Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Ford

Our lucky compatriots at AOL Autos had the chance to get some passenger-seat time in the all-new 2010 Ford Taurus SHO, along with a glimpse into the inner-workings of FoMoCo’s engineering team. The story centers around Ford’s only female Vehicle Dynamics Development Engineer, Christina “Crissy” Rodriguez, who’s “equal parts engineer, race driver and vehicle psychologist.”

During her 12-year stint at Ford, Rodriguez has been instrumental in the development of a number of vehicles and has spent the last eight years tuning the chassis that underpins the new Taurus, along with its platform siblings, the Lincoln MKS and Ford Flex.

The final third of the article gets into the performance and dynamics of the SHO, where Rodriguez takes AOL Auto’s Rex Roy for a spin around Ford’s Dearborn proving grounds. While its not a comprehensive review of the hottest Taurus in over a decade, Roy reports that the six-speed automatic shifts smoothly and quickly, forward momentum is electric, the sonorous sounds from the engine are top-notch and, most telling, “the faster Rodriguez drove, the smaller the Taurus seemed to get…” Sounds like a winning combination so far, and you can read the full “First Ride” here.

[Source: AOL Autos | Image Source: Ford, Rex Roy]

AOL Autos snags ride in 2010 Taurus SHO with Ford’s only female dynamics engineer originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: SUVs, Recalls/TSBs, Safety, Ford, Mercury

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun looking at Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers from the 2002-2005 model years. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, out of some 1.4 million SUVs produced, more than 200 complaints have been filed with the government agency regarding transmission issues: 11 owners have said that the vehicle will go from park to reverse on its own, and 61 have said that the gearshift mechanism has failed when trying to get the SUV into or out of park.

NHTSA’s action isn’t a full-on investigation, and there is no recall – it is a “preliminary evaluation… to assess the scope, frequency and potential safety consequences of the alleged defect and any relationship of the alleged gearshift lever mechanism failures to the alleged vehicle rollaway incidents.” For its part, a Ford spokesman has said, “We do not see a safety risk and we will be fully cooperating with the government with the investigation.”

[Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

REPORT: NHTSA investigating if 2002-05 Ford Explorers/Mercury Mountaineers can slip out of park originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc., Ford, Lifestyle

Ford is making the most of having a little bit of extra fat during these lean times by sharing its fortune with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. If you test drive a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury before June 1, Ford will give $20 to the foundation, up to $1,000,000. Dealers can match the contributions up to $1,000 per store, and you can choose which local Komen affiliate you would like to receive your donation.

There are two ways to take advantage of the charity offer: before you go for your test drive, log on to www.fordcares.com and print out the registration form. After your test drive, the dealer will give you a code to enter on the Ford Cares site, and that will activate the donation. Or, if you’re in a Komen Foundation Race for the Cure, your race packet will have a registration form you can take to the dealer before your test drive. You can read the full press release after the jump, and now you have a great alibi reason to test drive that Shelby GT500…

Continue reading Ford adds charity benefit by giving $20 to cancer foundation for each customer test drive

Ford adds charity benefit by giving $20 to cancer foundation for each customer test drive originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Podcasts, Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Chrysler, LLC., Ford, GM, Opinion/Editorial

We’re up to a buck and a quarter, and Episode #125 of the Autoblog Podcast is nearly a half-hour of value. Chris, Sam, and Dan jump in and cover a slew of recent topics. To start, Sam recounts his recent drive in a Cruze-based Volt mule. We turn our attention to Ford’s stupid mileage tricks with a Fusion Hybrid before moving on to the honoring of Aston Martin’s One77 at the Villa D’Este Concorso D’Eleganza. Of course, a big ol’ whack of time is taken up by talk about industry happenings, both at GM and Chrysler, before we wrap up by answering some excellent questions from listeners. Hang in there for the full show, and as always, drop us a line at podcast at autoblog dot com, and don’t forget our Twitter feed

Follow the jump to subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes, add the show to your RSS aggregator… or listen to it right now!

Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #125

Autoblog Podcast #125 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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