I have never before been wowed by a midsize volume production sedan. Never.

Until now.

The all new Aston Marton, sorry, 2013 Ford Fusion. The Aston inspired grille and sleek front end make this car. That’s not to say that the rest of the car isn’t good, because it most certainly is. Front front to back, side to side, top to bottom, the 2013 Fusion is gorgeous. Not “gorgeous for a family sedan” – gorgeous, period. This is a great, great looking car.

2013 Ford Fusion Gallery

Looks aren’t everything, of course. What’s under the hood matters, especially in a car that Ford hopes to sell a ton of. So, how does the new Fusion stack up? Well, there are more choices than ever. What there isn’t, though, is an option with more than four cylinders. The V6 is gone, and I don’t think you’ll miss it. Here are the powertrain options:

The base engine is boring – it’s the only holdover from 2012. The two turbo engines are EcoBoosts, of course, and both are interesting in their own way. The 1.6 liter should get some pretty great fuel economy numbers that are more typical of a compact car than a midsize.

The hybrid, wow. Fucking wow. The EPA doesn’t have final numbers yet, but Ford is expected 47 MPG city and 44 MPG highway. Are you kidding me? Assuming it’s not priced outrageously, this could put a serious damper on Prius sales. Why deal with the ugly Prius styling when you can drive a gorgeous Fusion Hybrid and get nearly the same fuel economy?

2013 Ford Fusion Energi

This car is in a class all by itself. It’s based on the Fusion Hybrid, but adds a much larger battery pack, and the ability to plug in for a full charge. There aren’t a lot of details on this model – size of the battery, electric driving range, etc etc… but it’s also going to debut nearly a year after the other Fusion models. That said, I’m really looking forward to this. Please understand – this car will be expensive, but if Ford can get great numbers out of it while keeping the price somewhat reasonable… the Volt should be scared.

Final Notes
I didn’t even touch on the interior, which is as nice as anything in its class. I don’t think this next statement is even the slightest bit hyperbolic: Every midsize sedan on the market should be scared of the 2013 Fusion. This car looks amazing, both in terms of looks and specs. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of one.

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Meet the all-new, all-modern 2013 Ford Escape. It rides on a fancy global platform, and will be replacing the Ford Kuga over in Europe. This is good news indeed – The old Escape was really, really dated. As in, it’s never seen a full-on redesign before. Until now.

There are three engine choices, which seems a tad excessive. The base engine is the familiar 2.5 liter four cylinder engine, which strikes me as odd. Why redesign the Escape from the ground up, only to toss the same ol’ engine under the hood?

Most buyers, hopefully, will opt for one of the shiny new engines. There are a pair of turbo engines offered – both a 1.6 liter and a 2.0 liter four cylinder. Check out the specs:

• 2.5 liter non-turbo: 168 HP, 167 lb-ft of torque
• 1.6 liter turbo: 173 HP, 177 lb-ft of torque
• 2.0 liter turbo: 237 HP, 250 lb-ft of torque
• Six speed automatic transmissions across the board

The tiny turbo makes more power than the base engine, but not enough more for anyone to notice the difference. Why offer two choices? Surely it was a pricing decision, as the old engine will cost less than the new turbo.

The “big” turbo is a monster, completely eliminating the need for a V6 engine. Not surprisingly, Ford isn’t offering six cylinders this time around. Turbochargers are clearly a huge part of Ford’s fuel economy plan. Turbos rock, so I am all for this.

What about the looks?

As far as CUV’s, go, the 2013 Escape is gorgeous. One of the best looking I’ve seen, in fact. It’s very modern looking, very stylish. The interior, on the other hand… is amazing. It looks really, really great.

2013 Ford Escape Gallery

Em Pee Gees
No official rating yet. Ford is expecting “up to” 5 MPG better than the outgoing model on the 1.6 liter Ecoboost model.

But can it tow?
3500 lbs. If that isn’t enough, get a real SUV. Chances are, though, it’s enough. You probably don’t tow as much as you think.

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People have been riding the Nissan Leaf ever since it came out for it’s steep price tag. No more. The 2012 Ford Focus Electric makes the Leaf look downright affordable. At a base price of $39,995, you’ll have to spend four thousand dollars more to get the Focus than the Leaf. Ouch.

The price isn’t the whole story of course. Let’s talk about specs. What, exactly, is so great about the Focus Electric?

