Car Tech

  • What the heck does an oil catch can do?

    Your engine is a violent place. It's filled with moving metal, hot oil and fuel, and a mass of moving air. All of that combines to create combustion, which is basically a series of continual explosions—and it's all happening right in front of you. During the combustion process, some of the compacted gas isn't expelled out of the exhaust but winds up making its way into the crankcase instead. This is called blowby, and it's the process by which oil and air escape to try and mess up your day. ALSO SEE: Here are 5 things to never do with a turbocharged vehicle To prevent the buildup of...

  • Tesla Autopilot suite of features  -  with version 7.0 update
    Tesla and autonomous tech firm Mobileye end partnership

    Technology firm Mobileye, which worked closely with Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] to develop the semi-autonomous Autopilot system that debuted on the Model S, has confirmed its partnership with the automaker is over. The information was confirmed by Mobileye co-founder Amnon Shashua during a conference...

  • Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck concept
    Mercedes beats Tesla to electric truck

    Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] a week ago announced a grand master plan that called for an expansion into more segments including electric commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks. Unbeknownst to many is that Mercedes-Benz’s trucks unit has been working on electric trucks for some years now and...

  • Learn what makes BMW's throttle system different
    Learn what makes BMW's throttle system different

    You're an under-hood expert by now, aren't you? We've been sharing a whole lot of information thanks to Engineering Explained and that means you should be fluent now in "gearhead." Still, there's always more to learn and today we're taking on a subject that's a bit more complicated, which must mean...

  • Ford Sync 3 infotainment system
    Ford rolling out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across 2017 lineup

    Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] unveiled an enhanced version of its Sync 3 infotainment system during January’s Consumer Electronics Show and at the time said the system will be available on 2017 model year vehicles. The Blue Oval on Monday confirmed that the system will be available across its...

  • 2017 Porsche Panamera, Technical Backgrounder, July 2016
    2017 Porsche Panamera deep dive

    Editor’s warning: This article contains some geeky in-depth engineering information about what makes the 2017 Porsche Panamera tick. Reading it puts you in danger of learning more about this car than you thought you might want to know. What is the Golden Rule? Treat others as you would like...

  • Tesla Model S owner talks about some do's and don't with the Autopilot system

    The Tesla Model S has a feature you all know about. It's called Autopilot, which is a poor name for a system that is still essentially in its beta testing phase. I say "poor name" because as we've seen in the news, a number of owners believe this means the car is damn-near autonomous. This is not the case, as it's merely semi-autonomous. It's a good system, but it also takes a good owner to fully understand how, when, and where to use it. One such owner is the Brooks Weisblat, the man behind DragTimes. He's taken the time to record a video showing the system in use. He also shares his own...

  • Geneva electric buses with 'flash charging' system
    Geneva's 'flash charge' electric buses recharge in 15 seconds

    Long charging times can be a drag for electric vehicles, whether they're private passenger cars or city buses. The Swiss city of Geneva wants to put more electric buses into service, and to do that it recently contracted with local firm ABB to set up a "flash-charging" network that can charge those...

  • Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car’s electric energy recovery and drive system
    Porsche reveals tech behind Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid

    Porsche’s 919 Hybrid is proving to be one of the most successful race cars in the German automaker’s history. It’s currently in its third year of competition and already under its belt are a title in the World Endurance Championship and a pair of victories in the 24 Hours of Le...

  • Here are 5 things to never do with a turbocharged vehicle
    Here are 5 things never to do with a turbocharged vehicle

    Your engine likes to breathe. There are ways to make it breathe easier, and one of them is by cramming air into the engine's "throat." You're forcing the induction. To do that, you'll need either a supercharger or a turbocharger. It's the boost-loving snail of a turbocharger that seems to be the...

  • 2017 Porsche Panamera
    Porsche details new infotainment system debuting in 2017 Panamera

    Coinciding with the arrival of Porsche’s new Panamera sedan later this year will be a new version of the automaker’s infotainment system, known as Porsche Communication Management (PCM). At the heart of the new system is a large touchscreen display located in the center stack, which...

  • Mercedes-Benz Future Bus concept
    Mercedes-Benz unveils autonomous bus concept

    Mercedes-Benz is working to bring autonomous technology to not only cars but virtually all forms of road transport. One of the most logical areas to introduce the technology is public transport, where vehicles tend to travel at slower speeds and along set routes. Mercedes on Monday gave a taste of...

