mackinaw

Just read that VW may not be the only manufacturer that was gaming the system. The European “Transit and Environment” group is suggesting Opel, BMW and Mercedes may have used similar software to pass air quality tests. You can read more on the Automotive News website.

Could one of these be the rumored CD6 platform?

Do these icons mean anything? This is out of the 2014 Ford Annual Report. It shows Ford's platform goal by 2016. I can make out two pickups (right side) with two vans (I think) to their left. The other's, I'm not so sure. Thoughts?

We just have a different views on what a moderator should do. I was a moderator on a “street photography” forum where both pictures and topics were discussed. I could delete threads that I thought were inappropriate, I could delete posts that I thought we’re off-topic or inappropriate, I could admonish people who stepped over the line (mostly PM, but occasionally on forum), and could kick people off the forum when necessary (after talking to the forum owner). In a few words, I was a tough ass. Had to be though. That forum was much larger than this with much more activity. Plus the nature of street photography invites political discussion which, as you can imagine, always leads to trouble. So, I ended up being a cop, and really didn’t contribute much to the discussions (although I did post my pictures). But it really doesn’t matter what I think. This forum belong to Robert Lane. If he’s satisfied with the current state of affairs, who am I to argue?

There’s a difference about expressing your thoughts and being a moderator. I speak from experience. A few years back I was a moderator at another forum (not car-based). It’s a thankless job, moderating a forum. You have to keep folks in line but create an atmosphere that is open enough for a civil discussion to take place. Most folks hate you. You’re more or less a cop, enforcing the rules. I rarely expressed my opinion when was a moderator, I didn’t see that as my function. The idea for a moderator having an alter-ego isn’t mine, I’ve seen that used on other forums. The moderator uses one ID to moderate, and another ID to offer opinions. It may seem clumsy but can work quite well. Just a suggestion.

Where’s Robert Lane? It’s his forum but you wouldn’t know it. He’s virtually 100% absent. He’s got to step forward, make some rules, and enforce them. Where are the other moderators? Outside of Jensen, they barely make a peep. It’s time for them to step up and get more involved. Maybe add more moderators too. As for Mr. Jensen, he too often becomes the center of a attention, and this shouldn’t happen. A job of a moderator is to keep things on topic and enforce the rules. A moderator shouldn’t dominate a discussion as he seems to do. But of course Mr. Jensen should also be free to express his opinion. It’s almost as if there should be two Jensen’s. One who is the moderator and enforces the rules, and the other (under a different name) who posts his thoughts and opinions. No doubt this forum has gone downhill. I used to look forward to visiting here, I don’t anymore.

Another interesting article in today's Automotive News. They seem to think that any new product will be BOF: "As part of its contract talks with the UAW, Ford has discussed building a midsize pickup and SUV at its Michigan Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit as soon as 2018, a person with knowledge of the talks said. In doing so, Ford would reverse one of the signature moves of its transformation during the recession by shifting Michigan Assembly back to body-on-frame trucks. The plant used to churn out big Ford Expeditions and F-150s, Lincoln Navigators and, yes, Broncos before being retooled for the small cars and hybrids the company saw as the key to its future success." http://www.autonews.com/article/20150829/RETAIL/150829883/ford-feels-push-to-return-to-midsize-trucks

Or maybe the Board of Directors will veto the whole idea and none of it will ever happen.

Why shouldn’t it. A conventional manual transmission uses a dry clutch.

Automotive News just update their original article to include this on the Bronco: "Ford also is considering production of the Bronco SUV at the plant, Bloomberg reported. Ford filed a trademark application for the Bronco name in February, according to a government filing. Ford showed a Bronco concept at the 2004 Detroit auto show, which has fueled rumors since then that the vehicle would eventually return to the U.S. It was discontinued in 1996, two years after O.J. Simpson famously led police on a low-speed chase through Los Angeles in a white Bronco. The Bronco likely would be a version of the Ford Everest, an Australian-designed, body-on-frame SUV that’s made in Thailand. The Everest, which is built on the same platform as the Ranger, was redesigned this year. Car and Driver called it “the perfect vehicle for folks who value rough country prowess over cute-ute deception,” complaining that North American buyers can’t get it. A rugged midsize SUV would allow Ford to more directly challenge Jeep, whose sales have been soaring. Ford converted the Explorer to a unibody architecture in 2010, a move that has quadrupled sales of that vehicle since, but hindered its ability to attract buyers who actually want to drive off-road."

Hot off the press: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2015/08/25/ford-ranger/32373741/

What browser you using? Seems to work well with Safari on a Mac.

80% of Brits also order the fastback, and 55% order their Mustang with a 6-speed manual. Red has been the most popular color followed by Magnetic Silver and Shadow Black. It will be interesting to see what these numbers look like a year from now.

Just a guess, but different internal seals so gear lube won't leak onto the clutch plates. Probably a different shift program too.

Who says it's going to have a 9-speed transmission?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? At the time, we didn’t think the Mustang II looked all that bad. A lot of folks forget that the 1971- 1973 Mustang was not well received in the marketplace. It was the brainchild of Bunkie Knudsen, who Henry Ford II had managed to woo away from GM. It was too big, too fat (800 pounds heavier!) and to some (me) ugly. Sales decreased big-time from the 1969-1970 models. Maybe it’s too harsh to say it flopped, but it was a Mustang that few wanted. Iacocca reportedly said, “the Mustang market never left us, we left it.” He was right.

Automotive News seems to think so. They say that the DCT will go away with the 2018 Focus/Fiesta redesign.

We laugh at the Mustang II today but the thing sold like hotcakes when it was introduced in 1974. Ford sold about 135,000 units of the 1973 Mustang and about 386,000 units of the 1974 Mustang II model. Anybody who was around back then remembers the oil embargo. Gas prices rose from 30 cents/gallon to over a dollar/gallon in a few short weeks. Almost overnight, V8 muscle cars fell out of favor. The Mustang II was absolutely the right car for the times.

Exactly. I listened to “Autoline After Hours” several months back when the interviewed Dave Pericak, the chief engineer of the 2015 Mustang. When asked what his next project would be now that the ‘015 car had just been released, he replied “already working on the mid-cycle update” (or words to that effect). Their job is never done.

You realize of course, you’re expressing your own personal opinion which matters only to one person, you. Mustang sales are up 51.1% YTD. It’s clear the latest version of the car is an out-of-the-park home run.

This contract is actually rather large. From Automotive News, "It could be one of the largest fleet purchases ever. According to specifications released to potential bidders Jan. 20, the Postal Service would buy 180,000 vehicles at $25,000 to $35,000 apiece, valuing the contract at $4.5 billion to $6.3 billion."

While my contacts in powertrain aren’t in the loop regarding long-range product plans, they also hear company rumors. The heard the Ranger sooner-than-later rumor too.

How about Bernie Sanders?

Somebody should tell Donald Trump this who, in a speech he gave yesterday in Michigan, lambasted Ford for building vehicles in Mexico.

I don’t know if the presence of camo means anything. Last year, while visiting family in SE Michigan, I saw a 2015 Mustang in full camo in a Livonia restaurant parking lot. This was after the new model was announced to the public and after it was displayed at several auto shows. Don’t ask me why they kept camo on a car that was no longer a secret.