If you want to see some seriously over-the-top designs and custom work on cars, the SEMA Show in Las Vegas is where you need to go. Massive wings, wide body kits, outrageous colors and more turbos and intercoolers than you can shake a stick at all shout for the attention of show visitors.
This year’s show, just a few weeks away, won’t disappoint the tuner crowd. Especially with the treats being served up in the form of a whole lot of Ford Focus ST variations, and one very special 400-hp Hyundai “Velocity.”
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At last count, drought covered 56 percent of the continental United States. Crops are dying, people are sweating, and A/C units are chugging down freon like people are drinking water.
Intense heat pounds most of the country. Oftentimes, I’m shielded from triple-digit heat in my tucked-away Washington state location, but even my local weather girl has warned of hundred-degree misery come Monday. That panics me. But I have a way to deal with it.
I’m going to wash my car.
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The car you drive tells all your fellow motorists what kind of personality you have. Whether you’re the guy who cuts people off in a new Porsche Boxster, the dude headed into the woods with the NRA-branded 1972 Ford F-100 or the girl in the ’05 Jetta on the way to a college class, your car is usually a dead giveaway of who you are.
Real car enthusiasts aren’t satisfied with a typical bone-stock car and want to customize their rides to more accurately convey the personality of the mysterious human residing behind the tinted windows and buzzing bass.
Which are the best cars to customize to suit your personality? Read on, friends.
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The Siri button: Coming soon to a vehicle near you
While the iCar once envisioned by Steve Jobs will probably never materialize, that doesn’t mean the Apple experience will never infiltrate our cars.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced that the Siri personal assistant will not only reside in our iPhones, she will soon take up residence in our cars.
According to Cook, within the next 12 months, drivers will be able to hit a button on the steering wheel and instantly connect with that now-familiar disembodied voice so many of us have become reliant on.
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Steve Jobs achieved world domination in his life.
There’s no doubt, through Apple, he changed the way we interact with our world and each other. The iMac, iPod, iPad and iPhone were all game-changing inventions from Apple. Could it be that Jobs wasn’t done with his world-changing ideas before he died in October 2011?
According to Apple board member Mickey Drexler, in an interview with Fast Company, Jobs had his sights on bringing his intuitive style and innovative technology beyond the computer industry and into the automotive industry.
“Look at the car industry; it’s a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars?” Drexler said. “Steve’s dream before he died was to design an iCar.”
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Considering how many products the “Made in China” tag has been applied to in the United States, it’s amazing that cars have not been added to the list.
That won’t last, as rumors of a Chinese car company entering the U.S. market have circled for years. When it will actually happen remains unknown, but when it does, we could be in for a repeat of the Hyundai/Kia story that has unfolded over the last 25 years.
Would the first Chinese cars to arrive be as low-quality as the very first Hyundais were in 1986, or is it possible that the cars will impress with a quality no one expects?
Well, if the first Chinese car to come here has a talking robot that pops out of the dash, things could get interesting. Weird, but interesting.
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Yes, it's real...
So it has come to this.
Our cars serve many purposes in our lives. In addition to the intended purpose of transportation, our cars often serve as makeshift restaurants, makeup studios, kitchens, offices, music players, romantic bedrooms and traveling movie theaters. If there’s a human function in life, somebody somewhere has figured out how to do it in a car.
One thing I thought would never infiltrate our cars is coffee—not drinking it, of course, but making it.
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The NHTSA is currently trying to figure out how or whether to ban handheld devices like smartphones from use in cars. And the automakers are supporting such a ban or at least some restrictions.
But they are also very concerned that such a ban might force them to redesign their built-in systems. What a shame that would be.
No one should be surprised that a recent British study confirms that smartphone use while driving is much more dangerous than driving drunk. With a test group of 17-24-year-old drivers fooling around on Facebook, their reaction time slowed by about 38 percent. (Blood alcohol at the legal limit slowed reaction time by 12.5 percent.)
They missed “key events,” wandered out of lane, and failed to respond to speed changes by a car in front. About 25 percent of drivers admitted to texting or social networking while driving. I’ll bet it’s more in the U.S.
None of this, in fact, is very surprising. Nor is it surprising that mobile multitasking, as much as some people love it, is clearly addictive and distracting. If you’ve observed how young people operate with these devices, you get the picture.
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BMW's iPhone MOG app
*UPDATE: On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation released voluntary anti-distraction guidelines for carmakers. These call for disabling all electronic devices that access the Web and social media or send text messages—any in-car technology that causes drivers to take their hands off the wheel or eyes off the road for more than two seconds. That means no texting, tweeting, dialing or browsing unless the car is stopped and placed in Park.
The NTSB has called for a total ban on such devices, and other advocacy groups had skeptical comments, but this is a step forward, we think. Press release here.
Popular Mechanics did a recent piece on the “10 Most Useless Car Technologies.” I agree with most but not all of their choices, and they were being kind, given the proliferation of infotainment junk in cars. Give us some comment on a) what you think they omitted, and b) what they got wrong. I’ll add mine as we go.
- Paddle shifters for automatic transmissions. PM says they often don’t work well. I say, fix ’em and keep ’em. Automatics are good today, but we need the override.
- Interlocked seatbelts and starter. Not on cars anymore.
- Automatic moisture-sensing wipers. Right, they often don’t work correctly.
- Automatic steering headlights. No comment, never drove with them.
- Map lights. Wrong: Still useful.
- Motorized rear-view mirror. Right: Use your hands.
- Motorized seatbelts. Not in cars anymore.
- Proximity warning systems. Yes, confusing and distracting. Lane departure warning signals could be good.
- Electronic parking brake. Haven’t used.
- Chevrolet Volt capacitive touch controls. All touchscreens distract.
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The image that started the LED revolution
Audi changed the automotive world.
It didn’t do it with a revolutionary new engine or by using a new lighter-than-steel chassis. It did it with light. A glaring, menacing light that etched its way into our psyches after emerging from a darkened room on an Audi R8.
From the instant those LED strips lit up, the personality of Audi changed forever. It took on a new cool arrogance while spawning imitations from almost all other automakers. The swoopy LEDs make an approaching Audi instantly recognizable, but not everyone is a fan of the bright automotive bling.
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