  • Rob Dahm explores the functionality of turbo blankets

    Turbochargers are regularly exposed to very high temperatures. A turbo uses the hot exhaust gases to spin its turbine blades and in turn forces more air into your engine. Just how hot can this area get, though, and can a turbocharger blanket help? Rob Dahm decided to find out. The goal of a turbo blanket is to keep the two sides of your turbo in their respective happy places. The hot side will want to stay hot, while the cool side prefers colder air. Additionally, the rest of your engine would like to cool off a bit. If you slap a turbo blanket over the exhaust side of your turbocharger, you...

  • Are variable twin-scroll turbochargers the future of turbos?
    Are variable twin-scroll turbochargers the future of turbos?

    Turbochargers are—literally—spooling up, with every major automaker now offering at least one boosted model in their lineups (and one with four turbos). Today, our friend Jason Fenske over at Engineering Explained takes a look at the most cutting edge variation: the variable twin-scroll...

  • 2017 Aston Martin DB11 AeroBlade
    Aston Martin clears the air on new DB11's 'AeroBlade'

    In 1967, Lotus put a sky-high wing on the rear of the Lotus 49 to convert wind flowing from the top of the car to aerodynamic weight to press harder down on the rear wheels. Carmakers have gotten down on what came up ever since. Nearly all high-performance cars on the road now utilize not only some...

  • 2016 Jeep Cherokee Overland
    FCA says it will pay you to hack its vehicles

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is offering a hefty bounty to hackers willing to test the integrity of its vehicles' digital security. The automaker says it will offer up to $1,500 to hackers who successfully exploit any vulnerabilities related to the cars' increasingly complex integrated infotainment...

  • 2017 Mazda 3 (Japanese spec)
    2017 Mazda 3 debuts with G-Vectoring Control technology

    The Mazda 3 has received a nip and tuck for the 2017 model but beyond the visual tweaks there is an interesting bit of new technology. So far Mazda has only announced the updated 3 for Japan, where the car is known as an Axela, but specifications for the United States should be similar. ALSO SEE...

  • Jaguar Land Rover connected car and autonomous car technology
    Jaguar Land Rover to start real-world testing of connected cars

    One of the vital steps towards the full automation of cars is the development of a communications network where cars aren’t only linked with other cars but also the surrounding infrastructure. Known as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-object (V2X) communications, the technology...

  • Traffic light

    The traffic light's nearly 150-year run—which predates motor vehicles by about 30 years, since they were also used for horse carriages—may be coming to an end thanks to autonomous cars. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Swiss Institute of Technology, and the Italian National Research Council recently published a study suggesting that a new system that would allow autonomous cars to safely navigate intersections without any driver input may be in our future. CHECK OUT: Jaguar Land Rover develops autonomous system for off-roading Instead, their plan is...

  • Dynamoto motorcycle stand
    Omni-directional stand lets you easily move your motorcycle around the garage

    Working on your motorcycle, or simply moving it around a tight garage, may never get easier than this. An Australian firm has created what it bills the "omnidirectional" motorcycle stand, a stand that makes it a one person job to push a heavy bike around a confined space in any direction...

  • GM patents new tech for twin-scroll turbocharger system
    GM patents new tech for twin-turbocharged engines

    General Motors is working on some slick new technology that should give twin-turbocharged engines a bit of a boost. According to Motor Trend, the main meat of this patent news is related to how the exhaust gases are routed to each turbocharger. It's designed for simplicity. ALSO SEE: Ford releases...

  • Scania hybrid truck concept designed for "electric highway"
    Sweden opens world's first "electric road"

    A 2-kilometer stretch of the E16 freeway near Gävle, Sweden, nicknamed the e-way might be the world's most advanced stretch of pavement. Electric current running through power lines above the freeway delivers energy to specially-modified Scania trucks. When the big rigs are connected to the...

  • Starship robotic delivery
    Autonomous robots to begin making deliveries in London

    Your next delivery guy may not be a human at all, at least if you live in London. That's where the new Starship autonomous delivery vehicle—which may be better known as a robot—will launch before service is expanded elsewhere. Capable of delivering small items like groceries or...

  • Roewe RX5 smartcar running Alibaba’s YunOS operating system
    China’s Alibaba beats US tech firms to launch of "smartcar"

    China’s Alibaba may have started out life as just another e-commerce business but over the years has expanded into other areas including launching its own electronic payment system and now what it calls "the world’s first smartcar." That means, essentially, a vehicle with an integrated...

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