You probably knew that it’s impossible to pull apart two phonebooks put together with interleaving pages. But did you know that the bond—caused by the mechanical friction of the interleaving pages—is so strong that it can lift an entire car? This video demonstrates exactly that. The best part, however, may be to watch the car fall when they burn the phonebooks. More »
We’ve had ample opportunity to ogle the electrical version of Fiat’s venerable 500 when the Italian firm fortold its US arrival years ago. This week at the LA Auto Show, the car finally made its official debut, so naturally, we had to swing by and check it out. While we’ve got plenty of eye-candy of the diminutive EV in our gallery below, allow us to first regale you with the car’s specs.
Under the hood lies a 111HP motor powered by a 24 kWh battery that generates 147 pound-feet of torque — not exactly the stump-pulling grunt of its new Yankee competition, but still plenty of power for such a small car. Range tops out around 80 miles in general use, while city drivers can expect an extra 20 miles per charge. Speaking of, the car gets all the juice it needs through a 240-volt outlet in just under four hours. Can’t wait to get one? Well, Fiat’s not telling how much the 500e will cost, but we do know it’ll be available in California starting Q2 of 2013, and it’ll come to the rest of North America by the middle of the year.
Gallery: Fiat 500e eyes-on
Filed under: Transportation
If you’re an Xbox 360 gamer and a big fan of the video game Forza Horizon, the December 2012 car download pack has been announced. The new cars will be available on Tuesday, December 4 via Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The pack will include six new vehicles.
One of the new vehicles is the 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Halo Edition. This is a Halo skinned version of Ford’s impressive off-road racing truck designed by 343 Industries. The car pack also includes a 2008 Aston Martin DBS rocking a 510 hp V12 engine.
The DLC also includes a 2012 Ferrari F12berlinetta, which won’t come to the US in the real world until next year.
Rounding out the car download pack is a 2006 Ford GTX1, a 2006 Hummer H1 Alpha Open Top, a 1993 McLaren F1, and a 1971 AMC Javelin-AMX.
That last vehicle will be available as a free download to all Forza Horizon players, while the rest of the December download pack will sell for 400 Microsoft Points.
[via IGN]
Remember the toy car that transforms into a robot? The inventor Kenji Ishida is playing Santa to those of you who wished you could buy one. He’s selling 10 units of the latest version of his robot, which has a couple of new tricks up its robot sleeves.
In addition to being remote controlled and transformable, the 1:12 scale robot can now fire plastic projectiles from its arms and has a camera that can send live footage over a Wi-Fi connection.
You can order the robot from Ishida’s company Brave Robotics (his site is currently experiencing heavy traffic). The price isn’t listed, but you can bet it’ll be expensive. The robot will come fully assembled and programmed along with a wireless controller, four rechargeable batteries, a battery charger, a “motion edit software” and a serial cable. If you think you won’t be able to afford this model, keep saving: Ishida plans to release a life-sized robot car by 2030.
[via Jalopnik]
If I’m being honest, the only time I ever thought of the Volkswagen Beetle as cool was when I was eight and Herbie the Love Bug was popular. VW continues to sell a lot of the new Beetle and if you own one you need to beware of a new recall. Volkswagen issued a recall on some 2012 and 2013 Beetle coupes.
The recall covers about 2471 cars from those two model years with specific options. If your car doesn’t have leather seats, you’re free and clear from this recall. However, if your car does have leather seats and was built between February of 2012 and August 2012 you need to have your vehicle and to the dealership as soon as possible.
VW says owners can check the build date by looking on the driver side door jam sticker. According to the NHTSA, if the right front seat in these vehicles gets wet, the sensor in the seat may not detect the presence of the child and deactivate the airbag. The sensor is called the occupant control module. I’ve never owned a Volkswagen vehicle, but every vehicle I have owned or driven has had a light to show when the airbag was on or off.
Volkswagen and the NHTSA fear that a faulty sensor may not realize a child is in the seat and in an accident, the airbag could deploy and injure the child. Volkswagen is replacing the faulty module at no cost. The automaker recommends children ride in the backseat and more information on the recall will be forthcoming from VW.
