Our friends at Drive recently had the chance to get behind the new Toyota GT 86 sports coupe. Lead man Chris Harris gives us his take on the new rear-wheel-drive coupe from the Japanese automaker in the 30 minutes he had with the car on the track.

Check out the video after the jump.

Click here for our original post on the 2013 Scion FR-S.

Refresher: Power for the Scion FR-S / Toyota GT 86 comes from a 2.0 liter naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder horizontally opposed engine with Toyota’s D-4S injection system. The engine makes 200-hp at 7,000 rpm with a maximum torque of 151 lb-ft at 6,600 rpm. Its mated to a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic. Sales of the 2013 Scion FR-S will start in the spring of 2012.

- By: Omar Rana

FoMoCo announced today that two key executives at the company will be hanging up their hats. Lewis Booth, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development, have elected to retire effective April 1. Each individual has served the Dearborn automaker for more than 30 years.

“Lewis Booth and Derrick Kuzak represent the very best of Ford and our culture and built a legacy of leadership, integrity and commitment to excellence that will benefit us for years to come,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman. “Lewis and Derrick were absolutely integral to the comeback of Ford and they are retiring with our deepest respect and gratitude.”

Booth will be succeeded by Bob Shanks, who is currently vice president and Controller. Kuzak will be succeeded by Raj Nair, who is currently vice president, Engineering, Global Product Development.

A world from Mulally on both Booth and Derrick:

“Bob is a terrific leader,” Mulally said. “He has been a wonderful partner to the leadership team in the implementation and institutionalization of the One Ford plan. His deep experience in finance, combined with his global perspective will allow us to continue to deliver an exciting profitably growing Ford.”

“Derrick’s commitment to product excellence and continuous improvement has allowed Ford to deliver to our customers the industry’s freshest showroom with a complete family of best-in-class products,” said Mulally. “At the same time, he prioritized the development of the next generation of talented, experienced product leaders who will continue to deliver for our global customers.”

- By: Omar Rana

While putting together the commercial for the new 2013 Scion FR-S in Northern California, Scion Racing’s Ken Gushi, official stunt driver for the shoot, had a very close encounter with a deer on some mountain roads.

Fortunately, Ken and the deer were unharmed during the making of the commercial.

Click here for our original post on the 2013 Scion FR-S.

Check out the footage after the jump.

Refresher: Power for the Scion FR-S comes from a 2.0 liter naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder horizontally opposed engine with Toyota’s D-4S injection system. The engine makes 200-hp at 7,000 rpm with a maximum torque of 151 lb-ft at 6,600 rpm. Its mated to a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic. Sales of the 2013 Scion FR-S will start in the spring of 2012.

- By: Omar Rana

What happens when you cut into a McDonald’s drive-through line and refuse to move your car and go to the back of the line? You get the cops called on you and get a tased.

According to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, deputies tased a woman who wouldn’t surrender after cutting into a McDonald’s drive-through line.

Evangeline Marrero Lucca, 37, pulled up to the window of McDonald’s on Legion Road, and held up the line for about 20 minutes before officers arrived. Staff at the McDonald’s said that Lucca frequently drove her Ford Taurus up to the pickup window, bypassing the order screen, payment window and other customers to order her food.

“She did not want to wait in line,” Debbie Tanna, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said. “They told her she had to go around and wait like everybody else did and place her order that way, that they weren’t set up at that window to take her order or take her money. … She wasn’t having any of that. When we arrived, she really got mad.”

Two or three cops on the scene tried to get her out of the car but she just wounding budge until they tased her twice and she flopped out the car like a fish.

- By: Omar Rana

Thanks for the tip Fawad!

Source: FayObserver

Both north and south bound sides of I-75 were shut down on Sunday as a result of a massive pileup that started on the south bound side around 3:45am. Authorities say that at least 10 people were killed in the north Florida crash.

A fire broke out and smoke clouded up the highway as a result of several cars crashing into tractor-trailers, with a motor home amongst the wreckage. Close to 20 people were taken to the Shands at the University of Florida for injuries as a result of the accident.

Onlookers weren’t able to see what was happening through the smoke, but said “You heard like 15 times somebody hit, from this side and that, north and south. It was bad.”

Lt. Patrick Riordan of the Florida Highway Patrol reported that the highway was previously closed because of a marsh fire that caused low visibility. It was reopened before the crash, although Riordan hasn’t said for how long.

- By: Alexandra Koken

Source: LATimes

A recent study in the United Kingdom has revealed that women may be better at parking cars then men are.

The U.K.’s National Car Parks captured and studied surveillance taken of car parks for one month at different locations, and made the determination based on several factors. Accuracy, time, and technique were all combined to give an overall score for each driver.

Women scored higher then men overall, while they take longer to park, they do so with greater accuracy, use more by-the-book technique and are better at finding empty spots.

“Women fared better in many areas of the scoring,” the report said. “This is despite the fact that, when questioned about their beliefs, only one fifth (18%) thought they were better parkers than men and less than a third (28%) of women believed they were better parkers than their partners.”

In your experience, do you find women to be better at parking then men? Let us know what you think.

- By: Alexandra Koken

Source: MSNBC

Riding a motorcycle in the Untied States comes with a lot of responsibility, rules and regulations – and rightfully so since it is one of the most dangerous forms of transportation if you’re involved in any sort of accident.

Well, on the other side of the world (India to be specific), things are a little different.

The following video shows an Indian family of 6 riding on a bike with two dogs and a bunch of bags. Life is good when you don’t need a gas-guzzling SUV to transport your family.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: BuzzFeed

It seems like in this day and age of newer is better, old Mercedes-Benzes tend to go overlooked and are often underappreciated. It’s rather unfortunate since their cars have been reputed for so many superlatives that even today, only those who do appreciate them—like me, hardcore—are the ones who never forget.

But even for those who need a refresher, most of you will agree that old Mercedes-Benzes have truly proven themselves to withstand the test of time and wear and tear.

Either way, rappers Jan Emil Wathne and Ivar Kjetland have paid their tribute via a rap music video to the W201 190-class Mercedes-Benzes, the father to the current C-Class and arguably one of the last true Mercedes-Benzes ever made—most argue between the W124 E-Class and W140 S-Class.

It is actually quite amusing, so check it out after the jump.

Disclaimer:  Those who have ears or are in environments where profane language is sensitive should watch the volume levels.

- By: Chris Chin

Source: AutoBlog

Thanks to the economy and other factors, Americans are holding onto their cars for and average of 10.8 years, up from 8.4 years in 1996. What does this mean in terms of individual cars? 10 million fewer cars sold between 2008 and 2011. Toyota among other automakers sees this as stored energy in the car market: “The economy, unemployment are still going to be stubborn, but there’s so much pent-up demand I think the industry is going to have an awesome year,” said Toyota’s US sales director, Jim Lentz.

According to Polk, a marketing research firm, last year was behind that of the early 2000s, but there was still an increase of ten percent from 2010. If we break this down even further, passenger cars increased to an average life of 11.1 years, up from 11; light trucks and sport utility vehicles increased by three tenths of a year to 10.4.

The vehicle retention is not just the economy though, manufacturers are offering better warranties and according David Cole, emeritus chairperson of the Center for Automotive Research, cars are made better too. Rust proofing among other things is better, and Americans are driving shorter distances than they used to.

- By: Sawyer Sutton

Source: The Detroit News

Over in motherland Russia, marketers and advertisers for Marlboro—yes, the American tobacco company—recently pulled an interesting stunt using an Audi and projection mapping. Ok, before I continue, what the heck is that?

Projection mapping is where a series of artists and technicians turn virtually any surface into a projection screen, whether it be two-dimensional or even three.

That said, Radugadesign, a Russian marketing team, took an Audi and put it on a stage where its backdrop wasn’t the only projection screen, the Audi itself was too.

Of course when viewing the ad, some including myself couldn’t help but laugh at the counter intuitiveness of the advertisement. As displayed in the video, Marlboro clearly shows off that smoking is “cool,” something that’s been a heavy topic of debate ever since, well, tobacco existed. And then following the advertisement, a video commenter pointed out that a message was displayed in plain Russian: smoking kills! Gotta love advertising.

Check it out after the jump. Good or bad message aside, the projection mapping result is a very neat performance.


- By: Chris Chin

Source: AutoBlog

For those of us iPhone users, we all appreciate the brilliant engineering that has come from Apple over in Pasadena, California in the world with iPhones. But we all dread the inevitable wear and tear that could be found on iPhones after being used…and dropped. And Nissan feels the pain, which is why they just introduced their own Scratch Shield iPhone case featuring the brand’s “self-healing paint finish.”

Beginning with Nissan’s paint technology, the brand has been employing their special paint jobs since 2005 on various Nissan and Infiniti models. Developed in conjunction with the University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc., the paint’s special ingredient is polyrotaxane. The beauty of that toxic sounding chemical is that when damage happens to the paint in the form of say, a fine scratch, the chemical structure of the paint “reacts” to the scratch and morphs its original shape to fill the gap, essentially “healing the blemish.”

“We like to think laterally by taking the great innovations we’ve got from an automotive point of view, and looking at how they could be applied to improve everyday issues,” said Bob Laishley, Overseas Programme Director in Business Development for Nissan in Europe. “The Scratch Shield iPhone case is a great example of us taking a Nissan automotive technology that has had a huge impact for our customers, and then shifting the boundaries to apply it to another everyday product.”

Nissan’s iPhone case is made of a combination of ABS and a tactile gel-like material to provide a more scratch-resistant surface and for better grip. The case is compatible with both iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S models. Product release details were not disclosed.

- By: Chris Chin

To kick this one off, I was running about my normal business in the wealthy suburbs of New Jersey when I stumbled upon this (pictured). And to peak my interest, it’s a Frenchie mobile! In America!

What I had in front of me was a Citroen XM, a French car that was designed and built to compete against the likes of the BMW 5-Series and the Audi 100, back in 1989. And I know that this isn’t a fancy Ferrari or a super rare and collectible Mercedes. But it’s not often to see a French car running about in this part of the melting pot we call, Earth.

For those who’ve never heard of Citroen, I’ll give you a little background. There really should be no surprise if some of you have never heard of companies like Peugeot, Citroen, Renault. French automobiles never exactly took off in this country. Known to be worse to own than your grand-pop’s old Jaguar and far more underdeveloped, French automobile manufacturers packed up their bags and left the US market rather quickly in the 1980s. This was caused by the rise of foreign competition and an ever so changing market demand put the Frenchies at all sorts of disadvantages. And there’s a reason: French cars just never really worked. Fiat, which is Italian, left this country back in 1984 for almost the same reasons.

The Citroen XM was pegged as the second successor to the famous and widely popular Citroen DS, which was first succeeded by the CX. And despite the tumultuous reputation that any French brand has, the Citroen XM was, at first, was very well received…key emphasis on “at first.”

In 1990, the XM was handed the award for the European Car of the Year in 1990 and gained nearly twice as many votes over the second place winner, the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. Citroen—who was at the time owned by Peugeot and still is—expected to ship out 150,000 XMs throughout Europe. Though that never really happened and the XM was never truly marketed in the US. But a company known to import certain Citroens for the loyalists in the US, had imported a select number of XMs. Though because it fetched a hefty price of $50,000 large in 1993, only a few sold. So this is probably one of the few. And to my surprise, it was in rather clean shape.

The Citroen XM was widely noted for its unmatched ride quality, which was Citroen’s selling point and is part of what made the historic DS—and the brand—so popular. And that’s because the French manufacturer is responsible for inventing hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension, which debuted in the DS: the same setups that brands like Mercedes-Benz (the one that gave models like the S-Class their signature, smooth ride), BMW, Jaguar and countless others have adapted the system and evolved into their own, with some still used today. So the Citroen XM was along the same bloodline as the DS and while they were known for being terribly built and unreliable, they were also remembered for setting significant new standards in innovation and technology. For instance, the DS was the first European production car with disc breaks and was one of the first cars to feature a unibody or monocoque-type body, versus a body-on-frame. The only downside is that the systems never worked, so everyone else like the Germans and the Japanese came along, adapted the systems and perfected them…sort of. Anyone who’s owned a car with self-leveling suspension out of warranty knows why I left off with “sort of.”

So I’m sure you can see why I would share my discovery. Although the French tend to make a mess of things when it comes to cars—and arguably other things, but you’re at the wrong blog for that—they’re still around for a reason. They may not work all of the time and may be terribly underdeveloped, but French cars still find a way to charm drivers, whether it is in their technology or just being the target of many humorous automotive criticisms. In other words, they’re cars that illicit of a lot of responses similar to: “what were they thinking?” For that, I can appreciate them and the XM was a surprise, simply because most of the French cars ever sold in this country would’ve already found their way to be recycled back into the planet or into a new car by now.

- By: Chris Chin

If you’re a female and have had some plastic surgery done, have you ever wondered what 1,250 wheel-horsepower is like and what happens when it sucks you into the back of a seat at wide-open throttle?

Even if you’re not a female and haven’t had any plastic surgery done, this little video is still enough to spark some laughs. In the video is a Lamborghini Gallardo tuned by Underground Racing to produce a Bugatti Veyron-roasting 1,250 wheel-horsepower.

Check it out after the jump.

- By: Chris Chin

Source: CarScoop

A keynote is scheduled for January 10 for Mercedes-Benz USA, along with Daimler AG to showcase the brand’s current and upcoming technology, focusing on the mbrace2 communications platform.

Mbrace2 provides a multitude of features in the areas of information, entertainment, safety, automotive care and personal assistance. Within these areas, users can find cloud-based apps for navigation, traffic, concierge services, speech recognition and automatic crash notifications, just to name a few.

