Make Your Car Sound Like a Lamborghini Gallardo for only 99¢ [Videos]

True, there are some ways to make your car's engine sound more sonorous, but there's really so much you can do for example to a Chevy Aveo or a Toyota Prius.

Furthermore, with a starting price of 99 cents, 2XCL Games' new XLR8 (get it; accelerate) sounds like a sweet bargain compared to the cost(s) of an actual mechanical component.

The XLR8 is an app available for Apple's iPhone and iPad as well as Android phones and tablets that promises to make your vehicle sound like an exotic Italian supercar, a muscle car or even a racing model.

After you download the application and place the phone in your vehicle, you simply connect the device to the audio system and you're ready to go – just don’t forget to roll up your windows…

"Once secured inside your vehicle, XLR8 uses the accelerometers of your device to realistically respond to acceleration, braking and cornering forces," explains the software provider. "It supports both cabled and wireless Bluetooth audio connections to your car stereo."

Read more »

Woman Crashes Ex's Ford Into a Bowling Alley After He Changed his Facebook Status to Single!

Have you ever heard the quote by William Congreve, "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned"?

Welcome to the scary world of Davy Jones who saw his former girlfriend, Claire Holley, 31, driving his Ford Focus hatchback into the bowling alley where he worked after he changed his Facebook status to single!

A security camera recorded the incident showing Holley crashing the Focus into the Hollywood Bowl in Middlebrook, UK, stopping right in front of the reception desk. The incident took place on January 25th this year.

Read more »

Report Says U.S. Automobile Sector Contributed $135 Billion in Taxes in 2010

It’s no secret that the motor vehicle sector is the largest manufacturing industry in the United States, but how big is it in terms of state and federal tax revenues?

This is a question the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), a nonprofit research organization based in Michigan, set to find out on behalf of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which funded the study.

The report concluded that in 2010, the production, sales and service, and use of the automobile in the United States was responsible for generating at least $91.5 billion in state government tax revenue (13 percent of the total) and at least $43 billion to federal government tax revenues.

Read more »

Ford Teams Up with Best Buy Canada to Offer Home Charging Station for EV and Plug-in Hybrid Owners

One of the main problems of owning an electric car or a plug-in hybrid is where and how to recharge its batteries. Ford of Canada promises to offer a simple solution to owners with a home charging station, which will be supplied and installed by Best Buy Canada.

The 240-volt home charging station is suitable for the all-new Focus Electric battery electric vehicle as well as Ford's upcoming plug-in hybrid models in Canada. Best Buy said it will supply the charging station and offer complete consultation and installation services through its Geek Squad and third-party licensed electrical contractors.

Read more »

European Ford Focus RS Hot Hatch Appears at Atlanta Car Meet

For a car that was never officially imported in the United States, the European market Ford Focus RS has sure made plenty of appearances on this side of the Atlantic over the past couple of years.

This time, the hot hatch was captured on film revving its 300-horsepower inline-five at the Wild Bills car meet in Atlanta, Georgia, last Thursday. For a quick view of the car and some lip-smacking sounds from the turbocharged five, just follow the break to watch the video.

Read more »

More than 140,000 2012MY Ford Focus Sedans and Hatchbacks Recalled Over Wiper Problem

In a posting on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) website, Ford said that it is recalling certain Focus cars from the 2012 model year in the States to fix a potential problem with a windshield wiper wiring harness connector.

"Water or other contaminants may accumulate in the connector, resulting in an intermittent or inoperative passenger side wiper motor, reducing visibility and increasing the risk of a crash," Ford said in a statement.

Read more »

Ford and PSA Peugeot-Citroën End Cooperation on Larger Diesel Engines

Twelve years and more than 20 million engines after the Ford Group and PSA Peugeot Citroën began jointly developing and producing two displacement families of diesel engines (1.4-litre to 1.6-litre, and 2.0-litre and above), the two companies announced today that they would stop making the larger powerplants.

Even though most will find it hard to believe, both carmakers said that the decision had nothing to do with the recent tie up between PSA Peugeot Citroën and GM.

