Latest news with #FordPerformance
Forbes
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
250 Million Acre Public Land Sale Would Ruin The Off-Road Industry
Ford Performance at the 2025 King of the Hammers in Southern California's Johnson Valley. Since President Trump took office in January, the amount of threats to anything considered public—from a large slice of our nation's workforce to the media—have been unrelenting. Earlier this month, these threats took on a new form: potentially robbing the American people of millions of acres of public land. Unveiled on June 11th and revised on the 14th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's budget reconciliation bill outlines over 250 million acres, to be slightly more exact, that could be offered up for sale to private business. As reported on by Jonathon Klein of Ride Apart, this could have a tremendous negative impact on not just our natural resources, but every corner of the outdoor industry as well. For those amongst us who enjoy off-road driving (or hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, cycling, climbing, etc.), the possibility of being cut-off from lands where we savor such activity is very real. Klein points out one particular swath of land in Southern California, Johnson Valley—home to one of the world's top off-road racing events, King of the Hammers—is on the chopping block, which would not only be detrimental to this event, but every single industry that's involved in it. Automakers, the aftermarket performance and racing industries, tourism, general outdoor equipment industries; the list goes on. Take that same scenario and multiply it by every other parcel of land that outdoor enthusiasts could lose access to, and the damage would be extensive. For a good overall picture of what's on the chopping block, The Wilderness Society has created a handy map. Competitors at the 2020 King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley, California. But why is all of this land potentially for sale? As stated in the bill itself, as much as $15 billion in revenue could come from expanded oil, gas, coal, and geothermal leasing. Other aims include increased housing production, domestic energy security and timber production, as well as, in the bill's summarized words, 'ensuring states and counties benefit from energy projects on federal lands.' The Wilderness Society has also outlined a handful of counter arguments. In its words, 'research suggests that very little of the land managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and USFS (US Forest Service) is actually suitable for housing.' It also explains that the federal government can revoke national monument status and that certain changes would negatively impact sovereign Tribal Nations. We can't forget the fact that increased energy production carries its own environmental hazards, too. It's all bad and very unnecessary. One thing that truly makes America great is its beautiful natural land that's here for all of us to savor, and this bill could cut off a very significant portion of it. And again, there's the immense adverse effect on every single outdoor industry, especially off-road driving and racing, and the massive amount of American companies that feed it. Contact your US senator and let them know how you feel. Especially if you live in Utah, which is Senator Mike Lee's turf. He's Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the creator of this bill—ironically, as many as 18 million acres of his state's land could potentially be up for sale. That's a lot of territory for off-road driving, hunting, shooting, fishing, climbing, camping, hiking, mountain biking, and so on.
News24
a day ago
- Automotive
- News24
1 030kW electric beast: Super Mustang Mach-E targets new Pikes Peak record
This year marks Ford's third consecutive year of fielding an electric vehicle at Pikes Peak. The Super Mustang Mach-E produces 3 129kg of downforce at 241km/h. Romain Dumas takes part in his tenth Pikes Peak and third with Ford Performance. What do you get if you take a Mustang Mach-E, tune it up with three STARD UHP 6-Phase motors producing over 1 400 horsepower ( 1 043kW) and put veteran racer Romain Dumas behind the wheel? The answer: possibly the fastest car to ever go up Pikes Peak. The Super Mustang Mach-E demonstrator has been purpose-built to tackle the gruelling 19.98km Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on 22 June. Ford cemented its reputation on 'America's Mountain' with a legacy dating back to 1916 when a Model T first conquered the climb. Since then, constant innovation has driven Ford's presence at Pikes Peak. This year marks Ford's third consecutive year of fielding an electric demonstrator, following the 2023 record-setting SuperVan 4.2 and the 2024 F-150 Lightning SuperTruck claiming the overall win last year. The lighter, leaner Super Mustang Mach-E could hold an advantage over its contemporaries where nimbleness counts as much as overall power. 'We're continuing to push the boundaries of what's possible with electric vehicles,' said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance. 'This Super Mustang Mach-E demonstrator represents the next stage in our electrification journey - lighter, leaner, just as powerful, and more capable in high-altitude competition. Racing is our test bed; every data point we gather on the mountain helps us build better electric vehicles for our customers - maximizing power delivery, improving regen strategies, or managing heat in extreme elevation changes. What we learn here goes straight into future production.' The Mustang's mechanical make-up comprises three STARD UHP 6-Phase motors producing over 1 043kW, all fed by 50kWh of ultra-high-performance Li-polymer NMC pouch cells. It runs a voltage of 799V, but this year's setup sheds critical weight - over 117kg - while delivering regenerative braking of 710kW. Handling all 156 turns - up to the 4 302m summit – are a carbon braking system, forged magnesium wheels, and Pirelli P-Zero tyres. And with those infamous steep cliffs eager to punish the slightest mistake, the 3 129kg of downforce at 241km/h will help Dumas safely snake his way up the hill. Competing in his third outing with Ford, and tenth Pikes Peak overall, will be current record holder Romain Dumas. 'After last year's incredible run with the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck and SuperVan 4.2 before it, I'm honoured to be back with Ford to take on this challenge once again,' said Dumas. 'This Mach-E is a different beast, and we're excited to see what it can do on the mountain.' click here.
