The Obama administration proposed on Monday two alternatives to the window stickers in new vehicles, including one that would assign letter grades for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions. Read more.

Machete star Danny Trejo and world-renowned visual artist David Choe get together to create original poster art based on Machete as a tribute. SA Studios was there to capture the unique pairing.

David Choe paints poster of Danny Trejo aka Machete from SA Studios Global on Vimeo.

We used to wonder how many licks it would take to get to the center of Tootsie-Pop. Today, we know how much heat it would take to get to the center of a Ferrari 458. “A warm day, a warm road, and a very hot car,” as told by Ferrari spokespersons. We also know how many disasters it would take to get Ferrari off their duff and do something about the 11 Ferrari 458 Italia’s that have either crashed or burned up in the past few months.

Over $300 million dollars worth of 458 Italia’s are scheduled to go in for recall servicing to remove glue on the heat shield, located on the rear wheel-arches. In total, that’s around 1250 Ferrari’s worth about $256,000 a piece. Ferrari claims the glue is the primary cause of at least five of the fires that have been reported.

What happens, is the combination of a warm day, warm road, and hot car melts this glue, causing the wheel-arch to droop low enough to come into contact with the exhaust pipe. Once that happens, you might as well grab some shrimp and sirloin, because the wheel-arch will be the first to ignite into flames, followed by the entire outer aluminum shell.

The fix involves removing the glue on heat shield, replacing it with metal rivets. All this will be free of charge to the customer (of course), and for those who are stuck with a smoldering pile in their driveway, if they can prove the fire was caused by fault of the wheel-arch, they will be treated to a brand new 458 Italia.

I guess all’s well that ends well!

(Story via MailOnline, Photo via AutoGeSpot)

We don’t usually expect news out of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to wake us up a bit.  But this…

This has promise.

General Motors has filed a trademark application for the word “Stingray,” used as the name of a car.  We know the Corvette’s 60th anniversary is coming up soon.  We know the current, seventh-generation ‘Vette, brilliant as it is, has been with us a little too long.

Could the eighth generation be a revival of the classic split-window Stingray?

Cross your fingers.  Jalopnik is reporting that Corvette PR rep Dave Caldwell is denying any intent to build a new Stingray.  But GM apparently wants to reserve the right.  That can’t be a bad thing.   (Oh, and don’t get too excited by the photo.  That’s a concept from a few years back.  Still, we can dream…)

This is, perhaps, the most pointless car ever designed.  It is a car from one of the most respected sports car manufacturers in the world…that might do zero-to-sixty in four tries, if you gave it a push and a little bit of a downhill course.  It’s a car from one of the world’s most respected engine builders….with a 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine.

It is an Aston Martin…built by Toyota.

Whatever.  We’re apparently getting it here.

The Aston Martin Cygnet, designed as a runabout for Aston owners who don’t want to take their Vantage to 7-11 for a case of beer, is coming to the United States.  That’s the word from the respected industry rag Automotive News.

The Cygnet is built off the tiny Toyota iQ platform, a competitor for the Smart Fortwo overseas.  It seats two, makes 100 horsepower under ideal conditions, and yes, has an interior hand-constructed from the finest materials by Aston Martin designers.  It also wears that aggressive Aston grille…on it’s tiny, punched-pug face.

No word yet on pricing.  Which means there’s still time for them to come to their senses about this.

It has been said that we know only 5 percent of what we will know by the year 2050, and that includes the many ways we could be transporting humans and goods. Let’s look at some of the popular predictions of how transportation may change over the next 30 years. (More after the jump)

2011

Speed Traps From Space
The Company (PIPS Technology Ltd) has developed a new speed trap, using powerful cameras in space to monitor traffic speeds, pinpoint speeders, identify them (through the license plate), and send them a ticket via snail mail. Before you get your radar detector cord in a bunch, this technology is being introduced to London and Cornwall first, so those living in other parts of the world can relax (for now).

2014

Hybrid Cars
Hybrids are being adopted into society at record levels. At their current rate of production, researchers expect that by the year 2014, one out of every 10 vehicles could be a hybrid.

2015

Wireless GPS Communication
By 2015, most all vehicles will be fitted with GPS systems, enabling a number of technologies to be put into place, including instant emergency response and automated vehicle shut down (due to late car payment).

2016

Assisted Driving
Using a computer systems that will digitally highlight landmarks on the windshield, vehicles will help drivers identify potential obstacles and protect them from “wandering” outside the lines. These have already begun being adopted by certain luxury vehicles, but by 2016 it will be an option for many vehicles.

WiMax: Intelligent Cars
The technology known as WiMax will allow vehicles to collect data and relay it onto oncoming traffic, such as temperature (black ice, fog, etc), traffic (accident, congestion, etc), and weather conditions.

2020

Driverless Trucker Convoys
On its way in the coming decade will be driverless trucker convoys, which will travel the highways bringing goods to destinations across the nation. These automated trucks will be safe, convenient, and very efficient.

