CARBLog

There’s no getting around it. From the home front, to the campus, to the workplace and beyond, technology is changing every aspect of our lives. And with the advent of smart phones, technology is even redefining the way we drive. Although, too much technology just might drive us to distraction, having a smarter car is clearly helpful on the highway. Here’s a look at 7 of the better ways your smartphone can enhance your driving experience by raising your car’s I.Q.
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Toyota has unveiled its brand new Yaris which will be available later this year. The revamped car, based on the model which was first designed in 1999, is loaded with modern technology.

The designers have tried to keep to the original concept of the design and the car is only is 100mm longer than the previous Yaris. [Read more →]

Hyundai unveiled its facelift for South Korean market version of its Sonata sedan. The light cosmetic facelift on the outside brings a revamped front grille with a little bit less chrome on top and around the sides, plus new LED taillights at the back, reshaped mirror casings and a fresh choice of alloy wheel designs including a set of 18-inch multispoke rims.
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Audi unveiled the facelifted versions of its A5 Coupe, the Sportback and Cabriolet. The 2012 Audi A5 range is available with direct injection engines featuring forced induction and stop-start and energy regeneration system as standard.

The base engine for all models is the updated 4-cylinder 1.8-liter TFSI petrol, which produces 170HP and 320 Nm of torque. The revised four-pot is more frugal with the Coupe returning 5.7 liters/100 km on the combined cycle.
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Look at the horrific crash involving Alex Plenagl and his BMW Alpina B6 GT3 bolid at last weekend’s ADAC GT Masters championship at the Nurburgring. Plenagl’s Alpina flew over the safety barriers, passed through a BMW sign and crashed onto the concrete wall. I think it is the coolest safety credentials of the BMW Alpina B6 as despite the severity of the crash, Plenagl managed to escape unhurt.

Crazy, crazy russians. The shocking crash test was caught on film by a pair of security cameras im Moscow. The GT-R driver was either street racing with another car or simply trying out the full potential of his high-performance sports coupe on the streets of Moscow. He failed to steer left after passing a black car from the right and ended up crashing into three parked vehicles.
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There was a time when Audi was considered an also ran in the race to dominate the premium U.S. car market. Well, times have changed. The numbers are out and Audi’s June domestic sales topped out at an impressive 10,051 luxury vehicles sold. That’s a 16.9% increase in sales over June 2010, making the second quarter of 2011 the best quarter in Audi history. According to Johan de Nysschen, President of Audi of America, “All indications continue to point toward 2011 winding up as one of the best years Audi has ever enjoyed in the U.S. market.” Although Nysschen chalks up Audi’s extraordinary performance to consumer recognition of its … “exceptionally engineered models”, a great deal of credit goes to Audi’s marketing team. Below is a short list of some of the ways Audi’s savvy use of Social Media, coupled with “in your face” advertising, has helped the “car company that could” become a major contender in the competitive high-end car market.
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Volvo’s Australian division has unveiled the conceptual performance version of its S60 sedan. Based on the Volvo S60 T6 R Design, the S60 Performance Concept utilizes two partnerships within the Volvo family – Polestar and Heico. Polestar fine-tuned the electronic software of the T6 engine increasing output by 24HP to 330-horses and torque by 40Nm to 480Nm.

The Volvo S60 Performance Concept features a lowered sports suspension that includes monotube damping at the rear, 15 per cent stiffer springs and the bushings that are 20 percent stiffer compared with the dynamic chassis.
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Ford has unveiled a new Fiesta Sport Special Edition, developed on the base of the European market Fiesta Sport + (called the 1600S in the UK and Sport S in Germany). The new Fiesta Special Edition is available with two engine options, the 1.6-liter Duratec Ti-VCT petrol unit delivering 134-horses and 160Nm torque at 4,250rpm.

Combined with a close-ratio gearing and a redeveloped exhaust system, the Fiesta Sport Special Edition with the petrol engine completes the 0-100km/h acceleration in 8.7 seconds and has a top speed of 195km/h.
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The Saab 9-4X (U.S. customers knows her brother as Cadillac SRX) has been given a “Top Pick” designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, does that mean that the Saab should also get the thumbs up? Yep.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has just named the 9-4X a “Top Pick” because the luxurious crossover received top scores in front, rear and side-impact crashes while including standard stability control. Like the Cadillac SRX, the 9-4X also scored a top score of “Good” in the roof crush test. To receive the top score, the 9-4X’s roof had to hold at least four times its overall weight. In this case, the IIHS lumped the 9-4X with the SRX and gave it the exact same weight ratio of 4.14.

With the Saabs top safety rating its not hard to see why this is a fantastic family car. Whether your going on the school run or going offroad you can rest assured you’ll be hard pushed to make any car accident injury claims in this.