WomanOnWheels.ca

Auto lighting: Not just pretty colors

The colors that automakers use for interior lighting aren't just randomly selected. Depending on what's used, the effect can calm you, or bring your attention to important information. Read all about it in my Driving Force column in Metro by clicking here.

Vehicle sustainability: A major part of building a car

It's no longer enough for automakers to just design a car and send it out to buyers. Today, they also have to think about fuel economy and the impact of alternative fuels, including what happens to batteries and fuel cells once their useful lives are over. I talked to Ford about it; read all about it in my Driving Force column in Metro by clicking here.

MyFord Touch: Finally, Ford is listening

In the news today: Ford is simplifying MyFord Touch, the touch-screen system introduced last year to control such features as the stereo, navigation, climate and telephone functions. It seems the automaker bowed to complaints about how slow and non-intuititive the Touch can be.

Ever since I first used it, I've thought it should be bundled with a cinderblock and thrown off a cliff - most recently in the Ford Focus. If you just get the "plain" MyFord Touch system, you end up with a screen that requires you to tap the very edges to access anything - tough enough when the vehicle's standing still, and much harder when it's moving - and then page through various computer screens to get to what you want. If you upgrade to the Sony system, you also get tiny spots on a glassy surface that are virtually impossible to hit accurately unless you're driving on an equally glassy road.

And when it's cold, such as when you start the car on a frosty morning, the system takes forever to do anything. You can almost time it by the calendar.

To its credit, Ford is making the changes fairly early in the program (unlike BMW, which took years to admit that the original iDrive wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread). Still, why do automakers - or any electronics company - send out products that aren't easy to figure out in the first place?

I've always said that once any system is designed, be it a stereo, navigation or any other electronic device, the engineers should take it out and give it to everyone in the building who isn't an engineer. If the receptionist, the janitor, the lunchroom servers can't figure out how to make it find an address, play music or set up a phone call, it goes back to the drawing board until they can.

Part of the MyFord Touch remake also includes online tutoring videos showing you how to use it, and training at the dealership level so the staff can tell customers how to work it. Which means it's probably still too complicated. I used to praise Ford to the skies for the big, simple controls it used for functions. That was, unfortunately, too long ago.

2012 Ford Focus: Beautiful car, but who engineered that transmission?

There are some very good direct shift gearboxes on the market, but this is not one of them. Read all about it in my review on Autos.ca by clicking here.

Baby boomers are designing your next car...

Many drivers who have the money to buy new cars are moving toward their senior years, and automakers know it - they're designing vehicles with these buyers in mind. You can read about how Ford does it in my "Driving Force" column in Metro by clicking here.

Exploring the Ford Explorer

The Ford Explorer is redesigned for 2011: it's now a unibody instead of a body-on-frame, and it's primarily front-wheel-drive. And overall, it works. You can read my review in Autos.ca by clicking here.

Another look at Ford's paint

 Another look at how Ford chooses the colors for its cars, this time in my Driving Force column in Metro. You can check it out by clicking here.

Perfect paint: How Ford chooses its colors

Color is one of the most important features on a vehicle for consumers, and it's a major step when car companies plan their new models. I spoke with Ford to find out how it's done; you can read my report in Autos.ca by clicking here.

Preventing whiplash through better design

 They're called head restraints, not headrests, because the idea is that they help to prevent whiplash in collisions. Find out how Ford is designing its seats in my Driving Force column in Metro by clicking here.

The electric future is trucks: Ford's Transit Connect Electric

Electric cars are available, but I believe that electric trucks are really going to pave the way for this technology. You can find out why on my story on the Ford Transit Connect Electric - read all about it in Metro by clicking here.

Driving the electric Ford Transit Connect

Electric cars may be coming to market, but it's going to be electric trucks that really push the technology forward. I drove Ford's Transit Connect on battery power and you can read all about it on Autos.ca by clicking here.

Your next car may be made from dandelions!

Well, parts of it, anyway. Ford is experimenting with using dandelion sap as a substitute for rubber, and while it's still a long way from the showroom floor, the results appear to be promising. Read all about it in my Driving Force column in Metro by clicking here.

