VIDEO: 2,000HP Ice Dragster is Not Your Typical Snowmobile....

The record snowfalls of the last couple of days might be a sign that America needs a new winter season sport. And, after seeing this clip, we’re pretty sure that ice drag racing could be a big hit. According to the folks over at Bangshift, this here is Paul Groth’s ice dragster, based on a Spitzer dragster chassis and motivated by a twin turbo Pro Line racing engine, reportedly delivering more than 2,000HP. There’s no information about how fast it is, but Mr. Groth went more than 200 mph (320 k/h) on ice back in the 1980s, so we reckon it could at least match that. Video available after the break.

By Csaba Daradics

Source: Youtube via Bangshift

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Super Bowl Video: Suzuki Kizashi Chased by Evil Snowmen

With the Super Bowl XLV rumored to reach out to a record number of viewers this year, it’s no surprise that automakers are queuing up to take a shot at convincing potential customers to buy their products.

Suzuki’s focus will be on the Kizashi sedan, featured in a TV spot called “Wicked Weather”. The clip shows the all-wheel drive version as it’s being chased by a pack of evil, almost-zombie-like snowmen. While it sounds like an idea uttered in at an Amsterdam café, the CGI is convincing and the Japanese sedan seems to cope well with the snowy roads. Hit the jump to see the video.

This is Suzuki’s first appearance at the Super Bowl and the ad is going to be broadcast in 19 markets, located in the Eastern and Southeastern part of the U.S., as the manufacturer strives to recover from last year’s dwindling sales.

By Csaba Daradics

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VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz's First Ever Super Bowl Ads Teased

Continuing our online stream of the automotive-related ads of the Super Bowl XLV, we now have a trio of teaser spots from Mercedes-Benz, which will be making its first advertising appearance at the game. According to the German automaker, four new models will be featured in the ads, with two of them making their world debut in the 60-second-long spot called 'Welcome'. You can watch the two teaser spots plus the making of the 'Welcome' commercial right after the break.

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VIDEO: Pedal-Powered Trikes Redefine the Art of Drifting

When we set out to find some nice drifting videos for your entertainment, we weren’t expecting to be dazzled by some apparently crazy New Zealanders and their pedal-powered...drifting trikes. But life is full of surprises and we have to say that, in some respects, pro drifters driving insanely powerful and expensive cars have nothing on these boys. It seems that the new “sport” has originated either from New Zealand or Australia and is slowly catching on in other parts of the world as well, including the good old U.S. of A. For some alternative sideways action, check out the videos after the jump.

By Csaba Daradics

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Ford F-150 Video Parody: Presenting the Ballsy Ferd F-Teenthousand

Need a ride to make you feel four times the man you are? Look no further. The Ferd F-Teenthousand is here and it's the biggest and most awesomest pickup truck ever to walk the face of the earth. Ford people and F-150 owners that despise stereotypes and lack a whimsical sense of humor may want to skip this one. The rest can watch the video right after the jump along with a couple of original Ford F-150 ads that inspired the creation of this parody. [NSFW].

Source: Youtube via Jalopnik

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This 1980 Toyota Corolla TE71 Packs a Big-Block 454 / 7.4-liter Chevy V8

Let us introduce you to our find of the day; a 1980 Toyota Corolla TE71 Coupe retrofitted with a big brawny classic American V8 powerplant. This wolf in sheep's clothing was once powered by a small four-cylinder engine but now comes with a 454 cubic inch (equal to 7.4-liters) big block Chevrolet V8 powerhouse that drives the wheels through GM's Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission.

According to the eBay seller, "with 13 inch tires it only goes about 65 [we'll assume he's talking about mph here] at 4000 rpms, but it gets there in about 4 seconds" and while driveable, the car needs some TLC to be road-worthy. The current bid on eBay is $3,251 but the reserve has not been met yet.

Source: eBay via Autoholics

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The Upgradeable Car: A Software Influenced Future for the Auto Industry

As an automotive blogger that also works in the IT industry, I feel I have a somewhat unique perspective on in-car technology. Whereas a new car may have a three to five year buffer between upgrades and replacement models, for electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers it's more like six to eighteen months.

This brings up an interesting conundrum: what to do when the sat nav or Bluetooth devices in your car age more quickly than the car itself? Few people this side of Dhiaa Al-Essa can afford to replace their car every six months, so the answer - to automakers at least - is to do the same as software companies: roll out upgrades.

It could be something as simple as the dealership checking your oil and tire pressure remotely to recalibrating the transmission or updating the car's sat nav system. San Francisco based Cisco Systems has even constructed an experimental dashboard out of LCD panels that acts as a giant touch screen: driver's can drag and drop instruments, personalize the look and feel of said instruments and add new functions such as g-force meters.

