RideLust

Rumor has it that this ad was banned from Dutch television as being just a tad too shocking and tasteless. We’re not buying that the ad was ever intended for television audiences, because even the Germans wouldn’t run an ad like this. Our guess is that the ad was created specifically for the internet, since nothing is off-limits in cyberspace.

If you get past the whole shock thing (and I won’t ruin the video by telling you what happens in advance), it’s a pretty funny ad and a good way for Hyundai to promote the practicality of the third door on its upcoming Veloster model. Unless, of course you live in Japan, Australia, Britain or any of the other countries that drive on the wrong side of the road, in which case this ad won’t make any sense at all. Video after the jump. Read More…

BMW 745i. Image: IFCAR

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating claims that 2002 to 2007 BMW 7-Series models equipped with BMW’s “Comfort Access” system and electronic gear selector, which is supposed to put the vehicle into “Park” when the ignition is shut off, can potentially roll away on their own. The agency initiated the investigation after receiving a report of a 2006 BMW 7 Series rolling away after the driver had exited the vehicle. Read More…

Image: Ford Motor Company

This has been a long time coming, but the NHTSA has finally launched an investigation into the manual transmissions used on 2011 and 2012 Ford Mustang models. The agency has received 32 complaints to date, including both 5.0-liter and 3.7-liter equipped cars, but the issue has been well-documented on Mustang internet message boards for nearly a year. There may be 32 official complaints, but there are a lot more dissatisfied owners out there. Read More…

The 2012 Honda CR-V. Image: Honda Automobiles

If you drive a 2005-10 Honda Accord with a four-cylinder engine, a 2007-10 Honda CR-V or a 2005-08 Honda Element, heads up. Honda has announced a major recall of these vehicles to re-program the shift software on the automatic transmission. Owners have reported problems when shifting rapidly and repeatedly between drive and reverse, as when rocking a car to get it unstuck in snow. Doing do can damage the transmission’s secondary shaft bearing, which may cause the engine to stall or prevent the transmission from entering “Park.” Read More…

The 2003 Ford F-150. Image: Ford Motor Company

Ford has announced a major recall of over 1.1 million F-150, F-250 and Lincoln Blackwood pickups to replace the gas tank retaining straps in states where corrosion due to road salt is a potential issue. At risk are 1997-2004 F-150s, 1997-99 F-250s and 2002-03 Lincoln Blackwood models, but the trucks are only being recalled in northern states where the use of road de-icing chemicals is common. Read More…

Formula One has been a relatively safe sport for almost two decades. Following the tragic deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino GP in 1994, the sport went to great lengths to police itself. Improvements were made to both tracks and cars in an effort to prevent future tragedies, and so far they’ve paid big dividends. Even serious-looking crashes rarely produce catastrophic injuries anymore, but there’s always room to improve on driver safety. Read More…

Image: Jesse Bikman, Creative Commons 2.0

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, car theft fell for the seventh consecutive year in 2010, and is now at levels not seen since 1967. Overall, car thefts fell by 7.2 percent from 2009 to 2010, but the news isn’t all good. Car thefts in the top five hotspots actually increased from 2009 to 2010, and four of those top five hotspots are located in California. In fact eight out of the top ten are located in the Golden State, with the remaining two high theft locations in Washington. Read More…

Coming soon: better voice recognition, thanks to Ford and Nuance.

Like any other automaker these days, Ford is scrambling to build ever more fuel efficient vehicles without sacrificing drivability. They’re relying heavily on technology to do so, and innovations like Ford’s EcoBoost engine family (which use low pressure turbocharging to enhance power output from small displacement, high compression, direct injection engines) make both power and fuel economy possible. Ford’s using technology to build safer cars, and more than any other automaker they’re scrambling to incorporate the high-tech features car buyers want, without upsetting an ever more stringent NHTSA. Read More…

As both a car guy and a firearms instructor, I cringe every time I see a car explode when it hits the base of a cliff, or when someone fires a round from a handgun or rifle into the gas tank. If cars were really as prone to explosions as Hollywood would like us to believe, we’d be driving past crispy hunks of metal on a daily basis. In the interest of science, Speed TV’s series “Car Science” pitted an expert shot (who, incidentally, looks pretty hot in tight leather pants) against a Fox-body Mustang. Will a .357 Magnum be enough to send the ‘Stang to the great wrecking yard in the sky? How about an M4 assault rifle or a .308 sniper rifle? I’m not going to give it away, but you may learn something by watching the video below. Read More…

More than any other part on your automobile, your vehicles tires provide you with safety, braking, foul weather performance and confidence, yet they are almost always the most neglected part on a vehicle. For some reason people don’t think about tires. They neglect tire pressures, wear and age, items that all contribute to keeping you safe and sound. Branick Industries provides nitrogen tire inflation systems to companies all over the world. This safety video shows us the effects of how an over inflated tire, on any vehicle can not only cause harm to an individual, but in some cases, death. By utilizing a slow motion Phantom camera, the team at Branick is now able to show us just how dangerous an improperly mounted and inflated tire can be. They’ve also gone as far as to show us that by utilizing a tire inflation cage, the risks of injury can be greatly reduced.
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