Technology


REPORT: Ferrari working on radical new door opening

As if scissor doors, gullwings, butterflies and those crazy Koenigsegg pivoters weren't enough to separate exotics from lesser cars, Ferrari is said to be working on another new door design that is both radical and practical. Go figure. Autocar came across a patent filing showing a few diagrams depicting this unique door setup. What sets it apart is the fact that the new Ferrari door includes part of the front fender and hinges upward like the butterfly door from a LeMans racer. Apparently the opening is large enough and shaped in such a way ... Read more →

VIDEO: Deconstructing the end-of-the-world limo ride in 2012 Chris Shunk

We're still early in the holiday movie season, but the clear early winner is the blockbuster world-ending thriller 2012. The pic cleared $65 million in its first weekend in the U.S. and a stunning ...

VIDEO: Jay Leno does the electric Tango Domenick Yoney

Jay Leno likes him some electric Tango. No, not the new dance craze all the kids are talking texting about, but rather the oddly-narrow but very quick two-seater from Commuter Cars. Now, regular ...

Mercedes-Benz and Hughes release app-based "mbrace" telematics for iPhone, Blackberry Damon Lavrinc

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with Hughes Telematics to begin offering a new system that allows drivers to enable dozens of their vehicles features with their Apple iPhone or Blackberry. Dubbed ...

REPORT: Nissan may offer optional higher-capacity batteries at premium Sam Abuelsamid

It looks like Tesla probably won't be alone in offering different-sized battery packs in its future electric vehicles. At a U.S. launch event for the Leaf electric car on Friday, Nissan product ...

VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG crash-test video shows off exploding door hinges 4 days ago on Autoblog

It's a sad fact that incredibly expensive, highly desirable cars have to be smashed to bits in the name of safety, but we have to admit we quietly enjoy watching the carnage. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG had to endure its time with the crash barrier, and the video proves that the $200,000 supercar ...

Hyundai launches first direct-inject four-cylinder engine, replaces V6 in new Sonata 4 days ago on Autoblog

When the swoopy new 2011 Sonata goes into production at Hyundai's plant in Alabama early next year, it won't offer a V6 engine anymore, but it will get the company's first ever direct-injected engine. This week in South Korea, Hyundai took the wraps off its 2.4-liter Theta II GDI four-cylinder. ...

Rumormill: EcoBoost V8 Ford Shelby Mustang in the pipeline? 7 days ago on Autoblog

Here's one we've been hearing rumors about for quite a while – an EcoBoosted V8 Mustang. Put another way, a twin-turbo, direct-injected, V8 Shelby GT500. The first rumor we heard was about a twin-turbo 50th Anniversary Edition 2014 1/2 Mustang, which would be the very definition of the ...

Platoon: GPS-based road trains set to test on European roads? 7 days ago on Autoblog

It goes by the name "Sartre," but it has nothing to do with existentialism and just a little bit to do with exits. The Safe Road Trains for the Environment program is a three-year European study centering on the creation of 'platoons' of drivers behind a lead vehicle on the highway. It involves ...

Ford EcoBoost Engines see high take rate, customers see higher transaction prices 8 days ago on Autoblog

Ford has been pushing its EcoBoost engines hard since they came out of the gate, with almost as many commercials touting its twin-turbo technology as we've seen all other Blue Oval spots combined. And all that marketing mojo appears to be paying off, as the Ford Motor Company has told The ...

Ford gets CES innovation awards for Sync and Work Solutions 8 days ago on Autoblog

For years, Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates was the keynoter at the Consumer Electronics Show. When Microsoft first announced its intention to create software for cars nearly a decade ago, most people that had suffered through the indignities of the blue screen of death recoiled in ...

Why a boat-tail semi isn't as silly as it might sound 8 days ago on Autoblog

Sure, a six-foot protrusion sticking off the rear end of any vehicle is kinda funny looking. Unless we're talking about a Porsche 917/30 or a Plymouth Superbird. Those cars have some very fine rear extensions. Okay, fine – a six-foot protrusion looks a little bit weird when growing out of a ...

