2011 Ford F-350sd Drw on 2040-cars

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New York Mets outfielder turns spring training into his personal car show

New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is known for his wide range of talents. He can hit for power, average, has good speed, and is solid in the field. His car collection is equally versatile and diverse, and it's been on display this week at spring training. Every day has brought a different car, and it has his teammates and the media atwitter. Cespedes rolled up Wednesday to the Mets facility in Port St. Lucie in a Lamborghini Aventador. It's black with blue trim. Anthony DiComo with MLB.com tweeted this: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. ESPN's Darren Rovell tweeted the Lambo has a custom exhaust that cost $80,000 and shoots out flames. Of course, that's already old news. His Alfa Romeo showed up today, too. Apparently Mets infielder Wilmer Flores has been driving it. That's an ultra-rare 8C Competizione, brought to you by Robert Brender of SNY.TV. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Italian delights are stunning, but his Tuesday arrival was arguably the craziest: a Polaris Slingshot. DiComo captured this. It's customized with gaudy wire wheels, red accents, and Cespedes' No. 52 on the hood. Subtle. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Only in this fleet would Monday's ride appear pedestrian. It was 'only' an F-250. It was raised on huge wheels, had a custom grille, and towered over that Maserati behind it. Jon Santucci of Scripps newspapers observed it. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. At this rate, we should probably skip Geneva and get credentialed for Mets spring training. Cespedes signed a three-year $75-million contract with the Mets in the off-season. He's also played for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. Related Video: Image Credit: Getty Images Celebrities Design/Style Ford Lamborghini Performance baseball

NHTSA upgrades Ford floor mat unintended acceleration probe

According to a Bloomberg report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has upgraded an investigation into complaints of unintended acceleration lodged against Ford vehicles. The investigation began in June of 2010 when just three complaints had been received and it only concerned the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, but this was at a time when the phrase "unintended acceleration" made grown men go pale. With 49 additional complaints received since then, the investigation has been reclassified as an engineering analysis - the last phase before a recall - and it has been expanded to include the Lincoln MKZ, making for a total of "around 480,000" units affected between the three sedans from the 2008 to 2010 model years.
The ostensible cause is that floor mats are trapping the accelerator pedal, but according to a Ford statement at the time, the entrapment is due to owners placing the optional all-weather floor mats, or aftermarket floor mats, on top of the car's standard floor mats. NHTSA has backed up that assessment, pinning the blame on "unsecured or double stacked floor mats."
On the face of it, it would appear that NHTSA has upgraded the status not because of Ford's error, but owner error, and Ford has stated publicly that it is "disappointed" in NHTSA's move. On top of NHTSA still being skittish after that other unintended acceleration debacle, it could be seen to be taking its time investigating all of the variables: it's reported that Ford changed its accelerator pedal design in 2010, a "heel blocker" in the floorpan has been considered a potential culprit in how the floor mats could be trapping the pedal, some drivers have said the floor mats weren't anywhere near the pedal, and according to a report in the LA Times, in "a letter sent by Ford to NHTSA in August 2010, the automaker said it found three injuries and one fatality that 'may have resulted from the alleged defect.'"

Shelby GT350R offers first mass-produced carbon fiber wheels

In the world of race engineering, reducing total weight is good, but reducing unsprung weight is flippin' fantastic. That's the reason Ford is pushing the envelope in terms of technology for the Shelby GT350R's wheels. Joining the likes of Koenigsegg in the offering, Ford has teamed with Australian outfit Carbon Revolution to produce the CF rollers en masse for the first time. Destined for the hubs of the new Shelby GT350R, the new hoops weigh just 18 pounds each, versus the 33-lbs weight of a similar aluminum wheel. On top of slashing up to 60 pounds in unsprung weight, there's such a reduction in rotational inertia – 40 percent, versus aluminum wheels – that Ford actually has to recalibrate the magnetic ride control system and springs. Thanks to, we're guessing, scenes of crashed Formula One cars disintegrating and spewing shards of carbon fiber all over the track, Ford seems quite keen to do away with the idea that CF is strong, but brittle. The company conducted extensive shock testing, ramming a wheel into a curb at speed. According to the Blue Oval, the lightweight wheel allowed the suspension to respond so quickly that the impact was "greatly diminished," causing the tester to run the experiment again, thinking there'd been a mistake. After recording brake rotor temperatures of 900 degrees Celsius (over 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit, or well past the point that aluminum or magnesium would melt) during testing, Ford and Carbon Revolution actually redesigned the wheels to "a thermal standard more suitable for motorsports," by adding an "incredibly thin, nearly diamond-hard coating that reliably shields the resin from heat." The same process was used to protect engine turbine blades on the Space Shuttle. While the work by Ford and Carbon Revolution should make GT350R customers excited, the work being done here could have serious implications for performance cars in the future. That's the real takeaway here, and is something that should leave fans of all performance vehicles excited.