Auto Tech: Ford

Showing posts with label Ford. Show all posts

Friday, May 14, 2010

FORD MUSTANG GT 2011 PICTURE

FORD MUSTANG GT 2011 PICTURE

FORD MUSTANG GT 2011 DESKTOP

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Fruit Mobile by Jackie Harris

The Fruit Mobile, originally uploaded by Boptimist.

The Fruit Mobile a 1967 Ford station wagon has been around for many years and was created by artist Jackie Harris. The Fruit Mobile is also available for gigs through the Art Car Agency. Full Story

The Fruit Mobile by Jackie Harris

The Fruit Mobile, originally uploaded by Boptimist.

The Fruit Mobile a 1967 Ford station wagon has been around for many years and was created by artist Jackie Harris. The Fruit Mobile is also available for gigs through the Art Car Agency. Full Story

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Ford Focus 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A limited edition 500 unit run of the Focus RS called the Focus RS500 will be unveiled to the public for the first time at the 2010 Leipzig Motor Show in Germany on April 9 next month. Each car will have its own serial number and only 101 of them will be available in UK, with the rest scattered around the car’s other markets.

No, the RS500 name doesn’t mean the car makes 500 horsepower, but as you can already guess from the first paragraph it denotes the production run. The 350 PS that the Focus RS500 makes is about 45 PS higher than what the normal Focus RS produces. This is accompanied by 460Nm of torque between 2,500rpm to 4,500rpm, which is up from the 440Nm of the normal Focus RS.

Ford Focus RS500

The engine is the same 2.5 liter Duratec RS but has had some massaging including a larger air-to-air intercooler to deliver a cooler, denser charge; a larger air filter box for increased airflow; larger diameter exhaust downpipe; and an uprated fuel pump, along with an updated software calibration to optimise the performance of the revised engine. 0 to 100km/h takes 5.6 seconds.

“The engine’s improved breathing has allowed us to increase power without having to raise turbo boost pressure significantly. This has made it possible to enhance peak performance while maintaining the excellent driveability, fuel consumption and emissions of the standard Focus RS,” said Gunnar Hermann, Ford’s global C-car vehicle line director. The modifications from the engine have been done by a team of engineers from Ford TeamRS in partnership with Revolve Technologies, the automotive engineering firm which develops Ford approved performance upgrades through its Mountune brand.

Ford Focus RS500

And of course as you can see from the photos, the RS500 has a special matte black finish combined with matching metallic black alloy wheels, glossy black finish on the trapezoidal lower front grille and splitter, twin-blade rear spoiler and the rear venture. But the thing is, the matte black is NOT paint.

The RS500 cars are painted in a standard Panther Black metallic colour, before being shipped to a dedicated 3M facility near Frankfurt, Germany, where a special foil film will be applied to the bodywork to create the matt black effect. In the event of damage to the bodywork, Ford dealers will be fully supported by a Europe-wide network of 3M agents who can replace the film on the affected panels. The film is designed to be resistant to superficial marks and scratches.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Ford Fiesta in M’sia – preliminary specs unveiled!

Ford Fiesta

If you’ve not seen Ford’s B-segment contender in the metal before, a nice red-coloured hatchback body example is currently on display in Blue Concourse, Sunway Pyramid new wing this weekend starting from today. Sime Darby Auto ConneXion has also unveiled the preliminary specifications for the Fiesta 1.6 liter Sport model:

1.6 liter Ti-VCT engine producing 120 PS at 6,500rpm and 152Nm of torque at 4,500rpm.

6-speed automatic Ford Powershift twin clutch transmission

Dual SRS airbags

Electronic Stability Programme with Traction Control (ESP)

ABS brakes with EBD

Sports suspension

16 inch alloy wheels

Foglamps, rear spoiler, both sedan and hatchback bodies

Electric Power Steering

Audio system with USB connectivity

Fabric seats

The specs list sounds really impressive, as most B-segment cars don’t even have ESP stability control as an option worldwide! The Fiesta’s available option list has benefited from it being a mainstream player in Europe, where safety features such as a good amount of airbags as well as stability control are a must have to gain public acceptance. But in the end it’s up to the Sime Darby product planners to tick the relevant boxes and it looks like they did! It’s very good to hear that finally a mainstream B-segment vehicle will be available here with ESP.

