Tag: Ford

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Cars

The New Ford GT

Ford GT is back again and it is new! Honestly, I am not surprised with the new Ford GT because the competition is getting tough. McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and Ford GT was missing. However, ten years ago the Ford GT was capable of competing with Ferrari and Porsche. At the moment, Ford GT is a bit under powered for this competition.
The new Ford GT is only 600 HP but it comes from a V6 3.5-lt EcoBoost engine! And coupled with a double clutch automatic gearbox. In addition, the new Ford GT offers active aero dynamics. This means, you will see flaps moving like an airplane. Regarding to the weight, Ford GT now features lots of carbon fibre and Ford says, it is really light. However, there are not official information regarding to the weight of the Ford GT.
Personally, I really like the Ford GT and its V6 engine. However, I was expecting to see some hybrid technology and more engine power to compete with McLaren, Porsche and Ferrari.
By the way, steering wheel has too many buttons like Ferrari!

Photos Credits
Ford
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Cars

New 2014 Ford Focus Facelift Photos

New 2014 Ford Focus facelift photos are revealed few hours ago. Let me summarise it very quickly, the new Ford Focus looks like a new Aston Martin thanks to its chrome grill. And keep in mind, Ford does not own the Aston Martin anymore. So there is not organic relation with Ford and Aston Martin.
The new Ford Focus claims to be better and I have no doubt about that, however I have many doubts about the boring owners of the Ford Focus. I used to own one and the only problem with the Ford Focus was, too much engagement with families. Ford Focus is an über family car! And this scratches the exclusiveness from the brand. My advice, remove the entry level, always use stiff suspension and never promote the Ford Focus with families. It was tough but I want to improve the image of Ford Focus to compete with Audi A3 and this was a bit too much expectation as well.
Anyway, the new Ford Focus features lots of leather interior, new touch screen navigation, better voice control (I don’t believe), better suspension and steering wheel, pedestrian crash prevention system (No point to buy a Volvo), better front-end design, of course more fuel efficient engines, better auto-parking system, radar guided cruise control, maintain a safe distance with the car front (First on the segment, Distance Alert), but does not brake if you are going to crash, new bi-xenon headlamp that can change angle based on the driving condition, still no LED lights and still offers the feeling of a budget car.
The engines are 1.5-lt petrol EcoBoost (150 HP and 180 HP) and diesel TDCi (95 HP and 120 HP) engines. They are brand new. Ford should find a better new for TDCi, it sounds really dull. 1-lt EcoBoost is still available (100 HP and 125 HP).
The PowerShift double clutch automatic is still six-speed! VW offers 7-speed!
CAPACITY     POWER TRANSMISSION 
1.0L EcoBoost petrol 100 PS five-speed manual 
1.0L EcoBoost petrol 125 PS six-speed manual 
1.0L EcoBoost petrol 125 PS six-speed automatic (2015) 
1.5L EcoBoost petrol 150 PS six-speed manual 
1.5L EcoBoost petrol 150 PS six-speed automatic (2015) 
1.5L EcoBoost petrol 180 PS six-speed manual 
1.5L EcoBoost petrol 180 PS six-speed automatic (2015) 
1.6L TI-VCT petrol 85 PS five-speed manual 
1.6L TI-VCT petrol 105 PS five-speed manual 
1.6L TI-VCT petrol 125 PS five-speed manual 
1.6L TI-VCT petrol 125 PS six-speed PowerShift automatic 
1.5L TDCi diesel     95 PS six-speed manual 
1.5L TDCi diesel   120 PS six-speed manual 
1.5L ECOnetic diesel 105 PS six-speed manual 
1.5L TDCi diesel   120 PS six-speed PowerShift automatic (2015) 
1.6L TDCi diesel   95 PS six-speed manual 
1.6L TDCi diesel   115 PS six-speed manual 
2.0L TDCi diesel   150 PS six-speed manual 
2.0L TDCi diesel   150 PS six-speed PowerShift automatic 


Pictures Credits
Ford
Categories
Cars

New Ford Mondeo Vignale | Luxury

New Ford Mondeo Vignale. Vignale is the most luxurious trim level for the new Mondeo that will be revealed on 2015. On 2006, Ford mentioned that, their aim is to catch up with the Audi’s perfection of interior. And after seven years, I can see that Ford is working very hard to achieve this target.

Vignale will be offering high quality leather craftsmanship and special features dedicated to Vignale trim level. I think Vignale trim level will be more expensive than Titanium but what I see from the photos, it does worth it!

Ford did not release more information regarding to Vignale, however we will hear more as the new Mondeo release date gets closer.

Will Ford Mondeo ever be competing with Audi? Yes! Don’t forget, Audi was never meant to be competing with BMW and Mercedes!

