vehicle

Moving into the Future with Ford at the #FordNAIAS Event in Detroit, MI

January 24, 2013 by Kathryn 22 Comments

When I attended the #FordNAIAS event in Detroit last week, the first day or so gave me a chance to experience some of the Ford Motor Company’s rich history. But Ford is a company that is always going forward and the rest of the time in Detroit, for me, was about moving into the future.

kathryn lavallee ford canada fordnaias techshop detroit

Posing with Ammar of Ford Canada, Jen of Mom vs. the Boys and Felicia of Single Mom of Two after arriving at TechShop Detroit

There’s no better place to discuss moving forward than at TechShop Detroit. This membership-based workshop and prototyping studio is designed for creating and contains any type of machine or tool that a person might need to bring their ideas to life. We headed to TechShop for dinner and while there we were treated to a presentation by Scott Burnell, Ford’s Global Lead for Business Development and Project Management, who introduced us to the new Ford Developer Program. Basically, this software will allow third-party programmers to create apps that can be integrated into the Ford SYNC AppLink system in vehicles. While the system isn’t available in Canada quite yet, I loved the concept and I can’t wait to see how it enhances the driving experience for the average family.

ford developer porgram presentation scott burnell

Ford’s Scott Burnell explains the Ford Developer Program to the crowd

Check Out the New Dodge Grand Caravan and Enter to Win with UrbanMoms

September 18, 2012 by Kathryn

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Cook, chauffeur, personal shopper, nurse, coach…at some point, all these careers are managed by one very busy individual and to her kids, she’ll always just be known as Mom. Whether you’re a working professional or a stay-at-home parent to your children, chances are good that you’re very, very busy. And of course, with school in full swing and extra-curricular activities starting up, that’s even truer.

2012_Black-dodge[2] So what can a busy mother do to handle the stress of running from one place to another all day? Well, it starts with a reliable vehicle. As tiring as it can be to constantly be on the go, it’s far worse needing to be somewhere and not being able to get there. I should know; I’ve experienced it.

When my oldest son was still a baby, we had a car that sometimes used to sputter and occasionally die completely as we were driving. When it happened one day on a busy city street in the middle of winter, I couldn’t help but panic. We got the car over to the side of the road just as the engine cut out and I sat there in the cold wondering how I was going to get my baby back home. We managed to get the car running and get to our house, but we sold the car shortly thereafter so that we would never have to experience that fear again.

Dodge knows how important a reliable family vehicle is to a family’s well being, and that’s why the company prides itself on providing safe and reliable vehicles for families. But with today’s busy lifestyles, there are other features that moms need too. When I head out the door with my family, I need a vehicle that can hold the entire family, a week’s worth of groceries, a stroller, sports equipment and, of course, my huge “Mom purse.”

dodge-trunk[2] The Dodge Grand Caravan claimed to be just such a vehicle and for the next month, you can visit the UrbanMoms Auto Reviews section of the website and hear from two UrbanMoms writers that are going to be putting the Dodge Grand Caravan to the test.

And as if that wasn’t enough, while you’re reading about how the vehicle stands up to the busy lifestyle of today’s mom, you can also enter to win a $250 gas card! If having a reliable vehicle reduces family stress, being able to fill up that vehicle for free is sure to help too! So visit UrbanMoms, read the reviews and enter to win a prize that will have you cruising through the busy school year with a smile!

Filed Under: Articles, Family Tagged With: caravan, dodge, dodge grand caravan, family, grand, grand caravan, reliable, urban moms, urbanmoms, urbanmoms contest, urbanmoms dodge, vehicle

Crusing in Style in the 2012 Ford Fiesta

June 25, 2012 by Kathryn

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When Ford Canada first called to offer us a 2012 Ford Fiesta to drive for the week, I have to admit that I wasn’t especially excited about the prospect. We’ve been able to drive some very amazing Ford vehicles in the last few months and while I was sure the Fiesta would be a nice comfortable ride, I didn’t really expect it to wow me.

Boy, was I in for a shock. The sporty Ford Fiesta that we received was absolutely gorgeous and the red and black colour scheme of the vehicle was enough to wow anybody. I was so excited to cruise around in such a sleek little vehicle for the next week!

2012 ford fiesta exterior [Read more...]

Filed Under: Reviews, Reviews and Giveaways Tagged With: 2012 fiesta, canada, car, car reviews, fiesta, ford, ford canada, ford fiesta, vehicle

Wordless Wednesday with Linky-Perspective

June 5, 2012 by Kathryn

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I was playing around with my Kodak PlaySport video camera in the van and I loved the way this shot of the mirror turned out!

Canadians, remember to enter to win your own Kodak PlaySport Prize Pack from Pampers worth $200! If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, feel free to link it up below; I’d love to check it out!

Filed Under: Features, Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: driving, family, mirror, mom, vehicle

Work Hard and Play Even Harder with the Ford F-150

May 22, 2012 by Kathryn

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So far, my family has had a great time testing out the new technology and incredible comfort of some of the brand new 2012 Ford vehicles from Ford Canada. But one of the things that Ford is best known for is not its passenger cars but its trucks! Most men have lusted after a Ford F-150 at some point in their lives and my husband is no exception, so he was delighted when he learned that we would be test-driving the 2012 Ford F-150 SuperCrew FX4.

A truck is not what springs to mind when one thinks about a family vehicle, but the F-150 was incredibly comfortable even with all four of us aboard. With four doors and the extended SuperCrew cab, getting the boys into their seats was easy and there was just as much leg room as if we were in a car or van.

A side view of the 2012 Ford F-150 FX4. Now that's a truck!

