Auto news on Youtube Nov 3 2017

In the USA, pick-ups like these are incredibly popular.

That's because they're classified as trucks, instead of regular cars.

That means they don't have to meet the requirements around safety, but also around taxes like a normal car has to.

In the Netherlands? It's about the same story.

Imagine that you own a company. You could buy a pick-up without having to pay vehicle taxes,

and it would become pretty affordable. Relatively speaking that is,

because there isn't an official price list for this new Ford F-150 Raptor,

but if you grey import it, you can count on putting down about €80.000.

And I'm not including other taxes.

But for that money, you've got one of the most bizarre cars I've ever driven.

Let's discuss the hardware first. It's an old-fashioned ladder chassis with a rigid rear axle...

...and leaf springs. In the front,

we find a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6. It's fitted with two turbo's, so it produces 456 European horsepower.

There's almost 600 Nm of torque to play with as well. Of course, it's got permanent four-wheel drive,

but it can be changed to on-demand four-wheel drive, or even rear-wheel drive.

You can manually adjust the rigidity of the rear differential, in the front you have an automatic Torsen-LSD.

In short; very serious all-terrain hardware.

So if you get it out of two-wheel drive and engage on-demand four-wheel drive, you aren't doing anything special but it's still ready to go off-road.

You can easily encounter loose sand, and you won't really notice anything.

You're just sliding across, the steering is off,

so you're trying to steer in the right direction, and with a little bit of throttle it actually works.

It's got a ten-speed automatic gearbox, so with low-gearing you've got twenty possible gears to choose from.

It's all incredibly easy, but you can do this with every single four-wheel drive SUV...

It becomes more interesting if you start to play with the modes.

There are a few modes for different kinds of terrain, you can engage low-gearing,

you can manually adjust the rear diff, and that's when you get a seriously capable terrain-worthy vehicle.

You can go through here, deep tracks, hills,

mountains, other kinds of terrain. It doesn't matter, because this thing can cross anything.

There isn't a mountain this car can't climb.

Even if you have the smallest off-road driving capabilities, and you can keep it going,

there isn't really anything which stops this car.

And that's very impressive, but it's still not what makes this unique.

It might go far, but a Land Rover is still able to do this as well.

But what really makes this car unique, is the 'Baja'-mode.

That's a reference to the Baja 1000, because that's what this car has been developed for.

The Baja 1000 is a race in which they blast through the desert with pick-up trucks, going at high speeds.

And I don't mean 40 km/h, I'm talking 100 km/h flat out.

Earlier this year, Ford competed with a nearly standard Raptor.

The only differences were a roll cage and a different fuel cell, because of safety measures.

Other than that, the Raptor was completely standard.

But anyway, they competed in the Baja 1000.

And it didn't just finish, it finished well.

That's where this thing goes completely crazy.

What makes the Baja 1000 so heavy, is the amount of loose sand you have to fight your way through.

And that has to happen with a lot of speed, which means the suspension is constantly working to absorb the hits.

That's also why these tires are this huge. The wheels are already 17",

and then there's a whole tire around it. That's absurd.

They also feature locks, so if you're deflating the tire and it doesn't have much tire pressure,

the wheel doesn't turn around in the tire. So you can really lock the tire to the wheel,

which makes sure you have maximum traction.

The shocks under there are huge things filled with oil, designed to absorb hard hits all day long...

while you can have incredible amounts of fun, when racing through terrain with idiotic speeds...

That looks a little like this...

This is something you can't do in a Range Rover, not at this speed at least.

If you're done plowing the coastline from Hoek van Holland to Den Helder, you still have a very practical truck in the Raptor.

Behind me, you've got a very royal rear seat which seats three,

or a lot of luggage. Also, you've got a big pick-up bed,

which is about as big as something they call an apartment in Amsterdam these days.

It's incredibly luxurious as well, and even though the finishing isn't too good,

but everything's on here. Everything and more.

So yeah, it's very comfortable,

because the big spring rate absorbs every little bump, the ten-speed automatic gearbox is very smooth,

the 3.5-litre V6 EcoBoost produces enough power... It does like to rev,

but it's got enough torques in the lower RPM's, so you'll be able to keep going anyway.

It's actually a pretty nice car to drive.

The handling even is... No it isn't good.

It feels distant, big, heavy, and that's the moment you remember you're in the Netherlands.

