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2015 Ford Mustang invades SEMA, led by King Cobra

Ford showcased more than a dozen customized 2015 Mustangs at its sprawling 20,000-square foot display this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center as the iconic pony car's 50th anniversary celebration continued at the SEMA Show.
While Mustangs are always a hot commodity at SEMA, the new generation brought increased attention from the aftermarket, as builders like Galpin Auto Sports, Richard Petty's Garage and Vaughn Gittin Jr. offered their takes on the new 'Stang.
The extensive display included a range of Mustangs from mild to wild, with everything from a 600-plus horsepower King Cobra pictured at the top, to paint-and-wheel packages. The new regal Cobra, which we spied early in our SEMA adventure this year, may not be the replacement for the Cobra Jet as we speculated, but it does seem to point the way forward for the next iteration of a supreme Ford dragster. Fat drag slicks out back make it's reason for being abundantly clear, and for tells us that modded car is good for a 10.97-second quarter-mile run.

Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang is a lean, mean, Z/28-fighting machine [w/video]

If there's one thing you can count on, it's that the renewed rivalry between the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro will never, ever cease. For every version of Ford's pony car, there's an equally potent Chevrolet. And so with the debut of the Camaro Z/28 earlier this year, Ford has responded with a track-focused 'Stang of its own, resurrecting the Shelby GT350 name.
It looks to be a fine piece of work, this Mustang, with power coming from a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V8 that will produce "more than 500 horsepower" and "above 400" pound-feet of torque. That grunt runs to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission, and a Torsen limited-slip differential keeps everything in line.
But that's hardly the most impressive piece of the GT350 puzzle. Ford has increased the Mustang GT's chassis stiffness for duty here in the Shelby, and the coupe employs MagneRide damping which automatically adjusts based on road conditions and driver inputs. It's a first both for the Blue Oval and for the segment. And speaking of firsts, the GT350 uses a flat-plane crankshaft - something Ford has never included in a production V8 before.

Ford recalls 2020-21 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, 2021 E-Series

Ford announced safety recalls for the 2020-2021 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator along with the 2021 E-Series early Monday. The recalls address entirely different issues.  In the case of the 2020-2021 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, that issue is motor mount hardware. Specifically, the fasteners that secure the passenger-side motor mount may back out. In Ford's words, this can result in a "loss of power," which is the entirely predictable result of an engine parting ways with the vehicle it powers.  As alarming as that may sound, owners should not have to worry about anything extreme, as the passenger side mount is only one of multiple, and Ford says it is not aware of any incidents that have occurred with vehicles in customer hands. Ford says it impacts only about 1400 examples of the Explorer and Aviator in the States (plus two in Mexico and 65 in Canada) that were built at Chicago Assembly Plant between July 28 and 30, 2020. Ford is in the process of alerting its owners to the recall, and those with affected models will have their mount hardware replaced by their local Ford dealerships free of charge.  The 2021 E-Series is being recalled for a potential heat management issue resulting from improperly aligned thermal insulation on the underside of its engine cover. In vehicles where this insulation was not properly installed so that it reaches all the way to the edges of the cover, the resulting heat bleed can cause high in-cabin surface temperatures, and direct contact them could result in burns.  This is the larger of the two recalls, as Ford says it covers nearly 33,000 examples sold in the United States and Canada. Fortunately, as with the above issue, Ford says it has not been made aware of any customer incidents. Ford says the remedy is a set of insulation patches for the exposed areas.  Related Video: