The Los Angeles Auto Show is coming up, and will feature a host of electric vehicles alongside their gasoline-addicted brethren. Several vehicles are slated to be unveiled during the show, including the Chevrolet Spark EV from GM, a through-and-through electric vehicle. Attendees will get a peek at cars ranging from green to fast and back again.
Mercedes-Benz will be showing off the Ener-G Force concept SUV, which looks like something out a futuristic zombie movie. The sports-utility vehicle is based on the 1970s military SUV G-Class; expect a civilian version to cost “up to six figures.” The 2014 Porsche Cayman will also be makng an appearance, a vehicle similar to the Boxster expected to be priced over $50k.
Other notable unveils include Mercedes-Benz’s showcasing of a rare edition SLS AMG, the Black Series, a more powerful and lighter version of its regular-edition counterpart. Less the show seem to be all electric vehicles and sports cars, Ford will also be stepping in, showing off a new minivan that is all-around smaller and more efficient than anything it presently offers. Subaru, Toyota, and other manufacturers are all slated to unveil models.
The Los Angeles Auto Show started in 1907, and has been going strong ever since. The show opens on November 30 to the public at the LA Convention Center, and lasts through December 9. We’ll be covering the event starting Tuesday, so be sure to check out Slashgear for the latest and greatest updates from California.
If you were planning on an airship ride any time in the near future, you’ll be better off not attempting to take a ride with the group Airship Ventures, as they’ve turned up cold on the sponsorship tip. It would appear that due specifically to the lack of sponsorship the company has received as of late, they’ll have to make it land for the foreseeable future. And what’s “it” you might ask? Why, the Zeppelin Eureka, of course!
This massive airship Zeppelin Eureka has been flying with “history-making successes” as well as a rather good history of safety – so says AirShip Ventures. Despite these perfectly legitimate notions, operations will be ceased immediately. We know you had your hopes up, up and away, but it’s just not going to be possible – no balloon rides on the great Zeppelin Eureka for you.
“Operating this unique aircraft has been an inspiring experience and it is with a very heavy heart that we’ve come to this point requiring us to cease operations and ground Eureka. Our team is the best at what they do and their dedication to Eureka, our passengers and our dream of flying a Zeppelin in the USA has been remarkable. I’m beyond sad to disband their talents and leave Moffett Field, our friends and fans without an active airship.” – Airship Ventures CEO Brian Hall
This operation started all the way back in 2007 and began passenger flights in 2008 down in the California Bay Area – Silicon Valley, Oakland, and San Francisco. They brought with them the latest in “high-technology” right along with the “golden age of aviation” in zeppelins for all. They made the Zeppelin NT (New Technology) to the USA for the first time and aimed for flightlyseeing, media, science missions, and advertising operations.
Click above image for full-sized view
This group accomplished several things before they had to take their big balloon out of the sky, including the following list. You’ll find that they trained the first female Zeppelin pilot in history and made it through four years of passenger operations before they had to pull the plug – and that’s not even the best of it!
• Created the first large scale passenger airship operation in the US since the 1930s.
• Welcomed the 20,000th passenger during a flightseeing tour over San Francisco in 2012.
• Celebrated four years of passenger operations in 2012.
• Completed a history-making, six-month coast to coast cross country tour in 2011.
• Covered 459.3 miles and broke the standing Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) airship distance record in 2010.
• Provided aerial coverage for the Rose Bowl Game, ESPN’s College Game Day, the Farmer’s Insurance Open, Zurich Classic, US Open of Surfing, Dew Tour, and Red Bull Flugtag
• Partnered with NASA and SETI on meteorite seeking missions over Sacramento and Sonoma, California, and with SETI on the study of extremophiles in the bay area salt ponds.
• Acted as a training vessel for the U.S. Air Force’s test pilots.
• Hired and trained both the first female Zeppelin pilot and first American female Zeppelin pilot
• Certified and demonstrated the use of Raymarine Radar and FLIR Systems infrared systems for use in the roles of Maritime Patrol and Search and Rescue with the airship.
