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Lucid Air, VW ID.4 AWD and Polestar 2 Single Motor driven | Autoblog Podcast #704

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Autoblog Green, John Beltz Snyder. Greg's been driving the Volkswagen ID.4 AWD and the Lucid Air, while John has been in the Mini Cooper Hardtop and Polestar 2 Single Motor. They discuss the big Rivian news of the week, its stellar IPO. They take a question from the mailbag about whether to sell a Tesla Model 3, and they help a listener decide whether to buy a Ford Maverick or some other pickup. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #704 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving2022 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro 2022 Lucid Air 2022 Mini Cooper Hardtop 2022 Polestar 2 Single Motor Rivian's IPO Mailbag: To sell or not to sell a Tesla Model 3 Spend My Money: Ford Maverick FX4 or something else? Transcript Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

John Hennessey's personal 2015 HPE700 Supercharged Ford Mustang GT hits 195 mph

Dressed in a coat of menacing black paint, the 2015 Hennessey Performance HPE700 Supercharged Ford Mustang GT definitely looks like one mean muscle machine. The 717-horsepower 'Stang proved that it can back up that aggressive appearance recently when company founder John Hennessey took his personal example to see just how fast it would go. The result down the 1.1-mile straight at the Continental Tires Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas, was over 195 miles per hour. The Mustang is nothing but a black blur and wall of supercharger wail as it buzzes by the camera at top speed. Despite the strong result, Hennessey doesn't seem done with the 'Stang yet. The car still seems to be pulling when it hits the rev limiter, and there's some straight track left ahead. After getting out, John Hennessey immediately says he thinks 200 mph is possible. The heart of the HPE700 is a 2.9-liter Roots-Type supercharger running at 7.25 psi. That's a pretty massive blower, especially when considering the 2.4-liter unit on the Hellcat V8. The engine also gets upgrades like improved injectors, a new fuel pump, stainless steel exhaust and recalibrated management. The company claims the upgraded Mustang can hit 60 in around 3.6 seconds and do the quarter-mile in 11.2 seconds at 131 mph. Prices for the package start at $59,500, but this one would would ring up for $65,874. Hennessey Performance is limiting production to 500 of them for the 2015 model year. 2015 HPE700 Supercharged Mustang Rockets to 195.2 mph John Hennessey takes his personal Mustang GT on a Texas road trip Uvalde, Texas-Everything is bigger in Texas, especially when it comes to automotive performance. Texas also lays claim to the highest posted speed limit in America at 85 mph. Enter the team from Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) who are located just west of Houston. John Hennessey and his merry band of performance car builders like to go fast, so much so that they have their own 1/4 mile dragstrip next to their workshop. Recently, the Hennessey team wanted to test their 717 horsepower HPE700 Supercharged Mustang development car (John's personal car and occasional daily driver) beyond the 130+ mph speeds that they have seen on the dragstrip. "Thankfully, we had recently received an invitation from the guys at the Continental Tires proving grounds in Uvalde to come over and do some testing on their 8.0 mile high speed oval", said Hennessey.

Ford exec downplays idea of aluminum-intensive cars

Ford certainly made waves when it rolled out the all-new 2015 F-150 made primarily out of aluminum. But while trimming weight off its vehicles is a top priority for the Detroit automaker, we shouldn't expect the lightweight metal to be used as widely on passenger cars as it has been on its new pickup. Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress on Wednesday, top Ford exec Joe Hinrichs said that using aluminum in passenger cars isn't as beneficial as it is in trucks – primarily because the weight savings isn't as dramatic, or as deeply needed. Though improved fuel economy is certainly one advantage of aluminum construction in a truck like the F-150, low prices at the pump have prompted Ford to highlight another advantage, and that's capability: With less weight on its own, a lighter-weight truck can carry and tow more than a heavier one, because it all comes down to combined weight ratings. Ford is expected to make the new F-Series Super Duty largely out of aluminum for the same reasons, and we wouldn't be surprised to see the next Expedition use the material as well. But while certain components in Ford passenger cars will be made of aluminum, we shouldn't expect entire chassis and bodywork assemblies to use the material as extensively as on the F-150, or on more upscale passenger cars from the likes of Audi or Jaguar. Dearborn is, however, investing in other lightweight materials. It has a joint venture with Dow Chemical to put carbon fiber into mass production, much as BMW has with its i3. The Blue Oval will use a combination of carbon and aluminum on its 2017 GT supercar, and it has stripped weight by removing amenities from the 2016 Mustang GT350R, but apparently neither is a method Ford can practically apply to its volume models. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Ford F-150 View 36 Photos News Source: TheDetroitBureau.com, Automotive News - sub. req.Tip: Ford Green Ford aluminum joe hinrichs