1974 Ford Bronco Lifted 4x4 302 Automatic on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch this week's Top Gear America used-car challenge

Top Gear America is back for the penultimate episode of the first season. Used car challenges were some of the highlights of the original UK edition. In our exclusive clip, Tom Ford, Antron Brown and William Fichtner run their $7,000 sports cars in a drag race. As expected, the trio chose very different cars for the challenge. Watch the video to see if a Subaru WRX's all-wheel drive can overcome a power deficit to beat a Ford Mustang and a Chevy Corvette. Brown and Fichtner also spend some time relaxing with an old Jeep Wagoneer. Like them, we're really hoping Jeep will bring back the Wagoneer nameplate. Brown also drives a Maserati Levante, proving that not all family cars need be boring. This week's guest star is actor, rapper and former host of Pimp My Ride, Xzibit. Top Gear America airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern on BBC America. Related Video: Celebrities TV/Movies Chevrolet Ford Subaru Top Gear exclusive top gear america

Which is more fuel efficient, driving with a pickup's tailgate up or down?

Thanks to the smoke wand in the wind tunnel, you can actually see the difference in our video.
Should you drive with your pickup truck's tailgate up or down? It's an age-old controversy that's divided drivers for decades. Traditionalists will swear you should leave the tailgate down. Makes sense, right? It would seem to let the air flow more cleanly over the body and through the bed. But there's also a school of thought that argues trucks are designed to look and operate in a specific manner, and modern design techniques can help channel the airflow properly. So don't mess with all of that: Leave the tailgate up.

Ford wants to double hybrid offerings by 2020

The Blue Oval is looking for folks on the other side of this Big Old Sphere to get on board with its hybrid offerings. Ford executive Raj Nair, speaking at the Detroit Auto Show this week, said the US automaker wants to double the number of hybrids models it offers by the end of the decade, Reuters reports. Details of what that actually means is anyone's guess, as it was unclear how many of those models would be in the US and how many would be overseas. That said, Nair did say that prospective customers in regions such as China and Europe would drive the expansion of offerings. Ford got off to a great start in the US last year on its hybrid sales, but then tailed off towards the end of 2013. Ford more than doubled its green-car sales in 2013 to almost 88,000 units. In that number were more than 37,000 Fusion Hybrids and more than 28,000 C-Max Hybrids sold domestically. The company also sold almost 7,500 Lincoln MKZ Hybrids. Ford's green-car totals for 2013 were up fivefold at the mid-year point, hinting that Ford's hybrid sales plateaued, at least temporarily, in recent months.