Car Tech

Although it'd be unfair to say that tires are one of the more old-fashioned aspects of your modern car - since tire manufacturers spend millions constantly developing them - they do have their flaws. Your typical pneumatic tire is liable to suffer punctures, which can either be inconvenient or...

The trouble with current accident avoidance technology is that it's usually reserved to the more expensive vehicles available on sale. That's not to criticize it of course. Just like ABS, traction control, airbags and other safety technology, it simply costs a lot to develop and initially the cost...

Given the importance of Tesla's Roadster for changing the way the general public thinks about electric cars, it's a little strange that owners have been left in the dark as far as a dedicated smartphone app is concerned. While drivers of the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt or even Smart Electric Drive have...

Maybe we spoke too soon when nominating some of our favourite bits of technology and design from the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. Small electric cars were all the rage at Tokyo, from the Teewave AR.1 sports car - a collaborative project between carbon fiber experts Toray and engineer Gordon Murray -...

Back in March we took a look at some of the best technology and design at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and as the press days for the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show draw to a close we look at some of the highlights from Japan. Tokyo is where all the big Japanese manufacturers roll out their blue-sky ideas and...

Distracted driving is bad, mmmkay? Driving tired is no better, and any time you spend with your eyes off the road is time taken away from reacting in a potentially life-threatening scenario. Carmakers have been on the case for a few years now, with technology aimed at minimizing distracted driving...

Not to be outdone by its fellow carmakers at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show that opened Wednesday, Honda is putting its faith in three high-tech features in its future models. Demonstrated with the Fit EV and SH-AWD test vehicles, Honda has shown a reinvention of regenerative braking, introduced a...

While cars have become much more advanced in recent years, many of the controls inside them haven't changed over the past 40 years. Mercedes is working on updating the interface between car and driver.

General Motors crossed a milestone yesterday. Somewhere on a little counter in GM's Performance Build Center at Wixom near Detroit, a number ticked over from 99,999,999 to 100,000,000, marking the hundred-millionth small-block V8 GM has produced. That milestone engine is a 638-horsepower...

Mazda's i-ELOOP system, which will debut on its Takeri concept sedan, uses a capacitor-based energy recovery system.

As the quest for greater fuel efficiency continues, continuously variable transmissions or 'CVTs' are becoming more popular. Nissan has been touting their benefits for several years now on much of its range, allowing drivers to enjoy smooth, stepless progress, fuel efficiency and efficient power...

Technology you can talk to has been around in films for years, but the Siri voice-activated software assistant really has turned the iPhone 4S into a little robot personal assistant. Still, there's unexplored territory as far as talking to tech is concerned. How about a Knight Rider-style car that...

Gearheads have been using online social media to discuss their love of cars for years, but few of the existing outlets are aimed specifically at the car enthusiast. The people at Monkeyplate.com are changing this. The website is the first to connect car fans in the real world using customized...

With the stunning Mazda Takeri concept car due at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show beginning Wednesday, the company will pioneer a piece of technology that improves the fuel economy of its cars by 10 percent. Known as i-ELOOP, it uses a capacitor as part of its regenerative braking system, for the first...

Before the introduction of more extreme vehicles like the McLaren-Mercedes SLR and the current gull-wing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the regular SL-Class sports car was top of the tree in the Mercedes hierarchy. As such it was often a technological leader, frequently sharing innovations with the S-Class...

UPDATE: The 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL Class has been revealed. Click here for all the info and photos. We recently gave you a taste of some of the technical highlights of the upcoming 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class, but now we have an in-depth look at the new technologies making their way onto the luxury...

Millions of Americans are planning road trips this holiday week, and many of them will use navigation software to get them where they need to go -- whether that's over the river and through the woods or to the outlet mall. The Navigon MobileNavigator smartphone app recently made things simpler for...

To produce a state-of-the-art supercar, nothing less than a state-of-the-art production facility will do. Until recently, production of the McLaren MP4-12C has been handled in the cramped confines of the McLaren Technology Center (MTC), not an ideal situation for the larger production volumes...

You know the drill here people: It's a Monday, everyone's least favorite day of the week. Actually, we don't mind Mondays that much as it's a perfect excuse for us to find something that makes the day a little bit more fun, and this week we've dug up five iPhone apps for the ardent Volkswagen fan...

Outwardly there aren't too many similarities between German sports and luxury car maker BMW and the more budget-orientated Korean maker Hyundai. In fact, until Hyundai launched cars like the Genesis and Equus they didn't even compete in the same market segment. Yet a new deal between the two...