 
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Ford
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Cars

Why Mercedes-Benz needs Aston Martin? | The Future of Aston Martin

Why Mercedes-Benz needs Aston Martin? I would like to keep this article short and simple. Mercedes-Benz has been trying to gather a market in ultra luxury segment for more than a decade, started with the reboot of the Maybach brand. Mercedes-Benz tried their best to create an ultra luxury brand with the Maybach but due to using same structure with the W220 S-Class and lack of adequate sophistication, Maybach could not keep with Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

What I mean by sophistication? Basically, Maybach never offered the same hand built car experience like Bentley or Rolls Royce. The amount of plastic used in interior and exterior were beyond the acceptable level. And the huge resemblance with the S-Class W220 completed the picture.

Now, Volkswagen Group owns Bentley and Bugatti. BMW owns Rolls Royce and Mini. And Mercedes-Benz or Daimler Group own literally nothing in ultra luxury market. There is no brand under the Daimler Group or Mercedes-Benz to compete with Bentley, Rolls Royce or Bugatti. And Mercedes-Benz knows that their product range is not capable of running at the same pace with the iconic hand built British automotive icons.

And there is one option is left! Buying the Aston Martin. This sounds too rough! And also hinders many potential problems. Instead of that Mercedes-Benz is going to develop the relationship through engine manufacturing and automotive technology sharing. Because, Aston Martin purchases the V8 and V12 engines from the Ford and Aston Martin doesn’t have enough money to develop sophisticated automotive technologies. On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz burns more than €1-billion to R&D and have a lot technologies that are years above their competitors. But it is still Mercedes-Benz.

Harmonising the technology of Mercedes-Benz with the soul of the Aston Martin will reveal a very strong competitor to Bentley and Rolls Royce.

This article represents my own personal views. It does not advice, consult, suggest or predict an investment suggestion, or business strategy to be used for an investment. I do not provide consultantcy or service for any type of investment or similar advices. 
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Cars

New Ford Kuga Test Drive

Ford Kuga test drive. Usually, I don’t take cars for a test drive but I was very curious about the new Ford Kuga. The one I took for a test drive was a Ford Kuga Titanium spec, 1,6-lt four-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine with 180 HP and 240 Nm of torque. Kuga was offered with a double clutch automatic gearbox, Powershift. 
Ford Kuga is an all-wheel drive SUV, it is not a hard core off road vehicle but thanks to recent update on their drive train, Kuga is capable coping with some off road experience. Vehicles are like Kuga, small size SUVs are great to cope with adverse weather condition. With winter tyres, you will never ever have a problem with Kuga and you won’t be experiencing the cost of running a huge SUV. 
Titanium spec Kuga had the Active Park Assist (Car parks by itself), blind spot warning, lane keeping aid with steering wheel adjustment, auto high beam control, traffic sign recognition, driver impairment monitor (If you sleep, Kuga can detect it). The lane keeping aid with steering wheel adjustment, adjusts the steering wheel when you are heading to the other lane. You can feel the steering wheel moving by itself, but if you take your hands off the steering wheel the systems stops and Kuga starts beeping! Another nice feature was the foot operated boot, when you have the Kuga with keyless access you can open the boot by moving your foot under the boot. Very practical.
The two-zone automatic climate control is a bit weird, you can not have a huge temperature differences on different zones, unlike other brands. I really don’t know why the Ford did not offer a proper independent two-zone climate control.
The interior of Kuga is really ergonomic and production quality fulfils your expectations. Only the navigation screen is quite small for nowadays vehicle. Ford should have offered a bigger size screen, nowadays these technology are really affordable and not that expensive. 
The handling of Kuga is excellent. Ford always offered benchmark handling for their vehicles and with Kuga you have the same, also torque vectoring features reduces the under steers and over steers.
Overall, Kuga worth its price but never go for the basic version. Because, you will get a car with no features, it will be so plain. Go for a high spec model! And 1,6-lt petrol engine is way better you expected. And double clutch gearbox works seamlessly but Kuga does not offer paddle shifts on the steering wheel, they are placed on the gear lever, which is a bit weird.


Pictures’ Copyrights
Ford
Categories
Cars

New Ford Escort is Coming!

Ford Escort is back! You didn’t read wrong, the iconic Ford Escort is coming back. On 1998, Ford introduced the Focus and two years after that Ford Escort disappeared from the automotive industry. However, the Escort brand had a very strong value and I was expecting the day to be revealed again.

Now, Ford revealed the Escort again! The Ford Focus became more expensive and in some market people cannot afford to buy Focus and the Fiesta stays too small for them. And they move to another brand. Also, the Ford Focus became bigger in this third generation and increased the gap between the Fiesta. 