The obsolescent of in-car technology is becoming more and more of a concern, especially in the light that market research firm R. L. Polk reveals that many of us are keeping our cars for up to 9 years. Advances in computing technology in our car's ECUs and other systems are also bound to cause headaches for automakers in the future.

As Dirk Schlesinger, a senior director in Cisco’s Internet business solutions group explains, "Complexity is killing the industry. We can’t change the silicon fast enough."

Software updates, a common enough occurrence when your car is taken in for a service in this day and age, may soon be rolled out automatically and via the internet or satellite, like they are for computer software.

In the words of Dave Evans, Cisco’s chief futurist: “The car is becoming the most sophisticated piece of computer equipment you own.”

That's as good as maybe, but with technology such as Ford AppLink giving its drivers access to Pandora or Twitter from behind the wheel or GM / Mercedes-Benz's OnStar and Mbrace systems allowing remote support for driver's and their vehicles, one thing is for sure: the future is closer than we think.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: NY Times

VIDEO: Audi Says Goodbye to 'Old Luxury' with Super Bowl Ads

As you may have guessed, this year's edition of the Super Bowl football extravaganza will be jam-packed with automotive advertisements. Following the 2012 VW Passat and Beetle TV spots we showed you earlier today, we now bring you two teaser commercials from Audi, both centered around the 'Goodbye to Old Luxury' campaign for the new A8 limo. Click past the jump to watch for yourself.

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VIDEO: Ford Fusion Accident Leads to an Epic Landing

Now here's a scene you don't see every day. In fact, even if you tried to do it on purpose, we seriously doubt that you'd manage to pull it off no matter how hard and how many times you tried. The truly epic landing and vertical rest of this silver colored Ford Fusion (or at least it looks like a Ford') in the snowbank is the result of a multiple vehicle accident that took place on I-93 South bound just before Exit 3 in Windam in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Video follows after the break.

Source: Eagle Tribune

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BMW DesignworksUSA Pens Metro Inspiro for Siemens

In the summer of 2010, German industrial conglomerate Siemens commissioned BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA, to develop the design of its new Metro Inspiro, and this here is the result of their work. BMW's design division said it focused on combining the demands of the Siemens company, potential operators, passengers as well as the environment, while also offering additional possibilities for individualization.

Among other features, the Metro Inspiro boasts large entrances, optionally with slide and swing or outside sliding doors, and wide passageways that according to the company, "offer a generous feeling of space". The sense of space is further enhanced by the absence of any electrical or appliance cabinets in the passenger area.

Siemens has already began using the new design to participate in open competitive bidding for inner-city passenger train fleets around the globe, with the German company estimating that the global growth potential for this sector to be around four percent.

The Metro Inspiro will make its production debut in Poland's capital city of Warsaw. The city's metro operator, Metro Warszawskie, has placed a €272 million (US$375 million at today’s exchange rates) order for 35 six-car metro trains, with delivery due to start in autumn 2012.

Warsaw already has one underground line, which is approximately 23 kilometers or 14 miles long and serves 21 stations, but the city has already began constructing a second line. According to official figures, between 1998 and 2008, ridership tripled annually to a figure well over 126 million passengers. A total of 15 trains will be used on the first metro line and 20 trains are ordered for the new constructed line. An option for the further extension of Line 2 will allow 17 more trains of the same type to be added within the next three years.

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Oh My.... Washington Auto Show Tries to get back on the Radar with Jersey Shore's Snooki and her Doppelgangers

Did you know that there's a motor show currently going on in Washington DC this week? Well, neither did we until we heard about Snooki's special appearance at the show on Monday. We know, we know, shame on us. Nevertheless, there's something fundamentally wrong and to be quite frank, distressing, about a car show that needs the "4'9 tall tanaholic" reality star of MTV’s Jersey Shore and even worse, a competition with her look-alikes, to grab some media attention and draw in the crowds.

Photo Source: Facebook Washautoshow , Link: Washington Auto Show

Video Spoof of Hitler Criticizing BMW 1 M Coupe's N54 Turbo Engine

We've lost track of how many times we've seen crazy edits to the English subtitles of a scene from the 2004 German-language movie titled “Downfall" in the United States, in which Adolf Hitler explodes with anger. This four-minute-long video spoofs BMW and the company's decision to make use of the N54 twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six engine on the 1-Series M Coupe. Enjoy some laughs in the video after the jump.

Source: Youtube via Autoblog.nl

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VIDEO: VW Teases its Super Bowl Commercial for the 2012 New Beetle

Volkswagen is offering us a 10-second glimpse of its new 'Black Beetle' TV commercial that will air during the Super Bowl football game next Sunday, February 6, 2011. The is the first television spot for the next generation of the Volkswagen Beetle, which is scheduled for launch in May, 2011. However, the 'Black Beetle' commercial won't reveal the car itself as it is centered on a beetle (as in the insect) that runs around the forest outperforming all the other creatures. Follow the jump to watch the teaser spot.