• Did the first skydive over downtown Los Angeles from an airship in support of a major media event, and the first wingsuit jump from an airship over downtown San Francisco during a major technology conference
• Launched a social media campaign displaying the world’s largest Twitter hashtag as a decal on the airship.
Anyone that’d up until this week been planning on hitting up the airship and had already purchased tickets will be able to receive full refunds from the company post-haste. To do so, head over to the AirShip Ventures website and check out their contact form. Good luck, and let’s hope this isn’t the first sign of the zeppelin apocalypse!
It’s less than 59 days away – thats what Chevrolet wants you to be pumped up about when it comes to their next beastly beauty in the 2014 Corvette viral campaign. The video you’re about to see shows “CONCEPTION” as far as exterior form and function go – some lovely circle patterns covering a vehicle you’ll not see the whole of perhaps for weeks. The creators of this vehicle want one thing, that’s for certain: to make you anticipate with great glee the oncoming next generation.
This vehicle is one that Chevrolet says will change everything, and, “with transformational advancements in design, engineering, and technology, the driving experience will never be the same.” Sounds pretty fabulous. The video will show you some tiny glimpses of what’s possible with the next-generation Corvette and has a very short quote from none other than the vehicle’s exterior design manager.
“Performance cars are definitely about form follows function. But I would say: beautiful form follows performance-driven function.” – Kirk Bennion, Exterior Design Manager
Below you’ll see a gallery of screen-grabs taken from the video you see above. You’ll get some definite clues as to what this vehicle will look like, some lovely patterning action, and some conceptual drawings to boot. As a bit of a bonus, you’ll also get two gigantic (3000 x 1689 pixel) images taken from the design floor focusing on airflow.
We’ll be keeping our eye on this next-level beast until it’s out on the market without a doubt. Today we’ll leave you with one more quote from Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer for this project.
“The all-new Corvette integrates more high-performance aerodynamic features than ever before, many taken directly from Corvette Racing. For example, the front grill and radiator flow paths reduce lift, improving vehicle stability at high speeds by keeping the car pressed to the pavement. In addition, functional vents increase track capability by channeling air to the brakes, as well as heat exchangers for the transmission and differential.” – Juechter
Let us know what you think you see and what you’re hoping to see in the comments below! Also be sure to tip us off if you’ve got any sweet insight on this monster in the weeks to come!
Motor Trend has bestowed its coveted Car of the Year title on Tesla‘s Model S, making it the first car without an internal combustion engine to earn such an honor. The vehicle won out of 25 other contenders, with a total of 45 variants. All of the vehicles were put through an “extensive battery of testing” that examined just about everything you can examine on a car.
There were 11 judges in total, and all of them unanimously awarded the honor to the Tesla Model S. Testing included a 0 to 60mph and quarter-mile acceleration, braking from 60 to 0mph, figure-eight handling, high-speed loops that replicates LA’s freeways, and a winding track. Each phase eliminated vehicles based on various criteria, until only a handful remained.
Motor Trend’s editor-in-chief Edward Loh offered this statement. “We had an extremely competitive field for Motor Trend’s Car of the Year. However, the Tesla Model S floored our panel of judges. The goal of the award is to name the car that best meets our six criteria, and the Tesla Model S accomplished that best … To be the first car in the 64-year history of the award to be powered by something other than gasoline must mean it is very special. It is, and thus we’re excited to name the Tesla Model S our 2013 Car of the Year.”
What kind of competition was the Tesla Model S up against? Other contenders included the Cadillac ATS, Toyota Avalon, Porsche 911, BMW 3 Series, Ford Fusion, Subaru BRZ, all of which were finalists, as well as several other models. Car of the Year is one of several Motor Trend honors available to automakers, others of which include Best Driver’s Car and SUV of the Year.