Keeping electric vehicle batteries cool

 Batteries work best when they're just the right temperature - which usually doesn't include the extremes you'll find in an automobile. In my Driving Force column in Metro, I have a look at how Ford deals with the problem. Find it by clicking here.

Technology: Ford's MuCell plastic parts

Coming to a Ford near you - bubbles! The company will be using a new technology called MuCell to reduce the weight of certain plastic parts. You can read all about it in my Driving Force column in Metro by clicking here.

More on the 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

Here's a look at the 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, this time with The Toronto Star. Yes, I still love this truck ... read all about it by clicking here.

In review: 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

Yes, I gush. I love the Ford Raptor, a niche-market pickup truck with awesome capability for off-roading, especially high-speed racing. You can read all about it at Autos.ca by clicking here.

CTV talks about electric vehicles ...

 CTV News wanted an opinion on electric vehicles, and was kind enough to ask me. You can read Andy Johnson's story on Ford's push into electric cars by clicking here.

In review: 2011 Ford Explorer

In the Toronto Star, I have a look at the redesigned Ford Explorer, which is now a unibody SUV. You can find it by clicking here.

Why are there so many auto brands? And should you buy one that's gone?

Ever wonder why there are so many auto brands, especially among the domestics? And if one has been discontinued, should you buy a used one anyway? I have a look at it in a Toronto Star story that you can find by clicking here. (Sorry about the pdf; it never ran online.)

MyFord Touch: It may be the answer to the question no one asked

MyFord Touch, along with the MyLincoln Touch pictured here, is a new system for controlling a vehicle's climate, entertainment, navigation and phone controls.

I don't like it and have written that on several occasions. And while I felt like a lone voice in the wilderness for quite a while, I've now been vindicated by Consumer Reports, which has reviewed MyFord Touch for its February 2011 issue. The magazine's editors found it to be "a complicated distraction while driving," and in addition, "first-time users might find it impossible to comprehend. The system did not always perform as promised."

That's basically what I've said since the first time I laid eyes on it. In fact, when judging vehicles for the Canadian Car of the Year award, I gave the Lincoln MKX low marks for ergonomics based on the faceplate you see here. Try driving and touching one of those tiny nubbins to turn the heat up. Sure, I could also have done it through a button on my steering wheel that would bring up a little LED picture in my instrument cluster, or I could have pushed another button and told the disembodied voice exactly what temperature I wanted. But why should such a simple request require so much technology?

Why, when I'm driving 100 km/h and my eyes are supposed to be on the road, should I have to do anything other than reach over and spin a big honkin' dial to turn the temperature up or down? Other than the fact that some design engineer thinks that this is what people want, why should any control on any vehicle be anything other than dead-nuts simple?

Another look at the Hershey antique auto flea market

I have a story on my trip to the antique automotive flea market in Hershey, including something on the Ford Transit Connect that was my chariot, in Canadian Driver; find it by clicking here.

A look at Ford F-150's newest engines

The Ford F-150 has four new engines, and I went to Texas to drive 'em all. You can read my report by clicking here.

In review: 2011 Ford Edge

In the Toronto Star, I have a look at the all-new 2011 Ford Edge, which you can find by clicking here.

Technology: MyFord Touch

Up today in Metro, I have a look at MyFord Touch in my Driving Force column; you can find it by clicking here.

In review: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

In the Toronto Star, I have a review of the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, which you can find by clicking here. 

The end of cassettes, and Ford's Super Duty

In the Toronto Star, I have a piece on the end of the cassette player, which you can find by clicking here.

I also have another look at the 2011 Ford Super Duty, available over here.

In review: 2011 Ford Super Duty

On today's Canadian Driver, I have a first look at the 2011 Ford Super Duty. What a fun launch that was -- towing, hauling, and off-road in honkin' big trucks. I'll take that over a sports car on a racetrack any day of the week.

You can find my report by clicking here.   

Today's technology: Ford's inflatable seatbelts

In my technology column in today's Metro, I have a look at Ford's inflatable seatbelts. You can find the story by clicking here. 

In review: 2010 Ford Taurus

In the Toronto Star, I have a review of the 2010 Ford Taurus, which you can find by clicking here.

