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Four Wheeler crowns Ultimate Factory 4x4... who wins?

Nearly every automaker doing business in the SUV or pickup truck segments offers a package designed to improve the off-road capabilities of its wares. But, of course, not all such factory kits are created equal. How, then, to separate the wheat from the chaff? Gather each of them up and put them through their paces, naturally.
The folks from Four Wheeler and PickupTrucks.com joined forces to run just such a comparison test, with the winner named the Ultimate Factory 4x4. A total of seven vehicles showed up to the fight: the 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, 2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2012 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X and Xterra PRO-4X, 2012 Ram Power Wagon, and 2012 Toyota 4Runner Trail and Tacoma TRD T|X Baja Series.
With the contestants in place, the whole crew put each vehicle through a battery of tests that included skidpad and acceleration measurements, a hillclimb, a rocky stairstep course and a rock garden. Considering the nature of the beasts, on-road ride and comfort were not part of the routine.

2015 Ford F-150 specs revealed, EcoBoost 2.7L to make 325 hp and 375 lb-ft [w/video]

Our new man Greg Migliore is in attendance at a Ford media event at the Blue Oval's Dearborn, MI headquarters today, and he's reported in with a handful of the 2015 F-150 stats that we've been dying to know. Ford is slow-playing the news release here, but we can still offer up some interesting output and performance figures after half-year of waiting.
We have all be quite aware that Ford's shift to aluminum construction would save a lot of weight for F-150 models, and the results we're hearing now are duly impressive. For instance: in Super Crew trim, a 2015 F-150 is a whopping 732-pounds lighter than was its closest 2014-model-year equivalent. That's like hauling three middle-aged dudes to your bowling alley's league night for free. Polish your balls, guys.
Ford isn't willing to offer up any actual curb weights just yet, but if we take that 732-pound loss and extrapolate with the 5,128-pound curb weight of the 2014 F-150 Super Crew with the 3.7-liter V6, we can guesstimate that 2015 models will measure out in the 4,400-pound range. That's impressive.

Performance CNG wants to crowdfund natural gas-powered Ford Mustang

Soliciting investments to develop a street-legal compressed natural gas (CNG) powered Ford Mustang that can deliver 470 horsepower certainly wouldn't make sense on a site called Indiestopstop. Nope, Indiegogo is the more-appropriately-named site that one Michigan entrepreneur is using to try and crowdfund his CNG 'Stang. He's looking to raise $55,000. Michigan's Daryl Patrishkoff and his company Performance CNG LLC showed off their converted 2003 Mustang last year at the Woodward Dream Cruise in Royal Oak, MI in an effort to get some exposure for the car, which can run on both gas and CNG. The company and its three-man team is looking to further develop the project in the name of a fueling source that is 40 percent cheaper than gasoline, throws off as much as 30 percent fewer tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions and makes the country less dependent on foreign oil. Performance CNG estimates that just 120,000 of the world's 15 million CNG-powered vehicles are in the US and is calling for more. As for the $55 grand, Patrishkoff estimates that more than half of that amount would be committed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing of emissions, fuel economy and horsepower. The problem? As of right now, only $150 has been raised. Check out Performance CNG's press release below and see the fundraising effort on Indiegogo here. Eco-Friendly Muscle Car? CNG vehicles save money, emit less pollution and creates jobs from American-mined fuel SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich., May 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Daryl Patrishkoff of Shelby Township, MI, has a vision for the American automotive industry. He firmly believes that our fuel of choice should be Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), not gasoline. Until the full CNG infrastructure is in place a Bi-Fuel vehicle, fueled by either CNG or gasoline upon the drivers command, is the bridge vehicle that can lead this transition. Patrishkoff heads up a (3) man technical team developing this technology. The advantages are: 40 percent savings in fuel costs at the pump 25-30 percent reduction in harmful emissions 100 percent US provided natural gas Meaningful employment for the US economy The most important benefit, however, is that a CNG-powered vehicle runs on fuel that can be mined in America, eliminating the need for foreign oil. "After decades of political rhetoric, these types of vehicles can truly lead the US to energy independence," he said.