Car Tech
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Chevrolet will unveil its second-generation Volt extended-range electric car at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show in January, but it appears the automaker just couldn’t help itself from dropping a few details early. Prototypes spotted in the wild show only evolutionary changes for the exterior, but underneath the sheet metal the changes will be much more dramatic. The new Volt, which arrives as a 2016 model and is based around General Motors Company’s [NYSE:GM] new D2XX compact car platform, will feature a second-generation Voltec extended-range electric powertrain. According to Chevy...
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Hendo Creates 'Back To The Future'-Style Hoverboard: Video
You can now live out your Marty McFly fantasies, courtesy of Kickstarter.
Stephen Edelstein -
Next-Gen A8 To Be Audi’s First Autonomous Car
Audi was a pioneer in the area of autonomous car technology but the automaker has been overtaken by rival Mercedes-Benz in the race to offer cars that can drive themselves. That won’t be the case for long as Audi’s next-generation A8, due on the market in 2017, as a 2018 model, will be...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche 919 Steering Wheel Is More Complicated Than Yours
The steering wheel in your basic race car is just that; it's a simple, lightweight, possibly suede-covered instrument used to tell the front wheels of the vehicle where to go. As you advance up the race car ladder, however, a steering wheel begins to be much more than a simple directional tool. It...
Jeff Glucker -
Mercedes To Test Autonomous Cars At Decommissioned Weapons Depot
Mercedes-Benz will use the Concord Naval Weapons Station in California to replicate an urban environment.
Stephen Edelstein -
Audi’s Autonomous RS 7 Successfully Laps Hockenheimring At Race Pace: Video
At the season finale for Germany’s DTM touring car series, held at the Hockenheimring over the weekend, Audi demonstrated a self-driving RS 7 concept car that could lap the circuit at race speeds. The video shows the successful lap, which Audi tells us took just over two minutes. That’s...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi is planning a rather unusual feat at the Hockenheim Ring this weekend: it will lap the circuit with a street-going RS 7 at full race pace—without a driver. You can tune in to the live feed October 19th at 6:50 a.m. EDT at the official Audi live stream site. The stunt is intended to show off the company’s upcoming Piloted Driving autonomous systems to full effect, showing that not only is the computer capable of negotiating the track without incident, but that it can do so “approximately as fast as with a professional race car driver at the wheel.” MUST SEE: Tesla...
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Audi Reveals Technology Behind Track-Hitting RS 7 Autonomous Car: Video
We’re just days away from watching Audi’s autonomous RS 7 tackle Germany’s Hockenheimring grand prix circuit with no one sitting behind the wheel. The stunt, which coincides with the DTM season finale running this weekend, is to demonstrate the dynamic potential and driving...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Local Motors' 3D-Printed Car Actually Gets Printed: Video
Local Motors made a bit of news earlier this year when the company said it was planning to create a 3D-printed car. We first heard of the plan back in March. Then in June a design winner was announced. Just a few months later, the car has now been printed and driven. It's called the Strati, and it...
Jeff Glucker -
2016 Audi TT: The Wizardry That Gives It A Sports-Car Soundtrack
If you're not hearing some inspiring sounds from the driver's seat, it can feel like something is sorely missing from the entire driving experience. And that's perhaps most critical with otherwise spirited sports cars. Unfortunately it's too often the case with today's performance models. The...
Bengt Halvorson -
Cadillac CT6 To Offer Plug-In Option, Weigh Less Than CTS
Cadillac’s new flagship sedan will be called the CT6, ride on the new Omega rear-wheel-drive platform and enter production at General Motors Company’s [NYSE:GM] Detroit-Hamtramck Plant late next year. Now we’ve learned that it will also be one of the lightest cars in its segment...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla Model S Gets 691-HP Dual-Motor Option, Autopilot Tech
Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] CEO Elon Musk’s big announcement regarding the “D” has, as we suspected, turned out to be a new dual-motor option for the Model S that provides it with the extra traction of all-wheel drive. And the “something else” Musk also hinted at...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
This video of a Corvette’s Performance Data Recorder system capturing the moment a big rig’s trailer tire blows may be a taste of the future. A future in which the many happenings on America’s streets and highways are fortuitously captured by people recording for other reasons. On its own, this video, via Corvette Blogger, isn’t particularly exciting, despite showing the Corvette driver having to swerve into the left lane to avoid rubbery shrapnel as the delaminated or blown truck tire comes apart all over the highway. But could this be the precursor to things like the...