[via USA Today]
Volkswagen recalls some new Beetles over airbag concerns is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Pioneer Europe releases four advanced multi-format CD tuners to complete its feature-rich 2013 line-up. Designed to align with today’s trend of bringing the connected lifestyle into the vehicle, the new models offer a set of convenience and entertainment features such as Pioneer’s exclusive MIXTRAX EZ virtual DJ technology, CD playback, USB connectivity, SD-card slot, broad smartphone support, and more. Models include the DEH-X9500BT and DEH-X8500BT featuring Parrot Bluetooth connectivity, the …
El Goog has been experimenting with autonomous vehicles for a while, and now it’s hiring a government man to help handle the red tape and get them on the roads. Ron Medford will be leaving his job as second in command (Deputy Administrator) at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and joining the search giant in January as the Director of Safety for Self-Driving Cars. Google’s prototype robot chauffeurs have navigated over 300,000 miles of
[Image Credit: Getty Images / Brendan Hoffman]
Filed under: Robots, Transportation, Google
Via: Wired
Source: The Detroit News
Hybrid vehicles are typically rather boring cars with the ultimate goal being fuel efficiency. Honda is showing off the new 2013 CR-Z Sport Hybrid coupe that looks much sportier than the traditional hybrid and the CR-Z is a hybrid with a more performance-tuned nature. The 2013 CR-Z Sport Hybrid will go on sale on November 21.
For the 2013 year model, the vehicle gets significant updates for powertrain, styling, and new features. One of the key new features is more power from the new lithium-ion battery pack that improves the performance of the vehicle and its EPA fuel efficiency ratings. The hybrid drivetrain system in the car uses a 1.5-liter four-cylinder 16-valve single overhead cam engine with intelligent Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control. That system allows the engine to produce more power.
The power of the electric motor has been increased to 2013 from 10 kW to 15 kW thanks to a high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack. The CR-Z is now able to deliver a combined peak output of 130 hp at 6000 RPMs and 140 pound-foot of torque for manual transmission versions with CVT models offering 127 pounds-foot of torque.
Despite the extra power, the EPA city/highway/combined efficiency rating is up by one mpg to 36/39/37 mpg for CVT models. Six-speed manual models have ratings of 31/38/34. The vehicle also gets a number of other changes for 2013 including a revised front fascia, 16-inch alloy wheels, a new rear diffuser, a new Plus Sport System, revised interior trim, available two-tone seats, standard Bluetooth, standard rearview camera, and lots more.
Honda unveils the 2013 CR-Z Sport Hybrid is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
After our interview with Peter Skillman last week we were given a brief tour of the Nokia Here collection vehicle, a bright blue Volkswagen Jetta Wagon specially outfitted with a smorgasbord of sensors. The main attraction is a retractable roof-mounted mast that collapses behind an aerodynamic fairing for stowage. From top to bottom, this mast features a military-grade GPS antenna, a 360-degree panorama camera in a white pod (which captures the spherical views you’ll see in Nokia Here), a Velodyne LIDAR unit in a spinning silver cylinder (for 3D mapping), high-resolution signage cameras in a black box (for forwards and backward automatic feature extraction) and finally a wheel encoder to measure distance / velocity. Sadly the car was locked so we were unable to check out what’s inside or go for a ride, but we’re hoping to remedy this at some point in the future. Until then check out the gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.
Gallery: Nokia Here collection vehicle
Continue reading Nokia Here collection vehicle hands-on (video)
Filed under: GPS, Transportation, Internet, Mobile, Nokia
Nokia Here collection vehicle hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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While the TARDIS seems like a pretty decent way to travel through space and time, it’s not exactly the best vehicle for getting through rush hour traffic on the expressway. This ride seems like it might be a better mode of urban transportation, especially along with today’s best GPS navigation systems.
This mashup between a TARDIS and a Scion xB was created by DeviantArtist ~Ificial-Art, and it looks awesome. I’ve been told that it’s so big inside that it seats 100. That could make for the ultimate clown car.
Unfortunately, it’s just a Photoshop job and not a real car. Though I think if a car manufacturer were to make these for real, they’d sell millions thousands hundreds dozens at least a few to some diehard Whovians out there.
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