Here’s a little known fact: Henry Ford used natural material like hemp and stray to reinforce plastic components in his cars. Now, Ford is at it again with a small quarter trim bin found in the third row of the Ford Flex made out of wheat straw bio-filled polypropylene. Wheat straw!

Sure, it’s just one small part in one vehicle, but according to the numbers, the impact on the environment sounds at least significant.

Treehugger,

This modest step, says Ford, will cut the need for some 20,000 pounds of petroleum and prevent 30,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

This so-called wheat straw is the byproduct of wheat harvesting and isn’t exactly useful. Chances are that if this trial works out on this one part, Ford, and the rest of the industry, will look into ways to further incorporate green materials into their vehicles. I, for one, look forward to the day that my steering wheel is made from corn and I can spreed a little butter and salt on it to enjoy a nice snack while driving down I-75.

Holy cats, Ford is going downmarket. Way down. Way, way down. Daniel Grossman, VP of Ford Motor Company, just announced to ONN the $650 car, which will be the least expensive, and cheapest, car available in any market. That’s right. A car I can afford to buy on my salary. My wife will be so excited. Watch the video announcement after the jump.

I won’t give you all the details, but the article points out that the system’s sound is clean and detailed no matter what the volume is set at. This is thanks to a dedicated system of amps and processors, along with acoustical enhancements to the vehicle. The system’s single 8-inch sub does not pound per se though. Chances are that the people that can buy the $45k Lincoln new aren’t looking to bump. They just want to make sure El Rushbo comes in nice and clear.

AUTOMOBILES

Ford and Microsoft have found great success partnering together on Sync and the rest of the automotive industry have finally taken notice. We’ve taken Sync for a ride or two and know that it works as advertised. We even took a 2010 Mustang for a spin over the weekend and even without the full-fledged Nav system with touchscreen, Sync worked great. BTW- Ford kicked some ass on the new Mustang. The interior is plush.

Anyway, BMW and Nuance announced earlier today that they’ve partnered to bring Nuance’s Music Search and One-shot Destination Entry tech to the Bavarian’s 2010 lineup of whips with Professional. Said system launches this month in the US and Europe. The speech recognition technology will go hand-in-hand with BMW’s already overly complicated iDrive system. Have fun with that.

Burlington, Mass. and Aachen, Germany, September 9, 2009 — Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), today announced that its Music Search and One-Shot Destination Entry speech technology are now featured as part of the BMW 2010 model series. Nuance’s innovative speech technology has been integrated as part of Professional, BMW’s new navigation system. The system is available in various languages, and will be introduced throughout the U.S. and Europe beginning this month.

Speech technology has been available for many years in BMW’s infotainment systems to support voice dialing and destination entry in the conventional multi-step approach. However, through these technology advancements made possible by Nuance, the new generation of BMW systems now enables a more conversational dialogue between drivers and BMW navigation and entertainment systems. Drivers can search for music by voice and enter an entire destination address in one, simple spoken command, ultimately reducing the distraction posed by manual input and limiting visual confirmation.

Nuance’s speech technology is combined with BMW’s iDrive system, its renowned console controller that enables drivers to control the entire head unit, including entertainment, communication and navigation systems. Both interfaces can be used simultaneously and allow a multimodal use of the speech input that allows drivers to switch easily between the manual controller input and speech recognition. This allows the driver to use navigation and entertainment system quickly and efficiently while minimizing distractions. The system was developed by Harman Becker Automotive, a leading automotive supplier and Nuance partner.

“Speech technology is increasingly becoming a key automotive interface as it allows drivers to remain focused on the road, yet still take advantage of today’s most popular in-car features like MP3 connectivity and navigation,” said Arnd Weil, general manager, Nuance Automotive. “By integrating our Music Search and One-Shot Destination Entry as part of in-car infotainment systems, car manufacturers have demonstrated their commitment to providing a safer and more user friendly driving experience.”

Nuance’s One-Shot Destination Entry featured as part of the new Professional BMW navigation system enables drivers to simply speak an entire address in one, simple command versus a series of multi-step dialogs and response commands for city, street and street number. Drivers can now simply say “1 Wayside Road, Burlington, Massachusetts,” and the route will be calculated automatically.

