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Autoblog Podcast #403

Episode #403 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Michael Harley, and Ronnie Fung of Autoblog Canada talk about the $5 billion investment Ford is making in Lincoln, the McLaren 650S, and the best apps for drivers. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #403:
Topics:

2020 Ford Explorer nabs IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating after updates

The 2020 Ford Explorer has been named a Top Safety Pick+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the agency's best rating. The redesigned Explorer initially fell short of that mark, however, only making the grade after Ford introduced a running change to the vehicle's design starting in May 2020 — a change made to the 2020 Lincoln Aviator as well. To achieve a Top Safety Pick+ award, a vehicle must have a Good performance rating in all six of the agency's crash tests. It also must have Acceptable or better ratings for all of its available headlamps and must earn Advanced or Superior ratings for its automated collision avoidance systems in tests of their performance against pedestrians and other vehicles. The 2020 Explorer initially achieved only an Acceptable performance in the IIHS's driver's-side small-overlap crash test, as the agency found a risk of injury to the driver's left foot due to intrusion into the footwell. Ford subsequently modified the design of the front subframe in a running change to Explorers and to Lincoln Aviators built after May 2020. The modified Explorer was re-tested, and this time the model achieved a Good performance in the driver's small-overlap test. That, combined with a Superior performance in both tests of the standard collision-avoidance system plus Acceptable ratings for both headlight systems, pushed the 2020 Explorer over the goal line to Top Safety Pick+. The Aviator, which shares the Explorer's platform, has received the same modification and achieves the same crashworthiness ratings. However, its standard headlights are judged Marginal, and therefore the 2020 Aviator achieves only the Top Safety Pick rating (even though its optional curve-adaptive LED headlights are judged Good). Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1988 Lincoln Mark VII LSC

The Lincoln Division put the Continental Mark VI on the Panther platform for the 1980 through 1983 model years, making it much smaller than its vast Mark V predecessor but not much nimbler and certainly not as opulent. For the 1984 model year, though, the new Continental Mark VII moved onto the Fox platform, making it sibling to the Mustang and therefore more of a true high-performance luxury coupe. By 1986, the Continental name was gone from the Mark VII (relegated to Lincoln's cushy land yachts), and the LSC version came with the same hairy V8 as the Mustang GT. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those cars, found in a Denver yard last month. For the 1988 model year, the base Mark VII got the axe, leaving only the Bill Blass Edition and the LSC. Sadly, the Bill Blass Mark VII didn't come with an inflatable Sherman tank. For 1988, all Mark VIIs came with the 225-horsepower 5.0-liter High Output V8 engine, same as the Mustang GT.  Could you get a manual transmission? Sadly, you could not. Swapping one into one of these cars is pretty easy, but the more likely swap has always been to grab the 5.0 out of a Mark VII and drop it into a non-V8 Fox Mustang. If you were shopping for a BMW 5-Series or Mercedes-Benz E-Class in 1988, the Mark VII offered an attractive Detroit alternative. The 1988 LSC cost $25,016 (about $58,200 in 2021 bucks), while a new BMW 528e cost $31,500 and had a mere 127 horsepower. The M5 had a wild six with 256 horses— 31 more than the Mark VII— but it cost a terrifying $46,500. Meanwhile, the Mercedes-Benz 260E offered just 158 horses and cost $37,250. Granted, both of the Germans offered manual transmissions, but approximately zero American luxury-car buyers actually wanted three pedals by the late 1980s. Truth be told, this car looked like a great value next to its Teutonic competitors at the time, more so than GM's and Chrysler's efforts of the late 1980s. Not quite 150,000 miles on the clock on this one. The Mark series continued through the Mark VIII and then that's all she wrote, Katie bar the door. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Here's how you turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. To appreciate the Mark VII LSC, you must do three things: 1. Drive it. 2. Drive it. 3. Drive it. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.