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You are here: Home / Archives for Ford Motor Company

Ford Canada is Putting Us in the Drivers Seat: The #FordNAIAS Blogger Experience 2014 ~ @FordCanada

January 6, 2014 by Wendy S

FordNAIAS 2014What is #FordNAIAS?

Ford Canada has invited an amazing list of Bloggers and Social Media Influencers to join their Social Media Team at the 2014 North American International Auto Show.

From January 12th to 14th, 15 Canadian bloggers will join 120 bloggers from around the world in Detroit, Michigan to learn about about Ford, see some of Ford’s technology, drive some Ford vehicles and see all of the new 2015 vehicles at the Auto Show.  I’m really looking forward to the new 2015 F-150 and 2015 Mustang.

Craig has gone to NAIAS a couple times with Ford Canada now, so I’m very excited to experience it.  He shared a lot of photos on his blog.

To see what I’ll be up to this year, follow all of my social media channels and the #FordNAIAS hashtag:

Follow @mapsgirl
Like mapsgirl on Facebook
Follow on instagram: mapsgirl

 Social Media Influencers

Here are the bloggers that Ford Canada has chosen to attend this year:

Aeryn Lynne @AerynLynne ~ geekwithstyle.ca
AmandaBlain @AmandaBlain ~ amandablain.com
Brian Webb @Br_Webb ~ mywebbsite.ca
Casey Palmer @DoomzTO ~ caseypalmer.com
Chris Vollic @Canadian88 ~ canadian88.ca
Christine Lee-McNaughton @ChancesMommy ~ lifeonmanitoulin.com
Dave Bouskill & Deb Corbeil @ThePlanetD ~ theplanetd.com
John Biehler @JohnBiehler ~ johnbiehler.com
Julia Chiarella-Genoni @AskMamaMOE ~ askmamamoe.com
Kim Logan @GingerMommy ~ talesofarantingginger.com
Marc Smith @TheMarcSmith ~ 30dayadventures.ca
Tim Burrows @T_Burrows ~ walkingthesocialmediabeat.com
Trina Stewart @Trina_Stewart ~ lifesablog.ca

Ford Canada’s Social Media Team

Traveling with us will be 3 of Ford Canada’s Social Media Team:

Anson Dixon @FordAnsonDixon dixblogsnow.wordpress.com
Mike Ellis @MikeTalksAutos blog.ford.ca
Craig Silva @FordCraigSilva bigdaddykreativ.ca/blog

Connect with Ford Canada

Be sure that you’re following all of Ford Canada’s social media channels so that you don’t miss any of the fun:

Facebook: FordCanada
Twitter: FordCanada
Instagram: FordCanada
YouTube: FordCanada
Blue Blog: blog.ford.ca

More information about NAIAS:

naias.com
Twitter: @naiasdetroit
Facebook: North American International Auto Show

Filed Under: FordNAIAS, Travel Tagged With: auto, ford, Ford Canada, Ford Motor Company, travel

Road trippin’ with the 2013 @FordCanada Explorer #3GirlsInAFord

October 2, 2013 by Wendy S

In July, Aeryn, Christy and I loaded up the 2013 Ford Explorer and headed off to Chicago!  We even had our own hashtag #3GirlsInAFord

It’s going to be a fun ride to Chicago! We’re test driving a 2013 @FordCanada Explorer! #3GirlsInAFord http://t.co/VC4ihoEjW7
— Wendy [mapsgirl] (@mapsgirl) July 24, 2013

I have driven several Ford vehicles now and have found all of them great to drive.  However after driving the 2013 Ford Explorer to Chicago and back, I have come to appreciate a lot of the amazing technology. Driving in the city is fun, but a long drive really gives you a chance to get to know the vehicle.  There were many features that made the 8 hour drive so much easier.

Driver Seat Memory

Christy and I shared the driving, so the Driver Seat Memory came in very handy.  Each of us was able to set the seat in the position that was comfortable for us and program the button.  When we switched drivers, with the quick push of the button, the seat was back the way we wanted it.

Adaptive Cruise Control

My favourite feature, that really blew my mind, is the adaptive cruise control. I was able to drive for several hours on the highway without touching the gas or the brake pedals.

How the Adaptive Cruise Control works:

  • you set the cruise on the speed that you liked to travel
  • you set the distance that you’d like between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you
  • you drive
  • if you approach a vehicle that is going slower than you are, your vehicle will slow down and only be as close as the gap that you set
  • once you change lanes, your vehicle will speed back up to the speed that you set

It’s really amazing!

Collision Warning

The sensors at the front of the vehicle are also used for the approach warning.  If you approach a vehicle too quickly, an alarm sounds and lights flash up on the windshield.  The vehicle will precharge your brakes so they react faster when you finally press the brake.

Blind Spot Information System (BLIS)

It really is bliss!  There are sensors on the sides of the vehicle which warn you if someone is in your blind spot by turning on a light on the side mirror.  The sensors on the back of the vehicle alert you if anyone is behind you when you’re backing up.  Read more about BLIS on Ford.ca

Watch the video to learn more:

Navigation System

The Navigation System was very helpful in getting us to Chicago and back.  I really like that the images on the screen match what you see on the road.

Storage Space

Now when you get 3 women together to go to a big city for a big blogging conference, they are bound to have some luggage.

 

On the way home, we had the same luggage, plus some shopping bags and a whole lot of swag!  Thank goodness for all of the space in the Explorer!
A big Thank You to Ford Canada for letting us give the 2013 Ford Explorer a great test drive!  We really appreciate all of the great technology that you have put in to your vehicles to make the driver’s and passenger’s experience so much better.

mapsgirl's Ford - 2013 Explorer album on Photobucket

Filed Under: auto reviews, Products & Reviews Tagged With: 2013 Ford Explorer, ford, Ford Canada, Ford Motor Company

Cool Cars — the perks of being married to @FordCraigSilva

June 14, 2013 by Wendy S

Craig has been working as the Senior Community Manager for Ford Canada for over a year now.  And he’s loving it!