With Nuance’s next-generation Music Search capabilities for automotive, BMW drivers can quickly and easily access their favorite, stored songs from behind the wheel by selecting the audio source, genre, artist, album or song with a simple, spoken command. Nuance Music Search also recognizes several languages in parallel. So a French-speaking driver can look for a German song title or English album, and vice versa.

Recent surveys commissioned by Nuance have shown that controlling in-car systems by voice is one of the most important features to reduce driver distraction and increase overall ease of use of the entertainment and navigation systems. Nuance’s Voice User Interface study found that consumers desire shorter dialogues with fewer confirmations. Nuance’s Distracted Driver study confirms that One-Shot functionality has a measurable positive impact on reaction time and is reducing the driver distraction. Also, manual control of media players is highly distracting with the average driver 50 percent more distracted during lane changes, versus being able to simply say the artist and song title via a speech-based interface.

Today more than 100 models from major car manufacturers and nearly all leading portable navigation device manufacturers feature Nuance’s industry leading speech technology to enable voice destination entry or speech synthesis for voice guidance. To learn more, please visit http://www.nuance.com/automotive/

The U.S. Government created a requirement that by 2020, the majority of cars sold here must get at least 35 miles per gallon. This requires a big commitment on the part of auto makers and so the Energy Department was authorized last year to lend $25 billion dollars. The first round of financing is expected to be announced today with Ford, Nissan, and Tesla getting all getting a sizable chunk during this first round. GM and Chrysler both wanted a bunch of money too, but neither fit the criteria of being a “financial viable” so they were disqualified for this first round.

Nissan hasn’t announced how much the Japanese automaker has requested from the U.S. Government, but we know that Michigan-based Ford and California-based Tesla Motors Inc. are expected to get $5 billion and $450 million respectively.

This $25 billion fund was approved by Congress in 2008 to help auto makers retool facilities and speed up development of more energy efficient vehicles. It was the Government after all that decided that vehicles needed to reach an average of 35 miles per gallon by a random date instead of the natural evolution of development and technology.

Nissan, a Japanese-based company, requested money to help develop and build a car that will run a 100 miles on battery alone. This car will be built in Japan initially, with the possibility that the Smyrna, Tenn will build it eventually.

Ford is seeking a total of $11 billion from the fund, but only might get $5 billion during the first round. The money will be used to bring more battery powered vehicles to the market, including a vehicle for commercial use by 2010 (A Ford Transit plug-in maybe?) and a plug-in hybrid by 2012.

We’ve known for a while that Tesla was seeking money from the fund to help with the Model S all-electric sedan. The $450 million that the California-based company has applied for would go to help build the manufacturing facility need to make that car. We wonder if the pending lawsuit against both Tesla Motors Inc. and CEO Elon Musk might delay future funds seeing as there is that “financial viable” clause.

It’s only fair that the U.S. Government is helping auto makers with this money after declaring that by 2020, the vast majority of their autos must be 40% more fuel efficient than they are currently in order to be sold within its borders. We just hope, as taxpaying US citizens, that there is a requirement that the funds will be used to employee Americans who are building cars and parts for the American market. It is after all our money being used.

We liked it in the Ford Flex and in the Lincoln MKS, and its capabilities are constantly expanding. I have a feeling that even if Ford were to collapse and disappear, we’d still see a lot of Sync going around.

So who got the magic millionth vehicle? Steve Ballmer. Give me a break, doesn’t that guy have enough cars already? Well, hopefully if he’ll drive his new car to work instead of taking that private jet and save some gas. The Microsoft commute is murder. They should move the whole company over to Second Life — now that would save some gas.

I have the wrong job. After spending the day at Ford’s Product Development Center, I’m ready to start training to be a test driver. That is as long as it comes with good chiropractic coverage ’cause I’m feeling the pain after riding shotgun in only a few tests.

First there was the headache-inducing ride in a 2010 Ford Taurus that demonstrated the AdvanceTrak stability system and then the water cannon Volvo test, which involved being blasted sideways at 2 Gs. The day wasn’t over though until we hit a curb going 35MPH in a F-150 and it was harsher than I expected. The testing finished up with a pleasant drive in the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO – I think SHO stands for SOOOO HOT!

Click through for pics and videos of all the tests including a Taurus vs 110 lb. shopping cart battle.

