Top Gear America’s Future Classics Special Doesn’t Go Well For A Saab

Posted on February 9, 2021 by admin

When it comes to choosing a used car, one of the reasons most people play it safe instead of going for something left-field is that many of them can turn out to be problematic. Case in point: Rob Corddry’s choice for Top Gear America’s future classics episode.

Pitted against Jethro Bovingdon in an BMW E46 330Ci and Dax Sheppard in a fox body Ford Mustang V8, Corddry opts instead for a Saab 900 Turbo. A hipster choice if ever there was one – and one that he suffers for.

As laid out in a behind-the-scenes featurette, Corddry suffers many, many problems in his Saab. Sadly, or perhaps smartly, he doesn’t reprise his Arrested Development persona, Frank Wrench, and lets the mechanic at Chuckwalla raceway take a wrench on his car instead.

Turns out there’s a turbo issue that doesn’t appear to get fixed. It likely wasn’t the mechanic’s fault since the Saab got towed there behind an RV, suggesting that the problems with this particular future classic went beyond what any mechanic was likely to be able to fix in the hours before a track day.

Also Read: The Cadillac CT6-V Is Shaping Up To Be A Future Classic, So Buy This One With Just Over 1K Miles On It

The Saab wasn’t the only one suffering. The 330Ci, although its faults weren’t enumerated in quite the same way as the Saab’s, was also apparently falling apart. The fox body Mustang, meanwhile, was apparently mechanically sound.

That may come down to the budget, which appears to have been $6,000. I guess you have to spend more than that on a European future classic to get something you can drive away in.

Top Gear America premiered on Motor Trend on Demand on January 29.

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Mustang GT500 Quicker To 60 On Street Than Track Tires, But There’s A Totally Good Explanation

Posted on December 22, 2020 by admin

Ah, track performance, the be-all and end-all of sports cars. Even if the majority of owners won’t engage in such activities, it makes for great marketing. However, sometimes surprises pop up – such as Car and Driver’s recent test which showed that the GT500 is quicker to 60 mph with street than track tires.

That’s right; if you’re in a GT500 with the $18,500 Carbon Fiber Track Pack and you pull up next to a GT500 without it, you’re better off not racing from light to light. First of all, because street racing is dangerous and illegal.

But also because, according to Car and Driver, the GT500 with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S is 0.2 seconds faster to 60 mph than with the optional Pilot Sport Cup 2. Ford’s lead development engineer, Steve Thompson, isn’t surprised.

“It’s not atypical to see a PS4S equal the Cup tire or go a bit faster,” Thompson told C&D. As is often the case with performance driving, the reasons are manifold.

Put simply, the PS4S was made to maximize longitudinal grip, while the Cup 2 prioritizes lateral grip to get you going around corners faster. In fact, Thompson said the street tire is designed with occasional drag racing in mind.

According to C&D testing, the Cup 2 track tire offers 1.13 G of lateral grip on the skid pad, which is impressive for a big, heavy car. The Pilot Sport, meanwhile, tops out at 0.99 G, which is still very good, just not as good as the Cup 2.

On the other hand, the GT500 on street tires hit 30 mph in 1.6 seconds and 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and the one on track tires hit 30 in 1.7 seconds and 60 in 3.6. Down the quarter-mile, they posted a time of 11.3 seconds (PS4S) and 11.4 seconds (Cup 2), with both cars crossing the line at 132 mph.

Sure, that’s a pretty small difference and one that could easily be overcome by reaction times in the real world, but it’s worth remembering when you’re speccing the car. The track pack really is, like its name says, focused on the track, not the strip.

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Is All-Wheel Drive Coming To The Next-Gen Ford Mustang?

Posted on December 2, 2020 by admin

Will the Ford Mustang family welcome a new all-wheel drive derivative? Well, according to a new report, such a model could see the light of day.

Talk about an AWD Mustang is nothing new, and while it may not appeal to all customers, there’s little doubt that it could drum up additional sales in some of the colder parts of North America and Europe where this feature is often favored by drivers.

Quizzed by Ford Authority about the possibility of an all-wheel drive model, Ford Mustang brand manager Jim Owens said: “Well as you know, the Challenger has AWD. We’re always looking at different kinds of performance, but we have nothing to announce at the moment.”

Of course, that statement alone doesn’t mean all that much, but there’s no doubt Ford is aware of the spike in Challenger sales Dodge reported after introducing an all-wheel drive variant. Admittedly, the Challenger is based on the same platform as the Charger, which made the inclusion of all-wheel drive relatively straightforward for Dodge.