Read more »

Ford to Charge $295 for Auto Start-Stop System on 2013 Fusion, Says Improves Fuel Economy by 3.5%

We believe that auto start-stop systems are one of those features that should be standard across the range of any model these days, as switching off the engine when stuck in traffic has proven to be an effective and fairly inexpensive way to improve the fuel economy of any type of car.

However, instead of making it standard on its new 2013 Fusion sedan, Ford decided to offer Auto Start-Stop system as an option when the car launches in the States this fall. On the other hand, Ford has priced the fuel-saving technology at a reasonable $295.

Read more »

Ken Block Takes Russian Journalists for a Wild Ride in a Ford Focus RS WRC

Put a professional driver behind the wheel of a thoroughbred-racing car like the 2010 Ford Focus RS WRC on a snow packed route and you're bound to have some fun.

And fun it was for some 150 journalists that attended the presentation of a new Pirelli tire at the Igora Park ski resort outside of St. Petersburg in Russia, as the Italian company brought Ken Block to entertain the media with ride-alongs on a short course running through the resort.

Skip the jump to watch the video.

Read more »

Volkswagen Group Nabs TeamRS and SVT Boss Jost Capito from Ford

In a surprising development, the Volkswagen Group has grabbed the much-famed Jost Capito from the Ford Motor Company.

The 53-year old will head the German company's Motorsport division effective May 1, 2012, replacing Kris Nissen, who will remain in the company to support Capito during the transition phase and consequently assist the Group in an advisory role, according to VW.

Capito, who is credited with overseeing the development of the original Focus RS as well as the current Focus ST and Fiesta ST models, was Ford's director of Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development. Both the North American SVT and European TeamRS performance divisions reported directly to Capito. It is believed that he will have a similar role in the VW Group as well.

It is not known who will replace him at Ford yet.

Read more »

فورد 2013 فورد إكسبلورر سبورت Ford Explorer Sport 2013

 فورد إكسبلورر سبورت Ford Explorer Sport 2013

مزيد من المعلومات »

Ford Adds Some Oomph to Explorer with +350HP Sport Edition Powered by a 3.5L Turbo [40 Photos]

This is the first ever performance version in the history of the Ford Explorer and it will arrive in U.S. showrooms later this year. Ford hasn't said anything yet, but it's only reasonable to assume that the new Explorer Sport will make its first public outing at next week's 2012 New York Motor Show.

The new addition to the Explorer's range justifies its Sport tag by employing the use of Ford's 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 engine, which the company says makes "at least 350-horsepower" in this application. Ford has not released any other performance numbers.

“Adding an EcoBoost drivetrain to Explorer Sport delivers even more fuel efficiency and performance to the lineup,” said Bill Gubing, Explorer chief engineer. “This is our highest- performance, most capable Ford Explorer ever.”

The force-fed six-cylinder is matched to a paddle-shifted six-speed SelectShift Automatic transmission with a unique 3.16 to 1 final drive ratio and four-wheel drive with a Terrain Management System.

Read more »

Shelby's New Mustang GT500-Based 1000 gets its Video Debut

In a fairly embarrassing moment for Shelby, it was discovered by USA Today that at least one of the official press pictures showing the company's new 1000 lifting its front wheels several inches up in the air was the product of photoshop. As pointed out by Jalopnik, this is something that Shelby itself was forced to admit through its vice president, Gary Patterson.

Of course, this doesn't mean we're less interested in Shelby's most powerful creation to date, which will be officially unveiled at next week's 2012 New York International Auto Show.

The crew over at Road & Track took a prototype for a ride and published a pair of videos of the 2012 Mustang GT500-based 1000 on the track. As a reminded, the 1000's re-engineered 5.4-liter supercharged V8 pushes out around 950-horses. You can watch the videos right after the jump.

Read more »

eBay Motors' Store Selling 29 Brand New Cars at Half Price Through March 30th!

Looking for a great deal on a new car? You'll be hard pressed to find a better one than the ongoing promotion from the online unit of AutoNation Direct as the company is selling 29 brand new vehicles from Ford, General Motors and Nissan for half their price through eBay Motors.

