Make Your Car Sound Like a Lamborghini Gallardo for only 99¢ [Videos]

True, there are some ways to make your car's engine sound more sonorous, but there's really so much you can do for example to a Chevy Aveo or a Toyota Prius.

Furthermore, with a starting price of 99 cents, 2XCL Games' new XLR8 (get it; accelerate) sounds like a sweet bargain compared to the cost(s) of an actual mechanical component.

The XLR8 is an app available for Apple's iPhone and iPad as well as Android phones and tablets that promises to make your vehicle sound like an exotic Italian supercar, a muscle car or even a racing model.

After you download the application and place the phone in your vehicle, you simply connect the device to the audio system and you're ready to go – just don’t forget to roll up your windows…

"Once secured inside your vehicle, XLR8 uses the accelerometers of your device to realistically respond to acceleration, braking and cornering forces," explains the software provider. "It supports both cabled and wireless Bluetooth audio connections to your car stereo."

Read more »

Mercedes-Benz to Present its First Furniture Collection in Milan, Sales Start Later this Year

Mercedes-Benz wants to bring the classic styling elements of its automobile range into your house through its first ever furniture collection that will be revealed in a world premiere at the 'Salone Internazionale del Mobile', which takes place in Milan, Italy, from April 17 to 22.

The signature lineup was created in collaboration with the Formitalia Luxury Group, one of Italy's leading manufacturers of designer furniture, and will be marketed under the Mercedes-Benz Style label.

Read more »

Lexus Takes a Page from Apple to Create its own 'Genius Bar' of Tech Specialists

If it works for Apple, then maybe it can work for Lexus. We're talking about Apple's so-called 'Genius Bar', which is a communal-style help desk located inside the company’s retail stores.

For those of you wondering why car dealership customers would need a technical support station, all you have to do is look at the increasing number of electronic gizmos found in modern day vehicles, especially in the luxury car segment.

According to Forbes, Lexus will create its own version of Apple's 'Genius Bar' at its U.S. showrooms and for this reason, many of the company's 230 dealers in the country will increase the number of people who work in their sales department by as much as 20 percent.

Vincent Salisbury, training manager at the company’s Lexus College brand-education enterprise, told the magazine that some 2,400 people will pass through two-and-a-half-day training sessions in California by June for this matter.

Read more »

Chevrolet Collector Wants to Add a Guinness World Records Title to his Collection

Some people collect stamps, others collect coins but for Charlie Mallon it's all about Chevrolet memorabilia.

The 54-year-old auto dealership consultant has been amassing Chevrolet items for the past 40 years with his collection including signs, racing flags, coffee table books, soda cans, hats, belts, shirts, playing cards, drinking glasses, posters, tractor trailers, a biplane and miniature cars – lots of them, 2,181 different pieces to be precise.

Read more »

Ford Teams Up with Best Buy Canada to Offer Home Charging Station for EV and Plug-in Hybrid Owners

One of the main problems of owning an electric car or a plug-in hybrid is where and how to recharge its batteries. Ford of Canada promises to offer a simple solution to owners with a home charging station, which will be supplied and installed by Best Buy Canada.

The 240-volt home charging station is suitable for the all-new Focus Electric battery electric vehicle as well as Ford's upcoming plug-in hybrid models in Canada. Best Buy said it will supply the charging station and offer complete consultation and installation services through its Geek Squad and third-party licensed electrical contractors.

Read more »

Chrysler Introduces Industry-First In-Vehicle Wireless Charging Pad

The idea of wireless charging smaller or in some cases, even larger devices is nothing new, but the Chrysler Group wants to be the first to offer such a system on cars through its Mopar division.

General Motors had presented a wireless cell phone mat on a Chevrolet Volt at last year's CES in Las Vegas with the intent to begin offering the system on numerous Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac products from the second half of 2012.

However, the Chrysler Group seems bent to be the first to provide an in-vehicle wireless charging pad as it will make the technology available on the all-new 2013 Dodge Dart that arrives in showrooms in the second quarter of this year.

Read more »

2013 SRT Viper Makes Virtual Debut in Forza Motorsport 4 Trailer, Download Pack on its Way

Shortly after the Chrysler Group put the spotlight on the all-new 2013 SRT Viper at the New York Auto Show, Turn 10 Studios announced that the Detroit automaker's halo sports car would be coming to Forza Motorsport 4 this summer through a downloadable package.

"This downloadable content will include both a drivable version of the SRT Viper as well as a Viper Autovista experience which, in true Autovista fashion, is designed to give you a stunning view of this incredible machine, as well as insight into its history and production," Turn 10 Studios said in a posting on the official Forza Motorsport 4 website.

Read more »

Terrafugia's $279,000 Roadable Aircraft Lands at the New York Auto Show, Watch it in Action

Flying cars and roadable airplanes are a dream that many have harbored over the years but few have actually realized. Only time will tell if Terrafugia Inc.'s Terrafugia Roadable Aircraft will be a commercial success or just another dream, but if anything else and as you can see from the video that follows below the break, it works.

The Woburn, Massachusetts, based company revealed the Transition at the 2012 New York International Auto Show, where it announced that the anticipated base price is $279,000 (€201,700).

Terrafugia said it is accepting orders with a refundable deposit of $10,000 (€7,500) or a non-refundable deposit of $2,500 (€1,900), with first deliveries expected towards the end of the year.

The street-legal Transition is described by the company as a two seat personal aircraft capable of driving on roads and highways and flying on unleaded automotive fuel.