GoPro introduces HD line of Hero cameras 8 days ago on Autoblog

GoPro has unveiled its line of HD cameras specially adapted for motorsports, helmets, surfing, and R/C – although a bendy arm and a suction cup mean you could use them to record your performance vacuum cleaning as well, should you wish. The cameras offer the option of five different ...

VIDEO: The coolest CG car vid you'll see today 9 days ago on Autoblog

We've seen plenty of car-related videos of our time, and we've posted on quite a few of them on Autoblog. The clips are usually informative, offer a sneak peak of a future product, or they're just plain funny, but one thing we've never done is showcase a reader's demo reel, until today. Why? ...

Ferrari reportedly hard at work to combat turbo lag 9 days ago on Autoblog

Try explaining turbocharging to someone who doesn't know cars, and if you do a good job, you're likely to get a reaction something along the lines of, "then why don't they put turbochargers on all cars"? Well, that's a perfectly fair question, and the answer of course is turbo lag. It's one ...

REPORT: BMW plans to offer four-cylinder diesels in the U.S. 9 days ago on Autoblog

To mechanics of the Seventies, the phrase "Oldmobile 350 Diesel" is enough to cause heart palpitations. For many Americans, that particular engine was their first – and most definitely last – exposure to diesel. Doomed from the start by both a lack of a water-separator (you ever try ...

Audi drops more photos and info on "Shelley", the autonomous TT-S 13 days ago on Autoblog

We first heard about the latest autonomous driving project from Stanford University and the Volkswagen Group a couple of weeks ago. Audi has released some more information on the car, a TT-S coupe that, like its predecessors, Stanley and Junior, has a name: Shelley. Shelley's being developed to ...

Gordon Murray working on EV version of city car? 13 days ago on Autoblog

Gordon Murray's T25 city car looks pretty impressive on paper. It boasts higher cargo capacity and more seats (three) than a Smart Fortwo – and it promises to be built for maximum efficiency. According to Autocar, Gordon Murray says the T25 will be motivated by both naturally-aspirated and ...

Quieter Spirit: Rolls reportedly planning hybrid Ghost for 15% better economy 14 days ago on Autoblog

If you've been pondering getting on the list for a Rolls-Royce Ghost but you're hesitant because of the negative environmental impact (and social standing) of the big, beautiful boat's V12 engine, we've got good news for you. British site Autocar is reporting that a hybrid version of the Ghost is ...

SEMA 2009: Rev for iPhone reaches 2.0, includes data-logging [w/ VIDEO] 15 days ago on Autoblog

Since there are approximately one trillion iPhones in the world and about ten-times as many apps, it's not hard to find a program to suit your needs. But in the automotive sphere, there aren't nearly as many quality applications and even fewer that can deliver the information most gearheads ...

Latest auto iPhone app: Augmented reality parked car finder 15 days ago on Autoblog

About a dozen years ago, this blogger drove his father's Buick Regal Gran Sport Coupe to a Pink Floyd concert at the 80,000-seat Pontiac Silverdome. After the concert was over, said blogger spent two hours trying to find his old man's ride in a sea of tie dye shirts and strange-smelling smoke. We've ...

BMW slashes price of satellite radio by 41 percent, others to follow? 16 days ago on Autoblog

BMW has substantially cut the price of its Sirius Satellite Radio factory option from $595 to $350 on select 2010 vehicles (excludes 5 Series, 6 Series and X3) while also adding functionality. Customers who choose Sirius will continue to receive "The Sirius Everything" package for one year, ...

SEMA 2009: Progressive Automotive X-Prize Contenders 16 days ago on Autoblog

For those of you who follow our sister site AutoblogGreen regularly, you're very familiar with the Automotive X-Prize, the $10m challenge to produce viable and super fuel-efficient vehicles. For us polar ice cap haters, we generally think of the competitors in this kind of thing as a bunch of ...

VIDEO: Audi in on developing dashboard-mounted buddy robot 16 days ago on Autoblog

We don't know where carmakers got the idea that we want intelligent robots learning our behavior and then talking to us. Wherever it was, we don't want it any more than they thought we did 25 years ago in a talking Maxima. Nissan has its PIVO concept, which has the distinction of being as creepy ...

