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First Drive: 2008 Ford Focus ST (Euro-spec)

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Save the hot hatch for last. That’s what we kept telling ourselves as we wandered the Belgian countryside looking for Ford’s Lommel Proving Ground. As it turns out, the facility, located next to an air force base – restricted airspace, you know – is so secret, our hosts at Ford could hardly find it. So we had a little extra time to repeat the mantra: save the hot hatch for last.

On our way to Italy to drive the new Fiesta, we took a detour to Lommel to sample some of Ford’s European C-segment offerings. A variety of vehicles, including one with the new dual-clutch gearbox, a Kuga crossover and the fire-breathing Focus ST, would be on hand for us to drive around the track. But we knew that if we gave into temptation and drove the ST first, the rest would seem sluggish by comparison, even though the vehicles aren’t comparable. So did we resist the urge, or give into the little demon that’s always whispering in our ears to go faster? Follow the jump and we just might tell you.

Published under Fordsend this post
September 13th, 2008

Autoblog drives the 2009 Corvette ZR1! (but we can’t talk about it yet)

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Chevrolet officially kicked off series production of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 at its Bowling Green KY assembly plant this week and decided to celebrate by inviting the media out to drive the new “King of the Hill”. Since there are still several more waves of writers scheduled to drive the cars over the next week, we can’t tell you what we thought of how it drives just yet. We can, however, share some photos of the cars we drove today around the Lutz-ring at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground. Stay tuned next Wednesday, August 20 for our full evaluation. In the meantime, enjoy the gallery and refresh your memory with our intro to the ZR1 from earlier this year.

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August 15th, 2008

BMW X6 at the Michelin U.S. proving ground

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Click above for high-res gallery of the BMW X6 in the wet

During our recent trip to South Carolina to drive the new BMW X6, our test loop included a stop over at Michelin’s U.S. proving ground in Laurens. Two tracks were available for us on which to thrash the X6, one lined with sprinklers to wet the pavement and the other dry. Lou Ann Hammond of CarList.com shared an X6 for the test drive and she brought along a video camera. Lou Ann has now posted several video interviews on her site with BMW engineers talking about some of the technology in the X6. She also braved the passenger seat with her camera as I explored the limits of wet adhesion in the X6 and that video is online, as well. The X6 is heavy and even the most sophisticated slip control systems can’t overcome the basic laws of physics. After 17 years working as an engineer on slip control systems, the most important lesson you learn is that Newton was right. Nonetheless, the X6 never embarrased itself on the track.

Published under BMWsend this post
April 18th, 2008