Followup: Ford F-150 EcoBoost finishes Baja 1000 in 38 hours!

When it comes to the Baja 1000, simply crossing the finish line is reason enough to bust out the champagne. Ford has announced that its 2011 F-150 Ecoboost race truck has managed to cover the entire 1,061 mile course in 38 hours and 20 minutes. According to FoMoCo, the truck put up with some of the most grueling terrain on the planet – racing through temperatures below freezing and above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. More impressively, as you may recall, this particular 3.5-liter V6 engine entered the cross-country rally with the equivalent of 10 years of abuse on the clock. The very same lump went through extensive endurance testing at the Cleveland Engine Plant before being bolted into an F-150 that was used as a log skidder in Oregon.

EcoBoost Torture Test: NASCAR Challenge

Ford Police Interceptor quickest in LA Sheriff’s Department testing

The battle for law enforcement domination rages on. A gaggle of would-be police cruisers showed up at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for public testing recently, and of all the competitors, the Taurus-based Ford Police Interceptor with its twin-turbocharged, direct-injected 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine managed to turn the quickest lap time of the bunch by beating out the V8-powered forces from Dodge and Chevrolet. It also ran from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.8 seconds. Ford isn’t saying exactly which other cars were on hand for abuse, but we can probably guess they were the Caprice and Charger.

The new 3.7-liter V6-powered Police Interceptor Utility, which is based on upcoming 2011 Ford Explorer, also managed to turn a lap time that was a full two seconds quicker than the new law enforcement Chevrolet Tahoe. Both vehicles were laden with a 400-pound cargo box at the time.

LA 2010: Focus Race Car Concept is the future of Ford racing

Ford has pulled the wraps off what it claims is a hint at its future global race car. The Ford Focus race car concept takes the standard 2012 Ford Focus hatchback and preps it nicely for full race duty. This includes gutting the interior, fitting a FIA-approved roll cage, strapping on AST performance coilovers with adjustable dampers and beefing up the sway bars, brakes, wheels and tires.

What’s not beefed up is the turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost inline four-cylinder engine, which is used in the hot-hatch Focus ST where it produces 247 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque. Keeping the driver comfortable and in check are a Recaro racing seat, Ford Racing six-point harness and fire-suppression system.

EcoBoost F-150 Baja Truck: Engine Swap

After months of hard work, the 2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost “hero engine” has been installed in a race truck to take on the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert endurance race this month. This same engine first endured 150,000 harsh user miles on the dynamometer, then was dropped into a new 2011 Ford F-150 to work as a log skidder in Oregon, tow a maximum trailer load at high speeds around a NASCAR track and beat the competition in a towing exercise at Davis Dam.

SEMA 2010: Ford Taurus SHOx

Rick Bottom Designs was given the keys to a 2011 Ford Taurus SHO and the custom car builder decided it wanted to hear more from the Blue Oval sedan. The 365-horsepower EcoBoost V6 has been bumped up by a Hahn Racecraft Stage 1 upgrade package, meaning this SHO is now putting out 465 hp. Re-christened as the SHOx, further modifications include a performance exhaust system, cold air intake kit, large Baer brakes hidden behind 22-inch Axiom forged wheels and a custom body kit.

Video: Drag racing Ford’s V6-powered F-150s

Ford has created an exciting lineup of engines for the 2011 F-150. From the 6.2-liter V8 and Coyote 5.0 down to the 3.7-liter V6 and turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost, it’s pretty much impossible to make a bad choice. Our friends at PickupTrucks.com currently have the keys to both of the V6 models, and they are putting them through the paces for their Work Truck Shootout. That story isn’t quite ready yet, but in the meantime, Editor Mike Levine decided to run them down the strip at Michigan’s Milan Dragway.

Review: 2011 Ford Edge Limited

It’s one thing for an automaker to develop a single great vehicle. After all, even a blind squirrel can score the occasional nut. But to gain a loyal customer base, automakers must string together a consistent cadence of winners. When CEO Alan Mulally joined Ford Motor Company in 2006, he inherited a product lineup with only two true champions: the F-Series pickup and the iconic Mustang. Over the next four years, Mulally and his team concentrated on getting the company leaner and meaner while improving quality and streamlining its product offerings.

The last-generation Edge made do with only one available engine, but the new 2011 model offers three engine choices. Beyond the base 3.5-liter V6, the top-shelf Sport model gets a larger 3.7-liter V6 producing 305 hp and 280 lb-ft. The two V6s will also soon be joined by a third, more efficient engine: a 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder boasting an estimated 230 hp and 15-percent better fuel economy than the 3.5-liter V6.

Video: 2012 Ford Focus ST hits the road

Ford has been so kind as to unleash a video of the Focus ST on the interwebs, giving us all our first glimpse at the hopped-up hatch on open pavement. Don’t expect any apex-clipping shots of the five-door going hard over through a set of twisties, though; this video is largely comprised of a lackadaisical romp through the countryside. That’s fine, though. Even without any 9/10ths driving action, the Focus ST still looks plenty lust-worthy from our point of view.

Of course, that probably has plenty to do with the fact that this is the first genuine sports-oriented version of the Focus we’ve even had a whiff of since the mighty Focus SVT went belly up back in 2004. But whereas the SVT brought a mere 170 horsepower to the table, the ST should boast a more heady 247 ponies and 266 lb-ft of torque from an EcoBoost 2.0-liter four-pot.

Paris 2010: Ford Fiesta RS WRC

The FIA World Rally Championship is shaping up to be particularly interesting in 2011, and the new-for-2011 Ford Fiesta RS is a big reason why. The Blue Oval’s latest dirt-spitting racer will contest its first race at Rally Sweden in mid-February, but the Fiesta S2000-based rally car made its debut this morning at the Paris Motor Show.

In typical WRC fashion, the blue and gray Fiesta RS is all gaping intakes, massive flares and skyscraping wings, and needless to say, it looks The Business. Motivated by an EcoBoost-branded 1.6-liter turbocharged four of undisclosed output, the four-wheel-drive RS will get a shakedown run on Spain’s gravel roads next week, though Ford says it’s already conducted about 3,000 kilometers worth of testing with various engines.

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