Chrysler gets in-car TV going with FLO TV 16 days ago on Autoblog

Starting in late December, Chrysler Group LLC will take claim as the first U.S. automaker to offer live mobile television in its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles. Programming for up to 20 channels will come through FLO TV™ Auto Entertainment and will offer shows for nearly everyone. As of ...

Lamborghini and TAG Heuer collaborate on special edition Meridiist mobile phone 17 days ago on Autoblog

TAG Heuer is no stranger to the car world. They've been crafting driving watches for nearly 150 years and sponsor more racing drivers than you can shake a titanium-alloy rod at. Although the watchmaker has long since been sold to LVMH (which in turn nearly acquired Aston Martin a few years ...

Microsoft teams up with automakers for Windows 7 theme packs 18 days ago on Autoblog

Microsoft has been in the car business for years, supplying specialized infotainment systems to automakers like Ford and Fiat. But the door swings both ways as a handful of automakers have released special theme packages for the new Windows 7 operating system. So far Infiniti, Porsche, ...

Hyundai opens Indian R&D facility to develop small cars 18 days ago on Autoblog

Over the past decade, Hyundai has rapidly moved up into the top echelon of the worlds automakers and part of its success has come from better tailoring its cars to local needs. To help in that respect, the South Korean company has opened a network of technical centers in the regions where it ...

BREAKING: Hyundai developing competitor for OnStar, Sync... but new system needs a name 18 days ago on Autoblog

As part of its product and marketing development process, Hyundai has reached out to owners and enthusiasts to create a network of consumers with which to discuss everything from future models and technologies to advertising tactics, polls, and so on. Autoblog has learned of a ...

Add Lightness: BMW signs joint venture to further carbon fiber research 19 days ago on Autoblog

Now that steel and aluminum are vying for top billing as the metal of choice in Automobile Land, carbon fiber is often considered the next logical step towards reducing the prodigious weight of today's cars and trucks – especially for high performance and eco-friendly vehicles. The ...

VIDEO: Seattle earthquake viaduct simulation released; timing politically motivated? 22 days ago on Autoblog

The Alaskan Way Viaduct (AWV) is an elevated roadway running along the Elliot Bay Waterway in Seattle. An earthquake in 2001 damaged the viaduct, and the structural degradation has only gotten worse over the years. To forestall the possibility of having the conduit collapse in another natural ...

Popular Mechanics calls out automotive excellence 22 days ago on Autoblog

As we head into the final weeks of yet another year, that means it's time for everyone to pick out their favorites. In this business that means its time to select cars, trucks and SUVs of the year. Over at Popular Mechanics, the editors have put together a list of vehicles that they feel ...

REPORT: Toyota develops its own flower for cleaner air at Prius plant 22 days ago on Autoblog

Automakers make cars and trucks, no surprises there. Some even make other interesting things, like Honda, which also builds motorcycles, lawn mowers, jets, robots and solar cells. But until now, we haven't heard of any car company that develops its own species of flowers. Thankfully, Toyota has ...

VIDEO: Weaving the Lexus LFA's carbon fiber A-pillar is mesmerizing 22 days ago on Autoblog

If you read our First Drive of the Lexus LFA, you might recall an interesting little factoid we threw in to illustrate the OCD-level of detail Toyota used to produce its first ever supercar. With over 150 years of looming experience, ToMoCo owns a rotary weaver -- one of two in existence -- ...

Lotus shopping Evora chassis to other automakers? 23 days ago on Autoblog

Back in the Nineties, shortly after Lotus introduced the original Elise, the company made it known that its new sportscar platform was designed to be easily adapted to different applications – including different powertrains. Companies that were interested in a platform for a niche ...

REPORT: Two-mode hybrid joint development disbanded; Ram hybrid coming in 2010 23 days ago on Autoblog

According to The Detroit News, the big joint development program formed several years ago between General Motors, Daimler, Chrysler and BMW to develop a two-mode hybrid system for light duty vehicles is over. With all four automakers now having launched versions of the gas-electric system, the ...

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Autoblog Podcast #153: With Phil Berg

Phil Berg puts his reputation on the line and hangs with the podcast crew.

 
 

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