Ford: Spinning straw into ... plastic?

In Metro today, I have a story on Ford's new plastic, which contains wheat straw. You can find it by clicking here.

You can see all of my Metro technology stories through the links in the blue bar to the right; scroll almost all the way down to "Auto Technology."

In review: 2010 Ford Taurus

On Canadian Driver, I have a review of the 2010 Ford Taurus, which you can access by clicking here. 

Top swag at the Detroit Auto Show

Actually, more like the only swag at the Detroit show, but what a cool thing it is. Ford handed out these toy Focus models at the end of its press event. Turns out that the back "license plate" swings out to reveal that it's actually a flash drive containing the press kit.

I got to see the auto shows before they began to wind down in the face of the new economy. I saw the cars crashing through windows, the celebrity appearances, the food and booze piled high in every booth. And there was swag, so much that if you collected it all, you couldn't carry it all home. Some of it got ridiculous: bongo drums, flashlights, radio-controlled cars, folding chairs. Ones for the more popular models were often on eBay the moment they were handed out.

I prefer the more realistic approach -- for one thing, it's a lot easier to get press kits, without fighting through a mob determined to get the freebie. But I do like this little car. It's one kit that'll stay on my desk, rather than in the drawer.

A sneak peek at the Ford Heavy Duty pickup

  In today's Toronto Star, I have a look at the 2011 Ford Heavy-Duty pickup -- they didn't let me drive it, alas, but I did get to spend time at the farm show! You can find it by clicking here.

Ford Fusion: It's tops with Motor Trend

The Ford Fusion has been named the 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year. It was the first magazine to offer such an award -- the initial one was in 1949 -- and it's still considered the biggest of the big, or at least, the one that the general public is most likely to recognize. And I think they hit the nail on the head with this one.

It went up against some pretty big guns, including vehicles I think were equally worthy of the crown -- Buick LaCrosse, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Mazda3 -- and even some high-end stuff that's among the better cars I've driven, like the BMW Z4, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Porsche Panamera.

A lowly Ford Fusion defeating the mighty Panamera, or the zippy Z4? The enthusiasts are tearing out their hair, and tearing up their subscriptions even as we speak. But they miss the point. Motor Trend -- and other awarding bodies that get it right -- doesn't necessarily crown a car because it's the best one in the batch. Instead, it's the car that gets it right for its intended audience. In many cases, that's an audience that has no idea what's going on under the hood, but needs a car that'll handle the job.

Motor Trend noted that the Fusion comes in a wide assortment of models, gets good fuel economy, offers a hybrid, has lots of passenger and cargo space, and can be ordered with higher-end options if desired.

Sure, the fit-and-finish and material quality don't come close to BMW or Mercedes. It'll still be getting its front wheels over the start line when the Panamera's at the finish. But that means nothing to someone whose car budget taps out at $18,000 -- and there are a lot of people whose car budget taps out at $18,000.

Auto companies listen to journalists, but they sell cars to average buyers. This time around, the journalists listened to the average buyers, too.

Another review: 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

I have another look at the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor on Canadian Driver, which you can find by clicking here.

In review: 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

In today's Toronto Star, I have a review of the 2010 Ford SVT Raptor, which you can find by clicking here.

Confused about hybrids? Here's some help ...

Last week I was in Vancouver with Toyota, where part of the event involved a comparison of the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Ford Fusion Hybrid. My Toronto Star story, which dealt with the confusion buyers have about hybrids, can be found by clicking here.

Ford's global cars, new and old: Fiesta and Model T

Ford recently gave me an opportunity to drive two of its global cars: the upcoming Fiesta, expected for 2010, and its first worldwide seller, the Model T. The story's on Canadian Driver and you can find it by clicking here.

Camaro, Mustang, Challenger ...

If you don't believe that this is the Holy Trinity, then we have nothing to discuss.

Coast to coast with 55 Ford Model Ts!

Now here are some folks with a lot more gumption than I have: come June, some 55 Ford Model Ts will be driven from New York to Seattle. It's to commemorate a 1909 cross-country race, open to all models, in which a T was the first over the finish line.