The new promotion kicked off last Friday, March 23, and will continue through this Friday, March 30. Up until today, AutoNation Direct has sold 18 vehicles.

Some of the previous deals include a 2012 Nissan Maxima V6 for US$16,797.50 (€12,650), a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro 2LS V6 for US$12,720 (€9,605), a 2012 Ford Focus Sedan SE for US$9,842.50 (€7,430) and a 2012 Chevrolet Volt for US$22,615 (€17,080).

The company says that the vehicles will appear randomly on its site, meaning that one will have to spend hours on end refreshing AutoNation Direct's eBay store page and be faster than anyone else to grab the deal when it appears.

Read more »

NY Auto Show: Shelby Powers up 2012 Mustang GT500 to an Insane 950-Horses

So you think that the 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 with 650-ponies lurking under its hood is bollocks?

Then you've probably haven't heard about the street-legal Shelby 1000 and its track-only sibling, the 1000 S/C, both of which will make their world premiere at the New York International Auto Show in April.

The crew over at Shelby took a stock 2012 Mustang GT500 and made a whole lot of modifications starting with the 5.4-liter supercharged V8 engine that gains among other things, new rods, crank, pistons, supercharger system, cooling and exhaust.

Read more »

Ford Video Teases New Performance Version of Explorer SUV

A new edition of the Explorer will soon be revealed and Ford wants viewers to take a guess at what it is by carefully watching a 26-second long teaser video.

The mesh grille, dark alloy wheels and of course, the throaty exhaust sound, all point to a performance variant of the fifth generation Explorer.

We'll know for sure on Wednesday, March 28, as Ford will be revealing full details on its SUV model, which will probably make it to the 2012 New York Auto Show. For the time being, head past the jump to check out the clip for yourself.

Read more »

Grand Cherokee SRT-8 Teaches X6M, Gemballa and 911 Turbo Who's Boss, Loses to Mustang GT500

In the never-ending battle for supremacy on the drag strip, a previous generation Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 went out to prove its worth against a mix of stock as well as modified SUVs and sports cars.

The Grand Cherokee SRT-8 itself featured a supercharged version of the regular model's Hemi V8 pushing down 700-horsepower.

Its rivals were a BMW X6M tuned by Hamann with 670-ponies, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo-based Gemballa GT600 with 600-horses lurking under its hood, a stock Ford Mustang GT500 rated at 612-horsepower and a tuned Porsche 911 Turbo with 580-horses.

To see how the fights went down, hop past the break to watch the video.

Read more »

Ford Debuts Frugal Fiesta ECOnetic with 85.6mpg UK or 3.3lt/100km in Europe

Ford announced today that it has commenced production of the new Fiesta ECOnetic. Available in Europe, the ECOnetic is powered by a 1.6-liter diesel engine with an output of 94hp (95PS) and a peak torque of 205Nm (105.2 lb-ft).

What makes this Fiesta special is that it returns an average fuel consumption of just 3.3 lt/100 km (equal to 85.6mpg UK and 71.3 mpg US) according to the European Fuel Economy standards, while emitting only 87g of CO2 per km.

Read more »

Ford Introduces Production Version of New Tourneo Custom in Europe

Only a couple of weeks after debuting the thinly disguised Tourneo Concept at the Geneva Motor Show, Ford has lifted the covers off the production version of its full-size people carrier.

The new model will make its world premiere at the Birmingham Commercial Vehicle Show in England this April before it goes on sale in Europe and other global markets later this year. The Tourneo is the first model in Ford's new series of Transit vans.

Read more »

Ford Mustang Drifts Over Cement Median and into Peugeot 107

Did the driver of this modded, fifth gen Ford Mustang attempt to drift on purpose or did he simply enter the turn a bit too fast and lost control of the car? Who knows.

The end result is that he (or she, we can't be sure) slid right over the cement median and crashed into a Peugeot 107 on the other side of the road. Bet the Peugeot driver didn't see this coming.

And if you haven't figured it out already from the dashcam-mounted camera, this accident took place in mother Russia.

The video awaits your curiosity right past the break.

Read more »