum is the same found on the inside of luxury skyscraper elevator doors. The Icon Bronco is capable of proving its worth both on and off-road too, thanks to an Art Morrison chassis, custom-built Dana 60 and 44 solid axle assemblies, and a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood.
Jonathan Ward, creator of Icon, recently invited a documentary filmmaker inside his facility to take a closer look at the Bronco. The resulting film will give you a better idea of what went into developing the Bronco as well what makes Ward tick as both a designer and a builder. If you’ve like any of Icon’s creations, it’s definitely worth a watch. Just and hit play.
What a difference a few years make. Back in 2009, Ford Motor Company’s North American operations were dragging down its earnings. The company reported a net loss of $1.4 billion in that year’s first quarter when market share in the U.S. was falling but rising overseas. The situation today, however, is the mirror opposite.
Today reported a first-quarter net income for 2012 of $1.4 billion on the strength of sales in the States. While that’s a 180-degree turnaround compared to the same quarter in 2009, it’s still a decline in earnings compared to the $2.6 billion earned just last year. This time, however, the blame for the fall lies with Ford’s operations in Europe and Asia.
In Europe, Ford reported an operating loss this quarter of $149 million, blaming the continent’s shrinking markets and weaker demand for parts and accessories. The company’s Asian operations reported an operating loss of $95 million, which can be attributed more to investments in new plants for increased production than shrinking sales. Ford attributes the rest of its losses during the first quarter to higher tax expenses and special charges.
Fortunately, Ford’s North American operations were able to offset most of the company’s losses elsewhere. The region reported a pre-tax operating profit of $2.1 billion, up from $1.8 billion last year and the highest quarterly profit here since 2000. Revenue in this region alone was $18.6 billion, up $700 million from the same quarter last year and the largest chunk of the automaker’s global quarterly revenue of $32.4 billion, which was down $700 million.
When the all-new recently, was still awaiting official EPA certification for fuel economy. Now, though, the numbers are in, and the Blue Oval can confidently state that it offers the most fuel-efficient vehicle in the small crossover segment… with an automatic transmission, that is.
The hero engine for the new Escape is Ford’s new 1.6-liter EcoBoost inline-four, offering up 178 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Combined with a six-speed automatic transmission, this engine is good for 23 miles per gallon in the city and 33 mpg highway, besting the highway numbers of the , , and others. At 33 mpg, this means the new Escape is not only more efficient than the outgoing four-cylinder model, but it bests the numbers of the old , too.
But again, this only pertains to automatic transmission-equipped vehicles (the Escape does not offer a manual transmission with any of its powertrains). The with its 2.0-liter Skyactiv inline-four and six-speed manual ‘box is rated at 35 mpg highway, but opting for the six-speed auto drops that number to 32 mpg.
The other powertrains offered in the Escape are returning some pretty impressive fuel economy numbers, too. The naturally aspirated 2.5-liter base engine is rated at 22/31 mpg, and the range-topping 2.0-liter EcoBoost with 240 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque is good for 22/30 mpg. for the full details in Ford’s press release.
In the high-stakes world of performance cars, horsepower is king. It’s the first stat bragged about by owners trying to explain why their , or is better than their foes’, and it’s the headline figure promoted by the automakers themselves year after year.
When announced that the would be punishing the pavement with , the world stood up and took notice. Remember, though, these were just estimated figures, as the car had not yet been SAE certified. If reports from the Team Shelby message board prove accurate, the 2013 GT500 has finally gotten its official figures.
How’s about 662 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque?
Yep, that’ll do. It’s notable that these figures represent increases of 12 horsepower and 30 lb-ft over the earlier estimates, and they also put even more distance between Ford’s top-performing Mustang and Chevy’s 580-horsepower . It also means the Shelby lays down considerably more ponies that the and its 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft.
Now, will we see a corresponding horsepower-addled response from or ? Only time will tell.
There has been a lot of discussion from industry analysts about who will replace CEO , but he’s not the only CEO of a major American automaker that will eventually need a successor.
, CEO of since shortly after its emergence from bankruptcy in 2009, told Automotive News in an interview that he hopes his successor comes from within the automaker’s ranks, as opposed to bringing in an outsider. Candidates are said to include GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky, North American head Mark Reuss and global product leader Mary Barra.
Interestingly, Akerson himself was imported from a private equity firm called The Carlysle Group, and he has indeed had to learn how the auto industry operates, as he told AN:
“This is the funniest industry. Most industries people are straight up with it. Here everybody slaps everybody on the back, you just got to make sure they don’t have a knife with it.”
Despite this acknowledgement, Akerson is still not one to pull punches. GM’s CEO , “They are trying like hell to resurrect . Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over.” And he’s not backing down. “A little bit of holy water wouldn’t hurt, I won’t back off that.”
If a rumored and a is to “holy water,” we’d say Ford must agree with Akerson’s assessment.