Therefore, a market gap naturally appeared as a result of those decision. So, Ford created the ideal environment for the Escort and it will be on market soon.

Literally, Focus moved from reasonably priced car to premium car. And this movement helped to Escort join to game again.

And Ford Escort does look quite sexy! With that huge grille, there is a significant resemblance to Fiesta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Ford
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Cars

Ford Fiesta vs. Aston Martin Rapide S: Design Similarity

Ford Fiesta vs. Aston Martin Rapide S, I did not lose my mind and decided to compare Ford Fiesta and Aston Martin. However, there are some mutual intangible notions among Ford Fiesta and Aston Martin Rapide S in terms of design. And I wanted to share this with you, I found some similarities.

By the way, Aston Martin is not owned by the Ford anymore. If you don’t believe me, just check the Wikipedia page for Aston Martin

Categories
Fashion

Small Family MPV Review: Ford B-Max vs. Fiat 500L

Ford B-Max vs. Fiat 500L, I know you are not very familiar with this type of article in this space. But time-to-time, I want to share my opinions with you.

Ford B-Max and Fiat 500L are the small family MPVs. Ford B-Max offers more conservative design with sliding rear doors and Fiat 500L is the Fiat 500 with steroids. In my opinion, Fiat 500L has a better design in both exterior and interior than the Ford B-Max. But this does not mean that Ford B-Max does not look good, it also does! Especially the sliding rear doors are very practical for tight parking spaces and loading items to rear seats.

What I perceive from these two cars, Fiat 500L is more fashionable small family MPV for families whom do not wish to vanish their sense of fashion due to their larger family. On the other hand, Ford B-Max is designed for practicality more than fashion sense. It is definitely for families whose primary concern is the practicality!

Both Ford and Fiat are in similar price range in many market however, due to taxation for different engines size you may see difference prices.

Ford B-Max offers petrol engines of 1.4-lt 90 HP, 1-lt Turbo EcoBoost 100 / 120 HP and 1.6-lt 105 HP for PowerShift automatic gearbox. Diesel are; 1.5-lt 75 HP and 1.6-lt 95 HP. Except 1.6-lt petrol engine rest of the range is offered with 5-speed manual. This is the only disadvantage of Ford B-Max, limited automatic gearbox option and 5-speed manual.

Fiat 500L offers petrol engines of 1.4-lt 95 HP and 0.9-lt 105 HP. Diesels are 1.3-lt 85 and 1.6-lt 105 HP. Automatic gearbox is offered only with 1.3-lt diesel engine and the rest is 6-speed manual.

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Ford and Fiat
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Cars

New Ford F-150 for 2015: Atlas Concept

Ford Atlas Concept pick up was revealed in NAIAS 2013 today, the future F-150 pick up. As you noticed from the photos, Ford Atlas looks amazing! Honestly, this is the best looking off road vehicle on market. I am not saying pick up or SUV, it is the best and toughest looking off vehicle.
I hope Ford will offer a luxury version with competitive diesel engines for European market.


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Ford
Categories
Fashion

Alexander McQueen Dress for £12,415!

Alexander McQueen, the iconic British fashion brand. I always love to write about the McQueen, it is one of the very rare fashion brands that are capable of pricing the collection as expensive as a second hand car.
I did a very comprehensive research on internet to find out the price of Alexander McQueen’s latest collection. And I found it, Embellished silk-chiffon and lace gown dress designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen’s Summer Spring 2012 collection with the price tag of £12,145 (~ $20,000 or ~ €15,000)
I can imagine the thoughts that are going round inside your mind! Who is going to pay this amount of money to Alexander McQueen’s dress and let me answer! Only size 40 is available; 38, 42 and 44 are sold out! If you were planning to buy this dress and you are not in size 40, sorry it too late! But don’t worry, I have a solution for your problem :)
Let’s connect this fashion topic to cars, for this amount of money you can easily buy a second hand Ford Mondeo, BMW 3-Series, Audi A4, Volkswagen Passat, BMW 1-Series, a bit old Range Rover and many more!
And in my opinion, net-a-porter should offer insurance service to dresses like this. I am definitely sure that if someone could pay £12,145 for an Alexander McQueen dress can easily pay the monthly insurance :)
And here is the technical details of Alexander McQueen Embellished silk-chiffon and lace gown.  I am just referencing it, because it is too complicated for me :)
“Raw-edged and plissé silk-chiffon gown is spliced with intricately beaded lace, with both fabrics cascading into a beautiful sheer skirt and train. The high neckline and cutout bodice are hallmarks of this acclaimed collection, so be sure to showcase them with a neat updo” (Net-A-Porter, 2012)
Alexander McQueen Embellished silk-chiffon and lace gown £12,415