truth about domestics

The 2011 Ford Super Duty stands once again atop the heavy duty truck heap.  Even with new offerings out or on the horizon, Dodge and GM can’t seem to keep up.  There are many reasons for this, two of which happen to be Ford’s dedication to truck buyers and their desire to build the best products money can buy.  Just look at this beast!  The all-new, in-house developed 6.7L Scorpion diesel engine cranks out 390 horsepower and a mind-numbing 735 pound feet of torque!  That’s the same amount of torque as 7 Toyota Priuses!  The even more impressive feat is that the new Super Duty is capable of pulling 24,000 pounds when properly equipped, or almost 8 Toyota Priuses!  These new rigs even manage 22 miles per gallon on highway drives.  For the full story, head on over to PickupTrucks.com or Autoblog.com.

(Image source: Ford)

One of the men behind Ford’s One Ford transformation process over the last few years, Derek Kuzak, Chief of Product Development, has been given the 2010 National Academy of Engineering award.  This award is said to be the highest honor in the engineering community.  Well done Mr. Kuzak and congratulations to everyone at Ford for their remarkable turnaround.

(Image source: thechromepony.com)

The German tuner, Geiger Cars, seems to be fascinated with American muscle cars.  Karl Geiger just can’t seem to get enough of them…and speed…and power for that matter.  His latest project involves the Shelby GT500.  The GT500 Ford Mustang already comes from the factory with 540 horsepower but that wasn’t enough, so changes were made.  What kind of changes you might be wondering?  Well, how about a larger Whipple supercharger, larger throttle valves, upgraded fuel injection system and ported cylinder heads.  Some modest suspension tweaks were made as well.  What does all of that get you?  How about 799 horsepower and 697 pound feet of torque.  Yowza!  Geiger predicts a top speed of somewhere around 220 miles per hour.  For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Geiger Cars via Autoblog)

Ford Motor Company has another great story to tell about its One Ford transformation plan.  This chapter talks about the 2011 Mustang V6.  The 3.7L V6 will produce 305 horsepower while returning 31 mpg on the highway when equipped with an automatic.  This makes the 2011 Mustang V6 the first car to ever produce more than 300 hp and hit 30 mpg + in EPA testing.  Think about it, the first time ever a car has hit 300 + hp and 30 + mpg.  Kudos to the Mustang team for showing people that performance and fuel efficiency can go hand in hand.  It may not be as frugal as the boring and very homely Toyota Prius, but it wasn’t designed to be.  For the full press release, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Ford)

Awesome news for the domestic automakers: sales were up for February! GM posted a sales increase of 12% over prior year’s results with sales of 141, 951 vehicles, Ford posted a sales increase of 43% with 142,285 vehicle sales, and Chrysler posted a sales increase of 1% with sales of 84,449 vehicles. Plagued by recent recalls, Toyota posted a sales decrease of 8.7% for February with sales of 100,027 vehicles.

The second piece of the story is even more exclusive: Ford overtook GM in sales for the first time since 1998, when a strike caused a large decrease in sales for GM. The last time before that was 1970, when a walkout caused a similar situation. I’m not rooting for one company or the other, but this can only be good news for the consumers – competition generates better quality and better value for the customer.

Read the full article at BusinessWeek.

Ford has announced that 2.0L and 1.6L four-cylinder EcoBoost engines will be available for the first time in Europe this summer.  The engines will produce power ranging from 200 horses down to 148.  These engines will debut in the updated S-Max and Galaxy MPVs and also the C-Max and Grand C-Max.  This 2.0L will also show up in the revised 2011 Edge sometime later this year, as well as potentially making an appearance in the next generation Explorer (as previewed by the Explorer America concept.)  For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Ford)

Hennessey has turned its attention to the Lincoln MKS with EcoBoost and really turned the power up on this luxo-sedan.  The stock EcoBoost 3.5L V6 from Ford produces 355 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque.  The mods added by the Hennessey crew push output to 435 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque.  Check out the video above to see what the car is made of!

The 2010 Mustang featured a complete refresh of the interior and exterior but kept the same powertrains as the 2009 model.  That apparently didn’t sit well with buyers as only 66,623 2010 Mustangs sold, the worst year on record.  For 2011, the Mustang is packing two new powertrains and two new transmissions which are apparently helping sales.  The 5.0L V8 coming back probably didn’t hurt any either, as Ford is reporting over 11,000 orders on the 2011 model already, three times more than the 2010 model had at this time.  For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Ford)

I recently came across a site that offers an interesting view point on automobiles.  That is the viewpoint of a mom.  A mother.  Mommy.  That site is Motherproof.com.  The reviewer, Lori Hindman, has 2 kids and was recently given a Ford Flex with Ecoboost to try out and she loved it.  She mentioned the extra power you get with Ecoboost and the fact that it doesn’t cost you more when you fill up at the pump.  Active Park Assist was also mentioned.  It’s the system that parallel parks your so equipped Flex for you, all you do is control the brake and throttle.  Well Lori here said the system worked like magic, and it’s true, I have seen Active Park Assist in action and it is really impressive.  For the full review, head on over to Motherproof.com!

(Image source: Ford)

Ford has been talking about its new 2011 Super Duty for over 6 months now, ever since it debuted at the State Fair of Texas.  Well the specifications have finally come out and they are nothing but amazing.  The new 6.7L Scorpion diesel produces 390 hp and a whopping 735 lb-ft of torque!  That’s 85 more lb-ft of torque than the 2010 Super Duty.  Towing is up to 24,400 pounds on the F-450 with a fifth wheel trailer.  Payload is a Toyota-embarrassing 6,520 pounds on the F-350.  Fuel economy is also up, 18% on pickup models and 25% on chassis cab models.  For more details, head on over to PickupTrucks.com or Autoblog.

(Image source: Ford)