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NHTSA closes investigations into Ford Taurus, Hyundai Santa Fe

Ford and Hyundai are out from under the scrutinizing eyes of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after the government agency said it was closing investigations against both automakers over vehicle safety concerns.
Ford was being investigated for reported damaged speed control cables on Ford Taurus (shown above) and Mercury Sable models, both built between 2000 and 2003. Vehicles with the company's Duratec engines allegedly failed to allow owners to brake as expected. Owners lodged 100 complaints and were involved in five accidents, according to NHTSA records. The American automaker responded to the reports, and on June 21 of this year, said that it would inspect and repair all affected vehicles, regardless of the mileage.
Hyundai was under investigation for a reported loose fastener on the steering shaft of its 2011 Santa Fe (shown in the gallery below). After NHTSA launched its inquiry, the Korean automaker responded with its own investigation that yielded four affected vehicles. Following the inspection of 680 vehicles at its assembly plant, Hyundai said the issue was due to employee error and that no further defects have been found.

How Ford's light lab keeps the sun shining on the new Mustang just right [w/video]

Anyone who's bought one of those old school metal shift knobs knows they're really cool until they sit in a parking lot in the sun for a few hours. Then they're not cool at all. Likewise, features such as the aluminum dash on the 2015 Ford Mustang can be all kinds of neat right up until the sun hits it just the right way and sends shards of blinding light through the cabin. The Ford Visual Performance and Evaluation Lab is where engineers figure out how to make sure that doesn't happen.
Cars like said Mustang are parked inside the 30-foot reflecting dome under 6,000 watts of lights that can mimic the sun at any time of day and in any weather condition. Engineers can then spend cold, overcast days inside, testing for interior legibility, glare and reflections on every interior and exterior surface as if it were bright and sunny. They can also learn how a car's sheetmetal and colors will look out of doors, all year round.
Ford showed off the lighting lab without the music and interviews three years ago when the Explorer was being prepared. You can watch it at work again in the video below, and read about it in the press release below that.

Fiat Panda by M-Sport a one-of-a-kind rally car

English racing and engineering firm M-Sport is probably best known for the Bentley Continental GT3 endurance racer and the Ford Fiesta R5 customer rally car. Since building the first of 294 Fiesta R5 Mk. I cars in 2013, the fleet of pint-sized competitors has won a total of more than 950 races. So when a longstanding M-Sport customer asked the company to do something special with a clapped-out, 1990s-era Fiat Panda that would retain the car's Panda-ness but also make it a stonking rally car, M-Sport decided to combine the Italian with the Anglo-American. The result is the Panda by M-Sport, a widened Panda bodyshell lowered atop a Fiesta R5 chassis and engine. Otherwise known as Panda'monium. Or Pandiesta, if you're tipsy. Just fitting the skinny Fiat over the tube-frame chassis meant widening the Panda's body shell by 14.2 inches; that slick grille is actually made of two Panda grilles to gain the required width. That surgery helps maintain the original Panda's silhouette, but more was needed to slide the Fiesta's wider track underneath. More latitudinal stretch was provided by the box-section wheel arches that, up front, flow into a front bumper that is half snowplow. In the longitudinal direction, the Pandiesta's wheelbase is 12.6 inches longer than that of the stock Panda. The Ford's 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder lives under the hood. It sends nearly 300 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque to four Pirelli P Zeros through a five-speed sequential transmission and two custom differentials. The new rear diffuser and single, central exhaust convey the seriousness of the endeavor. Hand-embossed lettering spells "PANDA 4x4" on the rear hatch in case anyone has questions about this having as much capability as the standard Panda 4x4. The interior is all Fiesta R5 save for the Panda-mimicking instrument panel and the co-driver's footrest. The latter is also inscribed with the word "PANDA." Despite the license plate, there's no question of street legality here, or rather illegality. M-Sport says the Panda'monium is ready to do any special stage on tarmac or gravel. Seems this is also the car that launches a new division for customer creations called MS-SV, which is M-Sport Special Vehicles. You can watch M-Sport owner Malcom Wilson take you on tour of the Panda by M-Sport in the video at top, and check out what the finished product can do on a track here.  Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.