Ranger line’s ‘king’ hit by special FX?

FX4 Max? Let’s just call it the working man’s Raptor.

GNARLY but not overly extrovert in look, Fox suspension all-round, 32-inch off-road rubber and plenty of other dirty work upgrades … yet retaining a 3500kg tow rating and one-tonne payload: Is this the Raptor you always really wanted? 

If so, then Ford has finally obliged, with the FX4 Max.

A special edition quite probably coming out now to keep Ranger interest on the boil as the current generation heads into a final year of full production before restarting all over – this time as a co-development with Volkswagen – this edition will be on sale from early 2021, for $69,990.

And that there’s another attention-getter: The price.

As massive as the Ranger fanbase clearly is – given it’s continually siting in the monthly stats as the top-selling one-tonner here and sometimes becomes our best-selling new passenger vehicle overall - the relatively modest percentage uptake that Raptor achieves in those tallies suggests it’s always been a bit too much of a sticker shock, when availed at full retail.

Argument for that $84,990 tag has always been aligned with proposal that Raptor gave so much more.

Which it kinda does… in that it looks super beefy and definitely is tuned to tackle tough off-road conditions. However, Raptor’s shift to a complex and clever independent rear end also significantly reduces the ute 101 of being up to tow and haul big weights.

Not so FX4. The Max part of the name is a good reminder it doesn’t shirk a load. It’ll take near as dammit an honest tonne (well 981kg to be exact) on the back and tow 3500kg (so, 1500kg more than Raptor) just like any other regular Ranger wellside. Hence why it comes with a tow bar. 

The secret to this isn’t steroidal. It’s simply through the F-trooper staying with the standard (so leaf-sprung) suspension. 

This regardless that it adopts those whizz-bang Fox shocks that, ahem, Ford also intimated back at Raptor’s release were also a reason why the top trumps truck carried such a premium. Maybe the exchange rates have improved. Or something.

To be fair, put the FX4 and Raptor together and the latter will still express as the more expensive truck insofar as content goes. The first is based on the XLT, so carries over that mid-grader’s blue collar trim.

Yet if you’re buying toughness over tech, then it’s hard to imagine why the FX4 isn’t going to win over plenty more friends.

Ford is certainly pushing the newbie’s merits by straight out saying the cheaper concoction’s upgrades are very much ‘Raptor-inspired’.

Of those extra ingredients, the most eye-catching are the 32-inch BF Goodrich All-Terrain tyres, attached to 17-inch dark grey alloy wheels.

With a width of 8.0 inches, the wheels feature an offset of +42mm, which gives the FX4 Max a 26mm-wider track than the normal Ranger line-up. For reference, the Raptor’s track is 150mm wider than the normal Ranger.

A full-size spare tyre with the chunky rubber has also been fitted underneath the rear tub. 

Squeezing the larger tyres under the wheelarches has been made possible with the fitment of Fox 2.0-inch shocks which creates a 20mm suspension lift, which combine with the tyres to provide 31mm-higher ride height over the XLT.

The bespoke suspension features a unique tune for the front coils and rear leafs (the latter of which scores remote reservoir shocks), while new lock-stop profile steering knuckles, front jounce bumpers and a 29mm front stabiliser bar are also included.

A number of exterior styling features have been borrowed from the Raptor, including the ‘FORD’ lettering on the front grille with dark grey surround, also included on the skid plate, exterior mirror caps, door handles, rear tray surrounds and wheelarch mouldings, which have been extended to fit the wider track.

It also muscles up for marketing purpose by taking a matte black tubular sports bar, lighting modules for the tray and body-mounted hooped side steps. There’s also a graphics pack for those who need even more attention.

Two colour options are available – Alabaster White pearlescent and Conquer Grey. Yes, the latter used to be restricted to Raptor. Talking about knocking a hero down to its knees, Ford. 

Like the Raptor, the FX4 Max is available exclusively with the 157kW/500Nm 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine, driving all four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Even though it isn’t as flash harry inside, the FX4 Max sounds like it’s putting on extra effort to dress for its extrovert crowd. 

The models features new seats with suede inserts and FX4 Max embroidery, Raptor sports pedals, leather-wrapped steering wheel, all-weather floor mats and a set of six blank auxiliary switches, designed to support accessories like light bars and winches – a Ranger-first.

 The new features join existing XLT kit such as an 8.0-inch SYNC3 touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate control, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane keep assist and reversing camera.

Ford's 'big brother' feature implements

From now on Ford vehicles sold new here will wirelessly bond to the internet.

THE BLUE Oval has become the first blue collar car brand in the New Zealand market to achieve a feature until now restricted to high-end marques – an ability to operate key features remotely via your cell phone.

 Ultimately all Ford passenger and light commercial models sold in New Zealand seem set to benefit from the FordPass app, which provides a host of connected services and remote functions, but in today’s announcement the brand says it will only have immediate full benefit for Ranger, Everest and Transit coming into the market now.

It is understood the Focus will be next off the line, probably at year-end, with remaining models coming up to speed by early 2021.

 Ford’s system has similar operability to systems that have been availed on BMW and Mercedes Benz cars for at least a year.

An owner downloads an app which talks to an in-car modem that contains the most crucial element that isn’t implanted into older models - an internet-connected SIM card. This is securely embedded into the vehicle during assembly, as a precaution against theft.

 Though Ford has notified this as a 2020 model year feature, it also impresses that it a running change, so is only fully functional from this period on, so the key is to be aware of the specific designations ‘MY2020.75’ for Ranger and Everest and ‘MY2020.5’ for Transit. Some aspects of the app will operate on earlier vehicles.

