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Ford gets its Movement on, releases 'Sounds of Focus' tracks

Ford has, for at least the second year in a row, teamed up with techno promoter Paxahau and a couple of artists to make music in recognition of the Detroit Movement music festival. This time, Movement performers Ataxia and Secrets were selected by Ford, and were invited to spend some time at the automaker's Michigan Assembly Plant, which gives birth to the Ford Focus and Focus Electric models.
Now that we know the what, how about the why? According to Ford, "Detroit is uniquely tied to the origins of the electronic music scene. In the 1980's variations of electronic music stemmed from inspirations of industry, including the automotive sector." So, there you go. If you're interest is piqued, feel free to read the press release, watch the video and listen to the tracks below.

How the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor became a reality

The camouflaged Ford F-150 SVT Raptor prototype captured above blazing its way across the desert during a test run left company engineers giggling in amazement, reveals Jamal Hameedi in a new Autoweek video. Ford's global performance vehicle chief engineer, accompanied by senior exterior designer Bruce Williams, sat down with the publication to discuss the concept and development of the automaker's super off-road F-150.
Designing a high-performance pickup in 2008, right when the cost of gasoline was going through the roof, seemed insane at the time, but the team pushed forward with the innovative vehicle regardless. The interview includes plenty of Ford B-roll footage as visual candy, and the conversations include discussions about exterior design, ride comfort, anti-lock brake tuning, suspension engineering, weight reduction and why it was necessary to make the Raptor visually different than Ford's standard F-150. The model's origin story is very interesting, and you can learn more about it by watching the video below.

2015 Ford F-Series Super Duty Power Stroke

What weighs 30,000 pounds? Big Ben's Westminster bell. A navy ship anchor. Or as we found out during our first drive program for the 2015 Ford F-Series Super Duty, seven pallets of cinder blocks loaded onto a dual-axle gooseneck trailer. The test was part of a raft of towing demonstrations that showcased the new Super Duty's impressive tug capacity, which maxes out at 32,100 pounds. That's 1,200 more than its nearest rival, the Ram 3500, when equipped with its upgraded 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V8. Such is the heavy-duty pickup truck business, a diesel-fueled game of one-upmanship with only three players: Ford, Chevrolet/GMC and Ram. And in this game, the one with the most torque wins.
Until 2014, Ford was the one to beat, with its 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel bringing 400 hp and a massive 800 lb-ft of torque to the table. Then last year, Ram did exactly that, serving Ford with a beefed-up Cummins turbodiesel inline-six in its freshened Ram Heavy Duty truck line with 385 hp and 850 lb-ft of torque, enabling it to tow up to 30,000 pounds. But Ford claims it had designed its engine to be relatively easy to upgrade when the time called for it, so for 2015, Ford bolted a larger turbo to the Power Stroke, bringing output to an insane 440 hp and 860 lb-ft of twist, all without reducing fuel efficiency. Maximum tow capacity rises from 24,700 lbs to an incredible 31,200 lbs for the F-450 dually.
As for GM's HDs? They lag behind the lot with their 6.6-liter Duramax V-8, producing 397 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque. Yeah, you know things are serious when the trucks with 765 lb-ft are the knock-kneed wimps of the lot.