Side impact test

A good number of personal vehicles are now equipped with side airbags. The trick is to ensure that they do not deploy unless they are needed. This test simulates a runaway 110-pound shopping cart traveling at 10MPH – a case when the airbags are not needed. However, if a runaway truck smashes into the door, the airbags would hopefully deploy thanks to pressure-based sensors that can better sense the type of impact than the previous generation of acceleration-based sensors. 

Volvo Water Cannon

It doesn’t make a lot of financial sense to destroy two cars in the name of science just to test the drift of a rear side impact collision. So Ford engineers stuffed an air-powered water cannon in the back of a Volvo V70R that was laying around. The result is a very accurate test and a hell of a super soaker.

The cannon is bolted directly to the Volvo’s frame and for good reason. Once charged to a 130 psi, it fires about nine gallons of water in less than one-half second. When this is done while performing a turn at 50MPH, it blasts the car nearly 2 Gs which is just like getting slammed by another vehicle.

The air-cannon, which is generally used in mining or the great sport of pumpkin throwing, was chosen as the best option due to its relatively low price and use of water. Other solutions that can send a car sideways often employ explosions that can harm the calibrated test track.

Automotive engineering types eat up all the data that is collected by the on-board sensors and set out to improve the electronic stability control. Us? We just wish it didn’t take 20 minutes to re-fill the air cannon and water tube so we could take another ride. 

AdvanceTrac

Oh boy, thank the car gods that this test was before lunch ’cause it was a doozy. The test driver whipped the 2010 Ford Taurus around cones at 55MPH to simulate two, very quick lane changes. I don’t know if I have ever changed lanes that quick before though. Then the AdvanceTrac was turned on.

The result was a ride that was much less nauseating. Ford’s stability system uses sensors that detect and also measure oversteer and yaw to better predict traction loss and assist the driver. It works. Or our test driver really knew how to handle a car and fooled us completely.

Curb Test

Ever jump a curb in a parking lot? Yeah, it can be bad. Ever hit one head on going 35MPH? I wish I hadn’t.

There is nothing new about this real world test, but now it is also used to test air bag sensors, as well as suspension and seat support. We hear that this test is also preformed at 55MPH, but that requires the vehicle being outfitted with a five-point safety harness and helmets for the occupants because the jolt is so severe.

We hit the curb in an F-150 Platinum edition and it sent us flying. But the airbags didn’t deploy and the tires were fine, so the truck passed the test.

Balloon Car Bump

Finally at the last test of the day, Ford let us get behind the wheel of a 2010 Taurus SHO. We’re not suppose to talk about our driving impressions that are outside of the test parameters, but let me say that this car is amazing. The SHO is back, baby.

Anyway, the Taurus is equipped with front-facing radar that is part of the Adaptive Cruise Control and Collision Warning with Brake Support. All that Ford-speak means is that the car pays attention to traffic and readies the breaks if necessary.

The balloon simulates another car and the system can adjust the cruise control if the other car slows down. That’s really nothing new in the automotive world.

What is new in this Taurus is the radar is now tied to the breaking system. If the car in front is stopping and the car senses it isn’t because the drive hasn’t responded for some reason, it will charge the breaking system up for a quick stop and warn via an audible alarm and a row of flashing red LEDS that a collision is about to happen unless the driver does something. The car doesn’t stop for you, but it does everything it can to prevent having to spend some time in a body shop.

I say no, but that’s just me. What do I know, I just spent 10 days driving 3,200 miles in a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. But I’m not hyper-miller Wayne Gerdes or NASCAR driver Carl Edwards who are about to attempt this feat by spending 43 continues hours driving the hybrid a 1,000 miles. Ford states that the car will need to average 57 mpg to achieve the goal, which I guess is possible even though I never saw that type of mileage.

I averaged 35.1 mpg during my 3,200 trip, but I definitely wasn’t driving like a hyper-miller; more like Edwards in his 99 car or J.J. McClure from Canonball Run. However, we did go about 650 miles on the first tank of gas. 

The whole goal of this outing is of course to show-off the eco-side of the Ford Fusion Hybrid. Take it from me. It’s impressive for a car of its size. (my review) I can’t wait for the next generation.