NASCAR is one of the biggest and most popular spectator sports in the nation. They sell more seats and tickets than any single sporting event, have millions of fans, go extremely fast, and the sport uses some awesome technology that often gets missed in this world of smartphones and tablets. What you see below is the FanVision Controller that makes race day even more exciting. With live video, audio, instant replays and more read on to see how impressive this race day technology really is.
The FanVision Controller is the ultimate companion for any race fan for the sheer amount of options, data, and video it provides. For more details you’ll want to check out our previous coverage and interview with a VP from FanVision. Previously if you want to listen to commentary during a race while watching it live you’d need multiple devices. With the FanVision Controller you get that and much much more all in one useful device. Since many don’t know about the technology behind NASCAR, while SlashGear was at the AdvoCare 500 Sprint Cup this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, we decided to give it a quick look.
The video below will give you a hands-on look at this impressive device, although being their live is an entirely different beast all together. The FanVision provides live video and audio broadcast, 8 in-car cameras as well as front, side, and rearview options. Stats, detailed driver comparisons, official leader times (live), radio scanners to listen in on each race team and their pit crew, or even the overhead spotter. You’ll also get driver stat cards, team information and detailed breakdowns on points to win the Cup. This is truly an all-in-one solution that delivers the best of all worlds on race day.
Pretty neat right? Oh and did we mention instant replay? After seeing that crazy (and vindictive) crash by Jeff Gordon Sunday, we were able to get live instant replay within a matter of seconds thanks to the FanVision. It was quite awesome watching a live view from the hood of his damaged race car as he slid into the rest of the drivers late in the race. The FanVision employs a 4-inch display, it’s wrapped in rubber and is quite durable, and can even handle the elements on race day. The controls on the side let you pan between fullscreen and stat view, select the driver of your choice, control instant replay and anything else you’d like. Panning through the in-car cameras was a breeze, and as you saw on video there’s no lag whatsoever. This was live, up to the second, and brings racing fans closer to the action than ever before.
The interesting thing here is the use of UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radios instead of the usual WiFi or other options. With thousands of fans all with smartphones and cameras, press using WiFi, and networks recording live FanVision had to find a way to provide fast, fluid, and uninterrupted video and data. UHF, which is that old (yet stable) TV channel technology is perfect for the task. Providing an excellent viewing experience no matter where we were on the track.
Everything you look at when you’re at a race on the FanVision Controller is curated by the dedicated FanVision staff at the race. FanVision works with the cameras that are on-site and the information that comes direct from the source, updating every statistic and element as it changes.
“We’re not doing any kind of production, we don’t have people with cameras that are in the pits or in the garages or anything like that. We’re taking content directly from, as an example, in Phoenix, we’re taking the SprintVision content that’s being fed to the track. So we’re not – in essence – taking ESPN’s content. And as a matter of fact, the radio broadcast for this weekend will be MRN. So if we’re at an IFC track, it’s MRN radio, and if we’re at an SMI track, then it would be PRN radio.”
The digital scanner inside the device also had multiple options. You could simply listen to the live commentator broadcast for their input, or choose to listen to the driver of your choices crew, staff, and spotter. Even better was the “random” mode so we could hear the commentator, but get cut in and out of the racer of our choices communications with his team. Then you’ll hear the best of both sides. Listening to teams talk about why and when to pit brought an entire new level of experience to the race.
The FanVision is everything you get at home as far as video, replays, and stats, as well as an audio perspective only FanVision provides their customers, all while enjoying the event live on site. It really is a sight to see if you’ve never been. Being able to enjoy the extremely loud noise and heat from the engines roar, then plug into the world of FanVision really was a fun experience. You can rent your own at NASCAR races nationwide.
SlashGear was able to enjoy a Pace car ride reaching over 120 mph, get video from the NASCAR garage and pit, and a few other neat videos so stay tuned for more details. Oh and go Brad Keselowski!
