Lasers to replace sparkplugs in the future?
Sparkplug (bottom) versus optical laser plug (top) A Ford that shoots laser beams? No, we're not talking about James Bond's next Ford Fusion. Nor are we talking about Ford bringing back the …
US Government loans Ford US$ 5.9 billion to develop fuel-saving technologies
The US Government has loaned US$ 5.9 billion to Ford, for the development of fuel-saving technologies including hybrid-electric systems, alternative-fuel power plants, direct-injection as well as other developments that are related to …
Mercedes-Benz ESF 2009 Safety Innovations
Full details and photos of the new Mercedes-Benz ESF 2009 research vehicle have been unveiled. Based on the S 400 HYBRID, the Mercedes-Benz ESF 2009 essentially features 5 key new safety elements …
Preview: Mercedes ESF 2009 Safety Concept
Mercedes-Benz has taken the new W221 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid and modified it with experimental safety features. The new testbed is called the ESF 2009 Experimental Safety Vehicle. The features are quite interesting …
BMW Emergency Stop Assistant brings your car to a stop if you can’t drive it
BMW's Emergency Stop Assistant project is part of The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research's SmartSenior program, which aims to develop intelligent services to make the lives of senior citizens easier …
New BMW N55 single turbo Valvetronic engine
BMW's new N55 engine family's 306 horsepower and 400Nm power and torque output figures reminds us of the original moment when BMW first announced it was bringing back forced induction into the …
GM OnStar to include Twitter functionality?
I have a few friends (me included) who frequently log onto Twitter with Twibble on the Nokia smartphones (like my highly recommended Nokia E90) and gripe about the traffic jam they are …
Another first for Toyota: a rear center airbag!
In a car crash we have side airbags for side impacts but in cases where there are two or more passengers in the rear, they can end up hitting each other. Toyota's …
Fiat reveals a new engine technology: MultiAir
Fiat has revealed a new engine technology called the MultiAir technology which significantly reduces emissions, while improving fuel economy and power delivery. This rather complicated electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation technology is implemented …
Lotus Omnivore 2-stroke concept engine set for Geneva debut
Lotus has revealed some details about the Lotus Omnivore engine concept that it will be unveiling at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The Omnivore runs on a two-stroke operating cycle that Lotus …
BMW Routes: load scenic routes onto your iDrive
The next time you plan a holiday in Europe, you may want to rent a BMW and make it a road trip holiday. BMW's new BMW Routes feature (currently still in testing …
2009 S-Class facelift to feature Mercedes-Benz SPLITVIEW Screen Technology
Click to enlarge image The 2009 Mercedes-Benz S-Class will debut an enhancement to the vehicle's COMAND navigation and entertainment system called SPLITVIEW. Yes, you got it right, it's going to appear in …
Silicon replacing graphite: the key to long range electric cars using lithium ion batteries?
Hanyang University of Korea's Professor Cho Jae-Phil claims his research team have discovered a way to produce lithium ion batteries that have 8 times more battery life than existing lithium ion batteries! …
New Nissan Cube to debut new catalyst with low precious metal content
Between 30% to 50% of the world's platinum output is used in automobile catalytic converters, and automobile-based usage are set to become even higher of fuel cell cars become more popular in …
New Michelin Lunar Wheel based on the Tweel
According to Michelin, the new Tweel-based lunar wheel maintains flexibility and constant ground contact pressure even at very low temperatures to enable moon rovers to navigate loose soil and lunar craters with …
Nissan develops nuclear “X-ray” for engine oil flow
Nissan has partnered up with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to develop a new neutron imaging system which can be used to precisely visualize oil flow in an engine operating at …
Hyundai R-Engine all-aluminium turbodiesel
Hyundai has just announced a new all-aluminium diesel engine family, the R-Engine family which comes in two displacements - 2.0 litre and 2.2 litre. These motors are key to Hyundai and Kia's …
BMW Konfigurator powered by Microsoft Surface lets you configure your BMW, CSI-style!
Basically you have a 30 inch touch screen display on a table which you are able to interact with to configure your BMW car.
ZF’s quick shifting 6-speed automatic thanks to “twin torsional dampers”
Twin clutch and single clutch automated manual transmissions are catching up in terms of smoothness of shifting but the torque converter is also making progress when it comes to shift speed and …
New Honda Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering
Honda has added a new safety feature to its Vehicle Stability Assist system called Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering (Motion Adaptive EPS).
