Tuesday, December 28, 2010
2011 F-150 and 2011 Explorer Brochures Now Available
Sarasota Ford just uploaded the new 2011 Ford F-150 and the 2011 Ford Explorer brochures to our website. Factory Brochures for all Ford vehicles can be found on our website and downloaded via PDF.
Ford to Tear Down EcoBoost V-6 "Torture Test" Engine at Detroit Auto Show
Want a chance to see the very same EcoBoost V-6 engine that Ford engineers have torture tested over the past several months? You can — in pieces — if you attend the first public day of the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit at 11 a.m. on Jan. 15.
Ford engineers will disassemble and examine the twin-turbo direct-injection six-cylinder gas engine for long-term durability performance in the Ford powertrain display at Cobo Hall.
The 365-horsepower, 420 pounds-feet of torque EcoBoost V-6 is one of three all-new engines available for the 2011 Ford F-150. It racked up the equivalent of more than 160,000 miles and 10 years of rugged use after it was “shock” tested on a dyno, dragged thousands of pounds of logs up steep grades, towed a pair of Ford Fusion racecars at full throttle around a 1.5-mile oval NASCAR track for 24 hours and raced in the 1,061-mile Baja 1000.
Why do all that? Ford wants to prove to full-size truck buyers that a six-cylinder turbo can perform with the same reliability, durability and performance as a V-8, but with up to 20 percent expected better fuel economy.
"Customers will be able to see for themselves how the components fared during a regime of tests that, when taken together, are far more extreme than even the harshest-use customer could dish out," said Jim Mazuchowski, V-6 engines programs manager. "This EcoBoost truck engine received no special treatment, and now we’re going to see how it did."
If you go, take a camera. We want to see pictures!
Read More...
Ford engineers will disassemble and examine the twin-turbo direct-injection six-cylinder gas engine for long-term durability performance in the Ford powertrain display at Cobo Hall.
The 365-horsepower, 420 pounds-feet of torque EcoBoost V-6 is one of three all-new engines available for the 2011 Ford F-150. It racked up the equivalent of more than 160,000 miles and 10 years of rugged use after it was “shock” tested on a dyno, dragged thousands of pounds of logs up steep grades, towed a pair of Ford Fusion racecars at full throttle around a 1.5-mile oval NASCAR track for 24 hours and raced in the 1,061-mile Baja 1000.
Why do all that? Ford wants to prove to full-size truck buyers that a six-cylinder turbo can perform with the same reliability, durability and performance as a V-8, but with up to 20 percent expected better fuel economy.
"Customers will be able to see for themselves how the components fared during a regime of tests that, when taken together, are far more extreme than even the harshest-use customer could dish out," said Jim Mazuchowski, V-6 engines programs manager. "This EcoBoost truck engine received no special treatment, and now we’re going to see how it did."
If you go, take a camera. We want to see pictures!
Read More...
2012 Ford Focus Gets Advanced Stability System
DEARBORN, Michigan — Ford has announced that it will include a "torque vectoring" vectoring feature in the standard stability control system on the redesigned 2012 Focus, which goes on sale in the first quarter of 2011. The automaker is marketing the feature as a performance tool for enthusiast-minded 2012 Ford Focus buyers.
Ford says the torque vectoring feature improves vehicle control during cornering by applying braking force to an individual drive wheel (in this case, one of the front wheels). The amount of braking will be "imperceptible" to the driver, Ford says. The system is meant to imitate the effect of a limited-slip differential.
This is the first use of this technology in a Ford vehicle on the North American market, and it will be standard on all 2012 Ford Focus models.
Read More...
Ford says the torque vectoring feature improves vehicle control during cornering by applying braking force to an individual drive wheel (in this case, one of the front wheels). The amount of braking will be "imperceptible" to the driver, Ford says. The system is meant to imitate the effect of a limited-slip differential.
This is the first use of this technology in a Ford vehicle on the North American market, and it will be standard on all 2012 Ford Focus models.
Read More...
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The All New 2011 Ford F-150 Now In-Stock
We are starting to get the new 2011 Ford F-150's in stock, we have several in stock right now and more arriving everyday. View our current 2011 F-150 inventory, or learn more about this great new truck.
Ford returns to minivans with compact C-Max
Ford is getting back into the minivan game with a seven-passenger vehicle called C-Max and is releasing photos of the North American version for the first time today.
Ford abandoned the minivan business in the U.S. in 2006 as sales of the practical family haulers began to sink and Ford's Freestar failed to measure up to its competitors.
Now, Ford is betting that millennials -- the generation that grew up taking family vacations in minivans during the 1980s -- are looking for a smaller, more fuel-efficient alternative to today's super-sized minivans.
"C-Max provides young families with an aspirational alternative ... one that is affordable and highly fuel efficient," said Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of global product development.
Ford's timing might be good: After years of declines, minivan sales are up 9.3% this year, about the same as 2010 industry sales.
Ford isn't saying how much the C-Max will cost, but will display it at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.
Read more:
Ford abandoned the minivan business in the U.S. in 2006 as sales of the practical family haulers began to sink and Ford's Freestar failed to measure up to its competitors.
Now, Ford is betting that millennials -- the generation that grew up taking family vacations in minivans during the 1980s -- are looking for a smaller, more fuel-efficient alternative to today's super-sized minivans.
"C-Max provides young families with an aspirational alternative ... one that is affordable and highly fuel efficient," said Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of global product development.
Ford's timing might be good: After years of declines, minivan sales are up 9.3% this year, about the same as 2010 industry sales.
Ford isn't saying how much the C-Max will cost, but will display it at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.
Read more:
Thursday, December 16, 2010
First Drive: 2011 Ford Explorer
For one thing, the Explorer name had been seriously damaged because of the very public Firestone tire rollover controversy of the early 2000s, something that ostensibly made the 2011 model a prime candidate for a new name. In addition, early rumors had the Blue Oval transitioning the vehicle to a unibody chassis and away from the very body-on-frame architecture that helped establish it as the archetypal sport utility vehicle for two decades. It simply wasn't clear that a crossover-based vehicle would still be able to make an authentic claim to the same core values that helped the previous four iterations of Explorer sell millions of copies. Finally, Ford already had a very competent three-row CUV in its arsenal – the Flex. Were its dealers really looking for another one?
To drive home the Explorer's reinvention, Ford designers have wrapped the 2011 in muscular sheetmetal that makes the exit vehicle look as dated and dowdy as... well... it is. Using the D4 chassis shared with the Flex and Lincoln MKT limited Ford's designers somewhat, as the architecture's hard points dictated a high cowl and nose, and that naturally contributes to a slab-sided look. Ford has mitigated this through design tricks like prominent fender flares, deep-draw indented door panels and a clamshell hood.
Ford's now trademark grille form has been given an update with a pair of slim chrome bands between the three bars, along with wraparound wing-shaped headlamps that give the Explorer a technical, modern appearance. An aggressively raked C-pillar and blacked-out B- and D-pillars imbue the profile with a sense of forward motion and cut visual weight. Out back, the story is more conventional, with a traditional one-piece liftgate and full-width chrome garnish bookended by taillights that echo the headlamps' wing form. With a lower and significantly wider form than the outgoing Explorer, this new fifth-generation model appears more masculine than most crossovers – doubtlessly an intentional tack, as Ford will continue to market this vehicle as an SUV, not a CUV.
Read more:
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
2011 F-150 EcoBoost Torture Test Part 1
EcoBoost Torture Part 1
Join Mike Rowe as Ford runs the new EcoBoost engine through a gauntlet of torture tests to prove the durability of this remarkable new engine.
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