Written by Ben Story, Gary Yeomans Ford

In 1984, I was working for an auto parts distributor in Northern California when a Highway Patrol Officer came in with beads of sweat on his face and a noticeable lack of color. He had just been issued his new Mustang 5.0. The officer looked at me and my protege and said," That is the only car I have ever driven…,that has scared me!"

Now it is twenty-six years later…,and bad guys beware! Again! Police have had driving academies for many years and the new Police Interceptor by Ford will turn catching criminals into wanderlust.

The Taurus based platform offers front, and, all wheel drive, drive trains. Engines,surprisingly, are two V-6's. The city version will most likely be 263 HP, which is twenty-four more than the pumped up Crown Victoria. But the more aggressive model has a twin-turbo with 365 pony-express horses ready to apprehend and transport occupants quickly to a…,well more subdued and stable environment. And for our more organically oriented offenders,  the twin turbo is Ecoboost. (You can be comfortable knowing that your 'transportation' is environmentally friendly.) While using less gas and emitting cleaner air, rear passengers should hold their collective heads very high knowing that they are playing a minor role in civic responsibility.

The civilian twin-cousin (Taurus) ends with body design.The interceptor passed a 75 Mph rear-end crash test, has stab-proof seat backs for driver and partner, as well as an additional opening radius for rear doors…,for less cooperative passengers.

In all, there is a new eco-friendly tactical predator coming soon to a Police Force near you. Ford has put more 'HP' in Highway Patrol, Electronic Stability Control for quick maneuvers, and Sync for hands-free driving and communication. The high-speed pursuit of crime free cities, highways and byways, should be more effective with Ford's new weaponry

SMALL IS SAFE:

FORD FIESTA EARNS

2010 TOP SAFETY PICK
· The 2011 Ford Fiesta has earned a 2010 Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) – it is the first mini-car to do so since the introduction of a new roof strength test

· Fiesta’s energy-absorbing body structure is optimized for strength and stiffness and designed to absorb and redirect crash forces away from the passenger compartment

· Fiesta features the most standard airbags in the mini-car segment and standard stability control – a requirement for any Top Safety Pick vehicle

· Ford has the most Top Safety Picks of any automaker
       

DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 25, 2010 – The 2011 Ford Fiesta is the first mini-car to earn a Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) since the introduction of a new roof strength test. The award applies to vehicles built after July 2010. The Fiesta is the eighth Ford Motor Company vehicle to earn the Institute's top designation – breaking a tie with Toyota for the most “Top Safety Picks” of any automaker.

Fiesta’s extensive use of high-strength steels, Trinity front crash structure, Side Protection And Cabin Enhancement (SPACE) Architecture^® and advanced airbag technologies helped the car perform well in IIHS testing. Fiesta’s energy-absorbing body structure is optimized for strength and stiffness and designed to absorb and redirect crash forces away from the passenger compartment. Plus, it features the most standard airbags in its segment, as well as standard electronic stability control – a must-have feature for Top Safety Pick eligibility.

“Fiesta is proof that a small car can deliver big safety, and earning a Top Safety Pick further demonstrates Ford’s commitment to providing all of our customers with world-class crash protection,” said Sue Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “Fiesta combines rigidity and more airbags – smartly deployed – than its competition, as well as standard stability control.”

Strong and stylish
Beneath Fiesta’s stylish exterior is a robust structure, crafted from high-strength steels engineered to preserve quality and enhance driver and passenger safety.

Fiesta uses significant cold- and hot-formed high-strength steel in the body structure. These components add rigidity and save weight, increasing structural efficiency while also helping Fiesta deliver class-leading fuel efficiency of 40 mpg, which is achieved with Ford’s new six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission.

More than 55 percent of Fiesta’s body structure uses these high-strength or ultra-high-strength steels in the floor structure, front rails, beams and in the ultra-rigid, integrated body reinforcement ring designed to help better protect occupants in side impacts.

Fiesta A- and B-pillars are fashioned from ultra-high-strength aluminized boron steel, adding robustness while allowing for slim width and rake to honor Fiesta’s distinctive design. Rocker panels – with welded baffles to absorb impact – also are crafted from very high-strength, dual-phase steels, known for their energy-absorption qualities. The side roof arch employs dual-phase steel construction. The under-floor support beams – so-called sled runners – and lateral floor reinforcements also use high-strength, dual-phase steel. These light but strong metals in Fiesta’s robust body shell help enhance crash protection by adding strength, rigidity and durability.