PRESS RELEASE:

Ford Team Aims To Drive 2010 Fusion Hybrid 1,000 Miles on a Single Tank of Gas

• The Ford Fusion Hybrid team will attempt to drive more than 1,000 miles for more than 43 continuous hours – on a single tank of gas, raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in the process
• The most fuel-efficient, mid-sized sedan in America – the Fusion Hybrid driven by a team of Ford hybrid engineers, a fuel efficiency expert and a NASCAR star, will have to achieve an average of at least 57 mpg on the challenge to reach its goal
• By using Eco-Driving techniques engineers have achieved 70 mpg during testing of the Ford Fusion Hybrid in preparation for the challenge
• Consumers can improve their own vehicle’s fuel economy performance is by adopting Ford’s “Eco-Driving” tips used for the 1,000-Mile Challenge

DEARBORN, Mich., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — This weekend, the 2010 Ford (NYSE: F) Fusion Hybrid is being put to the ultimate fuel-efficiency test. A team of drivers, including NASCAR star Carl Edwards and world-record breaking hypermiler Wayne Gerdes, will attempt to drive more than 1,000 miles on a single tank of gas, raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in the process.

The 1,000-Mile Challenge starts at around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, from Mount Vernon, Va., and ends the morning of Monday, April 27, in Washington, D.C. The team will drive for more than 43 hours continuously to reach the 1,000-mile goal. The drivers will do stints of between two and three hours each and will have regular breaks to ensure safe driving is maintained. Already rated as the most fuel-efficient, mid-sized sedan in America, the Fusion Hybrid will need to average at least 57 mpg to achieve its goal. During preliminary testing in preparation for this challenge, Ford engineers have reached as much as 70 mpg in the Fusion Hybrid by using Eco-Driving techniques.

The team will run clinics for media and customers over the weekend in the Fusion Hybrid, conducting interviews and vehicle demonstrations on how simple techniques can make a significant difference to real world fuel economy numbers.

The Fusion Hybrid being used in the challenge will be a factory produced model with no modifications or alterations and will run on regular 87 octane gas.

The team will be uploading regular images and video to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/fordstory), Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fordmotorcompany), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/people/Kristopher-Spencer/1228149870), Twitter (http://twitter.com/Ford), and www.media.ford.com.

Ford is taking on the 1,000-Mile Challenge for a number of reasons:

• To demonstrate Ford’s commitment to be the best or amongst the best in fuel economy in every vehicle segment in which it competes;
• To highlight the crucial role the driver plays in maximizing fuel economy and demonstrate how consumers can make a difference through Eco-Driving;
• To raise awareness about Eco-Driving and how the Fusion Hybrid contributes to it with the ability to run up to 47 mph in pure electric mode; and
• To raise awareness and funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

The 1,000-Mile Challenge team comprises of:

• Wayne Gerdes, the world-record breaking hypermiling champion and founder of www.cleanmpg.com;
• Carl Edwards, the NASCAR race star who recently bought his own 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid;
• Sherif Marakby, graduate of Maryland University and Ford hybrid chief engineer;
• Gil Portalatin, Ford hybrid applications manager and Ford Fusion Hybrid team leader;
• Tom Rolewicz, one of Ford’s top calibration experts and hybrid system expert; and
• Steve Burke, Ford product expert on hybrid applications

The mileage-maximizing techniques that the Ford team will use and pass on to consumers include:

• Slowing down and maintaining even throttle pressure;
• Gradually accelerating and smoothly braking;
• Maintaining a safe distance between vehicles and anticipating traffic conditions;
• Coasting up to red lights and stop signs to avoid fuel waste and brake wear;
• Minimize use of heater and air conditioning to reduce the load on the engine;
• Close windows at high speeds to reduce aerodynamic drag;
• Applying the “Pulse and Glide” technique while maintaining the flow of traffic;
• Minimize excessive engine workload by using the vehicle’s kinetic forward motion to climb hills, and use downhill momentum to build speed; and
• Avoiding bumps and potholes that can reduce momentum

Click here (http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=28946) for more Eco-Driving tips

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 213,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s wholly owned brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

I dropped by the NY Auto Show yesterday and checked out this active park assist thing from Ford. I was a little skeptical about a self-parallel parking car, but it is 2009 and I’m pretty sure we were supposed to have flying cars by now. Check out the demo I got in the Lincoln MKS.

