Car Tech

Turbochargers are regularly exposed to very high temperatures. A turbo uses the hot exhaust gases to spin its turbine blades and in turn forces more air into your engine. Just how hot can this area get, though, and can a turbocharger blanket help? Rob Dahm decided to find out. The goal of a turbo...

Turbochargers are—literally—spooling up, with every major automaker now offering at least one boosted model in their lineups (and one with four turbos). Today, our friend Jason Fenske over at Engineering Explained takes a look at the most cutting edge variation: the variable twin-scroll...

In 1967, Lotus put a sky-high wing on the rear of the Lotus 49 to convert wind flowing from the top of the car to aerodynamic weight to press harder down on the rear wheels. Carmakers have gotten down on what came up ever since. Nearly all high-performance cars on the road now utilize not only some...

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is offering a hefty bounty to hackers willing to test the integrity of its vehicles' digital security. The automaker says it will offer up to $1,500 to hackers who successfully exploit any vulnerabilities related to the cars' increasingly complex integrated infotainment...

The Mazda 3 has received a nip and tuck for the 2017 model but beyond the visual tweaks there is an interesting bit of new technology. So far Mazda has only announced the updated 3 for Japan, where the car is known as an Axela, but specifications for the United States should be similar. ALSO SEE...

The traffic light's nearly 150-year run—which predates motor vehicles by about 30 years, since they were also used for horse carriages—may be coming to an end thanks to autonomous cars. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Swiss Institute of Technology, and the...

Working on your motorcycle, or simply moving it around a tight garage, may never get easier than this. An Australian firm has created what it bills the "omnidirectional" motorcycle stand, a stand that makes it a one person job to push a heavy bike around a confined space in any direction...

General Motors is working on some slick new technology that should give twin-turbocharged engines a bit of a boost. According to Motor Trend, the main meat of this patent news is related to how the exhaust gases are routed to each turbocharger. It's designed for simplicity. ALSO SEE: Ford releases...

A 2-kilometer stretch of the E16 freeway near Gävle, Sweden, nicknamed the e-way might be the world's most advanced stretch of pavement. Electric current running through power lines above the freeway delivers energy to specially-modified Scania trucks. When the big rigs are connected to the...

Your next delivery guy may not be a human at all, at least if you live in London. That's where the new Starship autonomous delivery vehicle—which may be better known as a robot—will launch before service is expanded elsewhere. Capable of delivering small items like groceries or...

Carbon fiber has been slowly making its way into structural components for new cars in order to save weight while adding strength, but up until now no automaker has suggested that the composite could be used for engine internals. Lamborghini's CEO told reporters in Washington, where it has its...

Our pal Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained addresses one of the most commonly-asked questions about car maintenance: should you use synthetic motor oil or conventional motor oil in your car? The safe answer, of course, is to read your car's owner's manual and follow the automaker's directions...

Within days of it emerging that a driver of a Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] Model S died on May 7 when his electric sedan in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode ran under a trailer that was in the process of turning across a highway located in Florida, a Model X suffered a crash, this time in Pennsylvania...

Japan says that it will begin allowing automakers to ditch side mirrors in favor of cameras that allow for a wider viewing angle and can help improve vehicle aerodynamics. The move would make Japan the first country to specifically allow the technology, which could soon replace conventional...

General Motors says that it has worked with NASA to bring the Nintendo Power Glove to life—well, a far more sophisticated version of the raddest part from "The Wizard." (And yes, that includes Fred Savage.) The RoboGlove is designed for both the health care and manufacturing industries. Its...

BMW on Friday announced a partnership with Intel and Mobileye to help spur the development of autonomous driving technology. Intel is a leader when it comes to artificial intelligence while Mobileye is a developer of monitoring systems autonomous technology relies on. Mobileye supplies monitoring...

Backup cameras will soon become mandatory in all new cars, but for those of us with an older vehicle, solutions tend to be pricey and cumbersome to install. A company called Pearl, which is composed almost entirely of former Apple engineers, says it has created a solution called RearVision. It's a...

Dual-clutch gearboxes are becoming increasingly common, and today's versions of these fast-shifting automatic gearboxes are far better than they were just a few years ago when they first hit the consumer market. Our friend Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained takes a look at these transmissions in...

Most drivers don't often think about the temperature of their tires, but rubber that has too much ice or snow buildup can significantly reduce traction—even winter tires. Mercedes-Benz appears to be thinking about tire temperatures, though. DON'T MISS: 9 safety tricks the 2017 Mercedes-Benz...

A stretch of Route 66 in Missouri will step well into the 21st century soon when it becomes the first stretch of road in the Untied States to be covered with pavers that double as solar panels. The Missouri Department of Transportation applied recently for a grant that would allow it to test new...