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Ford F-Series Super Duty earns Truck of Texas award

Texans love their pickup trucks, which you already knew. That means the Texas Auto Writers Association and its "Truck of Texas" award is a big deal. And the latest trophy goes to the 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty. The pickup truck managed to snag TAWA's award at the 2016 Texas Truck Rodeo. The award marks the 13th time Ford's F-Series has been named the pickup king of the Lone Star State. Roughly 70 journalists converged outside at the Longhorn River Ranch, just outside of Austin, TX, for the 23rd annual Texas Truck Rodeo where a host of Ford's vehicles won awards. In addition to the F-Series Super Duty being named the "Truck of Texas," the 2017 Ford Super Duty won the Heavy Duty Pickup Truck award, while the 2017 Ford F-150 with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine won the Best Powertrain award. The journalists also awarded Ford for having the "Truck Line of Texas." Ford wasn't the only winner at the Texas Truck Rodeo, as Nissan brought home five awards, including one for the 2017 Titan in the fullsize pickup category and one for the Armada in the SUV segment. Ram also won a few accolades with its trucks. The 2017 Ram 1500 won for being the most luxurious pickup truck, while the 2017 Ram 2500 Power Wagon won the off-road pickup truck award. Last year, TAWA named the 2016 Nissan Titan XD the Truck of Texas, but Ford's all-new F-Series Super Duty managed to keep the Japanese automaker's full-size offering at bay. For the 2017 model, Ford placed aluminum body panels into the F-Series Super Duty's body, which not only shed weight, but also make the truck stronger. Scroll down to see the entire list of TAWA's winners from the 2016 Texas Truck Rodeo. Truck of Texas: 2017 Ford Super Duty SUV of Texas: 2017 Nissan Armada CUV of Texas: 2017 Volvo XC90 Truck line of Texas: Ford Motor Co.

Volvo Concept Recharge previews the future of Volvo design and technology

Volvo has announced a whole slew of information about where the company is headed, from battery technology to advanced driver aids. And it was all capped by the concept car you see above, the Volvo Concept Recharge. It all shows that Volvo's future is stylish, electrified and featuring the latest in safety technology. So, in a way, pretty much exactly what you'd hope and expect. Volvo didn't say much about the specifications of the Concept Recharge, but its design will clearly influence future Volvo models, including the company's upcoming flagship electric SUV that will be revealed next year. The front ditches even faux grilles for a sculpted fascia. The shape does echo some of the look of a grille, particularly with the Volvo slash and badge in the middle. The "Thor's Hammer" headlights remain, and in the case of the concept, they have wild running lights that slide up and out of the way inside the housing to make way for the actual projector headlights at night time. The whole shape of the car is based around the electric powertrain. It has a low floor and glass roof that means the whole body can be made lower and sleeker without compromising space. The wheels are pushed to the far edges, too. At the back, the car has slim vertical taillights, continuing a Volvo design tradition. On the roof, there is a lidar sensor placed at the top of the windshield. This is a significant piece of Volvo's future, as its next generation of vehicles, starting with that aforementioned SUV, will all come with one of these sensors as standard. It will be used in combination with cameras, radar, real-time data, machine learning and mapping data to provide advanced driver aids, including what Volvo describes as "unsupervised autonomous" driving in specific circumstances. Basically, it will be SAE Level 3 autonomy, a step beyond the hands-free, but still supervised Level 2 systems such as GM's Super Cruise. It will only be available on specific roads in specific circumstances, and so it won't be able to handle the entire driving task from driveway to driveway. The company expects to offer this level of autonomy on highways first, and it will only be in specific areas to begin. It didn't give an exact timeline for the roll-out and it will be a more gradual increase over time, rather than everything being launched all at once. The company also emphasized that it will only begin launching the features when they're well and truly ready.

Volvo promises new direct-injected diesels, 8-speed auto

As a part of eliminating its dependence on Ford platforms and powertrains, Volvo has previously announced information about its Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) and Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA), but now we're finally getting some details about what will power some of the Swedish automaker's next-generation products.
The biggest key to VEA on the diesel engines is a new technology Volvo calls i-ART. This system uses unique injectors at each cylinder capable of monitoring fuel pressure and adjusting accordingly to maximize fuel economy and performance and reduce emissions. Looking ahead, Volvo says its four-cylinder engines will be able to offer the power of a six-cylinder and eventually, mixed with some sort of electrification, will be able to rival the performance of a V8 and "turn V8s into dinosaurs."
More details about the new diesel injection technology is posted in the press release below.