Press release

The NY Auto Show kicks off later this week, but we’ve already seen a few things worth mentioning. We’re on the fence about the P.U.M.A., the new GTi from VW is nice (details later today), but the Scirocco would have been a lot cooler and then there’s the 2010 Ford Fiesta. Oh yes, the Fiesta from Europe is coming stateside and it’s looking pretty mean. We had the chance to whip this 4-door hatchback around Manhattan during rush hour and it performed admirably.

Biggs and I actually got one of these last year when we were in Germany for CeBIT and it was pretty meh, but this new one is something different. It’s going to come packed to the gills in three trims and sell for under $14k, give or take. Details and specs are still being tweaked because the hatchback is coming from Europe, which has done really well over the pond, but it’ll have 1.6 liters of teeny ferociousness under the hood, much like a little Chihuahua I know.

We can’t say too much about handling, but it’s tight and responsive. We avoided a few kamikaze cabs and unexpected potholes along our trip to midtown. But we’re not sure how it does on the open road or up in the hills. However, it seems pretty perfect for city folk.

On the tech side of things, the Fiesta packs quite a bit of extras that you probably won’t find on comparable models from others. For instance, Sync will be available along with satellite radio and a sound system by Sony. The kicker for me was the push button start. You also get hands-free calling via Bluetooth and a USB port to plug in your iPod that can be controlled from the touch-screen.

Who’s played Gran Turismo on the PlayStation? Remember the 1996 Ford Escort RS Cosworth from GT3 A-Spec? Yeah, well, the Fiesta is the spittin image of that rally car and it looks aggressive as all hell. Check out the gallery.

Besides giving jerks like me a free ride, Ford is tapping 100 “agents” to spread the word, or the Fiesta Movement, by giving them Fiestas for six months. They’ll have little “missions” to go on – whatever that means. Ford is really going after the social media crowd by picking certain “agents” who, they think, are heavy hitters on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and the Blogosphere. Two applicants have more than 30,000 friends on MySpace. Six applicants have more than 20,000 subscribers on YouTube. Seven applicants are bloggers who get more than 100,000 hits per month. Eight applicants have more than 2000 friends on Facebook. And twenty applicants have more than 2000 followers on the Twitter.

YouTube
Flickr
Facebook
Twitter

Oh, and those little leaves off on the right? They are clever reminders how much you are helping save the planet when driving this car; more leaves means your driving smart and achieving better fuel economy. The video after the break shows the cluster in action.

Our own Matt Burns will be driving from Dearborn, Michigan to San Francisco in a new Ford Fusion Hybrid, a Ford we can all truly be excited about. He’ll be running contests and reporting live from the road so if there’s anyplace you think he should visit, speak now or forever hold your peace. Matt’s trip was even written up in the local Flint news where he describes his job to incredulous reporters. To wit:

He’s now associate editor of CrunchGear.com and also freelances to other tech sites, writing about 12 posts a day. Most are 300 to 400 words but a few are longer, on everything from Blu-ray formatting to the latest satellite navigation systems.

“I got the job with a few sentences in an e-mail. That’s how this world works. It’s very informal,” said Burns. “I didn’t even talk to anyone on the phone for three or four months. It’s a pretty weird work atmosphere where you rarely see or talk to people.”

The first time he met fellow staffers was at a big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

“But we talk all day long in a chat room. I feel as close to these coworkers as anybody I’ve ever worked with, if not more,” he said.

Look for more reports tomorrow as Matt begins his 10-day trek across these United States. Here’s a bit about Matt’s car, the newest hybrid vehicle in Ford’s line-up:

A selection of specially refitted 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrids are set to embark on a national journey across the United States. Matt Burns, from the gadgets, gear and computer hardware blog CrunchGear is the first participant in the Ford American Hybrid Tour. Beginning his ten-day road trip at Ford Motor Company Global Headquarters in Dearborn, MI, Matt will travel across the country in a brand new, fully-equipped 41 mpg 2010 Fusion Hybrid, while blogging about his adventures en route.

Advice? Stops? Calls for meet-ups? Dump ‘em here.

Editor’s Note: Matt’s expenses at the end of this trip will be paid by the Ford Motor Company. We are not required to write anything good – or anything, really – about the Fusion during the course of the trip although we did choose to partake in the trip because of the technology in the car itself.