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Volvo reveals 450-hp 4-cylinder with electric-aided turbo
Audi recently unveiled a high-performance diesel engine that featured a pair of turbochargers and an electric motor that helps provide boost pressure at low revs. The technology is expected to debut in 2016 in a high-performance version of Audi’s next-generation Q7 SUV and slowly filter...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The Tech Behind The 2015 Corvette Z06’s Brembo Carbon Ceramic Brakes: Video
The 2015 Chevy Corvette Z06’s performance figures--when equipped with the Z07 Performance Package--have just been released this morning, but that’s not the only performance news for the Corvette family today. Brembo, the brand behind the Corvette’s Z07 carbon ceramic brake system...
Nelson Ireson -
2016 Audi TT: Driving With Its Virtual Cockpit A Vision Of The Future
We have seen the future of the in-car interface—or at least a major part of it—at Audi, and it's in the 2016 TT Coupe and Roadster slated to arrive Stateside next summer. In modern cars, the era of the infotainment system has ushered in—and enabled—some fresh new design...
Bengt Halvorson -
BMW To Test Autonomous Cars In China
While Audi and Mercedes-Benz have made headlines recently with news they’ve received permits to test autonomous cars on California’s roads, BMW has now revealed that it plans to start testing self-driving cars in China. Like its rivals, BMW has been testing its own autonomous car...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2015 Corvette Stingray Valet Mode PDR May Violate Wiretapping Laws, GM Working On Update
Aside from testing for top speed, it’s not often that using a new car’s features could land you with a hefty fine or a stint in jail—but that could be the case with the 2015 Chevy Corvette Stingray’s new Valet Mode for its Performance Data Recorder system. The issue with the...
Nelson Ireson -
In a press release for its 2015 Mustang, Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] product development chief Raj Nair states that the “visceral look, sound and performance of Mustang resonates with people, even if they’ve never driven one.” But in the case of the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost, the sound he’s talking about is more likely to be coming from the car’s speakers than what’s actually under the hood. ALSO SEE: Jeep Driver Out-Jerks Corvette Driver's Jerk Parking Job: Video That’s because the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost has been fitted with an active sound generator...
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Meet Mercedes-Benz's Futuristic Autonomous Truck Concept: Video
While we’ve frequently reported on autonomous cars and the impact of the technology on the car industry, one of the areas we’re likely to see the technology take hold first is in interstate trucking. Mercedes-Benz is well aware of this and at this week’s 2014 Hannover Commercial...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes-Benz C350 Plug-In Hybrid Powertrain Specs Revealed
Mercedes-Benz’s first plug-in hybrid model, the S550 Plug-In Hybrid, is due to go on sale next year (our first drive report is coming soon). It will be the first of as many as 10 plug-in hybrid models the German automaker plans to introduce over the coming years, with the next one to be based...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes Is Latest To Receive California’s Autonomous Car License
Earlier this week we saw Audi become the first automaker to receive the new license from the state of California to allow testing of autonomous car prototypes on public roads, and now fellow German automaker Mercedes-Benz has announced that it's also received the license. California has allowed...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi Receives California’s First Autonomous Car Permit: Video
Audi was one of the pioneers in the area of autonomous cars, having built a TT prototype that in 2010 tackled Colorado’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb entirely on its own. A year ago Audi demonstrated some of its more advanced autonomous car technology; called Piloted Driving by Audi, the technology...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Hybrids? We Don’t Need No Stinking Hybrids. NRE 1,000-HP Pump Gas Twin-Turbo LSX V-8: Video
There’s a certain beauty to an engine that makes its own power, without the need for hybrid battery packs and electric motors. It’s elegant, honest, and, in the case of this Nelson Racing Engines LSX prototype, mean as all hell. MUST SEE: Street-Legal Drag Truck Sets New Fast Pass...
Nelson Ireson