Car Tech

You can't fail to have noticed the abundance of Quick Response (QR) codes on products and services these days. They appear on everything from soda cans to billboards, websites and TV adverts. The curious little pixellated codes have become a great way for companies to offer information to anybody...

We are at a crossroads. Thanks to the internet, people have become accustomed to the free and easy flow of information. Subscription services -- from newspapers to magazines to cable TV -- are scrambling to keep their heads above water as mobile devices make no-cost infotainment even more...

If you were born some time between the 1970s and the mid 1990s you're what's known as "Generation Y", and new research has shown that you're much more likely to be stressed behind the wheel than your "Baby Boomer" predecessors. The survey was conducted by Galaxy Research, on 1,010 people across...

High performance usually means taking a hit as far as economy is concerned, and impressive economy numbers don't often provide much in the way of fun. Proving that MPG and MPH aren't mutually exclusive, Audi's new 1.8 TFSI engine boasts some impressive statistics. Turbocharging, clever fuel...

Audi isn't the first name in high-mpg luxury cars--it has yet to release a hybrid, though it has several on deck, including the A6 Hybrid, which we won't get here in the U.S. But Audi does have its diesel engines, and those manage pretty solid economy while maintaining a level of performance thanks...

These days, you can't swing a cat in any app marketplace without hitting half a dozen targeted at travelers, but few of them meet anyone's everyday needs. After all, do we really need a travel app to get to the 7-Eleven? Waze is the exception to the rule, and with a new update, it becomes even more...

If your car is your pride and joy you'll know the annoyance of returning to it after a shopping trip to find that some imbecile has opened their door onto yours or carelessly parked and left a dent and a scrape. And let's face it, if they're careless enough to ding your door they're hardly going to...

The idea of an iRobot (the movie, not the book)-like future where only the renegades drive their own cars may be fast approaching. BMW's i range of cars offers some ready-for-prime-time autonomy, and VW's recent Auto Pilot demo shows just how close we already are to production driverless cars...

Racing fan? PC owner? Real-world racing too expensive? Sounds like you need iRacing 2.0, the next generation of one of the PC's top racing simulations. PC games are updated all the time but the 2.0 branding marks a new build for the game, improving the realism of tire modelling and offering a...

Concepts featuring autonomous driving have so far concentrated mainly on highway driving, previewing the car-trains we may see some time in the future. For many people though city driving is the most stressful situation you can encounter, so surely self-driving cars would make sense in crowded...

If you're trusting your teenage son or daughter with the car for the night it's nice to know that their journey has gone safely - or that they're actually going where they said they would. For that extra piece of mind GM is testing a new OnStar service called 'Family Link' that allows subscribers...

We may spend the day writing about modern car technology, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate the classic cars that helped form the industry we know today. Some might even suggest "they don't make 'em like they used to", and they'd be right. Unfortunately, they also lack all the safety...

2011 Nissan Leaf owners are right on the cutting edge of car technology, but so far only Apple iPhone users have been able to enjoy the full experience of controlling the car's climate control and charging timer functions from a mobile device. No longer. Android smartphone users are now privy to...

Very little in life comes for free, which makes us appreciate paying less for something all the more. A drop in price of $100 certainly makes Ford's SYNC hands-free, in-car connectivity system something to appreciate. The system is now only $295. Things haven't been easy for Ford with its GM OnStar...

How long will a journey take from point A to point B? To get the answer, many of us will punch the destination into our GPS satellite navigation devices which give us an estimated time of arrival (ETA). However, a new survey thinks that subconsciously trying to beat the displayed ETA could be...

Many consider the Forza series of XBox racing games to be the best console racers... in the world. One thing is for sure though, it's the only racing game that's voiced by BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Known as "Motormouth" to some and several unrepeatable things to many other people, the...

Getting text messages from friends or loved ones is always welcome. Spam messages from companies can be a nuisance. Having someone unlock and start your car with a text message is much more concerning. Unfortunately, it's not impossible, and researchers from San Francisco security consulting firm...

The requirements for travel within the urban environment comes under greater pressure with every passing year. We're already past the point at which more than 50 percent of the world's population live in cities rather than rurally, and it's only set to increase. The Future Urban Mobility (FM)...

Just yesterday we tempted you with our exclusive news of a supercharged Challenger and Charger from SRT, both sporting eight-speed transmissions. Today, Sergio Marchionne says the 2012 Charger and Chrysler 300 V-6 models, when equipped with the eight-speed, will achieve 31 mpg. That's not quite as...

U.K. readers: how'd you like a brand new car? Well as it turns out, Citroën is running a nationwide game of hide-and-seek, and if you play your cards right, you could drive off in a Citroën DS4. To participate, all you need is a computer, Android, or iPhone and a heaping helping of...