The original race was sponsored by millionaire Robert Guggenheim and was part of an exposition in Seattle. This time around, it's a group of enthusiasts, representing all 50 states and five overseas cars. They'll take about a month to do it, following the original route as closely as they can, and stopping in the towns where the drivers of one hundred years ago bedded down each night.

The prize was eventually given to a Massachusetts-built Shawmut that finished 17 hours after the leader, since the judges claimed that the Model T had had its engine swapped out for a portion of the route. But that didn't stop Henry Ford from using the race extensively in his advertising for the Model T, which in 1909 was in its first full year of production.

It sounds like a blast, and here's hoping all 55 make it to the finish line with as few headaches and as much fun as possible. You can read more about it on the group's website, which you can reach by clicking here.

Note to Carroll Shelby: Make cars, not cornbread!

In the news today: Carroll Shelby is planning to launch a line of food items under the "Shelby Signature Foods" name. According to his press release, "the company will focus on healthy comfort foods, as well as regional specialties such as salad dressing mixes, cornbread, salsa, and fried chicken batter mix."

Yes, he loves to cook, he helped start the first World Chili cook-offs, and he helped to start a restaurant chain -- apparently, by designing the shops and choosing the menu. And at the SEMA show last year, someone was selling a set of wines with his name and signature on them. Which is where it should have stopped. Carroll, hon, we love you to pieces, but you're not Paul Newman. Build cars. Build many, many cars. But leave the fried chicken to that guy with the white suit and the string tie, please.

Ford's MyKey: Guidelines for young drivers

  I had an opportunity to see a demonstration of Ford's MyKey, the new system that sets limits on what a young driver can do with the car's speed, audio controls and seatbelts. It's up on Canadian Driver, and you can find it by clicking here.

Elantra Touring, and why small cars won't save Detroit

I have two stories in today's Toronto Star: a review of the 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring, which you can find here, and an opinion piece on why the sudden push into small cars won't save the Detroit Three, which you can access here.

Building the vehicles people want to buy ...

  The numbers are in. For 2008, the Ford F-Series pickup truck was the best-selling truck in Canada, for the 43rd year in a row.

In the U.S., the F-Series was also the top-selling truck -- but in addition, it was also the best-selling vehicle, including all cars, trucks, crossovers, SUVs and vans.

And yet, the critics say, the domestic manufacturers don't build the vehicles people want to buy.

Driving the Ford Fusion Hybrid

On Canadian Driver, I have another look at the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid; you can read it by clicking here.

It's true: Lincoln's as dumb as Lexus

  Ford has announced a new technology, which it will roll out on the 2010 Lincoln MKS and MKT, called Active Park Assist. In short, it parallel parks your car for you.

Yes, a few people suffered through this with Lexus. Ford says that its system uses sensors instead of a camera, and will work much better and much faster. Maybe so, and I sure hope they're right, because it was quicker to walk to the mall than to get the Lexus to back into a spot once you got there.

Still, while most technology is keen-and-cool, I think there comes a point where you have to stop depending on the vehicle and learn some skills, and this is one of them.

A Ford spokesman said that "this is another example of exclusive Ford smart technology," and that "with the touch of a button, Lincoln MKS and MKT drivers can parallel park quickly ..."

Sorry, friend, but you're wrong on both counts. This isn't smart. And anyone who needs it is not someone I'd call a "driver."

A drive in the Ford Fusion Hybrid

  Earlier this week I had a chance at a short test-drive in the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, which goes on sale next year. You can read my report in the Toronto Star by clicking here.

Year-end wrap-up: My best and worst cars

  Each year, the Toronto Star asks its automotive writers to pick the best and worst cars driven during the year. My choices for 2008 can be found by clicking here.

Hang on ... the government's making SENSE?

In the wake of the Detroit Three zipping over to Washington to plead a case for a bailout (and I still can't believe anyone pulling down a salary as a spin doctor didn't foresee the private-jet fiasco), Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have sent them a letter outlining what they'll need to do in order for their request to be considered.

Much to my shock, the government's demands make sense. Mark that one on the calendar; people will be talking about that for centuries to come.

