1964 Ford Fairlane on 2040-cars

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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

Should heavy-duty pickup trucks have window stickers with fuel mileage estimates?

If you were to stroll into your nearest Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Nissan, or Ram dealership, you'd find a bunch of pickup trucks. Most of those would have proper window stickers labeled with things like base prices, options prices, location of manufacture, and, crucially, fuel economy estimates. But you'd also run across a number of heavy-duty trucks with no such fuel mileage data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA doesn't require automakers to publish the valuable miles-per-gallon measurement for vehicles with gross weight ratings that exceed 8,500 pounds. That makes it difficult for consumers to compare behemoths powered by turbocharged diesel engines – between one another, and between smaller, gasoline-fueled trucks. Consumer Reports doesn't think it should be this way, and it's spearheading an effort (PDF link) to get the government to require manufacturers to publish fuel economy estimates. In its own testing, CR found that heavy-duty pickups powered by Ford's Power Stroke, GM's Duramax, and FCA's Cummins diesel engines (which doesn't include the Ram's EcoDiesel) get worse fuel mileage than their lighter-duty gas-powered siblings. We're not so sure HD-truck buyers are unaware of this fact – big diesels don't really come into their own until big loads are placed in their beds or attached to their trailer hitches. Under heavy workloads, the diesel trucks will almost certainly return greater efficiency than a similar gas-powered truck. What's more, HD trucks with lumbering diesels in general make the driver feel more confident while towing due to greater torque at low engine RPM than gas trucks. They also offer greater max-weight limits. Still, we agree EPA fuel mileage estimates should be offered for heavy-duty pickups. And we think the comparisons provided by Consumer Reports might be interesting to potential buyers. Click here to see the results of CR's tests, and let us know what you think using the poll below. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty: First Drive View 22 Photos News Source: Consumer Reports Government/Legal Green Read This Chevrolet Ford GMC Nissan RAM Fuel Efficiency Truck Commercial Vehicles Diesel Vehicles poll gmc sierra hd chevy silverado hd

Ford bringing adaptive steering to the masses [w/video]

Within the next year, Ford will offer a brand-new adaptive steering system (unimaginatively dubbed "Ford Adaptive Steering"), and this week, the automaker invited us out to its proving grounds in Dearborn, MI to get a taste for how its new setup works. In function, Ford's system doesn't greatly differ from the majority of other adaptive steering units already on the market from companies like Audi or BMW, but consider this: Ford will be the first non-luxury automaker to offer this technology, and uniquely, the whole system fits inside the car's steering wheel.
Ford's engineers have worked hard to create a system that can be tacked on to the company's full lineup of cars, trucks and utility vehicles, and says that the adaptive steering will be uniquely tuned for each specific vehicle. The automaker will not confirm exactly which vehicle will launch with this technology, but for the purpose of our preview, we tested the technology in a 2014 Fusion - a vehicle with already-good behind-the-wheel feel, one that the company says best demonstrates its current steering efforts.