Connectivity is also a big area of concentration, with features like Send2Benz, which gives drivers to connect to their friend’s Benz’s and will navigate them to wherever they may be. Vehicle location, locking and unlocking features, plus valet parking protection are also among the included highlights.

The Mercedes-Benz technology also has an upcoming iPhone app called DriveStyle to turn phone features into car features.

This is some impressive innovation that certainly sparks curiosity of what could possibly be next.

- By: Alexandra Koken

Ford plans on making a huge statement at this year’s Detroit Auto Show with a massive interactive display that doesn’t intend to be overlooked.

The display is designed to showcase Ford’s vision of what is next for in-car vehicle technologies, a vision based on trends that provide insight into consumer’s evolving needs. The Ford Living Connected Experience should prove to be a heavily engaging one, as it features five separate stations, each proving more information on the automakers technological future, including Living Green, Changing Population Demographics, and Emerging Technologies.

At the end of the Experience, visitors are invited on to an elevator, with seating for 12 that takes them 20 feet high into “the Cloud”. Inside, a 360-degree film is played as a visual showcase of Ford’s upcoming in-car technology.

If that isn’t quite enough for you, Ford also includes an augmented reality experience where visitors get to play trivia games to plan an “Escape”, experience the Mustang on the dyno, and even drive with Motorsports star Ken Block.

“We are constantly challenging ourselves to come up with new and exciting ways to engage our visitors from the moment they step foot on the Ford show stand,” said Darrell Bryja, director of Global Auto Shows and Events. “Auto shows offer us valuable time with customers to inform them of Ford’s newest products and technologies.”

Ford’s marketing plan is proving to be successful, and as the brand moves forward with its technologies, consumers are sure to catch on to the technological advancements being made. This year’s display at the auto show will also feature a Blue-Oval Card, the first-ever, which provides additional content at the show, and the ability to share the experience with friends and family. The card will also feature information on the upcoming Ford Fusion, which is scheduled for reveal on Monday January 9th during the Ford press conference.

- By: Alexandra Koken

The lab’s focus will be on current technologies such as EcoBoost, MyKey, Sync, and inflatable rear safety belts, along with future technologies. More details will be announced by Ford President and CEP Alan Mulally on January 11 at the International CES for the Innovation Power Panel keynote.

“Silicon Valley represents a deep and dynamic technology neighborhood and is far from Dearborn,” said K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior technical leader for open innovation with Ford Research and Innovation. “With so many opportunities and so much potential, our new lab will allow us to scout new technologies and partners in their own environment and continue our expansion beyond the traditional automaker mindset to drive innovation for a better mobility experience.”

Employees at the lab will be a modest number of locally recruited outside professionals and some brought in internally to act collectively as the Research and Innovation team. Some of the areas that will be researched include personal mobility, which focuses on consumer trends, open sourced hardware in collaboration with Bug Labs for Hyperlink technology, an OpenXC research platform for cloud-based applications, and new ways to use sensors on vehicles.

- By: Alexandra Koken

In an unusual move akin to the Saabaru of recent years, Mercedes and Nissan have announced that Nissan will build four cylinder engines for use in an Infiniti and the Mercedes C-Class.

“This is the newest milestone in our pragmatic collaboration and our most significant project outside of Europe so far,” said Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. “Localized capacity reduces exposure to foreign exchange rates while rapidly enabling a good business development in North America – a win-win for the Alliance and Daimler.”

The engines will be produced in Nissan’s Decherd, TN engine plant. The reason? A favorable exchange rate: “Localized capacity reduces exposure to foreign exchange rates while rapidly enabling a good business development in North America–a win-win for the Alliance and Daimler” said Charles Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan.

Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche said the move would fit in with Daimler-Benz’s 2020 expansion program.

As a result of this project, Daimler-Benz and Renault-Nissan each now own 3.1 percent of each other’s stock. Infinit declined to comment as to which Infiniti(s) will use the four banger.

- By: Sawyer Sutton

A different kind of high-performance vehicle is set to makes its debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.

Sears Holdings Corp. will be releasing a new line of Craftsman tractors at the first set of tractors to be on display at the auto show. At 30-hp, the Craftsman CTX will be the slowest out of everything displayed, but is still being promoted as being “upscale”.

The tractor is will range in price form $3,000 to $6,500, and features a 12-volt adapter, power steering, automatic traction control, and even a cup holder. A top speed of 8 mph also comes with an 18-inch turning radius.

With a few different automakers pulled out of Detroit this year, is this Detroit’s way of filling up the space?

- By: Alexandra Koken