2006 Ford Five Hundred Limited Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Ford, Chrysler and Mazda expand scope of Takata airbag recalls

The scope of the Takata airbag inflator recall is ballooning once again across the United States. Where Honda has elected to take its driver-side airbag campaign nationwide, Chrysler Group and Ford have now announced expanded regional actions to cover some passenger-side airbag inflators. Mazda is adding more regions, as well. For Chrysler Group, the campaign covers the inflators on 149,150 examples of the 2003-model-year Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The recall is limited to vehicles sold or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The company will begin notifying affected customers on January 19. According to Chrysler's announcement of the action, the passenger side inflators in these trucks "are of a type that is not used in any of the other vehicles affected by Chrysler Group's regional field action." The automaker says that it's not aware of any actual failures or accidents in these pickups and even claims there are no "observed failures in laboratory testing of its airbag modules." The company is continuing to study the problem, though. Ford is taking a similar step by issuing a recall of inflators for 38,500 examples of the 2004-2005 Ranger and 2005-2006 Ford GT. The campaign only affects vehicles originally sold or ever registered in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Certain zip codes of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa are also covered. There's already precedent for passenger-side airbags to be covered under the Takata inflator recall. When many automakers announced campaigns in June, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all included that side in some of their repairs. Subaru subsequently did, as well. In addition, Mazda is expanding the scope of its recall to add Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to the affected areas. The company estimates that it has a total of 86,773 vehicles in need of repair. Mazda is also teaming with Toyota to begin independent testing of the Takata inflators. Scroll down to read all of the automakers' announcements of these newly expanded recalls. Statement: Air-Bag Inflators December 3, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich.

MotorWeek remembers pre-EcoBoost Ford with the Thunderbird TurboCoupe

Sometimes it feels great to embrace nostalgia for a trip down memory lane, and MotorWeek indulges that occasional desire with its regular Retro Review series. This time, the long-lived show goes back to the '80s to check out two of the top performance vehicles in the Ford lineup at the time – the 1987 Thunderbird TurboCoupe and Mustang GT. Both models had just received thorough refreshes after several years on the market. Long before an EcoBoost badge ever met its models, Ford made early forays into experimenting with turbocharging on vehicles like the T-Bird TurboCoupe. Based on MotorWeek's assessment, the company was on the right track. The boosted 2.3-liter four-cylinder was apparently a bit coarse but offered 190 horsepower with little turbo lag, compared to 155 hp the year before. The Mustang GT is likely the more-fondly remembered of these performance Fords today and provides an interesting point of comparison against the TurboCoupe. MotorWeek found some faults with the 'Stang, though. While it was quick for the time with a sprint to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, the 'car was described as "a nose-heavy beast" for its handling. And for a look at Ford's future in turbocharging – the GT will have an EcoBoost powerplant – check out our Related Video:

2020 Ford Super Duty Tremor vs. 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon: How they compare on paper

(Editor's Note: Due to inconsistencies in manufacturer reporting methods for ground clearance, an earlier version of this article stated the Ram Power Wagon's "ground clearance" to be 14.3 inches when in fact that is its "running clearance," which is deemed the ground to the lowest point of the truck MINUS the axles. The numbers below now reflect true ground clearance, or the ground to the lowest point of the truck, period. The chart and text have been updated to show both measurements for maximum accuracy and clarity.) For several years, the Ram 2500 Power Wagon has been the unquestioned king of heavy duty off-roaders. But competition is coming, and some of the strongest is from the 2020 Ford Super Duty Tremor. We decided to take a look at these trucks' specs and features to see how they compare in the realm of capability. The raw numbers are below along with some notes on each truck's unique features that go beyond the spec sheet. Off-road capability While both of these trucks boast impressive clambering abilities, each with particular strengths. The Super Duty Tremor earns points for better ground clearance and axle clearance, as well as approach angle. Some of the credit goes to the larger 35-inch tires and a shortened front air dam. On the other hand, the Power Wagon leads the Ford in departure angle, and in the ramp travel index. The latter is largely the result of the Power Wagon's electronically disconnecting sway bars, and for those unfamiliar, the ramp travel index measures articulation by having a truck drive one wheel up a ramp with the other on the ground. The farther the truck goes with the ground wheel in contact with the, well, ground, the better the score and the better the articulation. Numbers aren't everything, though. It's important to look at the equipment each truck offers, and things are closer, here, but the Ram still has an edge. Both feature off-road-friendly solid axles at both ends, but only the Power Wagon has fully locking differentials front and rear. The Tremor has a locking rear differential while the front is a limited-slip differential. The Power Wagon comes standard with a 12,000-pound integrated Warn winch, whereas such a winch is an option on the Tremor. The Tremor has its own unique features, though, including the 35-inch tires rather than the Ram's 33-inchers, and it has Ford's fancy off-road cruise control function called Trail Control. Both trucks have shocks and springs tuned for off-road use.