2011 FPV Boss 335 GT makes its debut in Australia

Ford has recently unveiled a new Falcon GT Boss 335 lineup, in Australia. FPV’s new Falcon GT models are featured with a supercharged version of Ford’s 5.0-liter V-8 seen in the Mustang GT in the States. Prodrive specially designed this vehicle in Australia. Because of the added supercharger, its power output has been enhanced to 450hp and 420 pound-feet of torque, increases of 28 and 20, respectively.
FPV asserts that this makes the GT lineup as its most powerful vehicle and it marks the first use of a supercharger in the history of the brand. FPV general manager Rod Barrett, in a prepared statement, said that the new engine “all-round performance” sets a benchmark for Australian-made cars. He asserted further that FPV’s customers won’t be dismayed by the new GT range, or in the way the cars drive. He also talked about FPV’s real customers and the fact that it has a ”real presence with the new graphics package.” GT variants range from “mild to wild.”

Ford Focus 1.6T 180 Ecoboost

What is it?

Our first taste of a petrol version of the all-new Focus, powered by Ford's turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder Ecoboost engine.
Although this engine will be sold in the UK, not initially with the 180bhp power output tested here. For the time being the most powerful version offered to UK buyers has 148bhp.

What's it like?

To recap our initial impressions of the Focus, based on the 161bhp 2.0-litre diesel reviewed last week. Now in its third-generation the Focus has grown up; it is now more comfortable, refined and upmarket than before, but in the process has sacrificed some of the dynamic magic that has won it such favour over the years. It is also not quite as cleverly packaged as we had hoped.

The petrol powered Focus is quieter still, and with an adequate spread of torque (the lower powered Ecoboost engine produces the same peak torque only over a slightly narrower rpm), for the majority of the time you rarely need to exercise the engine much beyond the mid-range.

2011 Ford Flex Titanium

A couple of months back, MT's Detroit editor, Todd Lassa, said in an item introducing the Ford Flex Titanium that you could option it into the 50K range -- right smack in the Lincoln MKT's wheelhouse.

The MKT, in case you aren't up on MK nomenclature (and really, who is), is Lincoln's version of the Flex, and it's supposedly more luxurious and otherwise gloriously differentiated from its Ford sibling. But tack on the Flex Titanium package with the EcoBoost engine option, and suddenly, there's not so much differentiation going on here short of the sheetmetal.

Ford Mondeo and C-Max Quick Drives

Given that it's taken some time for Ford's kinetic styling direction to reach the United States, the natural exterior styling comparison (for now) is with the Fiesta hatchback. And with the C-Max, Ford's most miniature minivan, it's like looking at a taller, wider Fiesta, but with a bit more interior room.

The C-Max will be the first Ford vehicle to offer the 1.6-liter EcoBoost inline-four, which takes the oh-so-familiar path of incorporating a turbocharger, direct injection, and twin independent variable camshaft timing. The model we drove packed 177 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque, though those output figures are homologated for European standards, according to Ford staff. The 1.6-liter mill is also offered with 148 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque overseas, showing just how easy it is for Ford to tweak performance on these engines.

2011 Ford Explorer

Everything Alan Mulally has learned, experienced, and changed at Ford Motor Company is encompassed in the 2011 Ford Explorer. A bestseller at 400,000-plus per year in the '90s, the Explorer met its automotive Waterloo during the Firestone tread-separation debacle. Sales of the body-on-frame Explorer dwindled to 52,190 in 2009, as Ford was launching its new Taurus. Ford redesigned the sedan far beyond its original intentions, though retaining the Volvo-derived D4 platform. Now, thanks to Mulally's push for quicker updates of Ford models, it's the Explorer's turn.