The other day Torque News ran a piece about fall leaf drop and how it affected drivers. Today we decided to expand on the idea and explain the mechanics of leaf-drop and its effect on driving. Believe it or not, the mechanics of leaf drop on road surfaces can be very interesting.

There's a lot to be said for seeing and seizing opportunities. Time and again, recently Ford has taken a look at its lineup and has added off-road variants that are hugely popular. The mid-sized Ranger Raptor is one example as is the Bronco Raptor. Even the staid SUV, the Explorer, has an off-roading option, the Timberline. Ford has done it again with its tease of the upcoming van for off-roaders, the Transit Trail Van.

For the seventh year, 110 women will take part in the 2022 1,600-mile Rebelle Rally that pits two-person teams against not only each other but some of the worst off-road trekking around.

We know that the news from Washington and the major world capitals slows down in August. It's the month in Europe when folks take their vacations and it is the time in Washington when everyone escapes the oppressive heat and humidity. Because life slows down appreciably, there are fewer easy headlines for reporters to write cover and write about. What better time to do a hit piece on a successful automaker like Ford?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was busy this week as it launched investigations into Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The probes involves almost 2 million vehicles.

Need a reason for following the advice to never buy the first (or even second) round of any new production run of cars or trucks? Here’s a good example proving this advice to be apt based on recent news that the new Ford Bronco engines are literally self-destructing in traffic.

Ford has opened a probe of Ford's 2.7-liter-powered Bronco following reports of "catastrophic engine failures" that begin with the drivetrain and end up stopping the engine and keeping it from starting.

Although this may seem surprising, Volkswagen's adoption of the Scout brand name is a bit of all right.

About 350,000 Ford Escapes and Bronco Sports have been recalled by the automaker to repair a potential fire hazard as the oil separator on the 1.5-liter engine may crack and there is the potential for oil to be sprayed on a hot engine;

Two Ford models, the Explorer and the Bronco Sport, have earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's highest award rating, Top Safety Pick+.

In 2019 and 2020, Ford's Bronco-R ran in the tough Baja 1000. The lessons learned in this backcountry off-road race were well-learned as Ford Performance took them and applied them to a new generation of off-road racing Broncos. Those lessons were learned quite well as Ford took three podiums in this past weekend's King of the Hammers off-road race.

For the second time in the last two years, Ford has won two major NACTOY awards. NACTOY stands for the North American Car/Truck of the Year Awards. It is a program that began months ago as the first vehicles were vetted for the program. As the months have gone on, a jury of 50 automotive veterans have put and pushed each vehicle through its paces to find the winners.

Although the Ford Bronco Four-Door -- full-sized -- is one of the success stories of the auto year, one area where it has not lived up to the successful story line is in the ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety where issues with the head restraints and headlights kept the popular model from earning an IIHS award.

At last, the committee running the North American Car and Truck Awards program has its finalists. In a surprise, Ford has two entrants. The entries are not where you think they might be -- electric. Instead, Ford's "back to the future" retro SUV, the Bronco, is one vehicle, while the automaker's innovative compact pickup, the Maverick, is the second. Two of the entrants are from manufacturers that didn't exist three years ago, Lucid and Rivian. Photos Courtesy Ford Motor Co.