Auto Blog
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Ford's Super Mustang Mach-E Looks Unstoppable at Pikes Peak
Ford has revealed its contender for the 2025 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and it's looking like a winner. Ford Performance Strikes Back at Pikes Peak Ford Performance is going back to Colorado for this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – the Blue Oval's Nth try since the Model T's maiden run in 1916. With the Ford Mustang GTD setting lap records on the other side of the pond, the Mustang appears to be the ideal candidate to conquer the mountain's 12.42-mile, 156-turn route. But it won't be the ICE-powered Mustang that will challenge records this weekend. Meet the Super Mustang Mach-E – a sharper, lighter, and arguably more dangerous version of the otherwise mundane electric crossover, purpose-built to set records at Pikes Peak. After two years of headline-making electric builds – from the wild E-Transit SuperVan to last year's title-winning F-150 Lightning SuperTruck – Ford's latest creation feels like a surgical strike. Engineered To Conquer The Treacherous Colorado Mountain The Super Mustang Mach-E has all the ingredients to secure a win at Pikes Peak. It weighs around 250 pounds less than the SuperTruck, tipping the scales in favor of agility and balance. On a climb where weight and precision can make or break a run, that's a huge advantage. But there's more than weight savings at play here. Powering this monster is a trio of UHP 6-phase electric motors that deliver more than 1,400 horsepower, curiously tuned down a bit compared to its road-course version. Matching this huge grunt is 6,900 pounds of downforce generated at 150 mph, resulting in a car that sticks to the tarmac, unlike few others at this event. The Super Mustang Mach-E also employs 710 kW of regenerative braking, reeling back serious energy to the system during tight turns and whatnots. Source: Ford A Record-Setting Legend At The Helm But a top-rank contender is nothing without a worthy pilot at the helm. Behind the tiller of the Super Mustang Mach-E is none other than Romain Dumas, a Pikes Peak legend who holds the all-time course record (in a Volkswagen, by the way) that the Blue Oval contender wants to break. It's a solid driver-car combo that resulted in a winning run for Ford last year. This year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is happening on June 22, 2025, with a slew of contenders from various automakers. One of them will be the Honda CR-V e:FCEV, set to become the first hydrogen-powered vehicle to complete the Race to the Clouds. About the Author Jacob Oliva View Profile
The Drive
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
Ford Is Backpedaling From EVs. So Why Is It Still Building Electric Race Cars?