At full-strength operability, FordPass allows remote checking of vehicle information such as fuel level, odometer reading, tyre pressures (when fitted with a monitoring system), warranty details and owner’s manual. 

You’ll also be able to start/stop, lock/unlock and pre-heat/cool your vehicle remotely, make/change appointments at your Ford dealer and find fuel stations, car parks and other points of interest then send them to you in-car navigation system.

In addition, FordPass Connect allows owners to call roadside assistance, check their car’s service status and history, and be alerted to maintenance and repair issues such as when the oil needs changing or if a bulb needs replacing.

“FordPass Connect is another way we’re bringing smart, simple-to-use real-world technology into the hands of Ford owners and their families,” says Ford NZ’s managing director, Simon Rutherford. 

The system’s availability here and in Australia comes some months after it’s rollout in most major markets, but there is a literal saving in being well down the line.

Until recently, a charge applied. When it launched in the US, the debut market, the cost was around $30 per month for a 24-month period. 

However, now it is available for download free of charge for Apple and Android devices. It ties in with Google Maps and Wayze, but without using the phone data, so there’s no cost in that respect either.

The system is designed to accept regular software updates, these Ford says being “to guarantee that the vehicle systems and components continue to operate with optimum safety and performance.”

Ford is likely to impress the particular benefit to commercial vehicle operators, in that it can act as a real-time monitoring system to alert whenever there are potential security breaches within vehicles. 

Ford’s embracing of connectivity also reaches into vehicle manufacturing processes.

Two weeks ago the brand announced how it and a consortium of partners, including Vodafone, has received British Government backing to introduce 5G connectivity within its manufacturing to speed up the production of electrical vehicles in the United Kingdom, a process that demands a much higher level of automation than comes with assembly of fossil-fuelled product due to safety elements, mainly in respect to battery build and installation.

The updated capabilities allow Ford to focus on the connectivity of the welding machines when manufacturing EVs. Currently for the batteries and electric motors in an electric vehicle, requires 1000 welds, for a single product, Ford explains that this could generate more than half a million pieces of data every minute.  

Meantime, Ford NZ says customers can access additional information on FordPass Connect at ford.co.nz/fordpass.

Mustang: Black Shadow yes, Mach 1 ... maybe not

Good news and bad seems set to arrive in respect to Fords’ latest Mustang ‘special edition’ news.

Latest talk from Detroit has downplayed NZ opportunity for the MACH 1 (above), but we do get the GT in a Black Shadow edition (below)

PREPARE to meet the Black Shadow … but perhaps don’t get your hopes up about the Mach 1.

 That seems to be the situation in respect to two special edition Mustangs, both of which pay homage – albeit to differing degree - to range-topping Mustangs from the late 19670s’ to early 70s’ muscle car era, whose announcements have synched.

In the same period Ford New Zealand chose to divulge information about a cosmetic package for the GT, called the Black Shadow, the parent in Detroit has finally fully unveiled a far more macho rendition of the V8 coupe, the new-era Mach 1 set to go into production soon for sale in 2021.

Like the original, the new-gen Mach 1 bridges the gap between the a standard GT and the Shelby Mustang, so packs visual upgrades alongside chassis and performance revisions, all intended to enhance its track feel.

A new intake manifold, oil filter adapter and a reflashed engine management system enhance power and torque to 352kW and 569Nm. Like the standard car, the engine sends its power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, although a ten-speed automatic is offered as an optional extra.

Ford has also fitted a few extra mechanical upgrades that are designed to keep the car’s drivetrain cool on the track. There’s a pair of new heat exchangers – one for the engine oil and one for the gearbox oil – along with a cooling system for the differential.

As with the original Mach 1, Ford has worked on the Mustang’s handling, adding stiffer anti-roll bars, front springs and subframe bushes, as well as a set of tweaked adaptive dampers, a sharper steering rack and an improved brake servo. Buyers also get a new set of 19-inch alloy wheels, which are styled to look like the original Mach 1’s.

So exciting, right?

And now the bad news. In pulling the covers off the latter, Detroit has dampened hope about export potentials or even right-hand-drive development, having immediately indicated to media in the United Kingdom – a key RHD Mustang market - that it won’t be available there.

So, perhaps, the Ford NZ hope of seeing the Mach 1 is also ruined; though it says it will continue to hold out hope until being absolutely told otherwise by head office.

Meantime, the Auckland-centred operation is spruiking the Black Shadow, which is an interesting format on two counts.

First, the car is a reprisal of one of several specials first developed in celebration of Mustang’s 55th year of production, a milestone that was reached in 2019. Secondly, it is a variant Mustang’s home audience doesn’t experience.

Black Shadows are for export only and, from the information available, only New Zealand – which is taking 30 initially though more can be ordered if need-be - Australia and Brazil achieve this dress-up at the moment.

Based on the $82,990 5.0-litre V8 GT fastback, but with a $5000 premium (so, the same price as a GT convertible) the … erm …. ‘BS’ is all about kerbside attitude.

A Black Shadow is best identified by its boot mount spoiler and a set of unique alloy wheels, but the package also includes a lot of black accents, including on the roof, bonnet and side stripes, there’s a grille-mounted pony badge and some 5.0 wheel arch badges.

The body colour choices are limited to blue, a metallic grey, red and ‘Grabber Lime’, which is from Ford’s heritage palette – so-called because it’s inspired by a hue offered in North America on early 1970s’ Mustangs, including the Mach 1. Grabber Blue and Dark Highland Green, previously offered in NZ, are also from that collection.

The interior features various unique goodies and picks up the as standard the Recaro seat that is a cost-extra option for the standard GT.

