2004 Ford F-250 4wd Harley Davidson Edition on 2040-cars

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2015 Ford Focus Sedan is fresh-faced and ready to defend its Most Popular crown

Ford has made an art of deeper-than-normal midlife updates since the 2010 Fusion, a strategy that has allowed it to keep models looking fresher in showrooms for longer without needing full redesigns. Instead of slight touchups to light fixtures, new paint colors and perhaps new wheel patterns, Ford has been digging deeper, with significant sheetmetal changes and very different front-end looks, along with an increased emphasis on new in-car technologies to keep models vibrant. Other automakers are following this trend, and Ford itself is continuing on the path with this new 2015 Focus Sedan.
There's a handsome new SE Sport Package that includes a firmer touring suspension, modest body kit and 17-inch wheels.
We first saw this sleek Aston Martin-like nose fitted to a Focus at the Geneva Motor Show last month, but Ford only showed the new look on the five-door hatchback - this is the first appearance of the sedan, which will bow at next week's New York Auto Show. The front end treatment is the same, with a new hood, new headlamps incorporating LED accents, a different grille shape and a completely revised lower fascia that does away with the 2014 model's controversial triangle-shaped corners and gaping intakes. The rear gets a new two-piece, laser-brazed trunk lid with new taillamps, but the overall look is quite similar to last year's car. In any case, the refreshed look brings the Focus sedan more in line with the design of Ford's other recently reworked cars, including the Fusion and Fiesta.

Awaiting Chevy Trailblazer, driving Ford Ranger | Autoblog Podcast #580

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Green Editor John Beltz Snyder. First, they discuss the news, including the Chevy Trailblazer, Ferrari to stop providing Maserati with engines, an upcoming Ferrari Hybrid, Elon Musk's sex jokes and the reveal of the McLaren GT. They also talk at length about a couple vehicles they've been driving: the Kia Niro EV and the Ford Ranger. Autoblog Podcast #580 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Chevy Trailblazer could be coming to the U.S. Ferrari to stop supplying engines to Maserati Ferrari to reveal a hybrid supercar Sex on Autopilot McLaren GT revealed Cars we're driving: 2019 Kia Niro EV 2019 Ford Ranger Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: Green Podcasts Chevrolet Ferrari Ford Kia Maserati McLaren Tesla Truck Coupe Crossover Hatchback Electric Future Vehicles Hybrid Off-Road Vehicles Performance Supercars

Watch how Ken Block spent his weekend in Barbados

Regardless of what you think of his skill as a racer, Ken Block is an expert showman. At this point, he has a career of showing up around the world to do vehicular stunts, and he's still able to go racing as well. It's a pretty sweet niche to carve out. Recently, Block was in Barbados to participate in Top Gear Live and the first event of the Global Rallycross Championship season, and Ford Racing produced a short video to show off his exploits.
It looked like a great show. Block got to race Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes-Benz Formula One car and had a very weird crash during a Rallycross race that put his Ford Fiesta on its roof. Top Gear also released an extended look at Block and Hamilton's spectacle with the two of them expertly sliding around. Scroll down to watch the videos and get a taste of Block's tropical racing adventure.