The Ford Maverick: A Surprising Track Performer
The Ford Maverick has garnered a strong following due to its affordability, spacious seating for five, and versatile truck capabilities. It serves as a practical daily driver, a reliable hauler, and an efficient road-trip companion with its commendable fuel efficiency. Recent revelations have shown that it also holds its own on the track!
Antonio Diaz’s Maverick Track Experience
Antonio Diaz, a resident of Virginia, shares his experience as the proud owner of a 2022 Ford Maverick XL. Initially purchased for daily use, Antonio’s perspective shifted after being inspired by fellow members of the Maverick Truck Club. Witnessing the truck’s handling prowess motivated him to explore its track potential, leading to an unexpected journey.
While unconventional, taking a truck like the Maverick on the track is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive, it boasts performance capabilities comparable to renowned models like the Evo or Eclipse.
Customizing the Maverick for Track Performance
Driven by a desire to enhance his Maverick’s track performance, Antonio embarked on a modification journey focused on optimizing handling and agility. His modifications, meticulously selected for functionality, include coilovers, custom camber arms, an adjustable rear sway bar, EBC brake pads, and slotted rotors.
While engine upgrades are currently limited to a custom catback exhaust system and cold air intake, plans for increased power output are in the pipeline. Antonio contemplates a potential engine swap to the 2.3-liter turbocharged engine from the Lincoln Corsair, offering a substantial power boost from the stock 2.0-liter EcoBoost.
One of the standout modifications is the installation of paddle shifters for the eight-speed automatic transmission. By integrating a European-sourced paddle-equipped steering wheel from a Fiesta ST, Antonio achieved a significant enhancement in driving experience. His detailed guide on performing this modification serves as a valuable resource for enthusiasts looking to replicate his setup.
Additionally, Antonio upgraded his seats to Ford Focus ST Recaros, providing enhanced support and comfort during track sessions, further elevating the Maverick’s performance capabilities.
Antonio’s Track Adventure with His Maverick
Antonio, a passionate car enthusiast, recently took his modified Maverick to the track for a thrilling experience. His Maverick, equipped with various suspension upgrades, was expected to deliver exceptional performance on the circuit. To enhance his driving experience, Antonio decided to install sportier seats, aiming to maximize the lateral G-forces during cornering.
Exploring Dominion Raceway
Antonio’s most recent track visit was to Dominion Raceway in Virginia, where he participated in a Track Attack event. Unlike traditional racing events, this pace event allowed drivers to follow a set pace without the need for helmets, providing a safe environment for enthusiasts to explore their vehicles’ capabilities on the track.
Optimizing Performance
Reflecting on his track experience, Antonio emphasized the importance of upgrading brakes, brake fluids, and tires for track use. Given the Maverick’s weight, he highlighted the need for efficient cooling systems to prevent overheating during intense driving sessions. Additionally, Antonio stressed the significance of regular fluid maintenance to ensure optimal performance of the vehicle.
Enhancing Driving Dynamics
While Antonio appreciated the handling improvements from his modifications, he expressed a desire for a manual transmission to enhance control over shift points. Despite feeling slightly underpowered on straightaways, the Maverick excelled in cornering, thanks in part to the upgraded tires that provided better grip.
The Maverick Among Giants
Photos from the track day showcased Antonio’s Maverick among high-performance vehicles like Mustangs, Corvettes, and Porsches, creating a unique contrast. Despite being surrounded by faster cars, the Maverick’s presence on the track exuded a sense of speed and agility, capturing the attention of onlookers.
The Future of Maverick ST
Antonio’s positive experience with the Maverick led him to advocate for the introduction of an ST (Sport Truck) variant. Believing that the Maverick embodies the spirit of a sporty truck, he urged Ford to consider adding an ST badge to further enhance its appeal. With the growing demand for performance-oriented trucks, Antonio predicted that Ford might soon introduce an ST version of the Maverick to cater to enthusiasts.
The Ford Maverick: A Practical and Fuel-Efficient Daily Driver
If you are in the market for a reliable daily driver that is fuel-efficient and practical, the Ford Maverick could be the perfect choice for you. This versatile vehicle offers a great combination of performance and efficiency, making it ideal for everyday use.
Enhancing Performance with Simple Suspension Modifications
One of the great things about the Ford Maverick is that it is not just a practical daily driver – it can also hold its own on the track. By making some simple suspension modifications, you can enhance the handling and performance of the Maverick, allowing you to enjoy some spirited driving experiences. With 250 horsepower at your disposal, you may even find yourself outperforming some of the more sporty cars on the track.
Unleash Your Inner Racer
Don’t let the practicality of the Ford Maverick fool you – this vehicle is capable of delivering an exhilarating driving experience. Whether you are running errands around town or hitting the track for some high-speed fun, the Maverick is sure to impress. So go ahead, unleash your inner racer and enjoy the best of both worlds with the Ford Maverick.
Happy hunting!