'Rangerok’ - making the best even better

The VW-Ford ute twinning programme will be a win-win for Kiwis.

Ranger, above, and Amarok coming off a common platform will be a win for both, their distributors suggest.

SLEEPING with the enemy will deliver exciting potentials and no obvious problems.

 That’s mutually-held thought from Ford and Volkswagen’s national distributors in response to additional information about the parent brands’ commercial vehicle marriage of convenience that has particular repercussion for the country’s favourite one-tonne traydeck.

Probable release next year of a new Ranger, followed from the start of 2022 by a new Amarok heavily based on the new Ford, is just the opening shot in the makers’ agreement. 

Volkswagen will also lend Ford its MEB electric vehicle and Caddy van architectures in exchange for a foot in the door with US automated drive pioneer Argo A1 (in which Ford has a stake) and the brands will share a one-ton commercial van platform in a deal that will deliver up to eight million vehicles.

The probability of all these undertakings creating impact on the Kiwi scene seems high.

However, in the here and now, focus is on the utes and, given their huge popularity here – not least for Ranger, the Kiwi choice for five years – it’s the new ‘Rangerok’ that is making headlines.

Ford New Zealand communications manager Tom Clancy and Volkswagen New Zealand Commercials boss Kevin Richards are optimistic about how this wll play out.

As much as brand pride demands that each proclaims their current offers to be the best in this hard-fought business, both have enough admiration for each other’s products to agree that a combined effort can only deliver an even better result.

“It’s definitely very promising,” says Clancy. “Whatever we can leverage from VW will be fantastic; they build nice vehicles.” 

He’s driven the current Amarok, which the present Ranger outsells by a factor of more than five-to-one, and likes it.

“It’s very good … it has lots of good points but perhaps delivers to a slightly different market.”

 He foresees the new association producing even more positive potentials than the now-ended relationship with Mazda that spawned the current BT-50 did, simply because the German maker is so much larger and more powerful. 

Richards has the same mindset about the brands being powerhouses. Also, there was no doubting current Ranger’s success was based on it being a well-considered and properly-developed product.

“If you have to partner with anyone in a JV (joint venture) then you partner with the market leader. And that’s what we have chosen to do.

“I legitimately think we have the best ute in the present market because it has been engineered and built 100 percent in Germany.”

Notwithstanding that, Ford clearly has costing advantage from making Ranger in Thailand.

Those plants might well continue to be the source point for next-gen Ranger, but not the new Amarok – latest detail about how the deal works pinpoints a Ford plant in South Africa as having the job of building new Amarok.

That bodes well, Richards says. German-built means good quality but at enough cost to “have given us a ute that is in the upper echelons of pricing.

“What the new deal does is give us a little bit more competitiveness in a segment which is ultra-competitive. It levels the playing field from that regard.

“Also, being from South Africa could mean that we will be right at the top of the queue for supply, as they are a right-hand drive market.”

Clancy says it was heartening the team in Melbourne that had driven the current T6 design were again running the new programme. 

“I cannot go into the likely specific vehicle benefits because we just don’t know about those yet, but the team over in Australia has obviously proven their capabilities, they’re really good at what they do.

“It’s pure speculation about what we will pull out of their vehicles of terms of engineering and design but, overall, it’s definitely very promising.”

Notwithstanding that VW has made clear that the terms of the alliance allow it to achieve “a medium pickup truck engineered and built by Ford”, this still allows the Germans to tune their own product to meet their own demands.

Richards says Wolfsburg headquarters have made clear that VW engineers are working alongside the Ford team and dedicating to tuning the Amarok so that it retains crucial VW DNA, as much in its driving feel and look. This will not be badge-engineering by any means, he says.

“This doesn’t feel as though it will be allowed to get to that level. There’s a way of making joint ventures work and the greater disparity you can have between the two products inevitably leads to the greater success.”

He is certain Ford and VW will have carefully analysed this in light of the poor experience Mercedes Benz had from trying to develop the X-Class from the current Nissan Navara. 

“I’m sure that, if nothing else, that exercise has given them a real set of key learnings and I’d be very surprised if we (VW) didn’t take something away from that.”

So he simply cannot see Amarok entering as “a VW badge on a Ford Ranger”.

“They need to have their own identity and from the feedback I’m getting from Germany, we can expect to see some significant VW design cues integrated. I imagine Ford will want to retain their own identity, and understandably so, and we will retain ours.

“One of the good things about Amarok that has influenced its desirability and maintained its customer base is that it is quite sophisticated in terms of how it drives. I feel that is something we will want to maintain. We might maintain that sophistication and allow Ford to take theirs into a more rough and rugged territory.”

What’s also heartening is expectation that another V6 will be in the mix, though this time it will be from Ford.

Suggestion is that current Amarok’s six-cylinder, which now puts 190kW in all current versions sold here, is to be dropped for a newly-developed Ford Power Stroke 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel, recently bolted into Ford F150 pick-ups, where it produces 186kW and 596Nm. This will also replace the Ranger’s 3.2-litre five-cylinder. The models seem also set to continue with a four-cylinder turbodiesel.

Continuing in V6 will be great for Amarok, given the current edition now primarily sells in that format, Richards acknowledges. 

However, keeping a smaller engine in the mix as well is also important. He says it is interesting that Ranger is doing so well, now, with its 2.0-litre biturbo – basically, it’s a proof of VW being on the right track – if perhaps a little prematurely - when it released Amarok a decade ago in the same format.

“Since we brought the V6 in for Amarok in 2016 it has made up a huge proportion of our sales over the 2.-litre. Ford having gone the other way, from starting with the 3.2 and now offering the 2.0-litre is really interesting.

