2013 Ford F-450 Super Duty Platinum Crew Cab Pickup 4-door 6.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Amazon looking to bring Kindle to your next car?

Maybe so. The online retailer and digital media monolith recently announced the Amazon Cloud Player, an application for Ford Sync that allows users to stream media from their Amazon Cloud account directly to a Ford vehicle. This foray into automotive technology got the minds at Gigaom.com thinking about what could be next for Amazon. As Kevin Fitchard writes, the logical step is to make audio versions of your Kindle library selections available in your car. As he points out, Amazon has already laid the groundwork for such a move.
Amazon pulled the sheets back on Whispersync for Voice last year. The tech pairs ebooks with an Audible book for a small extra fee, allowing users to either read along with a narrator or switch between audio and text versions on command. Fitchard says it wouldn't be some great leap to apply the same principles to a car, where voice recognition software would allow users to pause or select chapters without ever taking their eyes off of the road.
It all sounds just fine to us, but Amazon hasn't said a thing about such a move. Still, we wouldn't be surprised to see the company come down this road in the near future just the same.

Ford evaluating new Fiesta RS?

Word coming in from across the pond has it that Ford is working on developing the business case to create a new Fiesta RS. The development is encouraged by the extremely positive reception the existing Fiesta ST has garnered to date, and the emergence of the above-pictured Fiesta RS WRC rally car, but it'll take more than goodwill to make a more extreme version a reality.
According to Auto Express, a new roadgoing Fiesta RS would almost certainly be based closely on the ST version, albeit with some vital differences. Its 1.6-liter turbo four would be increased from 180 horsepower to somewhere around 230 hp, and that powertrain would be accompanied by lightweight alloys inside blistered wheel arches, a stripped-out interior and possibly lightweight bodywork.
The vehicle's approval would reportedly require a strong business case in Europe, and not just in the UK where Ford hot hatches traditionally enjoy a strong following. It's unclear whether the Fiesta RS would potentially make the transatlantic voyage to American showrooms, but between it and the larger Focus RS, hopefully the Blue Oval wouldn't leave its home market out of the action altogether.

Ford GT gets sexy shape and EcoBoost power [w/videos]

American automakers make vehicles of all shapes and sizes, but the one thing they almost invariably share in common is their front-engine layout. Niche offerings from the likes of SSC, Saleen and Vector (and the almost anecdotal Pontiac Fiero) aside, the most notable exception has been the Ford GT. And now it's back. Launched on the floor of the 2015 Detroit Auto Show, the new Ford GT picks up where the last one left off the better part of a decade ago – similarly taking its cues from the original, Le Mans-winning GT40, but in a less retro, more modern form. Instead of the atmospheric V8 in the original or the supercharged one in the retro revival, the new GT packs a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 nestled in the middle of its wheelbase and driving "more than 600 horsepower" to the rear wheels. Although Ford hasn't revealed the specific output or performance figures, it says the engine – derived from its Daytona Prototype unit and mated to a seven-speed DCT – is its most powerful production EcoBoost ever. Fortunately it's got carbon-ceramic brakes to keep it all in check, packed into 20-inch wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 rubber. The discs aren't all that's made from carbon on the new Ford GT, though: it's built around a carbon monocoque with structural carbon-fiber body panels, but with aluminum sub-frames front and back. Ford designed the new GT with a narrower canopy than its predecessors, cutting the frontal aerodynamic profile and tapering towards the back. It's also equipped with active aero elements including an active rear wing. Upwards swinging doors ought to make ingress and egress easier to and from the cockpit that's fitted with fixed seats, adjustable pedals and F1-style steering wheel and a fully digital instrument cluster. The new GT is set to enter production next year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the GT40's famous 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. By the time it does, we're sure Ford will let us know just how fast America's newest supercar will be.