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MotorWeek relives '80s coupes with Dodge Daytona, Ford Escort EXP

Get ready for a wave of nostalgia and the rapid realization of the huge progress in performance cars over the last 30 years. For its latest Retro Review, MotorWeek takes a look back at two, front-wheel drive coupes from the '80s that seem to have entirely vanished from the roads today. Both the 1986 Dodge Daytona CS and the 1986.5 Ford Escort EXP were considered affordable, sporty options in their day, but the passage of time hasn't been kind to either of their specs. The Daytona certainly looks the part of a performance machine with a body that's reminiscent of other '80s coupes, like the third-gen Chevrolet Camaro. However with 146 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque from a 2.2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, acceleration wasn't exactly a strong suit. MotorWeek complained about copious torque steer, as well. The optional CS suspension upgrade package on this Daytona was apparently a nod to Carroll Shelby who was working with Dodge at the time. If anything, the Escort EXP withstands the test of time even worse. As a two-seat coupe, you might have expected Ford's engineers to really turn up the performance to fit the sporty image that the exterior conveyed. That didn't really happen, and depending on which model buyers ordered, they got either 86 horsepower with a 1.9-liter engine or the "high-output" version of that mill with 108 hp.

2014 Ford Fiesta ST

Concentrated ST Formula Proves Just As Potent
I'm not the jealous type... usually. But I will fully admit to being somewhat of a Pouty Polly when I read executive editor Chris Paukert's report after driving the then-new 2013 Ford Focus ST through the impossibly pretty southern French Alps region last June. I feel like a broken record saying this yet again, but hot hatchbacks hold a special place in my heart. And while I'm always giddy to drive any sort of small, turbocharged three- or five-door at home in Detroit, my jealousy was indeed piqued after hearing Paukert tell about the challenging yet breathtaking roads he encountered while driving the flamin' yellow Focus. You know, the sort of roads that, from above, look like carelessly drizzled lines of icing on the frosted Alpen caps.
Several months later, I found myself piloting a Focus ST just west of metro Detroit, pitting it head-to-head against one of Autoblog's perennial favorite cars, the Volkswagen GTI. It was fantastic - enough so that I fully stand behind my statement that in terms of balls-out performance, the Focus ST cannot be beat as far as today's front-wheel-drive hatches are concerned.

2016 Ford Fusion hybrid, plug-in getting $900 price cut

While the overall the green car market in the US suffered a slump in 2014 with a 6.5-percent drop in sales, the demand for electric vehicles and plug-ins actually jumped a healthy 28 percent. The Ford Fusion Energi plug-in was among the winners in the segment with a nearly 90 percent boost to 11,550 examples sold for the year. To keep the ball rolling in the face of low gas prices and updated challengers entering the field, the Blue Oval is slashing $900 off the cost of both the Energi and standard Fusion Hybrid to make them even more attractive to buyers. Ford's Monique Brentley told Autoblog that, the reduction was done, "basically, just to attract more customers and promote sales." The cut affects every trim of both electrically assisted versions of the Fusion for the 2016 model year, according to Cars Direct, and it comes without the removal of standard equipment. On the contrary, the Energi reportedly gets a new EcoSelect driving mode that activates additional regenerative braking and more gentle acceleration. The $900 pricing adjustment is only for these models and not available on the versions with only an internal combustion engine, which makes it clear Ford wants to tantalize green car buyers towards this pair. According to Cars Direct, the models should go on sale in late 2015. The least expensive 2016 Fusion Hybrid S will retail for $25,675, plus $825 destination on all of them, and a 2016 Energi start at $33,900. Autoblog's own pricing pages for them show the same numbers (here and here). Cars Direct also predicts for the Blue Oval to keep most incentives in place even after the adjustment. Assuming these figures don't change before the sedans actually go on sale, the price cut makes a 2016 Energi less expensive than a 2015 Chevrolet Volt starting at $34,345 (plus $825 destination). The cost of the updated 2016 model for the Chevy isn't announced yet.