“I think we have established the V6 in the market as the product to have and I we would like to keep it.  My git feel is that we will get another V6 and it will continue to achieve the lion’s share of sales volume.”

Notwithstanding, indication from within the partner brands is that the new platform is designed to accommodate something new to both models - a high-performance plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drive – also excites Richards.

“I think a plug-in hybrid … gives a ‘best of both worlds.’ It would be something we would be exceptionally interested and I think we have a lot of customers who drive our product currently who would be interested, because it would suit their lifestyle.

“We have a strong Auckland customer base and the ability to drive all week on electric when you might have a 12km route that takes 90 minutes to accomplish … well, it’s perfect. You could save the conventional power for the weekend driving. That rings a lot of bells.”

That a PHEV would also likely introduce petrol power to Amarok holds no problems. It’s a recognised application and also might give the model a chance of competing in North America.

“I don’t think it would hinder the Kiwi appetite to try it (PHEV).”

Release timings? Nothing exact, but it’s thought Ford as programme lead gets dibs, akin to the Isuzu/Mazda arrangement which gives the D-Max a market introduction advantage of some months over the BT-50.

Clancy declined to add fuel to thought about this leaving Ford with an expected ETA of late-2021. “We have no information about launch timings.”

He says Ford NZ remains delighted by current Ranger’s massive imprint on the NZ scene and expects it to continue being a strong seller for the remainder of its production cycle.

Richards also confirms current Amarok’s availability will continue right up until the new one arrives.

Meantime, the EV sharing programme has fuelled conjecture that Ford could deliver 600,000 electric vehicles atop the MEB architecture, which is the basis of VW’s ID programme. 

Ford’s vehicle will be designed and engineered by Ford in Cologne, Germany, and is expected to become a smaller sister ship to its own all-electric Mustang Mach-E, which will be introduced in 2021.

Additionally, the companies will both work with Argo AI to form distinct, highly capable autonomous-vehicle businesses based on Argo AI’s self-driving technology, a pitch which will create the world’s largest geographic deployment potential of any autonomous driving technology to date.

Revised Focus now down to three choices

Second time a charm – that’s Ford NZ’s hope for the Focus, having radically revised and slimmed the line up.

New ST-Line X replaces the ST-Line … and costs $6000 more.

TWO trim levels, an engine and a body shape have been axed while two remaining mainstream models have been enhanced yet also rendered more expensive.

That’s the sum total of a sweeping change just announced for the Ford Focus as it represents in New Zealand, the brand acknowledging that it has revised a line-up launched just two years ago – and literally lifted a year ago, when adding the Active – to better attune to what has so far been disturbingly indifferent customer taste.

“These are the cars that are most popular with customers – we’re taking out the complexity,” is how Ford communications spokesman Tom Clancy describes the rationale driving the new lineup, which hits in August.

From now on, there will be just three Focus models, all hatchbacks with eight-speed automatic transmissions, one in the elevated Active format that arrived last October and delivers a crossover look but in a lightweight manner – so, front rather than four-wheel-drive.

The new Active, at $37,990, will cost $1000 more than its predecessor. The ST-Line, which had been the same price as Active was, is now outfitted more richly, to an ‘X’ specification. But the price has gone up accordingly, by a whopping $6000.

Above them is the new ST performance model that is a $59,990 proposition. Introduced just weeks ago, it has remarkably also been improved by the latest round of revisions.

So what’s gone? That’ll be the Trend and Titanium hatches, which ran with the 134kW and 240Nm three-cylinder 1.5 petrol that continues on in Active and ST Line X, and the Trend wagon, which ran with a 110kW/370Nm 2.0-turbodiesel.

Focus Active, which joined the local family last year, now becomes the entry choice.

Ford NZ aspiration to wean off reliance on the Ranger utility – by far and away its biggest monthly seller for the past three years - has been pinned on its passenger, crossover and sports utility models but that strategy has yet to realise positively.

The Focus has at times hardly figured in sales results – ironically a particularly poor period was the end of last year, when it won a newspaper group’s competition.

Clancy says there is high confidence, nonetheless, that the car will deliver better performance now that it is presented in what Ford NZ describes as “three clearly defined choices.”

Local managing director Simon Rutherford, has expressed particular confidence in the ST-Line X, saying it even better represents the Focus’s driver-oriented feel than its predecessor. 

The update delivers a technology spruce-up, with introduction of FordPass Connect, an embedded modem which Ford says brings even greater accessibility, convenience and capability, so long as an owner’s cellphone is compatible. Features include ability to remotely lock and unlock the vehicle plus ability to check fuel level, tyre pressures, oil life and check recent service history, owners’ manual. It also enables contact with a ‘Ford Guide’, who can assist – by phone or email – with any queries about connected services and hooks into services including access to roadside assistance.

The Focus ST-Line X and the Focus ST will be upgraded to the 12.3-inch fully-configurable digital instrument cluster allowing the driver to personalise and prioritise display of information including driver assistance technology and sat-nav notifications.   

All models have Ford’s SYNC 3 system, which includes Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone compatibility, with wireless smartphone charging.

The mainstream editions take LED headlights and have different Daytime Running Lights to present a distinct identity.

What is being called the ‘2020.75’ range also adopts revised rear suspension, the benefits coming in sharper handling and more comfortable, quieter ride.

And the ST doesn’t miss out. The 2020.75 model picks up a 10-speaker B&O audio system and 12.3-inch full TFT/LCD colour instrument cluster screen.

Just-arrived Focus ST also achieves a specification enhancement.

