1966 Ford Thunderbird 2 Door, Excellent Parts Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

IIHS crash tests second F-150 bodystyle

Sometimes, being the king comes with some extra scrutiny. At the urging of Automotive News, the Ford F-150 is the first truck to have multiple cab configurations crash tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. According to Automotive News, IIHS was preparing to release the crash-test report on the 2015 F-150 after the safety watchdog evaluated the popular, four-door SuperCrew body. However, the agency learned from AN that configuration contained steel bars welded around the front wheels for added protection. Those reinforcements aren't on the other cab variants, and IIHS is now going back to check a SuperCab without the strengthening to check its safety performance, as well. While the added bars might help the SuperCrew score better in the vital but difficult small-overlap front crash test, there's no guarantee that's their sole purpose. As the head of the IIHS crash lab Joe Nolan indicated to Automotive News, if Ford were just trying to beat the system the company could only put the reinforcement on the driver's side where the agency does the small-overlap test. Also, when the National Highway Travel Safety Administration checked the latest F-150, the Feds gave all three cab styles top, five-star overall ratings. Due to the additional testing, IIHS won't have the F-150's scores ready until July, according to Automotive News. Starting next year, the cab variants of other trucks will also starting being crash tested by the agency. Related Video:

Diesel Power finds the ultimate modified oil-burner

For nine years, Diesel Power magazine has run the Diesel Power Challenge, this year's grindfest being "a week-long torture test that features seven events, nine trucks, 8,000 horsepower, and nearly 15,000 pound-feet of torque." The road to being crowned "the most powerful truck" starts with a dyno run, and then continues through the completion of a CDL-style obstacle course, an eighth-of-a-mile drag race while towing a 10,000-pound trailer, a quarter-mile drag race without a trailer, a fuel economy test in the mountains and finally a sled-pulling test through a 300-foot-long packed-mud pit.
What kind of trucks get into such a fight? Last year's winner, for instance - who upgraded his truck this year to prove he didn't "luck into the win" - drives a 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty with a 6.4-liter Power Stroke V8 upgraded with a custom intake, Elite Diesel triple turbos and a two-stage nitrous system. Another competitor has a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 powered by a 5.9-liter Cummins inline-six, upgraded with Garrett turbos, dual-stage nitrous, a seven-inch exhaust stack and twin fans built into the bed to cool the Sun Coast Omega transmission. The numbers on that truck: 1,255 horsepower, and 2,063 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. Naturally, as the image above might suggest, things don't always end well.
You'll find all five videos covering this years challenge below. A scene in the dyno video sums it all up perfectly: a competitor leaves his nitrous on too long and the crew is treated to some ominous poppings, he leans out the window, throws both hands up and shouts, "Amer'ca!"

Ford Fusion getting substantial refresh for 2017

It's only been a couple of years since Ford rolled out the current Fusion, but if these spy shots are anything to go by, it's already planning what appears to be a substantial update for the mid-size sedan.
According to our paparazzi on the ground, the new Fusion is being prepared for launch late in 2016 or early 2017. Although heavily camouflaged to keep it from prying eyes such as ours, it appears that the updated Fusion will tone down the Aston Martin-style grille, ditch the small corner window with revised front side glass and tweak the vehicle's overall shape. But there's more to the new Fusion than a styling adjustment, and our spy photographers have caught a glimpse inside and taken us along.
Apparently the new Fusion is to get a completely overhauled interior with soft-touch surfaces and matte wood trim to make it seem more upscale. There's an all-new rotary gear selector (like you'd find on a Jaguar, for example) hinting at the implementation of a new nine-speed automatic transmission. The prototype appears to be packing the Microsoft SYNC system, suggesting that the new Blackberry QNX system isn't ready quite yet - though that doesn't necessarily mean it won't be ready by the time the new Fusion is.