Car Tech

There are a lot of strange, unexplained things in the world. Some of them have been caught on video. Unfortunately, that video is almost always too grainy and shaky to draw any conclusions. So it is with the Porsche 7-speed manual transmission. Sure, we're pretty certain one is coming in the 2012...

The only trouble with flashy new technology is that it tends to be expensive. Manufacturers spend millions developing the latest infotainment and safety kit and they have to recoup their costs somehow. So what can Billy Joe Average do if he hasn't got the money to get a car with the latest safety...

Porsche has another winner on its hands. It's not a new supercar or the next generation of its 911 sports car range though - Porsche Design takes our prize for offering the most unusual car-branded accessory. Ferrari previously had our favourite with a carbon-fiber child measuring stick, but the...

The OnStar vehicle infotainment, navigation and security system will be familar to owners of newer GM products, but soon you won't even need a GM vehicle to benefit from the technology. Revealed at CES back in March, OnStar FMV, "For My Vehicle", is an aftermarket mirror that features several of...

The Volvo XC60, which comes standard with CitySafe, is 27 percent less likely to be involved in a low-speed accident than competing models without the system.

One minute it's freezing cold, the next you're battling with a hurricane, and then finally the sun comes out for tropical temperatures. No, it's not some futuristic vision of a world in the grips of rapid climate change, it's actually the conditions available in the new wind tunnels used by...

Ford's upcoming 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine will make it to Fiestas sold in North America, according to information pieced together from Ford executives

In May, we told you that the U.S. Department of Transportation was rolling out a new program to test vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology. If you live in one of the six cities where that's taking place, you have a chance to participate -- and earn a small sum of cash. What is V2V tech? In a...

For many of us, the thought of motoring through the backroads and byways of Europe sounds like a dream vacation, but such trips come with their share of challenges -- namely, unfamiliar roads, signs in foreign languages, and, like anywhere, rush hour traffic. (Hey, someone's gotta keep punching the...

If you're aged between 18 and 24 years old you could be forgiven for having never seen a road atlas. These archaic paper-based devices require you to use planning and a sense of direction to navigate from one place to another, and remain silent throughout your journey. According to research by the...

BMW is aiming to become of the first manufacturers to begin high-volume production of carbon fiber car parts. The first part-carbon cars could be seen as soon as 2013. The cost and production time of carbon fiber has been reduced considerably over the last few years. The all-carbon McLaren MP4-12C...

Volvo's next generation of range extenders show the potential for a peaceful co-existence between electric cars and their combustion counterparts.

As the world has grown smaller and more interconnected, privacy has become a major concern. Hacking, computer viruses, stolen data, geolocation loopholes: these have all made headlines recently, going so far as to cripple one of the world's largest media outlets. Google has taken its share of heat...

Ford is experimenting with live operators to assist SYNC customers with a limited trial. But can it make up for 15 years lost to GM's OnStar service?

You might not think of the voice inside your sat-nav system or the sound of your blinkers as being particularly sonorous, but then you're probably not working with BMW to turn those sounds and more into a few minutes of music as the backdrop to production of the 2012 BMW 1-Series. The man behind...

Ford is beta testing live operator assistance for SYNC services, similar to what OnStar offers. But can Ford catch up to OnStar? #YouTellUs

Carmakers love motor racing. The phrase "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" didn't come about for no reason - racing is a great way of raising the profile of your cars and the buying public love knowing that some of the technology in their cars has filtered down from the race track. That's the theory...

Small cars are becoming big business. The smart fortwo, Scion iQ, Gordon Murray's upcoming T.25, the Renault Twizy... more and more carmakers are developing tiny vehicles to provide our city transportation of the future. General Motors has jumped on the bandwagon too. GM showed the cleverly named...

A new process, called "forged composites," may revolutionize how carbon fiber parts are manufactured and used.

Three-cylinder engines might remind you of your friend's crummy Geo Metro, but in five years' time, they might be the new hallmark of luxurious eco-chic.