The latest car news, reviews, and features. For the third year in a row, Ford is going back to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a battery-powered, humungous-winged demonstrator to claim top honors and show the world what its electric vehicles can do when fully unleashed. First, it was the SuperVan 4.2, which set a record for the Open class; then, last year, it was the turn of the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. The 2025 contender is the Super Mustang Mach-E: A roughly 3,400-pound switchback-carving monster with up to 2,250 horsepower that can generate nearly double its weight in downforce at speed. There's no question it'll be quick, especially compared to driver Romain Dumas' previous attempt in the SuperTruck, which was fastest in its category despite being held up by a 27-second stall. But after a year in which Ford has canned one large electric SUV project, delayed the F-150 Lightning's successor, and is reportedly idling an entire battery plant while leasing part of another to Nissan, you might wonder: Why bother with the fast EVs right now? This was exactly the question I posed to Mark Rushbrook. He's the Global Director of Ford Performance, the division responsible for everything from the Mustang Dark Horse, to Raptor off-roaders, to the company's various campaigns in endurance racing, rallying, and very soon, Formula 1. When I caught him, it was last Thursday afternoon before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Busy time of year in that line of work. Ford's Super Mustang Mach-E demonstrator will take on Pikes Peak on June 22. Ford Ford's going big into hybrids—why not make a hybrid demonstrator? 'For sure as a company, we are committed to providing the powertrains of choice for our customers and the vehicles that they're wanting,' Rushbrook said. 'We will have ICE vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and full-electric vehicles, but the proportion of those over the years is going to change. I don't think we're getting to full EVs as quickly as we thought, but we're still getting there. 'We still have [electric] vehicles for sale today. We still have vehicles in the product development pipeline that are coming. What we're learning in motorsport, whether it's where we compete in ICE, in hybrid, or electric, is still informing all of our future products. So, we're still committed, we've got a lot of series where we race ICE, and it'll stay that way for a number of years. We've got even more series where we compete with hybrid, with our return to Formula 1, where it's 50/50 between the power from the ICE and power from electric, and also our [Le Mans] Hypercar program.' 2023's Ford SuperVan 4.2 demonstrator. Ford The insights Ford's taking from its full-electric endeavors inform the hybrid side, Rushbrook told me. And although the pace of Dearborn's EV rollout has slowed, as have those of other automakers, there are still electric cars in the pipeline, and electrification is ultimately where we're all headed. 'What we learn in our full-electric demonstrators can help what we do with hybrid vehicles that we sell to customers, because a lot of the technology with the battery cell chemistry, with the software, the calibration, the inverter—it is transferable,' Rushbrook said. 'Not necessarily directly, but what we're learning, or the methods, or the processes.' EVs still have their limits, even for the kinds of no-holds-barred, money-no-expense demonstrators Ford's built over recent years. It's why Formula E runs at tight street circuits rather than at F1 tracks, with their lengthy straightaways. Ford will have F1 and Le Mans to deploy hybrid tech, and of course, there are gas-powered Mustangs in the World Endurance Championship, IMSA, and NASCAR. But right now, if you want to show off the apex of all-electric performance, there's kind of no better gauntlet than Pikes Peak. An Open-class car scales the mountain in under nine minutes, and the weaknesses of internal combustion at high altitudes don't apply to EVs. 2024's Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck demonstrator. Ford 'If you take a technology like full electric to existing motorsports, it challenges it in that sense, right?' Rushbrook said. 'Like, to be where we are here at Le Mans and to do a 24-hour race. Yeah. That's not what EVs are intended for at this point, or certainly not what the technology is capable of at this point. But I don't know what it's going to be [capable of] in 10, 20, 30 years. Maybe they will be racing full-electric vehicles here in that timeframe. The benefit for us of the demonstrators is we're able to tailor what we do with a vehicle to what the technology is already capable of, but also pushing it further than what it's capable of to really learn about it.' There's also encouragement from both the likeliest and unlikeliest source you can imagine. 