The Ford Fiesta is officially the most fuel-efficient ride in its class. The EPA has finished testing and has certified the new Fiesta at 40 mpg highway, a figure that beats the Toyota Yaris by 4 mpg and the Honda Fit by 5. The Fiesta gets 29 mpg in city conditions.

The Fiesta tested by the EPA included the 1.6-liter DOHC four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission. A five-speed manual transmission is standard on the car and delivers a 28/37 mpg rating.

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The picture above is a little glimpse of the upcoming 2011 Ford Explorer tucked away under chief engineer Jim Holland’s armpit and smiley mug. The new Explorer will mark a shift from body-on-truck construction to car-based crossover construction and will get a few visual cues from the Land Rover range, including the clamshell hood.

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In one of the oddest, most mismatched head-to-heads since Mike Tyson’s “hard” road back, the Ford Fiesta recently went mano a mano with the Lamborghini Gallardo. I know exactly what you’re thinking: “Why??” Well, while testing the new Fiesta, Ford welcomed public input as to what tests it performs. And some wisenheimer threw out the idea of a test against the Lamborghini Gallardo. He may have meant it as a joke, but Ford took it seriously and went to work.

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Up until now much of the technological advancements we’ve seen from Ford, such as the Sync and MyFord systems, have been cool and useful, though arguably distracting and unnecessary. In a new piece of technology that Ford is working on, the Blue Oval takes unnecessary to a new, illogical level. A new app the company is testing out on the 2011 Ford Fiesta is capable of giving the driver information about whether the car is happy or sad. No, really, it does.

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During the time we’ve been covering the auto industry, Ford has made a small name for itself as the American car of choice for rappers and hip-hop artists. Nelly got his hands on a pimped-out 5.0 Mustang shortly after the new 5.0 hit the scene, and now Funkmaster Flex will be working out a new special edition Ford Fiesta.

The Ford Fiesta is set to get the full Funk treatment on the May 2 debut of the MTV2 show “Funk Flex Full Throttle.” Ford hasn’t gotten into any details as to what the ‘master has in store for the car, outside of the basics (body kit, wheels, tires, lowering kit, custom interior), but it did state that the car will be given away to a viewer.

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Last week, Ford introduced and confirmed for production a new 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, which promises the power of a four-cylinder EcoBoost with some fuel savings. The engine is featured on Ford’s round, little Start concept.

According to a report today on egmCarTech, the new engine is still a ways off from U.S. production. While it was speculated that the new engine would find its way into the Fiesta, the new report cites a Ford source as saying the three-cylinder EcoBoost’s introduction in the States is still “a ways off” and will need to wait for the proper vehicle. [via egmCarTech]

When we heard about the Start concept and the new 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost that it packed inside yesterday, there was little doubt that the latter was going to see production. Today, Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa confirmed that the engine will indeed see volume production.

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The new Ford Start concept has made its debut at the Beijing Auto Show. The round little piece of futurism marks the debut of a new EcoBoost engine–a 1.0-liter three-cylinder worth 120 horses and 112 lb-ft. According to Ford, the small EcoBoost puts out the performance of a 1.6-liter four-cylinder while cutting size and displacement. It also supposedly adds “a few extra miles per gallon” over the four-cylinder.

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Boy, I’d really love to live in a world where people just focus on driving and leave their texting/talking/browsing/app surfing off the road. But unfortunately this isn’t that world, so at least companies are offering technology to make those activities a little safer.

Ford plans to introduce Sync AppLink software in the 2011 Fiesta. The new software allows drivers hands-free voice control of smartphone apps. It will work with the Blackberry and Android phones. Some of the apps that will be compatible with the software include Pandora, Stitcher and Orangatame’s OpenBeak app for Twitter.

The technology will make its way into all Sync-equipped vehicles next year. [via InsideLine]