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Ford Fiesta RS with 250 horsepower mooted

We know Ford is unveiling a new Focus RS on February 3, and it's heavily rumored to arrive brandishing an all-wheel-drive powertrain and as much as 350 horsepower. The folks at Ford Performance have also promised they are working on at least 12 models through 2020, and that still leaves a lot of time to get additional exciting vehicles out the door. One of those could be an RS version of the Fiesta, according to Evo. An RS take on the latest Fiesta would obviously need substantial boosts in both power and handling ability to warrant the work over the current top Fiesta ST (pictured above), which is already one of our favorite cars. Evo speculates that the 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder could be tuned further, possibly up to about 250 horsepower, and the high-performance hatch might even take some inspiration from the Fiesta WRC rally car with an all-wheel drive system. An unnamed Ford spokesperson remained cagey about the chances for the pint-sized hot hatch to Evo, though. "We can't say anything at this moment, but we have promised to produce 12 performance models in the coming years. We'll leave it for you to decide whether that includes a Fiesta at this moment," the source said to the magazine. Evo doesn't expect a launch across the pond until at least 2017, if it actually happens. Of course, there's the lingering question of whether such a niche project would work in the US. In Europe, the Fiesta RS would challenge similarly diminutive speedsters like the Volkswagen Polo R and Audi S1, but true competitors of an equivalent size here would be much more scarce. In fact with 250 hp, the hotter Fiesta could provide unwelcome competition within Blue Oval showrooms for the Focus ST. Featured Gallery 2014 Ford Fiesta ST View 47 Photos News Source: EvoImage Credit: Ford Ford Hatchback Performance ford performance ford fiesta rs

KBB 2013 Brand Image Awards has some obvious and oddball winners

The sixth edition of the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards have crowned a wide range of winners - in a couple of cases the recipient of the laurels might say more about KBB users than they do about the actual winner. Compiled from the responses of more than 12,000 shoppers on KBB.com over the past year, there are 13 categories broken into non-luxury, luxury and truck segments "representing the combined wisdom of the American car-buying public."
The award categories have been revamped this year, with some dropping off, some new ones appearing and at least one other given a new term. What isn't surprising is that Honda won Most Trusted Brand for the second year running, Best Value Brand for the third year in a row and took Best Overall Brand, which wasn't on last year's list of awards.
On our own shores, in the non-luxury categories Chrysler got Most Refined Brand and Buick took Best Value Luxury Brand. Neither one of those marques won anything in last year's Brand Image Awards, while Cadillac, which won Best Interior Design Brand and Best Comfort Brand last year - those awards disappeared this year - went home without a single accolade.

New Ford GT to carry $400k-price tag

The last time Ford made a GT, it built more than 4,000 of them and sold each one for around $150,000. Judging by the premiums at which they later traded, they were evidently worth a lot more than that. But this time, the new Ford GT will be far more expensive and far more scarce. Official performance, production and pricing figures have yet to be released, but upon the new American supercar's European debut in Geneva, Ford performance chief Dave Pericak indicated it would be priced competitively with the Lamborghini Aventador – which carries a base sticker price approaching $400,000, Car and Driver reported. Combine that with production expected to number in the hundreds, not the thousands, and you're not likely to be seeing any of these Blue Oval halo cars in your neighborhood anytime soon. The question then becomes: will the price tag will be justified? With carbon-fiber construction and more than 600 horsepower on tap, it very well could be. And if speculators are going to drive up the actual sale prices, we don't see why Ford shouldn't get what the product is worth. But whether the world is ready for a $400,0000-Ford is another question entirely. Related Video: