Autoblog

"There are 20 million people in Moscow," my driver carefully enunciates in broken English, "and there are 50 million cars." Both figures are highly exaggerated, but considering the trek from the airport to the hotel should take around 45 minutes, and we're deep into our second hour of gridlock, his estimates almost seem plausible.

In reality, Moscow houses around 12 million of Russia's 143 million people, and only 20 percent of the total population owns a vehicle. Compare that to the rest of Europe (around 30 percent) and the U.S. (over 70 percent), and then add an expanding economy, and it's a wonder that the mainstream media insists on having Russia play third fiddle to China and India on the global automotive stage.

That's all changed this week.

Giveth, and taketh away, isn't that always the story? On the taketh away side, GM has recently lost a serious chunk of change. On the giveth side, The General received a $56 milion package of tax credits and grants to keep an SUV factory open in Ohio. It has also just received another package of tax credits from the city of Flint, Michigan to aid its investment in a factory that will build engines for the new Volt and Chevy Cruze. Approved over some constituent disapproval by the Flint City Council, getting GM to build the factory there will keep 300 jobs in the city. GM is now looking to the state of Michigan for more tax incentives.

[Source: Detroit News via Green Car Congress]

A number of factors are conspiring to create a situation that recently would have been unthinkable: the United States as a supplier of gasoline to world markets. According to Booz & Company, those factors are the rise of biofuels in the West, the introduction of plug-in electric and other alternative fuel vehicles, and the growth of the really cheap car, like the Tata Nano.

The United States imports oil to feed its gasoline habit, but the U.S. has refining capacity that developing nations cannot match. The U.S. is also lowering its reliance on traditional gasoline due to the price, states' mandates on switching to biofuels, and the dawn of mass market alternative fuel vehicles. This adds up to the United States importing oil, and then selling it to nations like India and China to feed their larger appetites for gasoline.

In the middle of all of this are the refineries, who made predictions for today's business plans two decades ago. Sure, no one is crying for them -- they need extra pages to include the zeros on their profit statements -- but they have to start figuring out who's going to need which products and how they are going to deliver them. And, by refining company standards, they need to do it quickly, which is a method of operation they aren't well versed in.

[Source: Green Car Congress via Kicking Tires; Photo CC 2.0 - National Archives]

Heated seats can be just what the doctor ordered in the middle of winter, but if you're trying to pass on your car-loving gene pool, you may be better off freezing. Scientists studying male fertility have discovered that the proliferation of heated seats raises the temperature of your junk by a full degree Fahrenheit verses sitting in the car without artificially warmed seats. That's enough to cut your chances of reproducing, and it makes us strategically point a fan at close range just thinking about it. Even without electronically warmed seat bottoms, guys that sit in the car for long periods of time raise the temperature of their man parts by a couple degrees above optimal sperm-making levels. Hmmm, just typing "above optimal sperm-making levels" makes us a bit queasy. The cure? Turn off the heated seats, wear boxers, and don't sit in the car for too long at once. OK... lets talk about something else.

[Source: Drive]

Pirelli has announced a further innovation in the ongoing quest to remove the driving from driving. Sensors have been stashed in tires already for the hasty implementation of TPMS, but Pirelli has taken it a step further, putting a sensor package on the tire carcass itself. One implementation of the "Cyber Tire" is the "Lean," which harnesses power from the vibrations of the vehicle and beams information including tire pressure, temperature, and load to the vehicle's computer.

Cyber Tire Lean is setting things rolling for the eventual trotting out of full-blown Cyber Tire, which will be built into the tire. The high tech rubber will be more sophisticated and capable of communicating directly with stability control and anti-lock brakes to improve the effectiveness of dynamic safety systems. Cyber Tire will also carry a three-axis accelerometer that will facilitate real-time calculations of friction coefficients, contact force, and load. Pirelli is most proud of the edge the Cyber Tire will give the nanny systems to catch and correct idiotic driving faster than ever before.