Segment-busting safety
The Fiesta body shell is well equipped with safety features to help protect its occupants in the event of a collision, including the most standard airbags in the segment.

Fiesta offers a segment-exclusive driver’s knee airbag, developed to help reduce lower leg injuries in the event of a frontal collision and to work together with other safety features. The knee airbag joins a suite of Fiesta safety features including dual-stage first-row airbags, side-impact airbags and side curtain airbags. A knee airbag won’t be found in Honda Fit, Nissan Versa or Toyota Yaris. Move up to Civic, Sentra and Corolla and you still won’t find a driver’s knee airbag.

“Smart” Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) sensors determine occupant weight and seat belt status to optimize deployment force. Smart sensors include the class-exclusive side-impact sensor that uses pressure to react up to 30 percent faster than previous sensor offerings.

Also available on the Fiesta is Ford’s AdvanceTrac^® with ESC (electronic stability control), which uses sensors to detect and measure yaw, or side-to-side skidding conditions, by monitoring vehicle speed, throttle position and steering wheel angle. When AdvanceTrac senses wheel slip, engine torque is reduced and braking is applied where needed to help the driver keep the car tracking on its intended path.

“Fiesta sets a new benchmark for small car safety,” Cischke said. “Fiesta is a clear example that making a safe car doesn’t mean making a large car or a heavy car. Fiesta has it all; safety, good design and driving character.”

By Stephen Markley,

Cars.com Tribune Media Services

The 2011 Ford Mustang is the first car with more than 300 horsepower to get over 30 mpg on the highway, and a Ford team recently proved it can do even better: It stretched one 16-gallon tank of gas to 776.5 miles.

If you're not a mathematician, that's 48.5 mpg, which rivals numbers put up by today's most efficient hybrids like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.

There's an important caveat to that number, though. The drivers were cruising around the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee at a limp 43.9 mph average speed. The Ford team originally wanted to see if the Mustang could get 1,000 laps (a total of 533 miles) but blew past that mark with the tank still a quarter full.

The driving team included Tom Barnes, Jonathan Mehl, Carl Ek, David Ragan and Seong Park, who took one-hour turns behind the wheel over the course of the 17 hours it took for the Mustang's tank to run dry.

This Article appeared in USA TODAY

Porsche — its Panamera is shown above — was the top brand overall in fewest initial defects per vehicle. It was followed by Acura, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota's Lexus brand.

But Ford-brand vehicles came next, breaking into the top 5 for the first time in the study's 24 years. And in another first, the Detroit makers collectively beat imports, as Power hailed them in the study for their quality gains.

At the bottom with most defects: Land Rover, far behind the next worst-scorers, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen.

The study, the most-watched survey in the industry for quality straight from the assembly plant, measures how many problems show up in vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership.

ALSO ON DRIVE ON: Toyota hiring 2,000 as resumes work on Blue Springs, Miss., plant.

The Toyota brand fell dramatically in rank as its count rose by 16 defects per 100 vehicles, from 101 to 117. The poor quality showing comes on top of a series of embarrassing safety recalls. "Clearly, Toyota has endured a difficult year," said David Sargent, VP of global vehicle research at J.D. Power and Associates. "Recent consumer concerns regarding Toyota's quality are reflected in the nameplate's performance in the 2010 study."

Said Toyota spokesman John Hanson: "Of course we are disappointed in the drop in the Toyota and Lexus IQS rankings. But this year's study was conducted at the height of intense media coverage of our recent recalls, so it's no surprise to see the impact this had on this specific rank for the vehicles involved."

He said that vehicles not involved in the recalls saw higher scores compared to last year

The industry average for 2010 in initial quality is 109 problems per 100 vehicles, up slightly from 108 last year. But initial quality for domestic brands rose 4 points this year to an average of 108, one better than the average for all brands.

"Domestic automakers have made impressive strides in steadily improving vehicle quality, particularly since 2007," said Sargent. "This year may mark a key turning point for U.S. brands as they continue to fight the battle against lingering negative perceptions of their quality."