Mach 1 not completely out of NZ’s reach

Ford NZ is among those getting revved up for a Mach 1 Mustang.

“IF we can get it for New Zealand we will definitely have to think about it – I mean, it’s such a legend, right?”

This from Ford New Zealand’s communications manager today in response to the latest and ultimate iteration of its popular Mustang muscle car, the Mach 1.

The parent brand has shared teaser images- but no video, unfortunately - of a kingpin mode which revives the legendary nameplate first used in 1969 and ushers in specific performance and handling upgrades designed, the brand boasts, to make it “the most track-ready 5.0-litre Mustang ever.”

Can Kiwis access this beast? One way or the other, yes: Because if it doesn’t achieve as a factory car for local release, buyers could always ship in a US-spec car as a private import.

Ford New Zealand, of course, would like nothing better than to represent the car in the showroom – there’s obvious potential to further spark up Mustang sales that, until Covid-19, were rolling along at 40 to 50 units a month, with V8 versions snaring the bulk of sales.

For Mach 1 to be ‘official’ requires it to be produced in right hand drive.

Is that possible? According to our neighbour, the answer is no. Ford Australia seems adamant variant is a US-based initiative, telling a news outlet there “the Mach 1 news is specific to the US.”

Ford NZ’s Tom Clancy, though, is more optimistic, in that he says there is no specific news from Detroit about who gets the car, when and how. Until all that it spelled out, it’s impossible to say one way or the other.

“It hasn’t been confirmed for right-hand-drive markets as yet,” he acknowledged. But that’s not to say it might not be. “It hasn’t been confirmed either way. 

“If it is, we will certainly look at it. We’re definitely excited. I mean, who wouldn’t be? There are a lot of enthusiastic Mustang customers in New Zealand so if it is conformed for right hand drive, we’d certainly want to know about it. 

“It would be very good for New Zealand. As soon as we  have news we will share it, but I don’t have any timing for when that might be.”

The highest-performance right-hand-drive Mustangs available at present are Roush and Shelby GT editions, which are in both case after-market enhancements performed locally on regular NZ-new 339kW V8 GTs. 

The ultimate Roush version is the supercharged V8, generally making around 510kW, whereas the top Shelby, the Super Snake, promises around 600kW. Ford Australia has concocted – but purely for home market consumption - a Mustang R-Spec, also supercharged, has 522kW and 830Nm.

Mach 1 will be naturally-aspirated and while Ford US has yet to announce outputs, it has promised it’ll be up to performance fans’ expectations. It also has dropped hints that the model is, in any event, about much more than a bad-ass engine.

The focus on transmission, brake, suspension and handling enhancements has been considerable as well. Ford has also treated it to track-rated Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber.

Visually, the Mach 1 is distinguished by styling cues that reference past editions. The front has a dual-headlight design with a second set of lights set inside the centre grille – a signature of the famous 1969 original.

The model is also expected to achieve a new front bumper and air inlet design, will take quad-exit exhaust pipes and a unique spoiler. The 19-inch black alloy wheels are in a spindle design to evoke historic association and it is sure to take ‘Mach 1’ decals and a two-tone paint colour scheme. BTW, the last time the Mach 1 designation was seen on a Mustang was in 2004. 

As much as Ford is rekindling its performance past, it is also taking Mustang into the future with another ‘Mach’, the Mach-E fully electric car. Which is also expected to hit New Zealand at some point.

Drive to defeat Covid-19

Carmakers are thinking hard about how to turn cabins into safe spots.

WORRIED that even big doses of disinfectant mightn’t keep coronavirus out of your vehicle?

So, it seems, are car makers. Which is why they are looking to employ other, sometimes more extreme methods.

How long, then, before the vehicle in your driveway can maintain bug-free status through using ultraviolet light, really high-tech air filtration or even just as a result of turning up the heat really high?

These are the methodologies coming to the fore. Latest to hit headlines is Ford’s hot shot approach. 

As the images today show, the “heated software enhancement” system is literally a matter of turning up the heat.

We’re talking hot. As in generally ‘beyond Sahara in summer’ hot. Fifty-six degrees Celsius is generally well above the maximum settings that your vehicle’s own system is usually designed to achieve and within a range considered risky for prolonged safe human tolerance.

However, it’s what the doctor – or at least researchers at Ford Motor Company in Detroit and Ohio State University – have ordered as being effective in terminating any viral elements that might be lingering in a vehicle’s cabin.

The research has hit the front line, in that it has fitted the Police Interceptor Utility vehicle it builds for law enforcement use in North America with a new cabin heating feature designed to “inactivate” any virus particles.

The New York City Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department and Michigan State Police have participated in field-testing the system, which works by baking the car’s interior at 56C or higher for 15 minutes.  

The software purposely increases the engine temperature and raises the climate control and fan settings to these new maximum settings then enables a subsequent cooldown protocol at the end of the cycle. 

To ensure officers know when the system is operational, a series of pre-set flash sequences are carried out by the hazard and tail-lights with a separate sequence displayed at the end of the cycle during cooldown.

And yes, there are precautions against inadvertent use. In latest cars it only triggers by pressing cruise control buttons in a certain order, while earlier models require an external tool that connects via the OBD port.

Ford chief product development and purchasing officer Hau Thai-Tang said first responders were in dire need of protective measures given they were on the front line protecting everybody else.

“We looked at what’s in our arsenal and how we could step up to help,” he said.

“In this case, we’ve turned the vehicle’s powertrain and heat control systems into a virus neutraliser.”