The girls and I love it too!

Part of Craig’s job is to engage with people on social media and share what is happening in the world of Ford Canada. This includes sharing photos of great cars with his followers on twitter and Facebook.

(You can follow him on twitter @FordCraigSilva and @FordCanada and on Ford Canada’s Facebook page)

Here’s where the perks for me come in!  Very frequently, we’ll stop at car shows and look at all of the amazing vehicles — old and new! The girls really enjoy going and learning about the older vehicles.

Just the other day, we went to the grocery store and there happened to be a car show.  The girls wanted to look at the cars before we did our shopping.  We saw some really neat cars!

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: ford, Ford Canada, Ford Motor Company, photo

The 2013 @FordCanada Flex AWD Limited is family-focused {review}

June 7, 2013 by Wendy S

Thanks to Ford Canada, I had the opportunity to test drive the 2013 Ford Flex AWD Limited for a week and it was a lot of fun!The 2013 Flex AWD Limited I tested had a 3.5L V6 Ecoboost Engine. Features included: leather seats, adaptive cruise control, power fold 3rd row seat, 2nd row 40/40 auto fold seats, voice activated navigation system, rear inflatable seat belts, class 3 trailer tow package and dual headrest DVD entertainment system. (MSRP $59,579)

At First Glance 

The 2013 Ford Flex is amazingly spacious and nicely organized.

And the panoramic roof (a sunroof that extends almost the entire length of the vehicle) definitely caught everyone’s attention!  The girls liked that they each had one above them and they could decide if they wanted to the shade open or closed.

I’m not a huge fan of the silver roof. Personally, I’d prefer the vehicle to be one complete colour.

Getting around

I really enjoyed driving it.  It handled very well and was fun to drive on the highway or on city streets.

The Ecoboost engine is a great feature for me to have on a vehicle. It “[improves] fuel economy for drivers, without sacrificing power or performance”.  To learn more about this engine, read “Ecoboost: Efficiency without Compromise” from Ford Blue.

It has lots of great safely features, but I especially loved the blind spot indicator, collision warning and adaptable cruise control. The vehicle has sensors around the outside that can tell how close you are to other vehicles or if one is your blind spot. If you’re using cruise control, the speed will automatically be adjusted if you get too close to the vehicle in front of you. This is an amazing feature!

Like with the 2013 Edge, if I was to purchase this vehicle, I’d choose the front wheel drive (FWD) option instead of all-wheel drive (AWD). Unfortunately, this means that I could not get Ecoboost Engine as that is only available with the AWD model.

One thing I noticed is how much the rear headrests block the rear window. If there were passengers in the 3rd row, the headrests would be blocking the back window if they were up. Since we are a family of 4 and the 3rd row seats won’t be used that frequently, I can keep the headrests down when there aren’t any passengers using them. With the headrests down, the rear window is not obstructed.


Let’s check out the back seat!

When the girls first climbed in the back seat, they was so thrilled with all of the neat features. “Oh, Mommy, there’s a DVD player! Mommy, there are cup holders. Mommy, the thing opens, and we can put stuff in it!” They were talking about the center console between the two seats.

They really have put a lot of thought into all of the passengers in the vehicle. Usually in vehicles all of the fun stuff is only in the front for the driver and front passenger, but in the Flex, the rear passengers have lots of extra features to increase the passenger experience. There are lots of storage compartments and cup holders. A place to charge your phone or game system. The DVD player has individual screens on the back of the front seats with head phone jacks for each person.

And there are storage compartments in the rear seats! I show photos of this a bit further down.

I like the addition of the inflatable seat belts for the rear passengers. In a collision, the airbag will deploy to help support the head and neck. You can see a video, on Ford Canada’s website. Because the tongue is different than on a standard seat belt, it took the girls a little while to get the hang of buckling it properly.

And look at the legroom! I’m not that tall so legroom usually isn’t an issue, but I could stretch out!

The power folding 3rd row seat is very convenient!  It has 3 positions: normal, stow and tailgate.

Child Seat Installation

Installing Lauren’s forward-facing car seat was very easy, even easier than it was in the 2013 Edge.  The UAS anchors were very easy to locate.

Ford does a great job in their owner’s manual with the instruction for the use of car seats.

I use the same process every time I install a seat: I like to attach the tether first so that I can ensure that it’s tight enough. Once the UAS connectors on the car seat were clipped to the UAS anchors in the car, I knelt in the seat and pulled the UAS belt tight.  When I tried to shake the car seat at the belt path, the whole vehicle moved so I knew it was tight!

Great storage!

There are storage spaces all over this vehicle!  It seemed that everywhere I looked they had created a unique storage space.

Family approved!

The Edge is a great vehicle for our family of 4 and some friends!  I know Rachel and Lauren would love for this to be our next vehicle as they didn’t want me to give it back.

Six thumbs up from this mom and two girls!


mapsgirl's Ford - 2013 Flex album on Photobucket

I was not compensated for this post. I was lent the vehicle for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: auto reviews, Products & Reviews Tagged With: ford, Ford Canada, Ford Motor Company

wordless wednesday: my ride for the week #FordFlex

April 17, 2013 by Wendy S


Share your Wordless Wednesday post!

Filed Under: wordless wednesday Tagged With: ford, Ford Canada, Ford Motor Company

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Follow MapsGirl On…

mapsgirl@gmail.com

Why “mapsgirl” ?

Wendy is a cartographer! She draws maps!

When not mapping, Wendy is also a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog. Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy was a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada from 2008 to 2020. [Read More …]

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