Read more »

Dutch Design Studio Converts Classic Jaguar XJ into a…Hanging Bookshelf!

We're all for classic cars with character being preserved and used on the road, but we’re going to admit that there's something cool about the idea of having a real life vehicle as a decorative piece in your house.

This is exactly what Dutch design studio Denieuwegeneratie did for one of its clients for a project called "Dutch Mountain".

The designers incorporated a classic Jaguar XJ (Series III, judging from the absence of the triangular windows on the front doors) into a room, by converting it into a…bookshelf and hanging it on the wall!

Read more »

And You Thought Texting while Driving a Car was Hazardous …

It’s fair to assume that the even same people who agree that banning hands-free devices in vehicles is a bad idea will probably have strong opinions against people texting while driving.

Even more so if said drivers are on a motorcycle on a highway, standing on the seat facing the opposite direction of the traffic while putting up a post on Facebook…

The only thing more stupid than that is to post a video of yourself performing the act on YouTube. Oh, wait… Video follows right past the break.

Read more »

North Carolina’s Chapel Hill is the First U.S. Town to Ban Hands-Free Cell Phones While Driving

The issue of distracted driving is hotly debated in the U.S., with Transport Secretary Ray LaHood pushing to reduce activities behind the wheel that may lead to an accident.

It's a fair point and that’s why, so far, 35 states and the District of Columbia have banned both handheld cell phone use and texting when behind the wheel.

Banning all mobile devices, however, including hands-free devices, as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants, is perhaps taking things too far.

Chapel Hill, a town in North Carolina with a population of 58,000, doesn't agree as it has the distinction of being the first place in the nation to outlaw talking on hands-free cell phones while driving.

Read more »

2013 Cadillac XTS will Jiggle Your Buttocks to Warn of Imminent Crash Threats While Driving and Parking

After learning that the all-new Cadillac can squeeze in four adults with all their golf gear, General Motors is now informing us about an innovative safety feature that will make its debut on the full-size sedan when it launches later this Spring.

The patented Cadillac Safety Alert Seat is an industry first system that uses directional tactile sensation, or to put it in Layman's terms, the driver's seat base vibrates, to warn of crash threats while driving and parking.

Read more »

Maserati and Bulgari Team Up to Create Upmarket Octo Timepiece

If you were ever to associate cars with watches, the Toyota Camry's equivalent timepiece would be something in the likes of a Casio or Seiko: an affordable product that does the job day in, day out. Likewise, a Maserati would be like a Bulgari.

So it doesn't come to much of a surprise that Maserati and Bulgari joined forces or as the two companies put it, “to share their ideals” that are “admirably epitomized” in the Octo Maserati timepiece.

Read more »

Movado to Design and Produce New Ferrari and Scuderia Ferrari Watch Collections

Like most carmakers, Ferrari doesn't produce the merchandise it offers through its official stores. Instead, it cooperates with numerous manufactures that specialize on designing and manufacturing these products.

Today, the Italian sports car maker announced that it has signed a multi-year, worldwide license agreement with the Movado Group for the design, production and marketing of a new collection of watches under the Ferrari and Scuderia Ferrari brand names.

The Italian company said that the collection of Ferrari fan watches will be priced up to €1,500 euros (close to US$2,000 or about GBP 1,250) and will be sold worldwide through select wholesale distribution outlets as well as Ferrari's stores and the Ferrari online shop.

Read more »

It's a Racing World: Auto Inspired Office Furniture

We all like us some car flavored decorative pieces in our office setup, but Intro-Automotive is proposing something a little bit more radical with a motorsports-inspired lineup of office furniture.

The California-based company, which is a manufacturer of car floor mats, covers and sunshades, markets the office products under the PitStop brand.

The range includes two different office chair designs in the shape of a body-hugging bucket seat with some interesting details like the billet aluminum shifter knob that controls the height mechanism and the brake caliper base above the wheels.

Read more »

DIY: Give Some BMW Pizzazz to Your Logitech G27 Steering Wheel and Shifter

It's been a long time since I last played Gran Turismo but with the release of the GT5 XL Edition I finally jumped on the bandwagon and bought the game, and well, you know how these things go. The PS3 controller turned out to be fun for about 2.3 minutes and then I ended up getting a Logitech G27.

Sure there are many other notable steering wheel, pedal and shifter sets, namely from Fanatec and Thrustmaster, but the G27 is perhaps the best bang for your money as you can often find it in the US$210-$230 region, occasionally even less.

Upon receiving the G27, that little tuning voice in my head told me that I should customize the stock steering wheel and shifter.

You can find plenty of modifications for the G27 online (GTPlanet is a good place to start) with aftermarket steering wheels and shifters (i.e. Momo or Sparco), but I wanted something different and at the same time, more economical with the ability to easily reverse the mods without damaging the device.

So, after shopping around at eBay, I decided to go with a BMW theme for both the steering wheel and the gear knob.

Read more »

Drive me to the Moon: GM's Robo-Glove Promises to Make Auto Workers' Lives Easier

With each passing year, the lines keep blurring between science fiction and reality. This week, General Motors revealed its latest toy in the form of the 'Human Grasp Assist device', also known as the 'K-glove' or 'Robo-Glove.

The robotized glove can help auto workers and astronauts operate tools by assisting their grip and therefore, reduce the amount of hand pressure needed to be applied.

The device was jointly developed by GM and NASA, and is a spin-off of their recent Robonaut 2 (R2) project, which put the first human-like robot into space last year.

Read more »