According to Ohio State University department of microbiology laboratory supervisors Jeff Jahnes and Jesse Kwiek, “exposing coronaviruses to temperatures of 56C (or 132.8 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes reduces the viral concentration by greater than 99 percent on interior surfaces”.

Ford meanwhile says that the system adds an extra level of thoroughness to the sanitisation guidelines approved by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention given that heat can “seep into crevices and hard-to-reach areas, helping reduce the impact of human error in applying chemical disinfectants”. 

Ford police brand marketing manager Stephen Tyler described Covid-19 as an “invisible enemy” and said he was proud Ford was able to provide a solution. 

So, keen to get your Fiesta, Ranger or Mustang all toasty? Sorry, it’s a no-go.

The make has made clear a system designed to be used in conjunction with proper cleaning methods is not, for reasons of safety (and, dare we say it, common sense – you could imagine the lawsuits from inappropriate use), going to transfer into civilian vehicles.

So that’s one approach. What is coming to the boil? In general, car makers are looking at employing more antimicrobial materials and easier-cleanable surfaces. They are also assessing the quality of air filtration systems. Geely, the parent company of Volvo, reckons the set-up for its new Icon electric car will achieve the N95-certification meted medical masks.

Hyundai is well advanced its bid to use ultraviolet light sterilisation technology that would be installed like a dome light in its vehicles. This could be taking a cue from the grenlite (pronounced ‘greenlight’) device shown off by a Michigan-based tech firm, GHSP, at CES this year. This sterilises a vehicle when sensors detect there are no occupants, automatically scheduling new cleansing cycles when needed — and is already in use in emergency vehicles in three US states.

Another specialist in cleaning, Faurecia, is also looking at foggers that would spray a disinfectant such as hydrogen peroxide. Vehicle assembler Magna is evaluating “an ozone-generating system.”

Not so keen on any of these measures? You’re in a minority. When car owners were surveyed in five countries, 80 percent said they'd pay extra for technology that could sterilize a vehicle. Another survey just out has found a third of vehicle shoppers thinking about "air quality features" in a future car purchase.

Focus ST: Automatic for the people

It’s been COVID-19 delayed and is $500 dearer than initially signalled but the fourth generation Ford Focus ST hot-hatch has launched.

THE new Ford Focus ST is more powerful and roomier than its predecessor and delivers a significant increase in technology.

And it also gains a new status as the sharpest Focus variant among gen-four following recent confirmation that development has been halted on a successor to the all-wheel-drive RS rocket ship.

Originally scheduled for a first-quarter introduction, the made-in-Germany Ford Focus ST has weathered the COVID-19 delays to join the Fiesta ST, Mustang models and the Ranger Raptor under the Ford Performance banner.

Pricing is $59,490 (back in September a $58,990 price-tag had been advised) and the Focus hot-hatch recipe combines five-door functionality with a high output 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo engine, front-wheel-drive and a new seven-speed sports automatic transmission with paddle shift.

Ford New Zealand sees automatic transmission as the overwhelming customer preference in this market. There is a six-speed manual with rev-matching function available in most markets including Australia.

It’s the first time a Focus hot-hatch has been offered with only two pedals – a move that widens its reach in the market to deliver something that Honda Civic Type-R and Hyundai i30 N rivals can’t and positions the Focus ST as a Volkswagen Golf GTI competitor.

The previous Focus ST had a 2.0-litre turbo engine. The fourth generation features the all-aluminium 2.3-litre unit derived from the previous RS model with twin-scroll turbocharging, an electronic wastegate and anti-lag system. It develops 206kW at 5500rpm (an increase of 22kW) accompanied by a substantial jump in torque to 420Nm (up from 360Nm) available between 3000-4000rpm.

The sharpening of the Focus also applies to the chassis tuning with 19-inch alloy wheels shod with bespoke 235/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and suspension that lowers ride height by 10mm compared to standard Focus models.

A torsion beam axle is standard on mainstream Focus models but the higher riding Focus Active and the ST model have an independent rear suspension and the ST debuts a new Continuously Controlled Damping (CCD) system.

The CCD system monitors suspension, steering and braking inputs at 2 milli-second frequency to adjust damping responses. 

A Borg Warner electronically controlled Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) plays a key role in applying 420Nm of torque to the road. The system can pre-emptively adjust torque distribution using inputs from powertrain and vehicle dynamics sensors.

Ford says the electric power-assisted steering (EPAS) system is 15 per cent quicker than the standard Focus with just two turns lock-to-lock. And there is ST-specific steering knuckle geometry for sharper responses.

New software titled Steering Torque Disturbance Reduction has the target of reducing torque steer when applying 206kW and 420Nm to the tarmac.

Upgraded brake hardware includes larger 330mm front and 302mm rear ventilated discs with red painted callipers and Ford has developed a new electronic brake booster to provide more consistent pedal feel.

The Selectable Drive Modes offer Slippery, Normal, Sport and Track settings that adjust the eLSD, CCD, EPAS, throttle mapping, automatic transmission shift scheduling along with electronic stability control (ESC) and electronic sound enhancement (ESE) settings. In Track Mode the eLSD delivers maximum traction and the intervention of the ESC system is delayed.

A dedicated Sport button on the steering wheel allows direct access to Sport mode while the Mode button allows drivers to scroll through the Drive Mode options.

Exterior detailing includes a wide honeycomb grille, ST specific bumpers and side skirts, a rear spoiler, LED adaptive headlights, daytime running lights and tail lights.

Colour choices are Ford Performance Blue, Frozen White, Magnetic (grey), Race Red and Agate Black. Ford NZ had originally signalled a $500 premium for the searing Orange Fury seen here but has decided not to charge a premium for prestige paint.

