Latest Cars Reviews Blog

Microsoft Auto To Bring Computing To The Dashboard

Microsoft to bring computing to the dashboard in a Windows for Automotives product called Microsoft Auto. Microsoft and Kia Automotive Group will jointly work upon the ‘next generation of infotainment systems’.

The newest existing edition of Microsoft Auto would allow you stream music from, and control mobile phones, iPods, Zunes,and other players via Bluetooth. You could surf the Internet via Internet Explorer. It also supports GPS.

Microsoft ultimately wants to convert all automobiles into Windows Machines.

microsoft auto

Source: Shiny Shiny

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Chevy Cobalt SS Sedan Unveiled...Well Only One Photo

Chevy has released one official photo of the upcoming Chevy Cobalt SS Sedan.

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Man Builds Audi R8 Super Car Out Of A Not-So-Super Mercury Cougar [Custom Cars]

The Audi R8 is one of the most exclusive and beautiful supercars in the world, commanding auto-lust wherever it goes and wherever it's seen. But what if you want an R8 but don't have the $105,000+ to buy one yourself? You could go through the arduous process of designing and building the whole thing from the ground up in your basement, but that would take 17 years. Who has the time? Why not just design an approximation of the R8 around a 2001 Mercury Cougar, fabricate it from fiberglass, and call it the ReplicaAudiR8?

Here's the thing about the ReplicaAudiR8 — we don't hate it. For being a front-engine, front-wheel-drive approximation of a mid-engined all-wheel-drive supercar it looks damn good. We find ourselves thinking it wouldn't be a terrible thing if an actual Audi looked like this. Sure some of the details need a little work, like the lack of inner fenders at the back, and an interior upgrade which goes beyond adding an "R8" badge to the steering wheel, but it's pretty slick looking. Lets take a look at the car side by side with its inspiration.

Let's get the first, and most obvious angle out of the way, the profile. Since the ReplicaAudiR8 is based on a front engine front wheel drive sporty hatchback, one would think the thing would look like a wreck from the side. Surprisingly though it's just not that bad. The sculpting works nicely and the car even integrates intake vents from the as-yet unrevealed Audi R8 V10. The lines running front to back are massaged a bit to camouflage the change in layout, but overall it's an impressive effort.

The rear makes the ReplicaAudiR8's lowly Cougar origins blatantly apparent with a much narrower track and a higher roofline. The rear vents are actually bigger on the Replica than on the real Audi, but it lacks the exhaust tips poking through the back bumper. The lower bumper is one of the few places on the car that's fairly awkward, but it's nothing compared to some of the stuff we've seen on Fiero specials.
The front three-quarter view is almost creepy in how much the cars look alike. If you didn't know better, you'd swear it was a Chinese rip-off and not a home-built replicar. The only dead giveaway is the treatment on the lower lip of the front bumper. We'll be honest here, we're split on which one actually looks better from this angle. Henkl and Udo will be miffed at us, but it's the truth.
The one area the ReplicaAudiR8 has nothing on the real R8 (aside from the engine, the transmission, the suspension, the wheels, the chassis etc.) is the interior. The stock Mercury Cougar interior remains largely untouched from the day the Ford line workers installed it. The addition of an "R8" badge to the wheel can't compete against the shiny stainless steel, Nav system, D-wheel and general awesomeness of the Audi R8 interior.
At the front end we see the proportions of the wide Audi is again interpreted pretty cleanly on the Cougar chassis. The intakes are again a bit deeper on the replicar, and that lower lip comes into a clearer focus. Take a note, the ReplicaAudiR8 gets thin-line fog lamps where the real Audi is lamp free.

After all that, here's the big kicker: You can buy one of these if you live in Spain. The car was built by Alberto Gavach Fuertes of Zaragoza, Spain, who has a website dedicated to the car. Don't go to the site unless you want to scream bloody murder at the terrible website design, but on it, Alberto outlines the details on the car and tells us the price on this beauty: 40,000€ or about $50,000. This of course makes us wonder how fast the four-ring fellas will be slapping Al with a cease and desist, but that's for him to worry about. [Replica Audi R8, NECO Forums]

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Would You Think of the 2009 Ford Flex as a Stylish Vehicle?

Ford's new Flex crossover was unveiled over a year ago and will be hitting dealerships soon. When it was unveiled the seven-passenger crossover was seen as a replacement for Ford's Windstar/ Freestar minivan. Well instead of marketing the new vehicle towards families, Ford is choosing to market it to people that want a "cool or stylish" vehicle.

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Porsche following Audi, pulls factory team out of ALMS

Filed under: Motorsports, Porsche

Click above for a high-res gallery of the ALMS race at Laguna Seca

The American Le Mans Series took another blow this past weekend with announcement that Porsche is pulling out of the P2 category, although it will continue to support the 911 GT3 RSR in GT2. This follows Audi's announcement that they will not compete in the series after the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. The possibility of private entries for both Audi and Porsche still remains, although it now looks as though Acura will be the favorite in the prototype categories with both P1 and P2 entries. Mazda has also stepped up its efforts for 2009, joining forces with Dyson Racing for a two-car P2 program. More on Porsche's announcement and the status of the ALMS series following the jump.