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New Honda App Allows iPhone Users to Catch Characters from TV Spot as they Appear on the Commercial

In a ground-breaking campaign, Honda has merged the worlds of iPhone Apps and traditional commercials, be they on your TV, computer screen or mobile phone. Created to celebrate the launch of the revised Honda Jazz [Fit in the U.S.], the new interactive app allows iPhone users to virtually catch animated characters as they appear on screen in the firm's new TV advert 'This Unpredictable Life' and drop them into their phones, more or less in the same way you'd use a PS3 Move or Nintendo wii motion-controller.

The Japanese carmaker said it’s the first time the so-called screen-hopping technology has been used with a commercial.

The App is called "Honda Jazz – This Unpredictable Life" and can be downloaded for free from Apple's iTunes Store. Once installed, iPhone users can begin watching the spot from their TV, or on any other device, including a PC or even a second iPhone with the app installed, and collect up to four characters and three mystery objects. Honda said that users can then interact with each of the stars of the film, for example, the toy space monkey can be made to dance by singing into the phone.

The new advertising campaign was created by Wieden + Kennedy and Nexus, the team behind the Japanese automaker's 'Hate Something, Change Something' commercial for its cleaner diesel engines in 2004.

The TV spot will debut in the UK on 1 February at around 21.45 on ITV1 and Channel 4 but for those in a rush, it is already available on YouTube. Scroll down to watch the film, and if you happen to own an iPhone and try it out, share your experience in the comments section below.

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Top Gear USA Host to Coach Bloggers and Consumers at 2012 Ford Focus Global Test Drive Event in Spain

This young man you're looking at the portrait above is Tanner Foust and he will be on hand to teach bloggers [sic] and consumers at Ford's 2012 Focus global test drive event that will take place in Madrid, Spain from February 18 to 20. And who is Tanner Foust, we hear some of you in the USA and probably all of you outside the North American continent, ask? Well, Foust is one of the hosts of the American edition of the Top Gear show that airs on History Channel.

According to Ford, Foust is also a "rallyist, stunt driver, drift champion and television personality". No offense but we think "an over-hyped racing driver that has been shoved down our throats by PR people and certain websites because he won some low talent events like the X games rally and Formula D drift championship", is a more appropriate description that's closer to reality.

The Top Gear USA host will be joined at the Ford blogger and consumer test drive event by Justin Bell, a veteran driver who has raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Trans-Am and American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The Detroit automaker said the racing duo will "coach and assist bloggers and consumer participants in the first-ever Focus Global Test Drive program."

“Focus Global Test Drive will be a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience for the participants,” said Foust. “I’m looking forward to helping these drivers put the next-generation Focus to the test, and to benefit the driver’s charities of choice.”

And if you're curious about the "how's and why's" of the event, scroll down for Ford's full press release.

Ford Press Release:

"TOP GEAR TV STAR TANNER FOUST TO HOST AND COACH FORD FOCUS GLOBAL TEST DRIVE PARTICIPANTS

Dearborn, Mich., Jan. 31, 2011 – Ford confirmed today that bloggers and consumers attending the Ford Focus Global Test Drive next month in Madrid will be greeted, hosted and coached by the versatile Tanner Foust, HISTORY television personality on the American edition of Top Gear. Foust brings a wealth of experience to the Global Test Drive program, with stunt driving, rally competition, three X Games gold medals and a pair of Formula D drift championships to his credit.

Teaming with 24 Hours of Le Mans, Trans-Am and American Le Mans Series (ALMS) veteran Justin Bell, Foust will host, coach and assist bloggers and consumer participants in the first-ever Focus Global Test Drive program.

Foust and Bell will help host Focus Global Test Drive participants at the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), near Madrid. An aeronautical research facility, INTA and its varied surfaces make an ideal location for dynamic driving events.

“Focus Global Test Drive will be a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience for the participants,” said Foust. “I’m looking forward to helping these drivers put the next-generation Focus to the test, and to benefit the driver’s charities of choice.”

At the three-day event, Feb. 18-20, 2011, consumers and bloggers will be able to experience the Ford Focus in a unique new manner. Each challenge and course will highlight the driving dynamics and technologies in the vehicle. And throughout the event, charities will benefit.

To participate in Focus Global Test Drive, friends and fans from around the world were invited to submit simple video applications explaining why they should be included in this unique behind-the-scenes event. The application process invites prospective test drivers to “start more than a car” by generating the market equivalent of $10,000 for a specific charity of their choice from the categories of hunger, education and environment/sustainability.

With Focus Global Test Drive, there is something for everyone. Ford engineers will get rapid feedback from interested customers and prospects; drivers get a first look at the new car before it goes on sale; friends get to come along for the ride of a lifetime; and deserving charities will benefit in a big way."

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