Archive for Automotive

Solar Driveway Markers keep you from driving into your living room

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on March 12th, 2009

Solar Driveway MarkersSometimes you can’t see where you are going, while driving. This might be due to alcohol, snow or even fog. Most likely alcohol. These Solar Driveway Markers sure would come in handy so you don’t end up parking in your living room.

They’re 1 meter tall, stick into the ground and are recharged by the sun so that they may blink red for 8 hours. That way when you come home you’ll know where or where not to park. Buy a whole bunch and put on a light show, or use it to actually confuse people, then sit back and watch the comedy.

Citroen C-Crosser PSP Edition SUV

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on March 11th, 2009

Citroen C-Crosser PSP Edition SUVHere’s something that’s slightly messed up. But it’s the kind of thing that carmakers must do in order to sell to Sony loving geeks. A PSP Edition SUV. Citroen is offering their C-Crosser SUV which boldly boasts a PSP sticker that lets everyone know your handheld of choice.

Each purchase comes with some “freebies” including a black PSP (Probably not the new PSP-3000), a couple of games, a 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo and a head mount that lets folks view UMD movies on the PSP while the driver drives.

Horse training vehicle monitors race horses

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on March 4th, 2009

Horse training vehicle monitors race horsesIf you’ve been journeying far and wide across the interwebz, you may already know what this vehicle is all about. We covered it last July and it’s making the rounds again. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a refresher. This isn’t the Amish discovering Hot Rods, it trains horses.

And we still think Batman may have had something to do with it. I mean, look at the design. Bruce Wayne has his hands in everything. Why not race horses? It allows trainers to be close to the animals while training them and monitoring their vital signs. It has very precise and controlled speeds ranging from walking to 60kph.

Tesla to offer Roadster EV in Canada

Posted in Automotive by Shane McGlaun on March 4th, 2009

Tesla RoadsterAll you hosers in Canada that have wanted to get your hands on the Tesla Roadster are in luck. Tesla Motors announced today that it would be offering the Roadster in Canada with deliveries of the vehicles to customers set to begin in Q4 2009.

Tesla says that its electric sports car is twice as efficient as the Toyota Prius and is especially well suited to reducing emissions in Canada where much of the power is generated by renewable means. According to Tesla, its cars charged in Canada will reduce emissions by 85%.

Audi Shark flying car concept

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on March 2nd, 2009

Audi Shark flying car conceptIs it a shark? A submarine? A flying car? All of the above. And it’s the most badass flying car/shark/submarine I’ve ever seen. Kazim Doku’s Shark concept is how he envisions the future of Audi’s design: as a flying car. Design inspirations came from motorcycles and airplanes, and obviously underwater vessels.

Even the interior gets some sporty seats with the cockpit’s sculpture, so you can sit comfortably while flying to work and playing with some buttons etc. Check out a video below. Who needs roads when you can fly in this kind of style?

Best Buy to Sell Brammo electric motorcycles

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on February 28th, 2009

Best Buy to Sell Brammo electric motorcyclesYou use Best Buy for TVs, washing machines, computer peripherals and cell phones, so why not use them to shop for a $12,000 electric motorcycle? Why the hell not? Brammo and Best Buy have plans to sell the $11,995 Enertia electric motorcycle at five West Coast Best Buy stores in May.

Eventually Brammo would like to sell bikes at every Best Buy location around the world, but they want to see how the initial test works out. They should probably have pimply faced geek squad dudes drive around on them for promotion. And so they are diverted from touching anyone’s computer.

Wheego Whip electric car headed for America

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on February 19th, 2009

Wheego Whip electric car headed for AmericaOil prices have come down from their dramatic highs of last year, that doesn’t mean we should start burning more so called fossil fuels just because it’s cheap. I mean when our economy finally does get better, those prices are gonna be back. Mark my words.

The Wheego Whip offers a compact electric alternative and it’s ready for sale this May. It will retail for $19K, and can handle a 50 mile trip on a full charge with a top speed of 60 mph. The acceleration and speed should be a good fit American roads, though you won’t win any races.

Snobootz offer a better grip on ice

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on February 15th, 2009

Snobootz offer a better grip on iceSnobootz work like a jacket that you wrap around your tires. They have metal cleats that can dig into ice, and the maker claims that they are easier to put on and remove than chains. The doughnut-shaped casing of laminated fabrics is smoother and lighter than chains, so once fitted, the rubber composite design is safe on your tires.

You’ll pay for the design though. They are available for $200 to $250 each. Then again if they keep you from freezing your butt off, they are well worth it.

