Ford Raptor



Its big, it’s brash, and oh boy does it kick some ass! The Ford Raptor is every truck enthusiast’s wet dream. Based on the F-150 truck platform, the Raptor has been developed by Ford’s Special Vehicles Team (SVT). Like AMG is to Mercedes, and the M division is to BMW, SVT is Ford’s skunk works that in the past has built some super quick Mustangs and Focuses. With the Raptor, SVT has without a doubt built the most capable off-road truck on the market today.

The Raptor was born after a few SVT engineers entered a modified Ford 150 truck in the famous Baja 1000 off-road race that’s held in the Baja peninsula in Mexico. They took the DNA from the race truck and went about building a street legal truck that can go quickly on any terrain. With its Fox racing shocks that have an epic 11.2 inches of suspension travel at the front, and 12.1 inches at the back, the terrain doesn’t matter. The Raptor comes with big 35-inch, all-terrain tires that give the truck great traction on all surfaces. To complete the mix, the standard engine is a 6.2 liter V8 that puts out 411hp and 588Nm of torque. This deadly cocktail makes the Raptor fly over any obstacle. It’s the ideal vehicle for going very quickly over large open spaces (think deserts) where it soaks up big ruts and jumps while staying completed planted. However, as I found out, not only can the Raptor handle the toughest off-road trails with relative ease, but it’s equally impressive in more confined spaces as well.

To test the Raptor’s credentials, I took it to an off-road recreation area, a dedicated place where off-road enthusiasts can ride varied natural trails and man-made obstacles that serve up every kind of challenge imaginable. On the 160 kilometer highway ride from San Francisco to the off-road park in Hollister, California, the Raptor was surprisingly easy to drive. In the big Raptor, sitting high up, I was easily the tallest driver on the road with a great view of the traffic ahead. The automatic transmission provides smooth shifts, and the truck hums along at about 2,000rpm while cruising at above 100km/h. It has room for five passengers, all of whom can sit in great comfort. The rear doors open wide and make getting into the back very easy. Add to that the now familiar Sync navigation and entertainment interface, and you have a good on-road vehicle, as well as a pretty comfortable highway cruiser. With over 400bhp on tap, I had to make sure I wasn’t speeding on the highway because this big flaming orange truck would be very hard to miss for the
highway patrol.

The first off-road obstacle I attempted to tackle was a steep 45-degree incline on gravel so slippery that my spotter could barely walk up the slope. I put the Raptor into four-wheel drive, selected low range, locked the rear differential, and lined up the truck dead straight to the incline. The Raptor went up without missing a beat. This was a great start, and helped me get a sense of the vehicles capability, which allowed me to get more adventurous and tackle some of the harder trails. Next up, I took the Raptor into a slush pit to check out its fording ability, and, frankly with big tires and high ground clearance, it was again a piece of cake. You would need to dive into a raging river to really get into any trouble in the Raptor. For a long wheelbase vehicle, the Raptor has surprisingly good approach and departure angles. There was one particularly deep pit that demonstrated that the ramp-over angle isn’t ideal. However, the solid skid plates ensured that everything was in order.

The Raptor really comes into its own when it gets some space. On a broken gravel undulating road, I jumped the truck at about 80km/h – all four wheels left the ground, and the truck caught some air. However, the landing was so soft that I barely felt it at all. Credit must be given to the SVT and Fox racing for devising a suspension set-up that is simply brilliant. Even though the rear suspension has leaf springs, they work extremely well with the Fox racing shocks. The shocks feature remote reservoirs to ensure shock rates are maintained during severe use. In front, the Raptor uses a double-wishbone suspension with a high-mount upper arm and a massive aluminum lower control arm. The front has a coil spring set-up with Fox racing shocks doing duty once again. With 11.2 inches of wheel travel at the front, and 12.1 inches at the rear, I’m pretty sure no other production truck comes anywhere close to the Raptor.