Gallery: 2008 ALMS at Laguna Seca

[Source: ALMS]

Continue reading Porsche following Audi, pulls factory team out of ALMS

Porsche following Audi, pulls factory team out of ALMS originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2009 Infiniti FX pricing revealed, starts at $40,950

Infiniti has announced the pricing for the all-new 2009 Infiniti FX which hits U.S. and Canadian dealerships on June 24. The 2009 Infiniti FX features an all new aggressive design and more power than...

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Spy Shots: 2009 Ford Ka hangs out in Poland

The upcoming 2009 Ford Ka should be seen as a prime example that FoMoCo can be successful at producing a sold compact car. An AutoSwiat reader recently caught two Ford Ka’s hanging outside an...

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Craigslist Pick of the Week: Burly Ford F350

Lots of the diesel performance guys strut their stuff on the drag strip. We’re completely entertained by 7,000lb trucks that can outrun late-model Mustangs and totally humiliate most everything that lines up next to them. That being said, there is another arena where these trucks really put on a show and that’s at the truck pulls. The “super stock” and “pro stock” type pulling divisions have exploded in popularity as diesel performance has spread like wildfire across the land.

As cool as it is to watch a truck running 100 at the strip, watching it snort, strain, rumble, and groan while attempting to pull a sled weighing tens of thousands of pounds is even cooler. Those type competitions are total drivetrain stress tests. Every piece of every assembly on the truck is being worked to within an inch of it’s life. You simply need a bombproof rig if you want to win.

This is one of those rigs.

It’s a 2000 Ford F350 dually that has been beefed in lots of ways, but still retains the stock, 173,000 mile 7.3L Powerstroke that it rolled out of the factory with! That’s amazing stuff. The rest of the truck has been wrenched on with stuff like a monster Dana 80 axle being put in the rear, a custom 4-inch-diameter driveshaft, and custom suspension among other extensive modifications.

For us the best part of the whole deal is that the thing looks like a stocker. No wild paint scheme or weirdo graphics. A true wolf in sheep’s clothing! Click here to see the ad.

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Canada to the rescue! (after U.S.)

Filed under: Government/Legal

With all signs pointing to White House action on an automaker bailout despite the the bill not making it out of the Senate last Thursday, Canada has its taxpayers' wallets on standby as well. Our neighbors to the north account for a 20% share of the auto industry, and both the federal and Ontario governments are ready to add a commensurate amount of money to the bailout pot if U.S. government action does take place. So, assuming President Bush instructs Henry Paulson, the recently-crowned King of All Our Money, to give Detroit $14B out of TARP to tide them over and keep the RenCen escalators running until this all officially becomes Obama's problem next month, look for an additional $2.8B or so to float across the Detroit River. Thanks for the tip, BrandleSmith!

[Source: Reuters]

Canada to the rescue! (after U.S.) originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Photos of the 2009 VW Scirocco Leaked

Earlier this week two photos of Volkswagen's upcoming Scirocco leaked onto the web. Now we have five more photos of the car that is set to debut in a few days in Geneva.

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Officially Official: 2010 BMW Z4

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Convertibles, Sports/GTs, BMW

Click above for high-res image gallery of the 2010 BMW Z4

BMW will unveil the all-new Z4 roadster at the Detroit Auto Show next month, but there's no need to wait for the show in Motown to see the car in non-spyshot form, as all the Euro-spec details were officially released when the clock struck midnight in Munich. We're into the new bodywork, which is pretty voluptuous compared to the preceding model, with a hint of 507 lineage evident in the car's lines. Follow the jump for the rest of the skinny.

Gallery: 2010 BMW Z4

Continue reading Officially Official: 2010 BMW Z4

Officially Official: 2010 BMW Z4 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Most Recalled 2006 Models

2006dodgeram

Forbes.com released a virtual slideshow that shows the 2006 cars and trucks with the most recalls per vehicle. That means how many recall notices were sent out for mechanical problems on each one, not how many total vehicles were recalled.

You can check out Forbes’ full story here, with a detailed list of each recall, or keep reading below for the abbreviated list.

Dodge Ram: 7 recalls
Dodge Durango: 6 recalls
Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra: 4 recalls
Honda Civic: 4 recalls
Hyundai Sonata: 4 recalls
Jeep Liberty: 4 recalls
Land Rover LR3: 4 recalls
Land Rover Range Rover: 4 recalls

* All 2006 models

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Not Found on Ebay: A Large Freightliner Pickup Truck

The years between 2003 and 2008 were known for a lot of things, but will most likely be remembered as the era of extravagance. Everything had to be big: movies that routinely grossed over $100 million, homes that had bathrooms bigger than most houses of the 60’s, celebrity salaries that outpaced the gross national product of most small countries, and everything from luxury yachts to exotic cars were reaching unheard-of prices. It was true that nothing created success like excess. So in honor of the era of excess, I give you an excessively large pickup. Is this a personal vehicle? Why yes, it is.

This creation was commissioned by a rather well off contractor as a toy. Unlike the similar International CXT, it was created as a two-wheel-drive truck with a full locking rear differential offering similar traction on the street without the excess weight of a front drive axle. But why commission this vehicle, when you could have purchased an International? Well, when new, the CXT retailed at over $120,000. The Freightliner, based on the current Freightliner Business Class M2-106, sold new for a little over $93,000. Yes, Freightliner has an option of a crew cab as well as an extended and regular cab. Read more on what makes this truck so special, and how you now have the chance to own it, over at Automotive Traveler.

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