[Source: The Auto Channel via Gumball144]

Audi feels that its customer base is smart, sophisticated and tech-savvy, which is why it should love a well designed game for the iPhone that features the 2009 Audi A4. Note the well-designed bit, because that's key. Audi had Denver's Factory Design Labs whip up a driving game that uses the iPhone's accelerometer as a way to steer the new 2009 A4 through slalom courses. The German automaker boasts that development took just two weeks, though after trying the free download ourselves, we think Audi might want to keep that quiet. Game development normally takes much longer - think years - so the two-week gestation of the "Audi A4 Challenge" is rather apparent. In a word: craptacular.

The top-down graphics are boring, and controlling the vehicle might unintentionally accelerate the iPhone right out of your hands. Adding further frustration is speed control that's got two extremes; the scale equivalent of 35 mph, or stopped. While the game is free, it's not worth the time you'll waste. Perhaps they should let the MMI guys have a crack at it? Press release after the jump


[Source: Audi]

We're not terribly surprised that the Dodge Viper ACR has apparently made it around the famed German racing circuit faster than pretty much anything else you'll find on a dealer's lot. After all, the ACR is a race car, as evidenced by the video that Motor Trend has posted. The most venomous Viper has done the deed in 7:22, fast enough to make grown men cry. To this blogger, the Viper is dead gorgeous, even with that yucky-but-functional rear wing on the ACR, and it definitely carries the spirit of hairy-chested cars of yore. The shifter wobbles around horrendously when the driver kisses the rev limiter a few times, and there even appears to be a flubbed shift near the end, so the ACR may have faster laps left in it. We're waiting on confirmation on whether or not this is an official lap, but it's certainly creating a stir, and the Viper wants to know, V-Spec who? Thanks for the tip, Rob.

[Source: Viper Alley]



Thanks for the tip, Rob!

video of run at MotorTrend

Mattel created the Hot Wheels brand back in 1968, and the lives of several Autoblog writers (and readers as well) were changed forever. We're now halfway through the toy line's 40th birthday year, and, coincidentally, halfway through its Hot Wheels 40th Anniversary Road Trip.

Fans can see life-size editions of some of the most famous Hot Wheels cars, get autographs from Hot Wheels designers and, while supplies last, get a free 40th Anniversary Edition Custom Otto. You'll also be able to see that bejeweled monstrosity we told you about a few months ago that Mattel says is the most expensive Hot Wheels car ever made.

Earlier this month, the tour made stops in El Segundo, California; Wendover, Utah (pictured above); and Speed, Kansas. But there are still three chances for fans to catch the rolling birthday party. This Saturday, the Hall of Fame Museum at Indy will play host. Next Monday, the celebration is at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan and on Sept. 5, the trip ends at the Grand Prix Festival of Watkins Glen.

[Source: Hemmings Auto Blogs]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Splinter Wooden Supercar

You may remember our post on the Splinter wooden supercar late last year. At the time, the grad students behind the project being led by Joe Harmon only had renderings of what the Gaia-approved exotic would look like. They deserve extra credit, however, for having the actual car ready for the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta last week. While they've yet to reach the running prototype stage, they did marry the car's body to its all-wooden chassis. Renderings are one thing, but seeing photos of the actual car is inspiring. The body is comprised of basket-woven wood that's coated with resin in a mold, which we suppose makes it a different kind of carbon fiber altogether. Next up is actually fitting the drivetrain, which thankfully is not made of wood, and getting the Splinter moving under its own power. We may have doubted at the beginning that this project would ever be completed, let alone be this cool, but consider us converts.



[Source: Building the Splinter via Jalopnik]

If you want to see how that new Porsche is going to look in your driveway (or you just need to impress the women who frequent your favorite online dating service), our friends in Stuttgart have given us all the tools we'll need. Well, in a sense at least. Point your favorite browser here, and click on the "picture it" link on the bottom. Upload your favorite driveway shot, and then you can put either the Cayman, Boxster, 911 Coupe, or Cayenne on your own personal pavement. Once done, you can save it as a JPEG (we had to add the file extension afterwards) to share with your friends. While Porsche is kind enough to put a sports car or SUV in your driveway without charge, they won't be sending you the keys. For that, you'll still need some serious coin.

[Source: Porsche]