Car Tech

The engines of today may operate along familiar principals to the internal combustion engines of yesteryear but their efficiency and cleanliness is almost beyond comparison thanks to advances in technology. Like all automakers Mercedes-Benz has put millions into developing engines to meet ever...

With more than 10,000 Americans dying every year in DUI-related car accidents, you might think it poor taste that you can download DUI checkpoint warning applications for Apple and Blackberry cell phones. You'd not be alone, either. Four U.S. senators are asking Apple, Google and Research In...

As much as Lotus may be straying from the straight and narrow path of simplicity and lightness, the rest of the automotive world may be becoming a little more Lotus-like--or at least a few manufacturers may be. At the Geneva Motor Show this year, Lotus Engineering unveiled the production version of...

There's no denying that Google Maps is the king of online mapping services. It may have been slightly late to the party, but thanks to social features like sharable maps and the ability to drop in notes at specific locations, it quickly zoomed past competitors like MapQuest. One of Google Maps'...

Luxury brand announces its technological sophistication by partnering with AT&T's now-downwardly-mobile 'cheap brand.' -- For those of us who have already been reading seemingly endless reports and speculation about the proposed merging of operations of two major U.S. cellular providers, it was...

At the recent 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, GM showed off a new standalone retail version of its popular OnStar telematics system that acts as a replacement rearview mirror that owners will be able to install in virtually any vehicle. Today the automaker has announced that the new...

Carbon fiber is great. It's had applications across a whole spectrum of sports and technology and allows the construction of objects that are stronger and lighter than the equivalent metal object, and - lets face it - it looks pretty cool too. We may even see it becoming used in widespread car...

Many of us have experienced the unpleasant roasting of thighs and backside when sitting on leather or vinyl seats after they've spent a day in the sun. You wouldn't expect the same in cold weather but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is set to analyze data from several...

The new 2012 Audi A6 is without doubt a technical marvel. Combining such technologies as radar-based cruise control and adaptive brakes, full LED headlights, a touchpad controller for the MMI interface, a range of fuel efficient yet powerful engines--including an eventual hybrid--and of course, the...

During the recent recession, a new type of vacation was born: the relaxing but slightly saddening "staycation". Thankfully, many of the world's economies have begun to recover, so now that winter's chill is thawing, cabin fever victims in the northern hemisphere are planning real getaways for...

3D printing isn't one of those technologies that we might see, some indeterminate time in the future. It's one of those technologies that we can already see, and inspect, and touch. 3D printing, also known as Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) isn't the technology of the future - it's a technology...

Back in the late-mid-80s, South By Southwest was a humble music festival. Then someone -- possibly Al Gore -- invented the internet, Austin became a second Silicon Valley, and today, SXSW (as it's now known) is a jumble of music, film, and interactive technology. For the traveler, SXSW is also a...

The car that perhaps raised the most eyebrows at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show wasn't necessarily a supercar like the Ferrari FF or Pagani's new unpronounceable replacement for the Zonda, nor was it the sporty Nissan ESFLOW or the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive. Instead, it was a tiny concept based on an...

Carbon fiber is enjoying something of a birthday this year. With the release of the 2011 McLaren MP4-12C supercar, McLaren celebrates thirty years since they developed the first carbon fiber monocoque chassis, used in their 1981 Formula 1 racing car. They were then the first to develop a carbon...

The 2012 Ferrari FF is not just the company's new flagship. Nor is it just the most unusually styled Ferrari in, well, maybe ever. It's also the first all-wheel drive Ferrari thanks to the company's new 4RM system. Furthermore, it's Ferrari's own design, one that it says saves weight and complexity...

The Geneva Motor Show is one of the top auto shows each year for new cars, concepts and car technology, and 2011 was no exception. Under the shining lights and amongst the glamorous girls were some pretty hot ideas and cool technology, so here we've chosen our favorite gadgets, details and tech...

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) we brought you news of MINI Connected's first app: Pandora. Today, MINI expands on what Connected adds to the in-car experience with this detailed video highlighting its key features. Want to link your iPhone to Twitter, Facebook, Google Local Search, or...

We're pretty familiar with autonomous cars around here, and we've even been treated to a ride in one of Stanford's robots at their automotive innovation lab, which they launched in partnership with Volkswagen. You might also remember Shelley, their autonomous Audi TTS, which autonomously raced to...

Today's navigation systems are great at finding the shortest route between Point A and Point B. Some even integrate traffic data to identify alternate paths if the shortest one is congested. But Hyundai's newest navigation platform will also tell you which route is the greenest, keeping CO2 out of...

Ford Motor Company’s [NYSE:F] aging Crown Victoria, loyal servant to police forces around the country for the past several decades, is soon to be replaced by a new generation of cop cars such as the Carbon Motors E7, Chevrolet Caprice PPV and the Blue Oval's Interceptor duo. Presented here...