AirMan Tire Repair System gets you home safely

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on February 13th, 2009

AirMan Tire Repair System gets you home safelyFlat tires stink. specially if you don’t have a spare with you. You could drive home with 3 tires and a rim, but that just leads to a shower of sparks as you tear up the asphalt and ruin your rim. The AirMan Tire Repair System will fix your flat tire “at the touch of a button”.

It works by injecting some kind of sealant into the flat tire while inflating it at the same time. So it should be a useful thing to keep in your car. They claim that it’s fast and give you safe driving for 200 miles, which should be enough to get you where you need to go.

Left over beer fuels cars

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on February 3rd, 2009

Left over beer fuels carsBeer fueling cars? Cars now competing for beer that you should be guzzling? Yep. And your car won’t get a beer gut or wake up next to Quasimodo the next morning. Don’t sweat it though, we’re talking leftovers. Sierra Nevada has purchased a MicroFueler, which produces ethanol from water, sugar and yeast. As you probably know from Beer 101, yeast is a major byproduct of beer fermentation. So they can now make fuel out of beer leftovers.

It’s a great Earth friendly way to recycle waste. And it’s nice to see a company being responsible and doing something good. Plus their cars get to drink beer. How cool is that? Your job doesn’t put beer in your car.

Ugly body mod = 95 MPG

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on February 1st, 2009

Ugly body mod = 95 MPGFirst off, don’t believe anything you hear from a car company. We all know that it’s possible to have amazingly efficient cars. Let’s face it, it’s not in their best interest to give us great cars. There’s less repeat business if you build a more perfect product. Less parts to sell when they fail. So, it’s up to you and me to mod our vehicles to improve our MPG.

That’s what one man did with this amazing and amazingly fugly mod. Mike Turner of South Carolina spent just $400 to create some aerodynamic mods that lowered his Civic’s drag to 1.7. To put that into perspective, that’s about half of most new cars. It supposedly gives him 95 miles per gallon at 65 miles per hour.

Shelby Super Cars Aero EV hits 208 mph

Posted in Automotive by Shane McGlaun on January 27th, 2009

Shelby Aero EVI will admit that I find the majority of electric vehicle that are available now very boring. I am a big car fan and prefer my vehicles to offer performance and looks. Not all of the electric vehicles out there are boring though; the Tesla Roadster springs to mind.

A new all-electric super car from Shelby Super Cars called the Aero EV has now been unveiled that takes all of the Tesla Roadster’s thunder away. The Aero EV claims to reach a top speed of 208 mph and hit 60 mph from a standstill in a mere 2.5 seconds.

Gold-plated Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on January 25th, 2009

Gold-plated Mercedes-Benz C63 AMGIt’s nice to know that some people are having some fun living it up in this recession, while the rest of us count and sort our pennies. This is a gold-mirror-finish Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG from the Bling on Wheels Show, at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. It’s just plain crazy like everything else in Dubai.

If you drive this thing during the day, everyone will know where you are thanks to the trail of innocent onlookers who were blinded by the light bouncing off it. No word on how much it cost the owner to completely bling this thing out.

Stealth Bomber Cycle: Flying on two wheels

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on January 15th, 2009

Stealth Bomber Cycle: Flying on two wheelsThis year marks the 20th anniversary of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. What better way to commemorate the anniversary than with a cycle by the crew at Orange County Choppers. As usual they took the basic look of the plane and made a cycle version. The bike even has some of the original titanium from the original B-2 aft deck and each wheel features scale models of B-2s in star formations.

It’s pretty awesome, for sure. But is it just me, or does it kinda look like a Dolphin? It almost looks toy-like. Very plastic looking. At any rate, it’s nice to know that our military has their priorities straight when it comes to spending our tax money. Hopefully this bike has some hidden firepower.

Cadillac WTF: Zero maintenance with 24 wheels

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on January 14th, 2009

Cadillac WTF: Zero maintenance with 24 wheelsHere’s one hell of a conceptual design: the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel concept. Otherwise known as the Cadillac WTF. It was created by Loren Kulesus. Everything about the aptly named WTF has been created to last for 100 years without maintenance. That’s the reason for the element number ninety, thorium: to act as a nuclear fuel powering batteries that would power this beast.

Also, every major system is redundant just in case of a failure. Even the wheels are covered and shouldn’t give you much trouble. The wheels don’t have individual tires. In fact, what you get is one combined unit made up of six individual wheels. That gives you 24 wheels in all, and each wheel has its own induction motor just for good measure. According to the creator, “The vehicle would require the tires to be adjusted every five years, but no material would need to be added or subtracted.”





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