tech
Google Self-Driving Cars Could be Available in Six Years
For the last five years Google has been hard at work developing self-driving cars. The technology company has made enormous strides over the last half a decade but there’s still a lot more to do.
Should I Buy Tires Made in China?
Good press for Chinese manufacturing is hard to come by these days. American consumers have faced numerous issues with products imported from the country. Lead-laced toys, melamine-tainted toothpaste and pet-food recalls are a few incidents that come to mind. But what about tires? Should you trust your life to bargain rubber?
Traffic-Control Systems Can Easily be Hacked
Like something out of a movie, security company IOActive has discovered that the traffic-control systems found in nearly every state of the Union are vulnerable to hackers. What’s even more distressing is that it doesn’t take a supercomputer to compromise these technologies.
Are Tesla Model S Reliability Ratings About to Plunge?
Tesla’s Model S sedan scored an unprecedented “99 out of 100” from Consumer Reports last year, but the glowing endorsement from this influential publication could turn out to be short lived. Sources indicate the reliability of this car may have taken a slide.
Mazda Reveals Skyactiv Chassis for Upcoming Miata
Despite its dainty proportions the Mazda Miata is always a big deal, especially when there’s a new one on the way. To help celebrate this iconic roadster’s 25th anniversary the company brought in a throng of historic models and put ‘em on display here at the New York Auto Show.
Land Rover’s Discovery Vision Concept is an SUV of the Future
Land Rover is synonymous with off roading the way McDonalds is to fast food or the airline industry is to terrible service. This rough-and-tumble British brand revealed its cutting-edge Discovery Vision concept right here in the urban jungle of Manhattan.
Plant-Based Plastics Could be in Your Next New Car
Not only does oil provide the motive force for automobiles, ships and aircraft, it’s also used to make plastic, a material that our modern world is literally built from. Look around, you’re probably surrounded by it right now. But not all polymers are magically created out of crude hydrocarbons siphoned from the earth’s crust, some…
Everything You Need to Know About McLaren’s 3.8L Twin-Turbo V8
Like other supercars, McLarens are rarer than Sasquatch-fur coats. It’s hard enough to steal a glimpse of one at an auto show, but the chances of seeing one on the street are about as good as commuting to work on the back of a Pegasus.
How One-Millionth of an Inch Can Add BIG Horsepower
Automotive finishes are important. Car buyers expect their new rides to have lustrous, durable paint that withstands the test of time. Nobody wants to see dull spots or drips on their $35,000 baby. Not surprisingly a vehicle’s internal components can also benefit from careful attention to detail.
Titanium Could Help Lotus Build Even Lighter Cars
Titanium, it’s both light and strong… and pretty expensive. But the benefits may out-“weight” the tradeoffs for Lotus, as the premium sports-car builder is exploring the dusty silver-hued metal for use in its vehicles.
2016 Audi R8 Supercar Spotted in Action… Again!
What is this, spy-photo Friday? First our intrepid picture-makers nabbed the 2015 Subaru Outback driving in Europe, then they tagged the new Audi A6 cavorting in the snow. Now they’ve sent us images of the German company’s upcoming 2016 Audi R8 supercar. Excited? You should be.
GM’s All-New Ecotec Engine Family Detailed
General Motors unveiled its brand-new family of Ecotec small-displacement engines at its Powertrain Headquarters in Pontiac, Mich. this morning. The lineup will include 11 separate powerplants in both three- and four-cylinder configurations.
Everything You Need to Know About the First Turbocharged Ferrari Engine in Decades
The Geneva Motor Show always plays host to a throng of exciting ultra-high-performance automobiles and this year’s installment was no exception. Lamborghini revealed its sultry new Huracán, McLaren unwrapped the alluring 650S and even Pagani’s outlandish Zonda Revolución made a showing. But the folks in Maranello, Italy were not to be out done.
Replacing ‘the Beast’: White House Accepting Bids for New Presidential Limo
Believe it or not the U.S. Department of Homeland Security does more than just waste travelers’ time at airports, confiscating toothpaste and books of matches. The government organization actually has a hand to play in the presidential limo, which is expected to be replaced by the time our next commander in chief takes office in…
Volvo Testing Autonomous Tech with In-Road Magnets
Arguably autonomous cars are the next major hurdle facing both automakers and supplier companies. It seems like the entire industry is working on self-driving vehicles, including Volvo.
Audi 4.2-Liter V8 to Live On: Report
For all their glory, the smoothness they’re known for, the melodious noises they make, the low-end torque they produce, modern V8 engines are fading away faster than childhood memories of fat camp. But in spite of this unfortunate disappearing act one engine is apparently here to stay.
Electric Vehicles Won’t Reduce US Emissions: Study
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an advanced simulation that projects future emissions in the United States and the results of this study are surprising.
Five-Point Inspection: Mahle Downsizing Demonstrator
In decades past, automakers produced more powerful engines by adding cylinders. As the old saying goes, there’s no replacement for displacement… Or is there?
How do Winter Tires Work?
With the Midwest and eastern states smothered in snow and accosted by abnormally frigid temperatures, this winter has been uncommonly excruciating for people in the Northern U.S. Given the brutal weather, tires are a surprisingly appropriate subject for discussion.
Everything You Wanted to Know About the 2015 BMW M3 and M4’s New Turbocharged Inline-Six Engine
You can’t build a truly great car without an exceptional engine. Powertrain is the heart and soul of every vehicle on the road; it’s the mechanical equivalent of life. Without propulsion systems cars are little more than expensive, over-engineered pieces of yard art.
How to Avoid Traffic Jams, or at Least Getting Stuck in Them
Every time we get behind the wheel we’re at the mercy of a multitude of variables that are simply out of our control. Weather, crashes and highway design flaws can all conspire to turn a short trip a drawn-out nightmare. But what is being done to minimize congestion? Municipalities can do a few things to…
How do Traffic Jams Start?
It doesn’t get much better than zipping along in the fast lane on a beautiful day with your favorite tunes pumping and no vehicles ahead of you. But as is often the case this little slice of automotive paradise can quickly turn into the ninth circle of Hell.
Two Laps with a Legend: Riding with Sebastian Vettel
Many automotive journalists think they can drive. Sure, some of them are able to deliver respectable lap times but quite a few believe they’re far more capable behind the wheel of a motor vehicle than they actually are.
Hyundai Building ‘Diesel’ Engine that Runs on Gasoline
Diesel engines are more efficient than their gasoline counterparts. There are several reasons for this; they burn a more energy-dense fuel, they’re run much higher compression ratios and there are fewer pumping losses since they have no throttle bodies. But what if you could take the best attributes of both powerplant types and combine them…