We had the opportunity to chat briefly with NASCAR driver and contender for the upcoming Sprint Cup Series title Brad Keselowski on the perception that NASCAR is devoid of technological innovation – and how false that perception is. As it turns out, for those of you unfamiliar with the way a driver interacts with his pit crew, there’s been a massive amount of new technology appearing in NASCAR racing over the past few years. The driver is part of an experience now that’s not just based on how well he or she can drive a car, but how well they’re able to make use of the many technologies around them. NOTE: Our own Vincent Nguyen will be heading down to the pits at the Sprint Cup AdvoCare 500 this weekend – check below for details and watch Keselowski LIVE right along with us!
As Keselowski made clear, NASCAR is not the same sport it was back at the start – this is no bootlegging drag. Instead as Keselowski reaches for his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title (just a few points behind leader Jimmie Johnson at the moment), he’s got many tools at his disposal not just to prepare for the race, but to blast through the track on race day with the team’s pit crew closer than ever before. And with technology inside the vehicle that’s well beyond what teams had only a few years before.
“If you look at NASCAR today, the perception is that there’s very little technology while in reality it’s the exact opposite.”
SlashGear: How would you describe the way the technology you use on and off the track today affects how you drive on race day?
Brad Keselowski: If you look at NASCAR today, the perception is that there’s very little technology while in reality it’s the exact opposite. As a team we continue to push the envelope to be smarter, to be better prepared, and to communicate in better ways. That’s all part of the picture. We’re always evolving new technologies that can help us do those things.
SG: Has there been any technology or breakthrough over the past few years that has changed the way you race?
BK: Technology has definitely changed the way we race. The biggest thing is that we communicate a lot better. Communication is so important in NASCAR – between drivers, crew chiefs, crew members, etcetera. That extra bit of communication goes across several different forms of technology that make it stronger.
SG: How would you say the communication innovations of the past few years have changed the way the sport is perceived (or portrayed) by the media?
BK: I think that the key thing for our sport is that technology is constantly being integrated – there are some fascinating new technologies that we’ve implemented. But we do it all behind closed doors; which is both good and bad.
Good because we want to keep those secrets so our competitors don’t get them. Bad because the perception of the sport is that we don’t have it. It’s a very tricky line to walk.
SlashGear will be attending the AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup at the Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, the 11th of November with a full schedule ahead of us (including the big race itself starting at 3PM ET!) We’ll be covering the race all day long and jumping in on the pits for up-close and personal peeks at the cars before they burn up the track for one of the most important races of the year – have a peek at our basic itinerary here:
1. Pace Car Ride at speeds of 120+ MPH 2. Tour of NASCAR garage 3. Driver’s Meeting 4. Meet and Greet with General Motors Racing’s Chevrolet program manager for NASCAR’s top-tier Sprint Cup Series Alba Colon 5. AdvoCare 500 race (312 laps, 312 miles) Sunday, Nov. 11, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN with LIVE coverage from SlashGear!
So stick with us through the weekend for all of the hot action straight from the pits! And be sure to comment with any questions you’ve got or requests you have for us and we’ll see what we can do!
If you drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee or a Jeep Liberty with a model year of 2002, 2003, or 2004, then you might want to head to your nearest Chrysler dealership and get it looked at. Chrysler is recalling 744,822 Jeeps because a part in the airbag control module may possibly fail, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
According to the documents from the US NHTSA, the failure of that airbag control module could cause the front airbags, side curtain airbags, as well as the seatbelt pretensioners to deploy randomly while the vehicle is being operated, which can increase the risk of injury and possibly cause an accident.
The NHTSA opened a preliminary investigation in October 2011 in response to complaints of the random airbag deployments in Jeep Liberty vehicles, and then in January 2012, the investigation was upgraded to include the Grand Cherokee. The investigation discovered 215 cases of random airbag deployment, which resulted in 81 minor injuries. However, no accidents were caused from the faulty airbags.