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Filed Under: Reviews, Reviews and Giveaways Tagged With: auto, automobiles, cars, f-150, f-150 fx, ford, ford canada, pickup, supercrew, trucks, vehicle

Luxurious and Fuel-Efficient Family Driving Comes Standard on the 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

May 12, 2012 by Kathryn

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When my family took the 2012 Ford Focus for a test-drive a few weeks ago, I mentioned that while it was a sleek, affordable and technologically-advanced option for a commuter car, a college car or a couple, it didn’t quite have the roominess I would ideally want in a regular family vehicle. That’s one of the reasons I was especially excited when we got to test out the 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid from Ford Canada last week. The car that had earned the title of the most fuel-efficient mid-sized luxury sedan in Canada seemed like a great choice for regular family driving and I was excited to see if it might fulfill my long list of requirements that the perfect family car “has to have.”

2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid When my husband headed to the dealership to pick up the car, he got quite the shock when he turned the key and nothing happened. He headed back into the dealership to tell them that the vehicle wouldn’t start. And that’s how our family got its first introduction to driving a Hybrid vehicle! When the key is turned, the battery kicks in first and the gasoline engine starts up only when necessary. It’s a very surreal experience to hear no noise whatsoever as the car first drives forward!

This car is significantly roomier than the Ford compacts and for our family of four it had just the right amount of space for our regular family activities. Whether we were packing up Zackary’s ball equipment to head over to a game or filling the trunk on our weekly family grocery trip, we always had plenty of space to tote around our boys and our gear in comfort.

Of course, the downside of a mid-sized vehicle is that the gas consumption is usually noticeably higher but since the MKZ we tested was a Hybrid vehicle, that wasn’t a concern! In fact, in one week of regular driving, the vehicle used only $30 of gas! Driving a Hybrid takes a little bit of an adjustment; there are two different gauges to measure the fuel and the battery power and an indicator light to let the driver know which resource is currently being used to power the vehicle. My husband spent some time studying the dash to ensure that he was reading the various gauges correctly but once he’d gotten used to the MKZ, he absolutely loved the power and fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

2012 lincoln mkz dashboard And of course, the 2012 Lincoln MKZ came with the same newly redesigned MyFord Touch system as Ford’s other most popular vehicles so that climate, navigation, entertainment and phone management could all be controlled with the clever touch screen, the steering wheel controls or the voice activation. For a regular family vehicle, it really did offer the best of all possible worlds.

The 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid is a little pricey, but the comfort, convenience and fuel efficiency it provides makes it worth the extra expense if having a comfortable and versatile family car is a priority for your family. Why not stop by your local Ford dealership, check it out and see if it might be the perfect family vehicle you’ve been wanting!

Disclaimer: I was loaned the 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid media fleet vehicle for one week to review. All opinions belong to Mommy Kat and Kids and have not been influenced in any way. Please view full Terms and Policies.

Filed Under: Reviews, Reviews and Giveaways Tagged With: automobiles, ford, ford canada, hybrid, lincoln, mkz, vehicle

Ford Canada Combines Cutting-Edge Technology and Affordability with the 2012 Ford Focus

April 23, 2012 by Kathryn

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A few weeks ago, I wrote a feature about the MyFord Touch system available in the new 2012 Ford Canada vehicles. Last week we got the chance to test out the system for ourselves when our family was able to review a fully loaded 2012 Ford Focus.

2012 ford focus hatchback This sleek little hatchback featured Active Park Assist and the newly redesigned MyFord Touch system with Ford SYNC by Microsoft and I couldn’t wait to try out the technology for myself. For the next week, the Ford Focus was our family vehicle and it was so much fun to see how far Ford has come in the last few years.

The first thing that we tested out was, of course, the voice controls. Zackary and Benjamin found this to be the most entertaining feature of the vehicle, especially since my husband had to repeat himself a few times as he was figuring out how the system worked. Listening to him say things at the wrong time or repeat a word more than once had them both laughing hysterically!

Once Curtis had spent a bit of time getting used to the system, though, it really did give him an incredible level of control just using his voice. I think the navigation system was the hardest feature to operate using voice since cities and addresses had to be pronounced so clearly and often sound very similar. Fortunately, the system has the option of spelling a city name or address for those situations!

My personal favourite feature of the MyFord Touch system was the ability to stream music wirelessly from my phone to the car’s stereo system using Bluetooth. Being able to listen to my favourite tunes without having to plug in a USB cord or put in a CD was so convenient.

2012 ford focus interior

My husband’s favourite feature had to be the Active Park Assist. He loved putting on a big show while parking by holding his hands up in the air and waving to anybody that might be passing by, and his friends were completely amazed by how perfectly the car could parallel park itself with just the push of a button He used the feature every chance he had and I have to admit, the boys and I enjoyed it almost as much as he did.

A hatchback would not have been my first choice for a family vehicle and my husband agreed; we were actually wondering if the car would be able to hold all the grocery bags from our major monthly shopping trip. But as soon as I opened the hatch I could see that this was no ordinary hatchback! The hatch had just as much, if not more, room than a standard trunk because the storage space extended right under the rear seats. It almost felt like a magic trick to see that much storage space in such a small vehicle.

While our entire family loved the Ford Focus and its features, it’s not a car that would be my first choice for the primary vehicle of a family of four; it would make an incredible work or commuter car since it’s great on gas and the features make for a very comfortable ride, but the seating is a little crowded for regular family use.

If you’re looking for a small, fuel-efficient car that has all the latest features and will give you the ultimate safe and comfortable ride, check out the new 2012 Ford Focus. It’s a perfect little car for anyone that wants a compact, affordable vehicle with all the latest technology!

Disclaimer: I was loaned the 2012 Ford Focus media fleet vehicle for one week to review. All opinions belong to Mommy Kat and Kids and have not been influenced in any way. Please view full Terms and Policies.