Ford Performance

"I apologise on behalf of Australia, it's embarrassing." That's what I said to Hoonigan co-founder Ken Block, after he revealed how much they wanted to film an episode of his Gymkhana series in Sydney. It was ultimately kiboshed by the New South Wales fun police. Block's videos net millions of views with his most popular recently breaking the 100 million mark. You'd think that publicity would be worth letting him break the speed limit here and there.

Tuning firm Mountune has announced a new upgrade package for the Ford Fiesta ST, which can be installed via a smartphone app. Dubbed m225, the flash tune bumps the three-cylinder hot hatch's outputs up to 165kW and 340Nm, up from the standard version's 147kW and 290Nm. Mountune claims the upgrade drops the Fiesta ST's 0-100 time to "below the 6 second mark", and shaves a full second from the 31-62mph (50-100km/h) in-gear acceleration claim.

The upcoming Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will make use of two 3D-printed parts in its brakes, developed at its Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Michigan. Along with the GT500, printed parts will be used in the interior of the F-150 bound for the Chinese market. The company says it has a bank of 23 3D printers at the facility in Redford, Michigan, where around 100 people are employed.

Ford Performance has secured racing royalty to display at the 2018 Bathurst 1000, announcing its Le Mans class-winning GT will put on a show for the crowd at the 'Great Race'. Ryan Briscoe, Australian full-time Ford Chip Ganassi Racing driver, will pilot the EcoBoost V6-powered racer around Mount Panorama circuit ahead of the main event. Ford hasn't said exactly how many laps the car will do, but did promise flying laps. “Nothing quite compares to Bathurst,” Briscoe said.

The 2019 Ford Focus ST has been snapped testing on the Nurburgring, revealing its aggressive bodykit and diffuser in greater detail than before.