Ford hosts public drive event at Dubai Festival City

Ford hosted yet another driving event for the public, this time at the Dubai Festival City over the weekend. This latest “Ford Factor” event featured the Explorer, the Edge, the Taurus, the Figo, the F-150 and the all-new Focus.

There were some slalom, turning and braking exercises with the Explorer, Taurus and Edge. They were designed to prove that the big cars can turn without drama and brake well under pressure, which we can vouch for. There was also an automatic parallel-parking demo, a crash-warning system demo and a MyFord Touch multimedia system demo, all of which the general public isn’t familiar with yet.

We got some limited seat time with the Figo and the Focus on an autocross course, both seemingly tossable handlers. The Figo is small and cheap, yet decently built and very spacious for its size. The Focus is a revelation in terms of design, and might well be good enough to be the best car in its class at first glance, pending further review.

We also got to drive two F-150 trucks up a ramp backwards, one with an empty bed and the other loaded with 750 kg of stuff. With both trucks engaging the low-range gear, the weight difference didn’t seem to matter much for the V8 engine.

This public event came a day after Ford hosted a dinner for the winners of their annual environmental grants, with money awarded to people in the region who submitted their “green” projects. The money goes towards funding their projects further. Ford really seems hell-bent on stepping up their presence in the Middle East.