I guess if you’re going to commonize on one architecture you have to choose, but at one point in the 2012-2018 Ford Focus’s life cycle in North America with the base 2.0L GDI, 2.0L GTDI, and the 2.3L GTDI in various models they had a semi-closed deck 2.0L, a closed deck 2.0L GTDI, and the open deck 2.3 in the same car…

Except there’s been plenty of people building these STs up into track monsters (drag strip, auto cross, or road course), and those with the RS have been swapping to the 2.0L block if they want to make 5-600 hp to all four wheels.

More than you would expect. After all even a fraction of the 13k+ units per year on average is enough to spawn a whole aftermarket for performance parts for them, and the earliest ones are getting to the age where the cost is low enough for entry now.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but the closed deck single scroll 2.0L GTDI engine in the 2013-18 Ford Focus ST is better than the open deck twin scroll 2.3L in this new one. It will hold more power reliably and has been the go to block for building up a stroker 2.3L rather than using the open deck factory 2.3L block in…

There was already an automatic ST wagon, it just had the wet clutch dct and the diesel engine in the previous series.

Don’t we have to wait until after they’ve torn the car down to inspect it before we can declare the person who crossed the finish line first the winner, or the first disqualification of the year?

Quicker 0-60 is not faster top speed. The Teslas are governed at a much lower top speed because the motors and batteries can only do so much, especially if you want to have some semblance of range

This is also for the all new RWD based unit body Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, not the existing model.

Probably the fact that almost 100% of the parts have to be imported for every single service vs the domestic market Vauxhall, or Ford models sold in England which would drive up the servicing costs there, plus the relative lack of technicians qualified to work on them vs the more mainstream stuff. He was saying some…

It’s also down to emissions and fuel economy testing as they have to run to the cycle which is much easier to optimize with the automatic transmission as it can shift on it’s own, but the manual is required to hold certain gears during the test, so the fuel economy and emissions are no longer better with the manual in…

I don’t think you understand what you set, which was a warning buzzer but not the top speed which can only be limited to 80 mph by default. Whereas the warning buzzer can be set as low as 45 mph with MyKey active.

There is no valet mode in the stock calibration that would affect the powertrain. The only valet mode was for things like Sync 3 if equipped with navigation and would lock out the address book and things like that, but it doesn’t affect how the engine runs. There’s a MyKey mode but that wouldn’t help either as they…

Except the first 2019 Heritage edition Ford GT sold for 2.5 Million dollars or 400k more than this BMW Z4 in a Toyota Cosplay suit.

You don’t see the liability, but then again you’re not the company, nor it’s army of lawyers. All verification prototypes are typically crushed at the end of their useful life as a test mule. It’s very rare these days that one survives this unlike in the past when the controls were a bit looser on tracking them to…

Even though it was only half height on the convertible, it was still present and accounted for on every single 1960-1969 Continental and given that the sedan had the full height B-Pillar it was not necessary for them to have redesigned the modern version to delete the pillar unlike the old concept car from the early…

The original 1960s continental had a b-pillar as well. Not a very thick one but still.

Yes I’m certain of it because of the liability of giving someone a beat to death test vehicle, plus it said it gave them the rights to spec vin #1 which indicates that vin #1 doesn’t exist. The used racing suit and helmet from the test program are souvenirs that will end up framed and put on the wall somewhere, those…

That’s not Vin #1, that’s a prototype used for mock up purposes to cross the block at the auction. The actual Vin #1 has yet to be built typically at the time of the charity auctions.

That seems to be the primary sticking point more so than the slightly smaller size of the Focus vs it’s competitors, given it was trashed mercilessly in the media based on the harsh shifting, as well as the occasional mechanical issues (fluid leaks onto the clutch pack/ shuddering/ aggressive calibrations trying to…

Never witnessed that behavior in the cars I’ve either ridden in or driven with this transmission. 1-2 shift was very smooth in my experience no matter how I drove it, or how others have driven it, in manual or automatic mode.