Test Drive is a new series that we’re starting at CrunchGear wherein we get a hands-on look at new or interesting modes of transportation. It’s not limited to just cars, either. We’ll take a look at just about anything from scooters to rockets and everything in between.

A wee bit ago I took a spin in the Ford Flex here in NYC. While it’s not a geek’s dream, it does have a few high tech goodies that kept my interest. That’s what we’re going to focus on with these Test Drive features going forward since we’re not an auto blog.

We’ll start off with Easy Fuel. I haven’t owned a car in three years but I remember losing my gas cap once or twice and with Easy Fuel you won’t have to worry about such things any longer. Ford claims that the design cuts the amount of fuel emissions that get released because it’s only open for a short amount of time. I had no way of testing that, but it sort of makes sense. Are there any gear heads in the audience that may know about such things?

After having flown Virgin America I now know what impact ambient lighting has on a person. I never really got the warm fuzzys from Philips ambient lighting products, but Ford’s in-car setup was nice. You can flip through seven colors to find the right color for your mood that’s tastefully splashed across the interior of the car. The in-car refrigerator was probably my favorite nerdy addition. The backseat cooler can fit up to seven 12-ounce cans. You don’t need to spend six figures on a Maybach for that luxury.

Next up is the Sync system, which I reviewed last month when I checked out the Lincoln MKS. I won’t go into great detail for this drive, but I will mention the new features that Flex supports. Mainly 911 Assist and something called Vehicle Health Report.

911 Assist does exactly what its name implies, assuming your cell phone is connected via Bluetooth. In the event of a car crash, airbag deployment triggers the system to dial out, but it gives you the option to cancel if it’s a minor accident and you’re ok. Emergency fuel pump shut-off also triggers the service. It comes standard and there’s no extra fee. Again, this wasn’t something I tested because I wouldn’t intentionally trigger the airbags to smash open my face, but I don’t think this is something Ford and Microsoft would just throw together at the last minute. But then again, you never know.

Sony takes care of the listening experience and since I was on a ‘driving tour’ with other journos in the car, I couldn’t crank the system up as high as I would have liked. But it’s packed with 12 speakers and satellite radio services.

The last thing I’ll mention isn’t gadgety or nerdy, but I really liked the Vista roof. It reminded me of the Mercedes Benz panorama rooftops that you could get on the ’97 SL600. I’m sure you could have gotten it other models, but that’s the one that comes to mind.

I enjoyed cruising around Manhattan in the Flex and it was neat to see pedestrians stop and stare as six (or was seven?) Flexs made their way through the city. It reminded me of the old Surf Woodies from the 60s and 70s. The 3.5L V6 power plant took an iron foot to get up and go, but it accelerated smoothly. And the cabin remained quiet, even in busy sections of Manhattan. The FWD version musters up 24MPG on the highway and 17 in the city, which I suppose is commendable for a car of that size. These beasts start out at $28,500.

Product Page

Test Drive is a new series that we’re starting at CrunchGear wherein we get a hands-on look at new or interesting modes of transportation. It’s not limited to just cars, either. We’ll take a look at just about anything from scooters to rockets and everything in between.

This ain’t your daddy’s Lincoln Town Car. In fact, it’s completely different than anything you’ve ever seen before. With balls to the wall power and a teeth shattering sound system, the MKS from Lincoln is a whole other beast. And I like it.

Like our other Test Drive features, I won’t get into the gearheadesque details of reviewing a car, but, rather, focus on the technological side of it. I will start with a few notes about how fast it is, though.

Flying down Highway 101 at over 100MPH has never been so comfortable and the exact opposite of petrifying. The 3.7-liter Ford Duratec V6 clone musters up 273 ponies and 270 pounds feet of torque. It’s fast and the AWD system ties the beast to the ground. Acceleration is a little wonky when in Standard drive mode. It revved a bit longer than I would have liked and didn’t want to switch gears. But in manual mode, the six-speed Lincoln was a powerhouse off the line. I had no idea how fast I was going on most occasions. How I walked away from my visit to the Bay Area without getting a ticket is beyond me.

