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Tanner Foust tackles 'Ring in SVT Raptor

Here's a math problem: if Tanner Foust has a 24 hours to kill in Germany and one blue Ford Raptor, how long will it take him to decide he wants to lap The Nürburgring? Extra credit if you can get your answer precise to the millisecond.
A very truck-like and slidey lap of the 'Ring is exactly what happened when the Ford-sponsored rallycross driver took time off from set-up duties for his 'day job.' Thankfully no one even thought to worry about posting a time, but you can watch some Raptor skid marks getting laid down between the kerbs in the video below.

Ford Fiesta ST gets worked out on the track

We're big fans of the turbocharged Ford Focus ST, and we're plenty excited that the Blue Oval will be offering a similar treatment on the smaller Fiesta here in the United States, too. We first saw the production-ready Fiesta ST five-door at the Los Angeles Auto Show last fall, and Ford has now released this video of a Euro-spec three-door ST being flung around the track.
But not just any track - the challenging Track 7 of Ford's Lommel Proving Grounds in Belgium. The course features 20 turns and plenty of elevation changes along its 2.7-mile loop, and David Put, a vehicle dynamic specialist at Ford, shows just how good the pint-sized Fiesta ST is at handling the lot, even getting the smallest ST up on three wheels every now and then.
It sure does look like a lot of fun, and makes us really eager for our chance to try this ourselves. Scroll down to see the hot little Ford getting busy.

Ford wants smart cruise that's speed and grade sensitive

Ford is working to make adaptive cruise control even smarter and more economical for future vehicles. The automaker now has a patent (pdf link) on a system to use information on the grade of the road, traffic data, and a driver's preferences to eke out better fuel mileage over a journey. This solution would essentially put a little hypermiling right into a model's software. The Blue Oval's patent refers to this tech as "route navigation with optimal speed profile," and the system starts by splitting the way to the driver's ultimate destination into many smaller pieces. Each one is analyzed based on GPS data, and traffic info is also constantly updated. Based on the occupants' preferred travel time, all this info is combined to figure out the most efficient speed for each leg of the journey. All of these calculations are actually more than the car's computers can handle, so some of the math is offloaded to a cloud-based network. According to Ford, some of the benefits come when tackling hills while diving. Maintaining a single speed when going up and down steep grades isn't the most efficient method, but current technology can't easily make the necessary adjustments. This system uses the GPS data to adapt the vehicle's speed and leave the situation with better fuel economy. Ford is currently making major investments into autonomous driving technology and has some prestigious partners. While the patent documents don't specifically mention the optimal speed profiles for driverless vehicles, they seem like a natural fit. Over the course of an entire trip, the fuel economy gains would likely be even greater than over a few miles on a relatively flat interstate.