'As soon as [Ford CEO] Jim Farley saw the SuperVan 4—he was there at Goodwood with us—he said, 'All right, now let's take this to Pikes Peak,'' Rushbook told me 'And we said, 'Oh, well, if you want to go to Pikes Peak, and if you want to set a time, we need to build another SuperVan.'' Cue the evolved SuperVan 4.2, which had its powertrain, chassis, and aero package all completely reconfigured to tackle Pikes. It still holds the class record, at 8:47.682, and Ford should be able to beat that this go around—provided electrical snafus don't crop up at the wrong time, like they did in last year's SuperTruck. Ford The Super Mach-E is lighter than the F-150, by 270 pounds. It has a smaller frontal area, which lessens wind resistance. And it incorporates active wings and carbon ceramic brakes, both firsts for Ford at the event. The engineers have benefited from another cycle of learning how to better calibrate the power delivery, too. One notable thing that hasn't changed is the human at the helm, because you really can't do better than Romain Dumas. 'What he's able to do behind the steering wheel continues to amaze me,' Rushbrook said. 'But even more than that is his ability to, for the 12.42-mile course and 156 turns, he's able to come back after a run and break down in detail what has happened in each individual corner and what is good and what needs to be better.' With the 24 Hours of Le Mans a couple days ahead of our chat, I was left with one question for Rushbrook. Sure, we won't see full-EV Le Mans Hypercars anytime soon, but what about as a Garage 56 experiment, with ultra-rapid recharging? 'We've talked about [a Le Mans demonstrator] a lot across the years. The only thing I would say, maybe why we haven't done it, is the cost to run a 24-hour race is staggeringly high. So the cost of the demonstrator in that space would be way above what we're spending normally. But yeah, you never know.' I believe Rushbrook when he says they've had the conversation. Once you've scaled the highest peak, the question then becomes: Where to next? Got tips? Send 'em to tips@
The Drive
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
Ford's Most Hardcore EV Yet Has Active Aero, Carbon Brakes, and 2,250 HP
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Ford's steady drumbeat of record-conquering electric performance cars continues in 2025 with the Super Mustang Mach-E. Like the SuperVan 4.2 and the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck before it, this juiced-up race SUV will power up Pikes Peak under the careful control of Ford Performance driver Romain Dumas in yet another attempt to dethrone its own predecessor at the 2025 running of the International Hill Climb event. Ford's return to Colorado comes on the heels of a simultaneously impressive and disappointing 2024 outing. Despite a stall that stranded the SuperTruck for just shy of 27 seconds, it was only about 6 seconds slower up the mountain than the SuperVan. Those are some tortoise-and-the-hare type numbers. And the new Mach-E is even faster, Ford says. When he spoke to us, Ford Performance engineer Zach Burns was visibly proud of what the team accomplished in such a short period of time. Despite being spread across the globe (Europe, North Carolina, Michigan, and elsewhere), they managed to design, prototype, and build a brand-new race car in just under seven months. The physical car didn't even reach America until early May, when it was quickly shipped to Colorado for its first shakedown drives. With just six weeks from delivery to the green flag, Burns and the rest of the crew had a lot of testing to do. 'There was still snow at the top,' Burns recalled. Ford This year's entry is not merely iterative. The closest things you'll find to carry-over parts from the SuperTruck are all in the powertrain. A few production components remain—door handles, windshield wipers, and motors, things like that—but the bulk of what you see is the result of a ground-up redesign. Technically, the new Super Mustang Mach-E comes in two flavors. The version that Dumas will pilot at Pikes packs three motors (one front, two rear) with a combined output of 1,421 horsepower. However, there's an even more extreme variant with four motors (two front, two rear) to achieve a 2,250-hp total. After mothballing the SuperTruck in October, Ford's engineers started completely from scratch, throwing out the old race car's production-based suspension and steel brakes in favor of a new rocker-arm setup and some carbon ceramic stoppers. The Mach-E's braking system is actually more closely related to what you'll find in Ford's GT3 cars than anything you'd see on the street. Ford The comprehensive re-engineering allowed Burns and the rest of the shop to look for other opportunities to gain performance. EVs aren't exactly known for being svelte, but at 3,443 pounds, the three-motor variant is pretty light considering the power it lays down and the technology that keeps it glued to the mountain's surface. As if a 1,400-horsepower, 3,400-pound race car with instant torque wasn't already silly enough, the new active aerodynamics setup produces a mind-boggling 6,900 pounds of downforce at Pikes Peak—or essentially twice as much as the car physically weighs. The Mach-E's 3D-printed skid blocks will see a lot of action as they're slammed repeatedly into Pikes Peak's bumpy surface, but at least the new suspension will help keep the race car's body motions in check. On a smooth track, the aero can be cranked up to deliver up to 12,000 pounds of downforce. The 2025 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb kicks off June 22; keep an eye out for the Mach-E in the Open class once again. It should put on quite a show. Got a tip? Share it with us at tips@