Among individual vehicles showing improvement: Ford Focus, Ram 1500 pickup and Buick Enclave. Ford Motor has been improving steadily and has 12 models in the top three in their categories this year, more than any maker. General Motors wasn't far behind with 10 models in the category top threes. And four of Ford's winners were Volvos, a brand it has a deal to sell.

Even some new models, which often need time to work out kinks, showed high initial quality. The new Honda Accord Crosstour, redesigned Ford Mustang, Ford Taurus and Lexus GX 460 each ranked No. 1 in their respective segments. The Ford Fusion, Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe and sedan and Porsche Panamera also launched with "notably high initial quality levels," says Power.

The 2010 Ford Taurus is definitely different enough to warrant another look if you've considered one in the past, or if you're in the market for a large sedan.

Although the mechanicals are basically the same as 2009 and before, the Taurus gets such a thorough reskin that you wouldn't be able to tell it. For all cosmetic considerations, the 2010 Taurus is an all-new car—a flashier-looking one.

The well-detailed grille and headlights, along with the creased hood, certainly bring a distinctive look, though the chromed side gills seemed a little gimmicky. From some angles, it's as if Ford has surrendered to the blocky, high-wasted look that Chrysler has been preaching with its 300C. To Ford's credit, the new Taurus has finally shed its frumpy side that it carried since when it was called the Five Hundred. The automaker has been attempting to frame the Taurus as its flagship model rather than the mainstream sedan the name referred to in the past (that's now the Fusion).

A couple inches off the top, a little tight inside

While the pre-2010 Taurus had a relatively high seating position, low beltline, and tall greenhouse—for an excellent view outward—the latest iteration of the Taurus could feel a little more secure—or a little claustrophobic, depending on the point of view. Two inches of roof height have been lost, and it's a difference you can feel.

All the styling changes that Ford made to the Taurus for 2010 altogether make it feel considerably tighter inside. The wide center console and curved instrument panel design leave the driver and front passenger with remarkably small areas, with those front seats seemingly wedged against the center console. The front seats themselves could be adjusted to an ideal position for a wide range of drivers, but the lower cushions felt unduly short, especially for a full-size car. The backseat area isn't so perfect, either; while wide and capable of holding three across, it's surprisingly tight for both legroom and headroom; the smaller Ford Fusion might be roomier, by some gauges. Overall, though the trunk is mammoth, there's a feeling that that some of this vast real estate could have been better spent.

We like the simple yet elegant look of the instrument panel, with brightly lit deep-dish gauges and a relatively simple layout. The only exception is that in looking down quickly, it's easy to get the four like-sized, like-feeling climate-control and audio knobs confused.

In the city, the Taurus rides and drives like a large vehicle, and the inability to see the front corners can be tough in tight spaces. The ride quality is a little odd—simultaneously jarring over potholes, pavement breaks, and the like, but also almost bouncy over the largest potholes or railroad crossings. We briefly had four aboard, and the Taurus' ride felt slightly more buttoned-down. For 2010, there have been extensive suspension changes, and to its credit the Taurus handles quite well for a more comfort-oriented large sedan.

Feels large in the city, just right on the highway

For those who do a lot of highway cruising, the story is quite different; then, the ride turns quite settled and composed, with road and wind noise kept to a minimum, and the steering has a nice weighting and reassuring on-center feel that won't wear on you.

The 263-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 in our Taurus had plenty of accessible torque, as well as higher-rev horsepower for passing, but it's a little too coarse-sounding when accelerating hard, and we didn't find the automatic transmission's shifts all that smooth compared to, say, the Toyota Avalon.

Fuel economy is about what you'd expect for a big 4,200-pound sedan with all-wheel drive. We saw about 18 mpg overall in a week and about 100 miles of mostly city driving. For only city driving, count on around 16 mpg; official EPA ratings stand at 17/25.

Standout safety and tech content

Safety remains one of the Taurus's strengths in the market. With top scores from the IIHS in all categories, including the new roof-strength test, it's a Top Safety Pick for 2010. Several more tech features, including Ford's updated Sync tools and MyKey system, have been added, too.

Here, Ford has traded off some functionality in the name of style. The Taurus still isn't a vehicle that you're going to fall in love with for its driving experience, but it is better-looking. Would you be buying a sedan for the look of it, or for the greater accommodations? That's your choice.

This story originally appeared at The Car Connection]]–>