Image credits: Antonio Diaz
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Redfall: The Biggest Disappointment of 2023
Text: Gaizka Reche – Gamereactor.cnRedfall was one of the biggest disappointments for the industry in 2023. “Prey” and “Shame” follow, both of which are quite high quality. Audiences expected Redfall to be one of the big hits of the year, but upon release it turned out to be a major disaster. That said, it’s worth noting that the studio has released patches that have managed to mitigate and fix many bugs, albeit perhaps too late. Bethesda says it plans to continue developing the game, but it’s been over a year since launch and owners of the Bite Back Edition have yet to receive everything that was promised. The Hero Pass is included in the Bite Back edition, priced at $99.99 / €109.99, and includes, in addition to the basic elements of the game, several exclusive skins for weapons, accessories for the original characters and two additional characters “in the near future.” That means, The characters are not yet implemented , the studio has yet to comment on when they will be added. Furthermore, the title was last updated in November last year, with Arkane Austin promising further additions in 2024. One reason is that they will have to wait until the Xbox Game Showcase on June 9th, even if players have few hopes. Thanks, GamingBolt.
Source: Gamereactor.cn
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Phi3, how to try (and why) the smallest Microsoft artificial intelligence
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A mini language model that does well, despite its limitations: interesting to try and useful for sitting on the frontier of what are called small language models. And which we will increasingly find integrated into smartphones, Internet of Things objects, home automation, ATMs, etc.
These are the sensations we can get from a small test of Phi3, the smallest artificial intelligence model designed by Microsoft.
A test done on Lm Studio, software that allows everyone to try open source models, with a simple interface.
The peculiarities of Phi3
Microsoft is now making available to the public the first of this family of more powerful and smaller language models: Phi-3-mini, which measures 3.8 billion parameters and would perform better than models twice the size, according to tests done by the company, for linguistic interpretation, coding, mathematics. Microsoft has also announced the imminent arrival of other models in the Phi-3 family to offer greater choice in terms of quality and cost. Phi-3-small (7 billion parameters) and Phi-3-medium (14 billion parameters). The underlying idea is to train models using only words understandable to a 4-year-old child, but choosing only high-quality data to optimize training.
Small language models are designed to perform simple tasks well, and are more accessible and easy to use for organizations with limited resources. The advantages are the possibility of using them on even low-powered devices, without internet (or with a poor network) and with total privacy of the data entered (everything remains on your device). When used on powerful computers, these models are even faster than large ones like OpenAI’s Gpt. They can give immediate answers. The tests carried out by Microsoft and various researchers demonstrate the limits of these models for cultural and scientific questions; when they are asked to make complex reasoning, innovative applications (in medicine for example); or when they would need to analyze a large amount of information. All cases in which the classic large models are more suitable. Unfortunately, another known limitation of the Phi3, which we found in our test, is in multilingual: it copes much better in English. These limitations arise from the limited amount of information used for training. The model knows fewer things in factual terms and, due to the limits in the ability of linguistic interpretation, tends more to hallucinate. These defects can be partly compensated by combining the model with a web search or by providing data in the input, to be processed (the so-called few shots), such as a text to be summarized or analysed. Among the most common uses of a model such as Phi-3: summarize a long document; extract relevant information and industry trends from research or market reports. Generate texts for marketing or sales, make posts on social media or product descriptions for e-commerce. Or it can become a chatbot for customer support, if the company feeds it the most frequently asked questions and the answers to give.
The Phi3 test
For our test we used Lm Studio. After installation we write Phi3 in the Home bar or in the search (magnifying glass in the left menu). Here you will see a choice of files to choose from. There is the Q4 version, smaller, and the F16 version. The first is quantized to 4 bits, i.e. compressed. On a computer it would be better to use F16, with 16 flops (a value that indicates the number of floating point operations performed in one second). It is larger and requires more GPU power but all in all within the reach of a computer that is not too slow. Then we click on the cloud on the left (the chat) and in the drop-down menu at the top we select the model to load. Then we start asking questions and requests, as we would with the free Chatgpt (version 3.5). We asked both versions of Phi3 how to make pasta carbonara (factual knowledge test); the q4 version dared to suggest a vegetarian variant (without us asking) with cooked ham. However, F16 is good. A classic linguistic interpretation test – a brick weighs one kilo plus half a brick, how much does a brick weigh? – he often makes mistakes, in various tests, in Q4 and less often in F16. But only Gpt4 (not 3.5) always solves it in our tests. As often happens with chatbots, the output improves if we ask them to think step by step, i.e. if we force them to break down the problem (the right answer is 2 kilos). Then a test of understanding of social common sense, for which Phi3 should excel (according to what Microsoft declared): Lucia says to Franco: “I have to tell you a secret”; Franco approaches Lucia, why did she do it? The right answer, i.e. the most reasonable one given the premises – and both Gpt 3.5 and Gpt 4 offer it – is “to hear the secret while keeping the conversation private and confidential”. Phi3 goes around it, giving various explanations, even imaginative ones (hallucinations) such as “Franco is perhaps looking for a romantic approach”. Nothing to say however for a test of synthesis of a text.
In the end, trying Phi3 is recommended to many: to those who want to evaluate the applicability of this model for future adoption in the corporate environment or to generally understand the potential of current small models in the context of continuous evolution of generative artificial intelligence.
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Phi3, how to try (and why) the smallest Microsoft artificial intelligence