The interior of the MKS is plush, to say the least. Covered in black leather the driver’s chair (as well as the rest of the cabin) is extremely comfortable and I’d say 90 percent of the comfort factor comes from the electronically adjustable seat. Sure, it does the standard adjustments, but the MKS has an adjustable lumbar support. You can pump it up or down depending on your preference and move it down towards your bum or upper-lower back.

Climate control systems are usually pretty featureless, but one aspect of the MKS climate control system stole my heart. I don’t do so well when it’s warm out. I’m not as bad as John Biggs wherein I sweat through my clothing in a matter of seconds, but I heat up pretty quickly. If you suffer from swamp of the ass then the cooling fans located in the bottom and backs of the driver or passenger seat will surely keep your core temperature under control. If you get cold easily you simply need to turn up the seat warmer and vice versa. Three variable levels keep you cool or warm at all times. This just might be my favorite feature in the MKS.

Or there’s the shifting headlight system that turns when you turn (while driving). The only downside and maybe this applies to all cars, but I didn’t think the MKS threw out enough light. I felt like I could only see 10 feet in front of me.

Like most Ford vehicles, the MKS comes with Sync and it sure made getting around the Bay easy. It comes at a price, though. The Ultimate Package will set you back $5715, but it comes with a ton of goodies like 19-inch rims, dual panel moonroofs, adaptive headlamps (turn when you turn), rear view camera, THX built 5.1 surround sound system and a voice activated navigation system. But I like the time sensitive greeting it gives me when I fire up the MKS.

Maybe I haven’t spent enough time with PNDs but after using a TomTom XL the weekend prior to receiving the MKS I have to say that in-car nav systems trump any and all PNDs. That shouldn’t really come as a surprise but you should know that Sync works fantastic. It even recognizes voice commands from those that aren’t native English speakers or those with heavy accents. Of course, you have to speak clearly enough for the sytem to register your command, but I was impressed with how well it worked. The only annoyance is the waiting between commands while the system offers you options. Routing and rerouting were snappy and are displayed beautifully on a big 8-inch touch screen. The British lady crammed into the dash is not annoying or berating like the ones found in PNDs.

When you’re roughly one mile from the next turn the display goes split-screen to show you what the exit will look like. If you’ve driven in the Bay or even LA area then you know how complicated some of the on- and off-ramps can be. Needless to say I adored the simplicity and acurateness of the navigation system in the MKS.

Sirius satellite radio service as well as Sirius Travel Link is also offered. Travel Link offers pertinent data to your commute like real time traffic info, fuel prices, movie listings, weather, and sports scores. This service will set you back $7/month.

The center console offers a USB port and line-in port so you can recharge devices and/or plug in your iPod, Zune or “PlaysForSure” devices. A complete list of supported devices can be found here.

Ripping CDs to the built-in Jukebox is simple and whomever had the car before me left plenty of new and great bands to listen to. If memory serves me correctly, it’s a 20GB HDD that cannot be accessed by the owner. Unless you’re one of those nuts that likes to take things apart to see how they work.

Controls on the steering allow you to make/receive phone calls, control music playback and activate Sync without ever having to fiddle with touch screen or controls on the dashboard. I did run into a few occassions where you have to tag-team the system from the steering wheel and dashboard to pull up what I needed to see on the display.

One of the only issues I encountered with the Sync system was hooking up my iPhone 3G. For some odd reason it wouldn’t play back tracks through the system after having paired the device so I could make hands-free calls. I could search and see my library, but nothing was coming through the speakers. After hooking up another iPhone it started to work again. Not sure what happened there, but it was one of the faulty things I encountered during my review. The only other thing I noticed was that it didn’t list everything that was stored on my iP3G. For example, I have two Nico Vega EPs and only one of the albums would show up. But when I played all tracks in my library the EP that was missing was present in the playlist. Has anyone else encountered this?

In case you didn’t know, you can receive text messages while driving and the Sync system reads them aloud if you want it to. There are 15 existing replies you can choose from that makes things easier while you’re driving.

The MKS has keyless entry and a push button start. While the car was on I tried walking away with the key fob to see if the car would shut off but nothing happened, but I’d imagine it wouldn’t start if the fob weren’t in the car when started.

Understand that I haven’t driven in quite some time so I really liked the rear view camera that appeared when the car was put into Reverse. It displays three stages of closeness denoted by green, red and yellow lines. It beeps like all hell when you’re super close, too. There are also sensors in the front bumper that beep when you or something gets too close to you.

