2006 Ford Mustang Base Convertible 2-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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Our love of SUVs is killing people in the streets

Americans are fond of supersized fast-food meals and colossal convenience-store fountain drinks, even though they're clearly bad for our health and U.S. adults keep getting fatter. We also like large vehicles, and our love affair with SUVs is killing people in the streets. According to a recent investigation by the Detroit Free Press/USA Today, the increase in SUV sales over the past several years coincides with a sharp rise in pedestrian deaths in the U.S. — up 46 percent since 2009, with nearly 6,000 people killed in 2016 alone. With SUV sales surpassing sedans in 2014 and pickups and SUVs currently accounting for 60 percent of new vehicle sales, it's no wonder Ford announced in April plans to cease U.S. sales of almost all passenger cars. And this followed Fiat Chrysler's move to virtually an all-truck, -SUV and -crossover lineup. While the Freep/USA Today investigation found that the simultaneous surge in SUV sales and pedestrian deaths comes down to vehicle size, it also points to a lack of action on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), even though it knew of the dangers SUVs pose to pedestrians. Also blamed are automakers dragging their feet on implementing active safety features. Using federal accident data, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) determined that there was an 81 percent increase in single-vehicle pedestrian fatalities involving SUVs between 2009 and 2016. Freep/USA Today's analysis of the same data by counting vehicles that struck and killed pedestrians instead of the number of people killed showed a 69 percent increase in SUV involvement. As far back as 2001, researchers at Rowan University forecasted a rise in pedestrian deaths as Americans began switching to SUVs. "In the United States, passenger vehicles are shifting from a fleet populated primarily by cars to a fleet dominated by light trucks and vans," the researchers wrote, with light trucks comprising SUVs.

2015 Ford Mustang GT [w/video]

At 50 years old, the object of fantasies, a tuner's dream, a movie star and more than nine million strong, it couldn't be truer to say that the Ford Mustang needs no introduction. This newest Mustang, however - making the biggest changes we've seen to the pony car since perhaps 1964.5 - is something Ford has been introducing all year.
We went on a Deep Dive, covered the way it looks when it was revealed, detailed the engine specs, got a ride in the EcoBoost and listened to the V8, got rolling footage and watched it do a standard-feature burnout.
The only thing left to do? Drive it. Having now done so for a few hours around Los Angeles, what we can tell you is to forget everything you know about the Mustang. This new car shames the old, redefines the model and gallops far ahead of anything else in the segment.

3dCarbon now offering body kit for Ford Fusion

A factory-backed body kit by 3dCarbon is now available to Ford Fusion owners who want their car to stand out from the crowd while not being too flashy. The body kit adds a more aggressive front spoiler, side skirts, rear body trim and spoiler that are, in fact, integrated quite nicely into the Fusion's already-comely styling, just as 3dCarbon claims. All Fusions with the kit also receive dual exhaust ports with the stainless-steel exhaust surrounds usually reserved for the Titanium package Fusion EcoBoost models.
A nice detail of 3dCarbon's injection-molded urethane body kit is that it has undergone crash testing to certify that it can withstand crashes up to five miles per hour. Because of this, the kit is warrantied by 3dCarbon for five years or 50,000 miles, much like Ford's warranty on its own parts. In fact, the kit is available through participating Ford dealers and can be financed through Ford Motor Credit. Buyers can purchase the kit - pre-painted or unpainted - and install it themselves, or it can be purchased with a new Ford Fusion and installed at the dealer, pre-painted to factory specifications. Of course, it can also be ordered directly from the source. Take a look at the press release below for more detailed information on the body kit, and let us know what you think of it in Comments.