Toyota will be using a massive simulator pod some 4.5 meters in height to test its vehicles and to hone its automotive safety features. The simulator is the first of its kind to move laterally and measures 35 meters end to end and 20 side to side. The device will allow Toyota’s engineers to analyze […]
Posted on November 29th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: technology | No Comments »
Catching up on my blog reading after the holidays, I ran across this post over on AutoblogGreen about a new technology named GENIE offered up by Magnetic Power Inc. that seems capable of handling just about everything including world peace.
The acronym stands for Generating Electricity by Nondestructive Interference of Energy. (Mouth full, much?) Click over […]
Posted on November 27th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: technology, alternative fuels | No Comments »
This year the LA Auto Show is generating a lot of coverage from the inclusion of start/stop technology in some new Chryslers, new engine options in Mitsubishis, and hybrids, hybrids, hybrids everywhere. The New York Times has an excellent and comprehensive overview entitled, “California Dreaming, Tinted Green.”
And for a little eye candy, try this little […]
Posted on November 19th, 2007 by Shorty
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The busy editors over at CNET have their 2007 holiday gift guide for cars and car tech in place with their top picks ready for the reading here. This year it seems to be all about after-market, in-dash, techno goodness with their highest score reserved for the JVC KD-NX5000, a unit combining a navigation system […]
Posted on November 17th, 2007 by Shorty
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Brain Carr over at DailyFuelEconomyTip.com is asking the inevitable question these days, “Have High Gasoline Prices Affected You Yet?” The site conducted a survey asking readers how high prices had to climb before their lifestyles became dramatically affected and 44 percent said they were already there.
The article, published today, coincided with a national average gas […]
Posted on November 15th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: lifestyle | No Comments »
I’ve never done it, but I do admit to having had panicked moments of thinking, “Oh ^&)@&, this is a gas pump, right?” Now, I hope it goes to say that putting the incorrect fuel in your tank is not that great on your engine. (Read “disaster.”) At least across the pond in England, Ford […]
Posted on November 13th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: alternative fuels | No Comments »
Every now and then I see a simple automotive gadget that makes me droop and start muttering, “The Precious” complete with sibilant hissing sounds. Sharper Image has trotted out the Jump-Start DC Power Plus, eliciting just such a reaction.
This baby can not only charge a car battery without jumper cables (which I confess have always […]
Posted on November 11th, 2007 by Shorty
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Imagine it: you’re behind the wheel of a Dodge Viper, doing laps on a closed track at ever-increasing speeds. You’re going so fast that you can’t even see the people watching you, but you can feel a burst of adrenaline every time you turn the wheel to take a corner, and the sound of the […]
Posted on November 9th, 2007 by QueenMab
Filed under: buzz, performance cars | No Comments »
With the advent of computerized cars came the ability for electronics geeks to get involved with precision tuning their vehicles, a hobby formerly left to those who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty, even if it mean having to scrub axel grease from under their nails. As cars progress, however, so, to does the technology […]
Posted on November 9th, 2007 by QueenMab
Filed under: buzz, mods | No Comments »
Design students at MIT are taking the idea of a City Car a little farther and making their two-seat electric vehicle foldable. With lithium-ion batteries supplying the power, the City Car, weighing in between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds, wouldn’t just fold up, it would stack — just like shoping carts fitting together — as many […]
Posted on November 7th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: first look | 1 Comment »