The big 6.2 liter V8 gives the Raptor plenty of grunt. The downside, of course, is fuel consumption, and I was able to manage only 5.5km/l. Not surprisingly, its oil rich kingdoms like Abu Dhabi that are ordering the Raptor for their police forces.

The Raptor is a brilliant off-road truck no doubt, but it’s also surprisingly impressive on tarmac. It is, however, big and heavy, and, as a result, a little cumbersome to manoeuvre in tight spaces. It would be great to see Ford take the Raptor concept, and roll it into a more compact package. It would make this already impressive beast of a machine an even more lethal tool off-road, and a lot more manageable on-road – think new tricked out Endeavour! And, you never know, with the off-road enthusiast market in India slowly coming into its own, maybe you’ll start to see vehicles like this before you know it.

Ford Taurus SHO



The Ford Taurus has sold almost 8 million units in the US since it was first introduced in 1986. From 1992-1996, the Taurus was America’s bestselling car – beating the likes of the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. In the late 90’s, and early this century, sales of the Taurus declined as Ford shifted its focus on developing and marketing more profitable SUV’s – however, the Taurus did well enough to keep the brand alive. We tested the recently introduced sixth-generation Taurus to find out just how Ford managed to resurrect this all-American nameplate.

Our test car was the Taurus SHO (Super High Output) that features a 3.6 liter V6 engine that pumps out a healthy 360bhp and a massive 474Nm of torque. The Taurus has good genes, it features all-wheel drive and is largely derived from the Volvo S60 and S80 platform. This is a large car, significantly bigger than a Honda Accord. In its latest iteration, the Taurus is more limousine-like, though the SHO version benefits from a gem of an engine that gave this car a fun character.

The Taurus looks best when viewed from the front. The large chrome and silver grill seems to be inspired by those found on current Range Rovers. The narrow headlights give the car a sleek look. The big 20-inch wheels look good, and appear similar to those found on some of the more aggressive Ford Focuses that are available in Europe. The rear of the Taurus is a little bland, but looks smart enough. The Taurus has a huge boot that allowed me to lug flat packed furniture without even having to fold down the rear seats.

On the inside, the cabin is again large and well laid out. The navigation screen, with the familiar Sync system, dominates the central console. The comfortable seats are not only heated but are also air-conditioned. On a hot summers’ day, the inbuilt fans in the seat blow out cool air – a truly remarkable sensation that would be most welcome during the hot Indian summer. There’s plenty of room at the rear, and three people can sit pretty comfortably.

For me, the highlight of the Taurus is without doubt the twin-turbocharged direct-injection V6 engine. According to Ford, EcoBoost combines two different technologies – turbocharging and direct-injection – to deliver the performance of a much larger engine with the fuel economy of a smaller engine. On the road, I found the engine to be pretty impressive. It’s extremely smooth, and provides seamless acceleration right through the power band. The engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic with steering mounted paddle shifts that the driver can use to feel more involved.

Though the Taurus has all-wheel drive, in normal driving conditions, 90 percent of the power is channelled to the front wheels. Additional power is transferred to the rear wheels only when there is a loss of traction at the front. This results in a bit of torque steer when you launch the car from standstill. And the Taurus has a comfortable ride, however its large dimensions, coupled with body roll, don’t make it the ideal ride for the twisty mountain roads. I also found the brakes to be pretty disappointing, as they lacked feel and felt spongy.

On the whole, the Taurus is a solid car that provides plenty of space and good performance. The heart of this car is Ford’s EcoBoost engine, which is an absolute gem. Now, if only Ford would provide the benefits of EcoBoost in India.

	Engine	:	3,496cc / 6 cylinders / 24 valves / twin-turbocharged EcoBoost
	Fuel	:	Petrol
	Transmission	:	6-Speed automatic with Paddle Shifts / All-Wheel Drive
	Power	:	365bhp @ 5500rpm
	Torque	:	475Nm @ 3500rpm

Ford Mustang



When the Ford Mustang was first launched in 1964, I wonder if Ford had any idea that it was creating a legend that would become a part of automotive history and culture.