2012 Ford Focus Electric Quick Specs

• Estimated 70 mile range
• 23 kWh Lithium ion battery
• 123 HP electric motor

The Focus Electric will start rolling out in limited quantities later this year. The real question, though, is will there be any buyers? The traditional Focus is quite efficient, even though it burns dinosaur juice… and it costs $20k less. 1 Double the price of a gas Focus, $4k more than a Leaf… I love to recommend that people Buy American… but it just doesn’t make sense on this one.

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Ever wonder how the Pony Car Wars of 2011 are going? The fine folks over at TTAC have some answers.

The result probably aren’t a big surprise but they’re worth a look anyway.

The biggest take away is this: the pony car is alive and well, even in this time of high gas prices.

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Fuel economy is all the rage these days, as it should be. Gas prices are skyrocketing once again, which has everyone on edge a bit. Cars that get great gas mileage are back in style, and big trucks & SUV’s are out.

Ford is working on a special little Focus to appease the high-mileage seekers among us. They call it the ECOnetic, and it has quite an impressive stat sheet. Take a look:

• 103 HP 1.6 liter Duratorq diesel engine
• Start-stop system
• Regenerative braking
• 67 MPG (US rating estimate)

In the European test, the Focus ECOnetic is rated at a ridiculous 80 MPG. That translates to about 67 MPG on the US system. (We have smaller gallons than they do. Yea, I know. Crazy talk.)

This car uses a lot of hybrid-style technology, without the complexity of a hybrid powertrain. Just a little turbodiesel under the hood here – no electric motors or batteries. Yet it manages to get better fuel economy than a super complex Toyota Prius. Pretty impressive, Ford. Now how about you stop this Europe-only nonsense and sell this car in the US?

(Hat tip to a reader named Tom. Thanks Tom!)

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Been wanting a Sheby GT500, but just get over the fact that it puts out a measly 550 horsepower? Well, you’re farking insane. But the rumormill is turning, and it says that Ford may appease you soon. According to Car and Driver, Ford will manage to squeeze over six hundred horsepower from the 2013 GT500′s engine.

The magic lies in bumping the engine’s displacement from the current 5.4 liters to 5.8, and installing a more efficient supercharger. A 600 horsepower Shelby is absolutely ridiculous. I’ll take mine in red. White stripes, please.

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The EPA ratings for Ford’s 2011 F-150 EcoBoost are here – and Ford seems pretty happy with itself. Rated at 16 MPG in the city, and 22 MPG on the highway, the 365 HP truck is a pretty awesome combination of power and efficiency. Oh, and did I mention it makes 420 lb-ft of torque?

I’ll just say this – who needs a V8?

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So far so good for Ford with the 2011 Explorer. With the switch to a car-based unibody platform, improved fuel economy was one of Ford’s biggest goals. With a shiny new EPA rating of 25 MPG highway for the V6 powered Explorer, they are certainly on the right track.

Once the turbo four, along with it’s even better mileage, comes out, things will look even better.

Read more about the 2011 Explorer.

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Be prepared to pony up at least $40,995 if you want to snag a 2012 Mustang Boss 302. Sure, there are some extra options available, but forty one grand will get you all the goodies that make the Boss special. You know, the 440 HP 5.0 liter V8, fancy brakes, magic suspension, and quad / side exhaust.

Considering the Shelby GT500 starts at right around $49k, the pricing on the Boss 302 sounds pretty reasonable. What say you?

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Normally when you think of a Ford Focus, you think of a small sedan or hatchback, reasonably priced, very efficient, and not particularly fast.

Forget all of that for a moment.

The Focus that you see here is not the Focus that you’ve come to know. Meet the 2012 Focus ST. There’s a turbocharged 2.0 liter 4 cylinder EcoBoost engine under the hood – good for 250 horsepower. That’s two hundred of fifty ponies in a compact car – that’s no joke.

In fact, think back to the old SVT Focus that we used to love. It was a badass little hatch, and it had “just” 170 ponies under the hood – the 2012 Focus ST is packing 80 more horsepower.

There aren’t any other details on specs available yet, though the pictures do appear to show a six speed manual transmission. I’m sure a set of fancy brakes will be included too, because this car will be able to get up and go in a hurry.

2012 Ford Focus ST Gallery

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