Among the things the automakers need to do:

- Provide forthright, documented assessment of the current operating cash position, short-term needs, and how they'll meet long-term needs;

- Provide varying estimates of the terms of the loan, tied in with assumptions of current, improved or worse sales rates;

- Report and share information with any government mechanisms designed to safeguard the loans;

- Ensure the taxpayers get paid back first;

- Address health care payments and pension obligations;

- And my favorite, bar the payment of dividends and excessive executive compensation, including bonsues and golden parachutes by companies receiving taxpayer assistance.

The only other question: why the hell didn't the auto execs fly into Washington with such a plan already tucked under their arms? I think we've all applied for loans, whether through credit cards or the bank, and we pretty much know what the loans officer is going to ask us. I've never run a multi-billion-dollar company and know I can't. But sometimes it scares me when I realize just how out-of-touch these folks on the upper floors can be.

So should the government bail out the Detroit Three?

Yes.

Okay, so you want more than that. Yes, I think it's necessary, because of what North America would look like without them -- and I don't just mean directly. I live in a GM town -- one where the automaker has closed an on-site subsidiary and a truck plant so far. It's tough enough for outlying businesses just when the plants close down for two weeks each year on summer holidays. You should see it when a plant closes for good.

When people think about auto companies, they think about men and women bolting parts together on the line. They don't think about how much further that goes. The feeder plants that make the parts, and all the people they employ. The company that supplies the cafeteria, and the company that provides them with the bread and beans and bagels. The companies that make the shipping containers, the work gloves, the bathroom tissue, the companies that deliver it, the companies that take it away. It's almost impossible to comprehend the amount of material in an auto plant that isn't even related to the cars, and all of that comes from somewhere.

Certainly you can say that the Detroit Three helped bring this on themselves, but that doesn't make things any better. You can castigate a welfare mother for birthing a new baby, but that doesn't change the fact that mother and baby need to eat to stay alive. The three automakers should have become leaner and meaner 25 years ago, but they didn't. That was then, but we have to fix it now.

Don't think they aren't trying; for the most part, these three are turning out the best and the most fuel-efficient vehicles they've ever made, but it takes time. I'm very tired of opening the paper each day and seeing yet another letter to the editor where someone says, "GM needs to immediately start making the Volt/microcars/cars that run on coffee." Quite simply, you do not convert auto production in a day, or a week, or a month, or in many months. The cars coming off the line right now were designed and engineered years ago. Flexible manufacturing helps immensely, but the reality is that an all-new vehicle needs to be tooled, dies must be made, parts must be sourced, the supply chain must be adjusted, people must be trained, advertising must be focused, dealers must be prepared, and that's just the big stuff. I've talked to designers. It takes weeks just to come up with a door panel that can be readily produced in bulk, doesn't hit on the power switches, and fits the outside door that someone else designed. And that's just one part in a car that has thousands of them.

GM, Ford and Chrysler get it; don't think for a moment that they don't. They know what they've done wrong, and what the Japanese and Koreans have done right. But while they've been focusing their operations to bring us better and more fuel-efficient vehicles in the shortest timeframe possible, the goalposts moved.

There must be bailout money, and it's got to be freed up now, before it's too late. Automakers operate on something called economy of scale. If vehicle production drops below a certain number, the company can't survive. It's happened before; we now only know names like Studebaker, Kaiser, Pierce-Arrow and Packard because of antique-car shows. It could very easily happen again, and it could very easily happen very soon.

Put strings on the bailout. Tell Mulally, Wagner and Nardelli that they'll get their operating cash, but they'll draw no more than a manager's salary until the books are in the black again. That's tough love to someone hauling down $20 million a year, but look on the bright side: do you want to be the hero who saved the ship, or the rat who went down with it? Then, when the strings are in place, open the purse, and open it wide.

Can we afford to do it? We can't afford not to do it. Go rent Michael Moore's Roger and Me. Take a good look at the scenes of Flint. I mean a really long, good hard look at those scenes. Now think about what it would be like to live like that in your neighborhood. And if you think it wouldn't happen that way, then believe me: you're just not giving it enough thought.