The Mustang gave birth to the muscle or ‘pony’ car class – vehicles that had sporty two-door coupe-like styling, coupled with big engines and rear-wheel drive. More than four decades later, the pony car wars continue with the Chevrolet Camaro and Chrysler Challenger battling it out with the Mustang. However, over the years it has been the Mustang that has become the undisputed champ, and has dominated the segment. Ford has sold more Mustangs than the combined sales of all other muscle cars.

Now in its fifth generation, the Mustang retains its retro styling. Though the Mustang has become slightly bigger and heavier since its inception, the car retains its muscular good looks. When pictured with a previous generation Mustang, you can immediately see how the current cars styling has evolved and improved. I tested the V6 model that includes the new Mustang Club of America appearance package. It features a unique dark stainless steel billet grille, with a tri-bar pony badge, front lower-mounted fog lamps, side tape stripes, and a rear decklid spoiler. With its performance minded 18-inch dark stainless painted aluminium wheels with P235/50 R18 tires, this Mustang looks like it’s ready to race.

On the inside, the Mustang beautifully combines retro styling with state-of-the-art technology. The one-piece instrument cluster has aluminium accents that work well with the cars sporty credentials. The heated front seats are comfortable, and provide adequate support. There is of course the now customary, but no less impressive, Ford Sync audio and navigation system that is nicely integrated into the console. The Mustangs rear seats are spacious, and have a decent amount of leg room for a coupe. One feature that took me aback was the cars ambient lighting. The Mustang features available ambient lighting that gives you the choice of seven colours – purple, blue, orange, red, soft blue, green and Ice Blu – to illuminate the footwells, cup holders, and map pockets. There’s also a custom setting, which lets you select one of 125-plus custom colors for your instrument gauge cluster, or simply match an ambient lighting colour – now that’s serious overkill, or many Mustang owners have a fetish for interior lighting!



Fire up the 3.7 liter V6 engine, and the Mustang greets you with a nice rumble – one that no four cylinder engine can ever match. This engine puts out a healthy 305 horsepower and 380Nm of torque. Employing twin independent variable camshaft timing (TiVCT) and cold air induction, the Mustang engine delivers excellent power and great off-the-line low-end torque. Our test car came with a six-speed automatic transmission, though there is also a manual 6-speed that is available.

On the road, the Mustang is impressive. It gets to 100km/h in less than 6 seconds, and provides seamless acceleration right through the power band. Having been charmed by this V6 Mustang, I look forward to testing the V8 variant that puts out over 400bhp. Ford has made big strides in improving the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, and the Mustang is no different. They claim that the Mustang will deliver 13.5km/l at highway speeds. I averaged almost 10km/l, which in itself is pretty good considering that I made abundant use of the throttle pedal.

In the handling department, the Mustang acquits itself well. There is slight understeer when pushed hard. However, switch the traction control off and it’s easy to power slide this silver Stang at corner exits. The Mustang really does provide the ideal compromise between comfort and performance. It provides good damping while cruising on the highway, however inspires enough confidence to have fun on mountain roads. And a point to be noted is that this is very much the entry level Mustang – the bigger engined cars benefit from more aggressive suspension tuning, and will handle even better.

Ford has done a great job with this latest iteration of the Mustang. It looks great and offers solid performance. It makes for a good daily driver, and can be a track weapon too if required. It really can be all things to all people.

In India, Ford needs a halo car to inject some excitement into the brand – and the Mustang would really draw a crowd in showrooms. It’s about time they offered the Mustang to Indian buyers so they can get a taste of true Americana.

	Engine	:	3720cc / V6 / 24 Valves / DOHC / Twin independent variable camshaft timing
	Fuel	:	Petrol
	Transmission	:	6-speed automatic / 6-speed manual / Rear-Wheel Drive
	Power	:	305bhp @ 6500rpm
	Torque	:	380Nm @ 4250rpm