Now let’s talk about the first THX 5.1 surround system built for an automobile. Before we get into how it sounds let’s cover the basics. The MKS is equipped with 15 speakers, one 10-inch subwoofer and is powered by a combined 600W amplifier system that’s broken down over 12 individual amplifiers.

The highlight of the system for me is the center slot speaker that powers the Razer THX Mako 2.1 system. That one speaker alone pulls the entire system together to make it sound phenomenal. It’s also not as big as the speaker grill would have you think. The Ford engineers just want you to know that there’s a speaker there. The slot speaker only takes up a small section that’s roughly four or five inches by an inch or so. Those measurements aren’t correct but I don’t think they’re far off either.

It’s a bassy system and even when the bass is turned all the way down the system had no issues making my brain rattle while listening to Dr. Dre’s The Chronic. That’s not a bad thing but it depends on the type of music you listen to. I like bass, but I realize not everyone else does. You’re also going to need to crank up the volume for it to really bother you, too. Sound quality is top notch and cranking up the volume doesn’t affect that.

The THX system offers two Digital Signal Processing modes: Stereo and Surround Sound. Surround Sound was far superior to Stereo mode.

One of the drawbacks to raising the volume is that it makes it very hard to hear the nav system give commands. The system automatically cuts out the front speakers while giving directions but when it’s loud the rear speakers overpower the front. So be sure you have a rough idea of where you’re going or simply turn down the volume.

As a youth, I was into car stereo systems and having a system like this would have been a dream come true. The overall sound quality is crisp and clear.

The AWD MKS was a fun car to drive while I was at home. I know I drove a lot faster and blasted the stereo system louder than I should have, but it sure was fun. It sucks up a lot of gas, though. Estimated EPA is rated at 16MPG/City and 23MPG/Highway. The MKS we tested has an MSRP of $45570.

Lincoln MKS

Some of these images were taken while driving so they might be blurry.

Tech companies are struggling with the question of whether it’s gadgets or services that consumers want. As the New York Times observes, “If the most exciting thing about your phone or truck or TV is the Web sites you go to and the software applications you download, then the device itself is less important.”

I love the idea of “Internet everywhere”, but I temper that burning desire for ubiquitous access with an understanding of the limitations of the devices I use for that access. If devices can access and install software updates automatically, that’s a good use for Internet access. Allowing service techs to browse the web from a truck’s in-dash computer seems less good to me: surely the shop will have a dedicated terminal from which they can access the Ford website? Why should these guys be rubbing their greasy paws on my GPS system so they can check my cotter pins?

The beauty of the Internet is that it’s scalable. There is no reason to offer the full Internet in contexts where only a little Internet is better. The Internet is also best in non-dedicated devices. Think about in-car entertainment systems with 40 gigabyte drives hidden somewhere in the car. This system will be wonderfully quaint in a few years and downright obsolete in a few more. I’d rather be able to browse the web from my phone than my car simply because the pace of in-car electronics is outstripped by the pace of cellphone improvements.

In short, we don’t need Internet everywhere – we need it where it makes sense.

Info ’bout Ford’s Active Park Assist parallel parking wizardry recently broke cover and now the Blue Oval released a video demo of the system. It seems to work well in the company-made video but excuse me while I hold judgement until a real hands-on emerges. Video after the break.

Now, this isn’t a system that you can get out of the car, hit a button on the key fob, and away you go. Oh no, the driver still has to control the throttle and breaking but the system will take care of the steering. The Lincoln MKS and MKT will both get the option in mid-’09 and Ford has plans to fit 90% of its 2012 vehicles with the system.

With many drivers only parallel parking experience in drivers training, this system might help save some bumper paint. Hopefully though, the skill will not entirely disappear like map reading in this post-GPS age.

I still don’t trust these things, although I should say that in my car the supposedly trusty mechanical speedometer doesn’t turn on for about five minutes, then with a “ding!” the needle jumps up to like 15 over the limit. I’m hoping Ford has put enough effort into these things that they’re as reliable as the old-school ones have been for almost a century. And I’m also hoping they’ll drop the terminally corny “efficiency leaves” thing.

More pictures and a demo video (that I can’t rip off, damn their eyes) over at Jalopnik.