2005 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer Sport Utility 4-door 5.4l on 2040-cars

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Ford Focus 1.0-liter Ecoboost to only get manual trans in US

Photos of the 2015 Ford Focus leaked earlier today, but now we're able to tell you more details of the global five-door hatchback. Bucking automaker's troubling trend of ditching manual transmissions in favor of automatics, Ford says the new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine will come only in a six-speed manual in the US, because, well, American drivers aren't as sophisticated as our European brothers and sisters.
Ford didn't come out and say it that way, but it has found American drivers are more prone to complain about automatics in smaller-engine cars, Raj Nair, Ford's group vice president of global product development, said at a press conference last week. The recent JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study backs up Ford's claims, pointing out that drivers are complaining about rough transmission shifts, engine hesitation and lack of power, particularly in small cars. In Europe and other parts of the world, drivers seem to understand the quirks of these pint-sized engines, Nair said, so they'll have the option to buy an automatic. Ford is working on tuning its dual-clutch transmissions to make them more amenable to American driver's tastes.
Ford will show off the refreshed 2015 Focus at the Geneva Motor Show in early March. The car is due for an update, having been on sale in its current form since 2012. The automaker said it is jamming the car full of new technology - like a USB port that promises to charge your phone in half the time as a regular USB port. Features like Sync and a rear back-up camera will come standard. For a more in-depth look at the car, take a look at the full press release.

Ford GT successor to debut in Detroit and go racing

Anticipation for all of the exciting reveals at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show just a few weeks away is building to a fever pitch, and rumors are mounting that Ford has a big surprise in store in the shape of a future performance halo model. Insider sources speaking to Autoweek claim the next Ford supercar is definitely going to be revealed at the Detroit show in early January. However, the model is not necessarily the next-generation Ford GT in terms of its name or design aesthetic. Instead, one of these people indicates that the new halo model might drop retro styling altogether. If the latest reports are to be believed, Ford's high-performance project goes beyond something to just grab headlines and rocket down the street. According to Autoweek, the automaker is also reportedly employing Chip Ganassi Racing to run a two-car racing effort in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship in 2016. That would allegedly include a trip to the 24 Hours of Le Mans to race on the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT40's win in 1966. The speculation goes that at least the racing version might use a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 for power. However, the motorsports part of the program may not be announced during the auto show reveal. Rumors about the new halo car from the Blue Oval and its racing intentions have been percolating for months. The company might have considered an LMP2 entry, but speculation popped up later about the production supercar. A more recent report suggested that Ford might show a new Shelby GT350R Mustang, a successor to the F-150 Raptor and next Ford GT in Detroit.

Watch these Australian Ford and Holden muscle cars duke it out

Australia's Motoring has put together a little video on two of the great performance vehicles available down under - the Holden VF Commodore HSV GTS and the Ford Falcon FPV GT R-Spec. And while both FPV and the Falcon might be on their way out, there's still plenty of time for a little head-to-head comparison between the two.
The cars aren't all that well evenly matched, though. The Ford boasts a 5.0-liter, supercharged V8, which the Aussies measure out at 449 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. The HSV, though, with its Corvette-derived, 6.2-liter, supercharged V8 is just too powerful - 576 hp and 545 lb-ft of torque.
Predictably, it doesn't end too well for the Ford. As the guys from Motoring point out, the new VF Commodore is just too new and too good, with its extra power and its adaptive dampers (GM's excellent MagnaRide). Interestingly, Motoring did point out that the Holden's electric steering is better than the Ford's hydraulic steering, which is a lot like a Porsche purist saying they prefer water-cooled engines to air cooled.