The preview leaflet that’s being handed out during the Fiesta preview at Sunway Pyramid (you can find a copy after the jump) also indicates the availabiity of a 1.4 liter Duratec with a 5-speed manual, but no specs available for that model. What I’m most curious about is how much the new Fiesta models will be priced at, and how will it compare both price and specifications wise with its ’sibling’, the Mazda 2.

With the 6-speed Powershift twin clutch transmission, the Fiesta already has an edge over the Mazda 2 which makes do with a regular automatic transmission. The Fiesta’s engines are also larger and more powerful than the Mazda 2’s – we’re taking about a 1.4 and a 1.6 for the Fiesta versus a 1.3 and a 1.5 for the Mazda 2.

It’s definitely a very exciting year for the Ford brand in Malaysia, which will soon have a fresh and new line-up consisting of cars like this new Fiesta, both diesel-powered and regular petrol Focus, the Ford Mondeo and the Ford S-MAX MPV!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Ford Focus WRC Edition – 50 units in Switzerland

The Ford Focus RS is one hot looking hot hatch and Ford of Switzerland has raised the temperature further with this special version called “WRC Edition”. It will be produced in a limited run of 50 units to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Ford’s RS division.

The WRC Edition, which pays tribute to the legendary Escort RS1600 that was launched in 1970, was designed with the help of Swiss fans who participated in a design competition. The winning design’s base is a “Frozen White” paint finish contrasted by black and green stickers and stripes as well as the 19-inch OZ Superturismo GT multispoke alloys in black. As with all special editions, there’s a plaque and this one bears the signatures of Ford WRC drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.

No changes under the bonnet, so the 305 bhp 2.5-litre turbocharged inline-five sprints to 100 km/h in under 6 seconds and on to a top speed of 263 km/h. It is priced at 55,900 francs or about 37,950 euros. Check out some of the proposals that didn’t make it after the jump.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

3rd generation Ford Focus global car for Europe, North America and the rest of the world!

The Ford Focus has always been one of the best-handling C-segment cars I’ve ever driven. The biggest drawback it has for the Malaysian market is that it’s a little small on the inside, being an European product where their C-segment cars are a little smaller. Their Civic is a smaller hatch compared to the large 2,700mm wheelbase version we get here.

And here it is, the latest edition of the Focus. Ford pegs it as all-new, and technically it should be considering that the 2nd generation Focus has already been facelifted. So this is basically the third generation and for the first time the Focus is a world car instead of being two different products for North America and the rest of the world. I had a go at the North American product earlier this week and I can understand why American journos have been calling for Ford to bring the Euro Focus across the ocean. Well, they don’t have to do that anymore – they are going to get this new global Focus as well.

The design is far edgier compared to the outgoing Focus. Ford attempted to add some Kinetic Design elements to the current Focus when it got facelifted but because there’s just so much you can change during a facelift, the end result was not as ‘kinetic’ as say, the new Fiesta or the new Ford Kuga. With this new body, Ford has pulled out all the stops with their Kinetic Design – check out details like the ‘zorro Z’ design at the front wheel arch. The ducktail on the sedan’s boot is also pretty prominent. Some might feel it’s perhaps a little too overdone, especially the details of the front bumper. They look like they belong on an aggressive model like an ST or an RS, but these are just your regular Focus models. But this could also be a good thing for some customers – no mods needed.