Unfortunately, it doesn't consist of only deserts and highways.

We've got back roads, city centres, gas stations...

And you'll be visiting gas stations quite often. Every 700 or 800 kilometres.

And when you visit, you'll be putting 136 litres in its tank.

Oh yeah, it consumes a lot of fuel.

Also, it's just too big. It's almost six metres long,

more than two metres wide, two metres high, so you just don't fit anywhere.

So yeah, the Ford Raptor.

I'll admit it's one of the most impressive cars, or I should say trucks, I've ever driven.

In the terrain, this thing can do things no other car or truck can do.

But it isn't a bad thing it'll remain in the United States, because for the Netherlands,

its thirst and its size is a tad, or a really large tad too big.

For more infomation >> Ford F-150 Raptor - AutoWeek Review - Duration: 7:37.

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Incredible Fuel Economy FORD F-250 6.7 POWERSTROKE. 28MPG!! (2012-2017) - Duration: 7:07.

For more infomation >> Incredible Fuel Economy FORD F-250 6.7 POWERSTROKE. 28MPG!! (2012-2017) - Duration: 7:07.

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Ramona Rusu - The car collector with a pink Ford Probe and a C3 Corvette - Duration: 10:01.

You're a young girl, and you live in the 'Need For Speed: Underground' era.

You own a Ford Probe.

You turn it pink, stance it and beef it with a wide bodywork.

You then go and win it all in the tuning contests.

Next, you see a Miata.

You want to learn how to drift, so you buy it and force feed it.

You then try to shove a big V8 in it, but it doesn't fit.

So you buy a BMW E30 to host the big lump.

Then you turn it into a drift machine and win a European championship with it.

If you're curious how Ramona Rusu did it, just click the link on the screen.

Behind these many acquisitions, there are Smart ForTwos sacrified in the process.

It's not that she hates the Smarts, but she's in love with every car in her collection, no matter how pink it is.

So she kept them all and we paid Ramona a visit to find out more about her and her garage's history.

Host: How many trophies do you have?

I have no idea

Host: How many cars do you own?

I don't know

Host: Perfect. What's the fastest you ever drove?

I can't remember

Host: How many accidents did you have?

About three or four.

But they were small.

Host: Do you like pineapple pizza?

No.

Not at all.

Host: What was your first car and why?

A Ford Probe.

Why? Because an Opel Manta, which was my dream at the time, was too rusty,

and I fell in love with a Ford Probe.

Which kinda looked the same.

Host: A Ford Probe that now looks like it's from the cover of a NFS game.

Yes, those where the times when I started working on the car.

Host: Is there something that you haven't changed on it?

The engine.

And the chassis.

Host: The engine is?

The engine is a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter with 116 hp.

Back then it was all about 'Low & slow'

Host: Following the list of things that make a cool car in Need For Speed;

Does your Ford have air suspension?

It does.

Host: Does it have pearlescent paint?

Yes.

Host: Does it have a custom interior?

Yes.

Host: Does it have a cool sound system?

Not really.

Host: Ok. Your second car?

My second car is the Mazda.

Actually, there were some Smart cars in between.

Host: Mazda. You bought it stock, probably.

Yes.

Host: And it now looks like this.

Like this, how?

Host: Like this... porn thing, so to say.

Yes, it's a sexy car, true.

Host: It is.

Host: Hot damn!

Host: But what did you do to it to make it look like this?

We're talking about the engine here, because otherwise the car's still pretty much original on the outside.

I mean, it just has some wide wheels.

Host: What engine?

A 1.6-liter engine. It was naturally aspirated, 116 hp.

The first upgrade stage was a turbo,

where the car got to 183 hp.

Then came another upgrade stage, I don't know how else to call it - stage 2 for me, probably.

With this, the car almost reached 300 hp.

Host: So it means that this one isn't made for show, although it looks this good,

but it's modified for performance.

Yes, it's made for performance and for my own personal satisfaction.

With this car I went to my first drift stages, then I saw that it't not really the best car for the job,

and I got into time attack events.

Of course, not at a national level, but at regional events,

where the car performed pretty good.

Host: The third car.

Host: Do you have any other cars? This interview is going to take a while, right?

Host: Ok, the third car.

The third car...?

I think it was the BMW E30.

If we don't count the other Mazda that was a wreck, actually a failed attempt.

It was the BMW E30.

Host: You used it just for racing?