As Fox News notes, the current Mustang is based on a unique platform, but it’s possible the next-generation model could share some of its DNA with Ford’s SUV models. We also know that the Mustang will be sold as a hybrid at some stage, so maybe it would make sense for such a variant to send its power to all four wheels.

Mustang Driver Hits Motorcyclist And Flees The Scene, His Father Calls The Police On Him

Posted on November 5, 2020 by admin

Shocking dashcam vision has captured the moment the driver of a Ford Mustang hit a motorcyclist in Bogota, Colombia and then fled the scene.

Video from the incident shows the cammer stopping in the middle of the road to kindly let the driver of a silver Porsche Boxster merge into traffic. Following closely behind the Porsche is a red Ford Mustang. Seconds later, as the cammer and the driver of the Porsche slow down as they approach a red light, the Mustang comes into view in the left lane.

Directly in front of the Mustang is a motorcyclist. Showing a clear disregard for those around him, the Ford driver ploughs into the biker, knocking him down and then speeding through the red light.

Watch Also: Supercharged Ford Mustang Driver Hits 178 MPH, Crashes While Fleeing The Police

The incident happened on the night of October 31st and, according to local publication Semana, the Mustang was found parked near a residential complex when the father of the driver called the authorities and said it was his son that was involved.

Footage of the Mustang in the aftermath of the incident shows that it suffered a significant amount of damage to the driver’s side door. In addition, parts of the bumper have been ripped off and the wheels have also been wrecked.

It is understood that the driver of the muscle car appeared before the authorities the day after the incident and has been hit with multiple charges.

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Ford Mustang Mach 1 Launching In Australia Next Year, Capped At 700 Units

Posted on October 14, 2020 by admin

Ford has confirmed that the Mustang Mach 1 will launch in Australia next year and be capped at 700 units for the local market.

This news comes just a couple of days after the American automaker confirmed the Mach 1 would indeed be a global model, unlike the GT350 and GT350R siblings that are heading for retirement. Right-hand drive models will be produced at Ford’s Flat Rock plant in Michigan and when it does arrive Down Under, it will be offered alongside the Mustang 2.3L High Performance and the Mustang GT.

Two-time Bathurst winner and former Supercars champion Rick Kelly will be the official ambassador for the limited-run model in Australia.

“It’s a stunning looking vehicle, but above all it really is a Mustang made for enthusiasts – it is all about how it drives around a track, which is why I’m so pleased to be working on this project with Ford,” Kelly said. “Racing a Mustang Supercar around tracks like Mount Panorama, where we’ll be this weekend, has been a highlight of 2020 for me, but Mach 1 is such a unique opportunity for fans and customers, so I am pumped for its arrival here next year.”

Ford will announce Australian specifications and details for the Mustang Mach 1 closer to its launch.

Powering the car is a modified 5.0-liter V8 engine that produces 480 hp at 7,000 rpm and 420 lb-ft (569 Nm) of torque at 4,600 rpm, just like the 2020 Mustang Bullitt. The Mach 1 comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission but can be optioned with a 10-speed SelectShift automatic.

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Could The Ford Bronco And Mustang Morph Into Distinct Sub-Brands?

Posted on May 28, 2020 by admin

A new report claims that Ford is considering turning the Bronco and Mustang into their own individual sub-brands.

Although the latest-generation Ford Bronco has yet to be released, it is claimed Ford could, down the road, make Bronco and Mustang their own sub-brands and launch several models under each brand. The new sub-brands could form part of the so-called ‘Ford Icons’ group.

“We have to leverage what we’re good at,” a source recently told Autoweek. “What are we good at? Mustangs and trucks. Mustang is a niche product with a great legacy. We need to expand on that legacy. More Broncos is a no-brainer.”

2021 Ford Bronco photo renderings Copyright Carscoops / Josh Byrnes

The Ford Bronco will initially be unveiled in two- and four-door guises and then joined by the smaller Bronco Sport, which itself may spawn a new pickup truck. EV and hybrid variants of both can also be expected at some stage in the future, as can electrified versions of the Mustang, the unnamed source added.

“Who knows what the timeframe is in this COVID atmosphere we’re in but yeah, we’re looking at more EVs, hybrids, sedans, crossovers, coupe EVs, convertible EVs, rear-drive, all-wheel drive, you name it. There’s probably going to be a fistfight over a pickup called Mustang, though. The aim is for the Mustang-badged vehicles to be the more performance-oriented of the two sub-brands,” the source added.

While we would not be shocked in the slightest to see Ford make Bronco into its own sub-brand, it could run the risk of alienating enthusiasts if it spins-off the Mustang badge. That being said, it has already softened us up with the Ford Mustang Mach-E, a vehicle that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

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