Clearly, we weren’t the only ones who spent the better part of their childhoods building all manner of strange and wonderful Lego vehicles. We’re pretty sure we had this design knocked out back in the early 80s, but as far as we know, exactly no one has figured out how to fit easily removable tracks to a conventional vehicle in real life. We’ve , mind you, but they’ve always required a fair bit of work and the removal of a vehicle’s wheels. But not the Track N Go.
This creative solution for foul-weather-mastery comes from AD Boivin, a company better known for marketing products for powersports vehicles like motocross bikes and snowmobiles. The company says that this is the world’s first wheel-driven track system, and judging by the video available , it appears quite capable when fitted to what looks like stock and 4×4 pickups blasting through the snow.
The video indicates that the system is a prototype, and it doesn’t show how easily the tracks can be secured to the vehicle’s wheels (though it does briefly show that you drive onto the tracks before locking them in place – no jacking required). AD Boivin doesn’t say if and when the Track N Go will actually come to market, let alone what sort of fitments will be available and how much the system will cost. While we’re waiting, we’ll just one more time…
Imagine you’re a spy shooter at the Nürburgring. You’ve got your ancient Scorpio parked nearby, but you’ve hoofed it up to the top of a hill in the hopes of getting the perfect angle on the track. Three heavy cameras are strung about your body like you’re a contestant in The World’s Strongest Man competition. It’s early and you are tired. And cold. The morning temperature was in the single digits Celsius, and while you’re not exactly sure what that translates to in the Fahrenheit scale, this certainly ain’t Miami.
Your job is boring. Boy racers driving all manner of would-be performance cars squeal by, inexpertly holding a line that betrays their inexperience. “Go back to your videogames, kids,” you think as you nurse your cramped and sore legs. You shift your position and the wait resumes. Sport bikes zip by and the wail hurts your ears. You get up and stretch before resuming your regimen. A momentary break in the traffic causes you to do a mental rehearsal, double-checking your gear.
Then you hear it: The tires, disembodied from the roar of an engine, but creating their own . You reach for the camera with the longest lens and barely get it up to your eye as the whooshes towards you, followed by the loud rumble of something more internally combusted. The camera is now firing on all cylinders as you expertly track the car’s pace for the few seconds it’s in your field of vision. A enters the viewfinder and you exhale, lowering the camera and turning your back to the track.
The will take just one lap of the Nürburgring that day, but you were there to capture it. It may not surface again before it goes on sale next year, but you don’t care about that. You need to hustle back to the car to download the images, so the world can see what an without exhaust pipes looks like, so the fanboys can obsess about the extra cooling vents in the hood for the batteries and the blacked-out rear window.
You will e-mail the photos across the Continent, across the ocean, back home. You’ll get a few bucks deposited in your German bank for your trouble, but that won’t happen for a while yet. By then you will have taken more photos and sent more e-mails.
And drank countless lagers. It is still early, but you think of the cliche about it being noon somewhere and head off home. Nobody will be in your favorite expat bar at this time, but you think there must be at least one bottle left in your refrigerator.
Last week, announced that it would be creating the in the form of the hatchback. Set to lap the oval at the Richmond 400 at the end of this month, the officialFocus Electric pace car was unveiled to the public at Richmond International Raceway today, showing off the battery-powered vehicle wrapped in its decidedly modest racing livery.
We recently had our Ford’s all-electric Focus and find it to be a pleasant and engaging – if inconspicuous – EV. These large decals certainly help the BEV to stand out, and we’re interested to see how the Focus Electric looks while its whirring along in front of some power-hungry NASCAR racers.
Scroll through our high-resolution image gallery above to see a few shots of the zero-emission Focus pace car, and for Ford’s original press release.
No doubt has seen the light shining at the end of its turnaround plan for a while, but now The Blue Oval is getting so close to the daylight it might even be able to smell the fresh air. , Ford stock was rated so low by the three major ratings agencies that it was floating in the cistern below the basement of junk status. After Mulally came onboard, the company put up everything to get the money to work his plan, from the company logo to its real estate. In order to get it back, two of the three agencies need to rate Ford stock as investment grade, and one, Fitch, has just done so.
Fitch has certified Ford stock as BBB-, the first investment-grade level, and issued a stable outlook for the company and its finance arm. Ford remains just one step below investment worthy with both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, but with “a solid Q1″ predicted by and (they expect earnings in spite of European and Asia-Pacific sales doldrums), the final turn might not be far away.
When it does, Ford will have achieved what it for 2012. As well as getting its assets out of hock, Dearborn will also greatly reduce its borrowing costs. Ford’s head of investor relations, Michael Seneski, vowed in December that Ford would return to investors’ good graces by showing “authoritative and highly credible insight into our automotive business and Ford Credit.” We’re of the opinion that an increasing flow of good products haven’t hurt, either.
