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Ford F-450 claims best-in-class towing, company abandons practice of removing items to boost payload number

The ongoing heavy-duty truck battle between Ford and Ram is showing no signs of slowing down. The Blue Oval is trying to remove at least one point of contention between the two brands by testing its 2015 F-450 Super Duty using the Society of Automotive Engineers J2807 towing standard, which Ram also uses. In the new evaluation, the F-450 is rated at a max towing capacity of 31,200 pounds. That's an identical amount as under Ford's own, previous test.
"We leave no doubt with customers that the F-450 pickup truck has best-in-class towing of 31,200 pounds - whether tested using our own internal towing standards or SAE J2807," said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president for Global Product Development, in the company's release.
At the same time, Ford is also changing how it calculates the F-450's payload. Instead of using its minimum curb weight as before, the brand is now using the truck's base curb weight. The revision lowers the pickup's rating to 5,300 pounds, compared to 5,450 pounds previously. The company said in its announcement that the reason for this is "aligning its payload rating practices with other manufacturers to make it easier for customers to compare vehicles." General Motors made a similar switch for its pickups in August.

Ford leads top searched-for car brands on Google in 2014

With less than two weeks until 2014 takes its final bow, anyone and everyone is looking back on the past 50 or so weeks to see how they stacked up. For search giant Google, that means its time to check out its annual Trends report. Besides the most popular search term (the late, great Robin Williams), the most searched for gadget (the iPhone 6) and most searched for disease symptoms (quite worryingly, Ebola took the crown here), we have the most searched for automaker. With the long-awaited sixth-generation of one of America's most iconic vehicles, the Mustang, and a ground-breaking update for the US market's perennial best seller, the F-Series, it should come as no surprise at all that Ford was Google's most searched for automaker in 2014. Jeep captured second place, while Dodge, took third. We suspect introducing a pair of cars with 707 horsepower had something to do with that bronze medal... Scroll down to see the rest of this year's most searched for automakers, and then head into Comments and let us know if you're surprised by any of these. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2015 Ford Mustang: First Drive View 55 Photos News Source: Google via AutoGuideImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Dodge Ford Jeep Technology

Meet Shelby Mustang GT500 Miller, Iowa's latest hatchet-wielding criminal

Well, we've found the long-lost cousin of yesterday's Bentley-tattooed criminal from Florida. This is Shelby Mustang GT500 Miller. No, seriously. While his name seems just like the sort of thing we'd expect the Sunshine State to produce, he actually hails from Iowa. Despite coming from the Hawkeye State, Miller was arrested for a decidedly Floridian offense – getting in a bar fight and then returning with a hatchet. The only way this story could be more Florida is if meth, a manatee or bath salts were involved. The fight, which was at the Cheap Seats Sports Bar, started off typically enough, with a verbal argument in the parking lot (please, please let his nemesis be named "Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Smith"). This, naturally, attracted passing police officers. Things were broken up and some friends took Miller to his home, which was apparently just behind the bar. That's when he returned with the hatchet tucked under his shirt. Miller promptly proceeded to take out the implement of destruction in the bar's bathroom and... forget about it entirely. Fortunately, the police hadn't left the area yet. Not surprisingly, Miller was arrested for a parole violation, as well as public intoxication and going armed with intent. Still, cool name, bro. News Source: Iowa City Press CitizenImage Credit: Polk County Sheriff's OfficeTip: Mike Government/Legal Ford crime shelby iowa