Cabin highlights include heated Recaro sports seats with leather and suede trim and ST logos. The flat-bottom and heated ST steering wheel is trimmed with perforated leather.

Ford Performance instrumentation is standard including shift lights for when the paddles are being used. With the arrival of an automatic transmission the ST adopts the rotary e-shifter and an electronic park brake.

Standard equipment includes keyless entry and push-button start, LED ambient lighting, dual-zone climate control, rear privacy glass and heated power-folding exterior mirrors with puddle lamps. 

Interestingly Australian customers get a premium Bang and Olufsen audio as standard but Ford NZ has opted for a six-speaker system.

The Focus ST is equipped with the SYNC 3 infotainment and communications platform with 8.0-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility while Siri and voice-activated text messaging can be accessed via steering wheel controls. Satellite navigation, a 180-degree rear-view camera and wireless smartphone charger are standard.

Along with a five-star ANCAP (2019) rating the Focus ST safety and driver assist roster includes Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with Cyclist and Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keep Assist and Hill Launch Assist.

Because the automatic model has been selected for the New Zealand market Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Stop & Go function is standard.

Ute outlook Pt 3: The big Blue

Our national obsession for utilities, especially family-minded dual-cabs, knows no bounds. The market is booming at the moment, and filled with plenty of strong options. Yet surely you’re also keen to know something about what’s coming up next, when and from whom? Here’s the final section of our three-part analysis.

will there be a new Raptor? It’s still unknown.

My, how the motoring world goes around.

Back in 2011 when Ford Australia unveiled the T6 Ranger ute that it had designed and engineered all by itself, it flew journalists to some God-forsaken place in South Australia’s Flinders Range for the big reveal.

In among the Rangers at the launch event was a Volkswagen Amarok. The Ford people explained that the VW was there because during the Ranger’s development they had benchmarked their new ute against it.

High praise indeed for the Argentine-built ute produced by Germany’s Volkswagen Group. And the benchmarking worked, too – Ranger immediately became one of the world’s most popular one-tonne utes.

In New Zealand it is the topselling ute, consistently edging out its arch-rival Toyota Hilux. In fact it is the top selling new vehicle full-stop – last year there were 9485 of them registered, well ahead of Hilux’ 7126 sales and way ahead of the most popular passenger vehicle, the Toyota Corolla with its 6804 sales.

And Amarok? The hard truth is that the Volkswagen has struggled. It account for just 1 per cent of the Kiwi commercial market last year, with 653 sales. And that figure was less than 1 per cent of the Amarok’s global sales of 72,500 last year, which in itself was very modest when compared to the hundreds of thousands of sales recorded annually by the likes of Hilux and Ranger.

Given the very high costs of development of any new-generation vehicle, it made sense then that Volkswagen Group would look to forge an alliance with another manufacturer to share development of the next Amarok.

That’s what has happened. Last year the group signed a contract with Ford Motor Company to develop new light commercial vehicles.

current ranger has been vital for ford nz

In other words, instead of Ford using the Amarok as a benchmark during development of a brand-new T7 Ranger, it is now developing the next-generation Volkswagen ute.

Under the terms of the new alliance, Ford is responsible for creating the two ute models, while Volkswagen Group is responsible for development of both brands’ next-generation vans.

The ute project is being led by Ford’s Australia-based Asia-Pacific Product Development Centre, and it is already well advanced. Unofficial word is that the new Ranger will be launched late next year, and the Amarok slated to arrive in 2022.

Although both companies – Volkswagen particularly – are currently spending a fortune electrifying their future vehicles, this isn’t going to apply to the utes. Instead, Ford is concentrating on developing a range of suitable petrol and diesel engines for Ranger and Amarok.

Media reports out of Australia suggest that instead of being powered by the current 3.2-litre five cylinder diesel, which won’t meet latest emissions regulations, the new Ranger will feature a 3.0-litre single turbocharged Power Stroke diesel V6.

The latest version of this lightweight engine is under the bonnet of the F-150 pick-up in USA, and in that application it offers 186 kilowatts of power and 597 Newton metres of torque.

There’s also talk the Ranger will also get a 2.7-litre twin-turbocharged ‘Nano’ EcoBoost petrol V6 that debuted in 2018 aboard the F-150 in the US, and it develops 242kW and 542kW. But at this stage it seems unlikely this petrol Ranger will become available for New Zealand.

 There’s no word yet as to whether the new Amarok will feature the same powertrains as the Ranger.

Parts 1 and 2 of this series can be found in the news section.

amarok has been a solid performer and the v6 is admired. will it continue?

Vale Mustang’s real father

His sketch was chosen by Lee Iacocca. The rest is history.

You might not know the name – you will know the car. Because EVERYONE knows the car.

Gale Halderman, the last surviving designer of the original 1965 – well, 64-and-a-half if you’re a true fan – Mustang, has passed away. He was 87.

Halderman is known as the man behind the scenes of the Mustang, having penned the original shape of a model that made its world debut at the New York Worlds Fair of 1964. A car would be produced continuously across six-generations and for more than five decades 

While it was Lee Iacocca who was known as the father of the Mustang, Halderman is its creator. The Mustang went on to sell more than 8 million units.

Appointed family spokesperson and author of Mustang by Design: Gale Halderman and the Creation of Ford’s Iconic Pony Car, Jimmy Dinsmore, said: “To have lived 87 years and to have designed something that is part of pop culture and automotive history, he had such an impact. 

“He did it in such a humble way that has touched the heart of every Mustang enthusiast out there. As great of a designer as he was, he was an even better human being.”

