truth about domestics

The video above shows a bit of what goes into preparing yourself for a rally car race.  Block will be driving in his new Ford Fiesta, prepped for racing of course.  Here’s to hoping Ken Block does better than a DNF at last months Sno*Drift.

The folks over at Kicking Tires have managed to grab some photos of the 2012 Chevrolet Aveo from a presentation given by Bob Lutz.  It has a much improved exterior, and it needs to, what with the new Ford Fiesta coming out this summer.  The biggest news is the heavily improved interior, which features a really impressive two-tone design.  For more shots of the car you see above, head on over to Kicking Tires.

(Image source: Kicking Tires)

So Ken Block didn’t finish the Sno-Drift event in Michigan this past weekend.  He still had plenty of time to create the awesome footage you see above, so enjoy!

This video was shot during sno-drift testing in Michigan and boy is it insane!  I couldn’t imagine flying through the woods at speeds like that, on studless tires no less!

While the video above doesn’t show any actual drifting or rally racing, it is still pretty cool.  The video shows Ken Block and his new Ford ride.  Glad to see Ken finally chose to go with a winner, as Subaru hasn’t done much in the past few years.

A gas-electric hybrid vehicle is much more efficient when driving in your typical stop-and-go city driving.  The electric powertrain recaptures braking energy which is then used to power the vehicle back up to speed when you take off again.  Well what about when you drive on the freeway?  A diesel engine provides cars like the Ford Fiesta in Europe with gas mileage in the 50 mpg range!  So what if you paired the two?  Well GM is working on advanced hybrids that take advantage of the diesel engine’s efficiencies at highway speed to increase both city and highway fuel mileage.  For the full story, head on over to Autocar.

(Image source: GM)

The domestics are making great strides in changing the negative perceptions that they built for themselves in the 70’s, 80’s and most of the 90’s.  5 of the ten cars to most look forward to were from the domestic automakers.  They were the Buick Regal, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevy Volt, Ford S-Max, and the Ford Fiesta!  For more details on each car, head on over to MSNBC.

(Image source: German car zone)

Ford Motor Company is betting that many of the 2011 Fiesta buyers will choose several option boxes and jack the price up from the base $13,320 that the sedan starts at.  Ford has had luck with the Fiesta in Europe and Australia, but only time will tell how the little b-sizer does here in the States.  Till then, head on over to Autoblog.

Ford rolled out some interesting vinyl graphics on the 2011 Fiesta at the LA Auto Show this December and announced that these graphics would be available from the factory.  Now word has come out that Ford will be offering graphics packages on every single Ford family vehicle.  Head on over to Autoblog to see a gallery of just some of the graphics available.

(Image source: Autoblog)

The Ford Fiesta has started to turn heads the past 6 months or so.  It features sharp, European-styling, high-tech features like a navigation screen, automatic climate control, and class leading 40 mpg fuel economy on the freeway.  Ford knew the car had to have features in order to be attractive to American consumers, but it also had to fit our “bigger is better” lifestyle.  For that, the engineers designed adjustable cupholders that can fit a Big Gulp cup from 7-11.  For more on the story, head on over to MSNBC.