Wheelbase has unchanged, though the new Focus is a little longer mostly due to pedestrian safety requirements. This means the overhangs are longer. What this will mean is that the interior space is probably largely unchanged over the 2nd generation. Ford says based on their market research this is a good balance between size and fuel economy but to me, for a world car there definitely will be markets where a larger vehicle will be called for. After all, that is why Honda split the CIvic in two. In these markets, certain buyers will look to other vehicles no matter how good the Focus looks simply because of interior space. The new 3rd generation Focus also differentiates between the sedan and the hatchback variant more than the 2nd generation did. The vertical tail lamps are gone on the hatchback in favor of wider rear glass but the tail lamps remain mounted high-ish.

Changes to the platform between the 2nd generation and the 3rd generation mostly covers the way the suspension subframes are mounted. There has been some changes which are primarily driven by the desire to increase the level of NVH damping of the Focus. Thus you can expect the new Ford Focus to feel a little more refined than the outgoing one. Techniques such as the use of sashed doors, dual plane sealing, more aerodynamic wing mirrors and windshield wipers are used. Ford says the new Focus Global C platform shares only about one third with the new Mazda 3, while the rest are exclusively Ford.

Ford wanted the new Focus to be more refined and more quiet, as quiet is one of the factors that we take into account when our brains process the feel of ‘quality’. Quietness is also a big thing for what Ford defines as the new Ford flavor these days – they are investing alot into ways they can make their cars more silent, as I will show you in an upcoming post.

The Detroit showcar features a new 2.0 liter DI Ti-VCT engine. Those acronyms basically mean the engine has direct injection and dual variable valve timing, both on intake and exhaust. This new engine makes up to 20 horses more power than the current Mazda-based Duratec 20, while consuming 10% less fuel. The 4-speed auto has also been replaced by a new 6-speed Powershift dual clutch transmission. Apparently there is also an active grille shutter system, which shuts off some of the air intakes to improve aerodynamics whenever the extra cooling is not needed.

The new Focus will also debut an EPAS system for the first time. EPAS is basically an electric power steering. Alot of other manufacturers have started using EPAS systems in their cars but most people say an electric power steering is more ‘dead’ and unnatural compared to a regular hydraulic one. But Ford believes that a properly tuned EPAS can actually improve steering precision and feel over a hydraulic one.

According to Ford, there are over 250 parameters and settings in an EPAS that has to be finetuned in detail to achieve a good feel. As the 2nd gen Focus was a great drive, I hope Ford got all the variables right! There’s also a Dynamic Cornering Control system which counteracts slip on the inner wheel during a corner to improve cornering performance and turn-in.

Also new is the MyFord system, which is basically like iDrive. You use a phone-style 5-way button on your steering wheel to control the user interface. MyFord is built on Microsoft Windows Auto. Quite a few companies are basing their new in-car systems on Windows Auto, such as Fiat’s Blue&Me and the new system from Kia. There’s also voice commands, so you can say Call Muthu for the phone to call up Muthu in your phonebook. MyFord is the sibling to the touch operation-based MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch showcased at the CES end of last year.

This is one of 10 cars that will spawn from this new “Global C platform”, as Ford calls it. The first was the new C-MAX and Grand C-MAX MPVs which we saw at Frankfurt last year. Ford plans to put the this new third generation global Ford Focus into production for Europe and North America late this year, with a showroom debut in early 2011. It will be quite some time before it hits Malaysia (only early 2012 optimistically), but let me let you in on a secret – we’ll see an interesting new variant of the 2nd gen Focus here soon. This additional variant to the current generation Focus will feature diesel power!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ford Focus reveal at Detroit 2010

New Ford Focus

Ford unveiled the new 3rd generation 2012 Ford Focus to us a couple of days back at a preview and unveiled it to the world virtually at midnight Detroit time earlier today but nothing beats a physical reveal to the world media which happened this morning at the North America International Auto Show.

Watch the full reveal in the video after the jump which will take up about 20 minutes of your time but also includes some nice promo footage of the new Focus in motion, or watch a shorter version of the video featuring just the promo footage. Your pick!

VIDEO: Ford Focus Reveal – Promo Footage Only