Miscellaneous Car Blog

We’d instinctively reach for a pair of driving shoes if tossed the keys to a DB9, but those obsessed with the Aston Martin brand may prefer either of the shoes offered as part of the new Nike Kobe Bryant Aston Martin Edition footwear pack. The ...    Read more

Audi revealed its subcompact A1 at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and we have now learned production of the Mini-proportioned hatchback has commenced at Audi's plant in Brussels, Belgium. Steak sauce and motorway jokes aside, the A1 is ...    Read more

How’s this for numerology? To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Prodrive Subaru Impreza P1, 100 cars gathered at Prodrive’s headquarters, accounting for 10 percent of the 1000-car production run. Tripping? We were when we first laid eyes on the P1 back in 2000. Envisioned as a ...    Read more

To implement the latest safety technologies, Mercedes-Benz has put a team of robots to work to test its upcoming active driver assistance systems. Rather than put engineers in harm’s way or leave everything to computer simulation, Mercedes claims it is the first automaker in the world to utilize a ...    Read more

Many automakers offer fitted luggage or custom accessories to go along with their models. Mini just released its own suitably quirky take on the idea with its Mini Countryman Getaway Package. In lieu of a custom duffel bag, the package includes folding camp chairs, a ...    Read more

German tuning firm Hamann Motorsport has added yet another premium vehicle to its vast portfolio: the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo. Dubbed the F07, this tuned BMW 550i GT receives a few new ...    Read more

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awards five-star crash test ratings to various vehicles, Japan's New Car Assessment Program actually proclaims one vehicle to be the safest on the market. For 2010, the title was awarded to the new 2010 Subaru Legacy. ...    Read more

It seems that people will give a pet name to just about anything, especially their cars. Ford was interested in just what people are naming their cars nowadays and conducted a Facebook poll to find out. Some people describe their cars as ...    Read more

You don't need to head to Bavaria to get a behind-the-scenes look at BMW's facilities, as the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant is opening its doors wider than ever before. BMW's only U.S. manufacturing facility is launching a new program that'll offer enthusiasts a unique and affordable adventure. ...    Read more

There is plenty of destruction in “Iron Man 2” -- buildings, cars, racetracks -- but perhaps the cruelest thing destroyed in the movie was a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Unlike the replica race cars and track destroyed in the movie, the Rolls-Royce Phantom was real, and not the only one ...    Read more

When the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze goes on sale later this year, 75 percent of the Chevrolet brand's vehicles will offer six-speed transmissions, according to General Motors. GM states that six-speed automatics are smoother, more responsive, and offer up to 4 percent better fuel economy than traditional four-speed automatics. ...    Read more

Although many consumers in the U.S. are baffled by cars with three pedals, consumers in emerging markets prefer low-cost manual transmissions to automatics. Because of this, supplier Magna Powertrain is predicting an increase in global demand for manual gearboxes. “What we still see in emerging markets is ...    Read more

Toyota has issued a "progress report" detailing its work on the sticking accelerator pedals, floor mat pedal entrapment, and anti-lock brake system (ABS) recalls. To date, more than three million vehicles have been involved among the three major recalls. According to Toyota, it has addressed seventy percent of the approximately ...    Read more

You aren't likely to spot a helicopter parked next to an E-Class at your local Mercedes-Benz dealer anytime soon, but designers employed within the automaker's styling studios are lending a hand in creating a number of non-automotive products. We first saw the ...    Read more

Porsche's 911 Turbo may already be one of the fastest cars built by the German automaker, but for tuning firm Techart, fast is never good enough. The company just rolled out a pair of power upgrade packages for the latest 911 Turbo. ...    Read more

Last month, SoundMan Car Audio of Santa Clarita, California, installed an iPad into a Toyota Tacoma. Today, we have learned that aftermarket outfitter Scosche is putting the finishing touches on its own universal iPad in-car mount kit. The final product will be suitably named the iKit. ...    Read more

With the global economy on the rise, consumers dusting off their checkbooks, and sales of the X6 exceeding original forecasts, BMW is reportedly reconsidering an X4 crossover for its lineup. As the nomenclature indicates, the X4 would slot between the ...    Read more

Thanks to strong demand, Fiat has produced over a half-million examples of its 500 city car in just 31 months. To commemorate the milestone, Fiat is creating a unique, one-off 500 Thousandth edition. The Fiat 500 Thousandth edition will be covered ...    Read more

On any given day, press releases touting everything from new cars to aftermarket parts to "lifestyle accessories" turn up in the Automobile inbox, and many don't make the grade. Once in a while, though, one stands out from the rest, and today we bring you the Blacked-Out Pony Car Shootout. ...    Read more

Ford hopes it has a hit on its hands with its new 2011 Fiesta, but to help spread the word on the compact hatchback, the automaker is giving one to Funkmaster Flex to customize on his new TV show, "Funk Flex Full Throttle." ...    Read more

As Nissan draws closer to releasing its Leaf electric car, dealers will be under pressure to ensure Leaf buyers are capable of supporting and living with the highly anticipated mass-market electric vehicle. Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s chairman of the America, insists that ...    Read more

After using Event Data Recorders of its own for nearly two decades, General Motors has fully committed to Senator Tom Udall's (D-NM) endeavor to make EDRs standard in all future vehicles. The Event Data Recorder (EDR), a device used to record vehicle telemetry ...    Read more

We can preach the virtues of electronic stability control until we’re blue in the face, but it helps to see a visual reminder of why the system is worth an extra few hundred dollars on top of your vehicle’s price tag. Which?, a British consumer reporting publication, ...    Read more

Auto-branded bicycles are a dime a dozen, but this example -- which wears Lexus' nameplate -- is an interesting departure. It's a hybrid-electric vehicle. The Lexus Hybrid Bicycle, as its name ...    Read more

Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi recently revealed the automaker's five-year plan, relying heavily on the U.S. market to attain a global sales increase of 43% to 1.7 million vehicles annually by 2016.Mazda sold 210,000 units in the U.S. market at the end of its fiscal year (March 31) and recorded an ...    Read more