All owners of a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Liberty with the years 2002, 2003, and 2004 will most likely receive a letter in the mail about the recall, and starting in January, you can hop on down to your local Chrysler dealer for a free inspection and repair, where the dealer will install a supplemental jumper harness to the airbag control module at no cost.
American Suzuki Motor has announced that it plans to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that it will begin focusing its attention on selling ATVs and motorcycles, rather than cars. According to its statement, this move is unrelated to its Japanese counterpart. There’s no word on when exactly all this is going to take place.
The company is pulling out of the US automotive market due to a variety of reasons, including poor exchange rates and low sales. While it will no longer sell cars, the company is still going to provide all-terrain vehicles, as well as motorcycles and outboard motors. In addition, American Suzuki will also continue to honor existing warranties.
American Suzuki offered this statement. “While the decision to discontinue new automobile sales in the U.S. was difficult to make, today’s actions were inevitable under these circumstances…[Suzuki] intends to work within its current U.S. automotive dealer network to help structure a smooth transition from new automobile sales to exclusively parts and service operations, or, in some instances, an orderly wind-down of dealership operations.”
Suzuki has experienced turbulence lately, selling only 21,188 automobiles, a drop of nearly 5-percent from last year. This comes after an overall increase in the US automotive market of 14-percent through last month. Suzuki has approximately 246 dealers in the United States, which are likely in for some big changes in the coming months.
Ford has been marred with some pretty major issues lately, the latest being a new preliminary investigation by the NHTSA over reports of 2000 to 2003 Taurus and Mercury Sables experiencing sticking throttles. This investigation follows one initiated earlier this year into reports of sticky throttles in 2001 through 2006 Taurus and Sables. Now the company has taken another blow, falling from its high position in Consumer Reports’ reliability rankings to the bottom rungs of the proverbial ladder.
Three years ago, Ford was the only domestic automaker reported by Consumer Reports as having “world class reliability.” This no doubt makes it more painful for Ford in its drop to 27th position, outranking only Tata’s Jaguar. Lincoln came in at 26th. Despite the recent problems with throttles, the majority of the negative feedback that harmed the company’s ranking revolved around problems with MyFord Touch/MyLincoln Touch and the Sync system, which allows drivers to go hands-free. Also cited were issues with poor shifting.
Said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of auto testing: “Without MyFord Touch they would do a lot better. But they did have other issues, growing pains with new models.” According to a Ford spokesman, changes have been implemented with MyFord Touch and the Powershift transmission that reflect positively in customer surveys, but that were not reflected in the Consumer Reports’ findings.
Japanese manufacturers ended up dominating this year’s survey, while no domestic models made it into the top ten. Chrysler also had a bad year, with Jeep falling six places to 19th. Said Chrysler quality chief Doug Betts, “We do know that our warranty claim data was 25% better for 2012 model year than 2011 model year, so we had expected this survey to show improvement.”
The U.S. government has launched a preliminary safety investigation against the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable due to reports of sticking throttles. Thus far, there have been no reports of crashes due to the issue. Fifty reports, however, have surfaced from drivers who say their 2000 through 2003 Taurus and Sable models have experienced stuck throttles.
The probe is being carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which posted a document of driver complaints regarding the issue on its website. Specifically, the investigation is looking into the issue of “a cruise-control cable collar [that] can fracture at a mounting bracket and cause the throttles to stick open.” A recall would affect approximately 310,000 vehicles.
Ford spokesperson Marcy Zwiebel said, “Ford is aware of NHTSA’s preliminary investigation on 2000 to 2003 Taurus and Sable models and will cooperate fully with the investigation as we conduct our analysis. We have just begun our analysis and we have very limited information at this time. Until we are able to gather more information and complete our own investigation, we cannot speculate as to what actually occurred during the reported incidents.”
This comes after the NHTSA’s investigation back in March regarding sticky throttles in 2001 through 2006 Taurus and Sable models. That issue was closed by the government agency without a recall and was replaced by this new preliminary probe. The last investigation concerned a different cruise control element.
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