Dinsmore says the most striking thing about Halderman, a 40-year Ford employee, was his humility. For many years, Halderman did not receive much attention for being the Mustang’s original designer, preferring to let others take the credit.

“When he went back to their Christmas dinners and such, he would be seated at the table with Mr. Ford,” Dinsmore added.

Born in 1933, Halderman completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dayton and a further Industrial Design degree from the Dayton Art Institute. He went on to serve positions as the director and executive director of the Ford Design Studio, Advanced Design Studio, Interior Design Studio, and Lincoln-Mercury Design Studio.

Ultimately, the designer of the Mustang was to lose a brief battle with liver cancer. He is survived by three daughters, and his life’s collection of drawings, designs, sketches, and Mustang memorabilia, much of which can be viewed at the Halderman Barn Museum, a private venture open by appointment only on his family estate in Tipp City, Ohio. 

Halderman is a member of the Mustang Hall of Fame.

Hotshot RS has gone but Focus ST will still burn

Ford NZ has reacted to news the fabulous Focus RS won’t continue with suggestion the ST is hot enough to fill in.

Will an underdog be accepted as king of the kennel?

More specifically, can a 206kW front-drive hot hatch fill the boots of a far more hyperactive four-wheel-drive big brother that, in the final tuning of its previous format presented to New Zealand, generated 257kW and smashed 0-100kmh in 4.7 seconds?

As hard as it might be for some revheads to accept the Focus ST incoming to New Zealand in June, price and final specification still undisclosed (and Covid-19 notwithstanding), having the cojones to satisfy RS-level expectations, that’s exactly what is going to happen, with news that the latter Focus has been killed off.

Ford New Zealand is pulling on its brave pants in responding to thought that, with the RS gone, it might lose a fanbase and struggle with ST to maintain the traction RS gained as an ultimate Euro-flavoured Blue Oval bad boy.

Corporate communications manager Tom Clancy believes the ST has enough flavour to win at least a look from the RS fanbase.

“The initial reviews from Europe of the … ST have been highly positive so we will see some RS customers and hot hatch enthusiasts in general checking out the new Focus ST.”

Ford has left those hardcore addicts no choice, with news that a famous badge with lineage going back to early Escorts now ends with $76,990 RS Limited Edition that came here in September of 2018.

The idea of developing a fourth generation RS hinged on it working with what’s turned out to be a developmental dead-end – a high-output hybrid turbo four-cylinder engine and an emissions-reducing 48V mild-hybrid system to meet tighter CO2 targets while retaining ballistic capability.

A company statement reads: “As a result of pan-European emissions standards, increased CO2 taxation and the high cost of developing an RS with some form of electrification for a relatively low volume of vehicles, we are not planning another RS version of the Focus.”

This doesn’t necessarily mean the RS will not re-emerge in the future – the statement is careful to apply specifically to this generation Focus – yet it does mean that for the time being the onus of being the ultimate family funster falls on a variant that, until now, has always been a stepping stone between the mainstream and the fully malevolent formats.

The new ST is certainly set to be a faster, more honed car than its predecessor. Notably, it comes equipped with a 206kW/420Nm 2.3-litre four-pot turbo – up by 22kW and 60Nm over the old model.

That means it is offering just 20Nm less than the last RS in its hottest factory format, though the power output is also 49kW shy.

It is also surely set to win a wider audience than the previous ST, or any RS, as they were manual gearbox models, whereas the next transfers to a seven-speed direct shift transmission.

Says Clancy: “The RS was more suited to enthusiasts as was the previous Focus ST.  

“Where we anticipate the largest customer interest/movement is from the fact that this is the first time we’ve offered a 7-speed automatic transmission with paddle shift in a Focus ST.

“We anticipate many new customers and customers coming from competitors who have had autos before the Focus ST.”

However, the ST is patently not on the same level as the last RS in respect to drivetrain tech, which stands to reason.

In production and on sale in its primary markets for almost a year, ST was developed at a time when Ford was committed to doing as it has previously done: Continuing it as a fun, but lower-tier, excitement than the RS which was – back then – was a definite starter. 

Which is why the RS alone had the full-out race-spec tech and aimed at utterly bonkers high-end specialist all-wheel-drive Euro fare – the likes of the Audi RS3 and Mercedes A35 and A45 - whereas the ST was designed more as a foil to front-drive hotties, most notably the Renault Megane RS and the VW Golf GTI.

The RS will certainly be remembered as a marvel of chassis technology and sheer aggression.

As other have noted, it’s been no stranger to variety. The first-generation car relied on turbocharged, 2.0-litre power sending drive to the front axle; the second also put power through the steering set and switched to a five-cylinder unit. The previous Focus RS returned to four-cylinder power, but adopted an all-wheel-drive system and lifted the game all the more. 

 Huge grunt from a 2.3-litre turbo engine (with 1.8bar or 26PSI of turbo boost) channelled via a six-speed manual gearbox and, in most-prized Limited form, a Quaife mechanical (meaning real, not a pretend electronic approximation) limited-slip differential at the front and it had a RS Performance Wheel Pack with 19-inch rims and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup rubber. All this, and a fun-tastic Drift Mode that unleashed it for impressively Hoonigan-style big skids (track use only, of course). 

That clever stuff showed in the price, of course. At $76,990, that last blast RS added $4000 to the sticker attached to the standard model and left it around $25k above the ST. 

So much for so little? As much as the RS sticker seemed to put it beyond the faint-hearted, it sold fast anyway.

And though, of course, the RS car park was always smaller than the ST’s, which in itself held something of a niche presence, it proved how strongly street cred can ‘sell’ a car, being utterly untroubled being noticed by those in the know.