No, I started using it as a road car.

And then I transformed it into a race car.

Strictly for drifting.

Host: The fourth car?

If I remember correctly, it was an S13.

I bought it with the idea of replacing the E30 as a drift car,

which even today is a very good drift car,

but for this to happen I would have sold the E30 to get the money for the S13,

but from my calculations, I couldn't do it, because the S13 was much more expensive to prep.

So I forgot about the S13 and now it has another owner.

Host: Tell me what you drive today

Today I drive a BMW E92, because my other cars got me from A to B,

but not much further than point B.

I mean, you see, every one is modified.

To get to Germany, to cover 2,000 km, I don't know if I could count on them.

Host: In a Mazda MX-5, your back hurts a lot.

Exactly. You can't really stretch your legs.

And I probably sold a Smart once again,

I gathered more cash, I borrowed some money,

to get myself a new car.

To see what a newer car is like, and I really liked the E92.

Host: But, I saw pictures of a red car that's really really nice, even though it's not really new.

Yes. The C3 Corvette is the newest buy.

It's - again - a very old dream of mine.

I thank God and everything He created so that this car finally got to me

and it's perfect and we complete each other perfectly.

Host: Will you race it or keep it clean, just as a daily driver?

You know how it is: never say never

I don't know. The idea is to use it as a daily driver, to cover as many kilometers as I can,

but the car will remain a beautiful classic.

Host: This means that you want to restore it.

Yes. I want to restore it as soon as possible.

Host: The C3 had a lot of variants. What engine does yours have?

My Corvette has a 5.7-liter engine, it's a small block,

it has less than 200 hp, but it's got a nice torque number and it makes you feel very nice.

Host: Do you have any other car that you can think of, that you use

and haven't lost in that pile of Smart cars?

I don't have any more Smarts.

But yes, I also have a Subaru.

A Subaru that I don't yet fully understand,

so that I can race with it or just get along with.

We still have a lot to learn one from the other.

Host: Do you drive it on the street or do you just keep it in the garage to use it in the Winter Rally?

No, the Subaru is street legal.

All my cars are street legal, except the drift car.

And I drive it on the street, how can you not drive a boxer on the street?

I mean, how can you not listen to that sound?

And, anyway, it's black, like I always wanted all my cars to be.

Of course, every car lover wants or thinks about a lot cars and would like a garage full of cars.

And every car lover would want to drive all the cars at once, if it was possible.

I really enjoyed seeing you drive two of my cars.

And finally I saw them cruising and observed their beauty from another angle.

Host: Just so you know, I'm free on weekends, so if you ever want to see your cars from outside,

give me a call and I'll gladly drive your cars.

Ok. I think you can get a really cheap plane ticket.

Host: Yes, yes. We can make it happen. It's not a problem.

From America to Europe and Asia, Ramona gathered praise-worthy machines in her cosy garage

and took much care of every single one of them.

The latest entry, a red Chevrolet Corvette, is getting ready of a restoration process.

Up next, long trips are in the book, but that's all she could tell us fro now.

If there's anything to learn from this experience, it's that a car collection's sentimental value

surpasses its material worth.

For more infomation >> Ramona Rusu - The car collector with a pink Ford Probe and a C3 Corvette - Duration: 10:01.

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How to Adjust SYNC® 3 Touchscreen Brightness | Ford How-To | Ford - Duration: 1:25.

[MUSIC]

You may be interested to know that you can adjust the brightness of your SYNC 3

touchscreen, turn it off,

or set it to automatically dim the display in low-light conditions.

Let me explain.

Using your SYNC 3 touchscreen, touch Settings in the bottom feature bar.

Then swipe left and touch Display.

There are three modes to choose from, auto, day, or night.

Auto will automatically switch between day or

night modes depending on lighting conditions.

To turn the auto dim feature on or off, which enables or disables the automatic

dimming of the display brightness based on ambient lighting conditions, simply slide

the button to the right to turn it on, and to the left to turn it off.

Selecting day or night sets the screen's brightness as the default, and

will not change based on lighting.

To manually adjust the touch screens display intensity at any time, touch

the brightness tab and use the left arrow to dim or the right arrow to brighten.

Finally, to turn the entire display screen off,

just touch the Display Off bar at the top.

To turn it back on, simply touch anywhere on the screen.

Any questions, go to Owner.Ford.com.

[MUSIC]