Automated Navigation Systems
Somewhere between 2020 and 2025, driverless navigation of passenger vehicles will begin to be offered as an option. These will enable drivers to tell the vehicle where they’d like to go, and a computer will calculate the optimal route and drive them there. These systems are believed to be safer (less accidents, etc), promote less maintenance issues (better driving habits), and increase the longevity of vehicles.

Limited Vehicle Registration
With the rapid increase of vehicles on the road, there is a slight possibility that by the year 2020, individual cities may decide to limit the number of vehicle registrations allowed per family. The idea behind such an idea would be to regulate high traffic areas, such as California.

On-demand Transportation
Another way to reduce traffic, is to adopt an on-demand transportation system, which will likely be self automated taxi services that could be called from a cell phone. These would reduce the inconvenience of mass transit bus systems, while replacing the necessity of personal car ownership.

2024

Automated small package delivery
Flying vehicles are on schedule for the year 2040, but by 2024, they will be testing the idea with package delivery drones, adopted by the UPS and FedEx.

2039

Automated Personal Aircraft
By 2039 we could need to begin adopting personal flying aircraft to ease the level of congestion on the highways. These aircraft will function by automated navigation systems, allowing a passenger to simply hop in and fly where they need to go.

(Images via Blade Runner motion picture, AJS Support Blog, and HybridCars.com)
(Sources via 2010 Forecasting International, Davinci Institute, and The Telegraph)

Dr. Kay Segler, President of BMW M, slowly peels the slick, black, vinyl covering off his newest BMW 1-Series M Coupe for members of the BMW Blog to see.  While this is more of a quarter-monty than the full-monty, we’ll take what we can get.

You know how manufacturers like to drag out their unveiling’s like a Las Vegas burlesque show, and the BMW 1-Series M Coupe has hiked up a good portion of her skirt, revealing a set of ‘M’ Division alloy rims, a new body kit, and a set of quad exhaust tips (shown in video). (More after the jump)

According to rumors, the M Coupe should get a 335/350 horsepower version of the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter (N55) inline-6, currently found on the BMW 135i. An estimated 0-60 launch with its manual six-speed gearbox should put the M Coupe somewhere in the mid-4 second range, with a traditionally electronically-limited speed of 155 mph. Cost should be somewhere around $55,000 US.

We’ll likely get full exposure at the Paris Motor Show, which will open its doors for the media sometime towards the end of September.

Until then, you can check out its G-rated video here:

Okay, Dr. Kay, shows over. You can cover her back up now…

(Photos via BMWBlog.com)

We’ve got some behind-the-scenes shots of Nelly at his “Like A Dream” music video shoot. His 2011 DUB Edition Ford 5.0 Mustang GT makes a cameo in the video! Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton also stopped by to say hi. Be on the look out for the video coming out soon! Gallery after the jump.

The L.A. premiere of Machete all went down in downtown L.A. on Wednesday, August 25 at the historic Orpheum Theatre, with a special parade of 20 lowriders from Lifestyle Car Club, all handpicked by Mister Cartoon. Machete star Danny Trejo led the procession on a custom motorcycle. Co-stars Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez seemed right at home riding shotgun in classic cars, waving to fans while paparazzi snapped photos. Director Robert Rodriguez was on hand to introduce, while Don Johnson and Cheech Marin, members of the film’s supporting cast, were also there in support of the film. Check out more coverage at jaebueno.wordpress.com

Labor Day weekend is almost here and consumers are getting their boats and trailers ready for one last summer weekend. GMC’s lead trailering engineer, Robert Krouse, offers the top five mistakes consumers make while trailering, and how they can avoid these mistakes.

The next Bentley Continental GT will make its first appearance at the Paris Motor Show soon, but Bentley has announced plans to reveal the car early on the Net.

Starting Tuesday, Sept. 7, visitors to ContinentalGT.com will be able to watch a slow, week-long unveiling of the car.  Bentley says that virtual tours will be offered daily.

Spy shots have given us a few clues on what to expect — a more aggressively sloped rear, new LEDs and a more rounded front fascia — but the mechanical details remain a mystery…at least until we log in with the rest of you on the seventh.

We’ve got a short list of cars that would look unimaginably beautiful as roadsters.  By now, manufacturers have gotten to most of them.  But the Ferrari 599 is still available in coupe form only…which is tragic.  Its gorgeous lines have been begging for a wind-in-your-hair drop-top version since we first laid eyes on them.

But a select few, we’ve learned, actually have seen a topless 599.

Letters leaked onto the net confirm that Ferrari invited a small group of owners to view, and comment on a 599 roadster at an invitation-only event in Monterey, California during Pebble Beach Week earlier this month.  Attendees had to sign away their right to comment to the media.  Cameras were politely confiscated.

But a few have revealed the car’s existence, anyway.  They say it barely had a roof — more of a temporary shade than something structural, much like the Porsche 918 — but Ferrari designers claim it weighs no more than the Coupe version.  We can’t wait for this thing to break cover.

Out at the edge of automotive design, there are a few cars so stripped down, so basic, so fundamental that they defy belief. You wonder if they should be called cars at all.  Almost go-karts, they are track-only beasts — frames, engines, transmissions, and little else.  They lack niceties like air conditioning and sound systems.  Some even lack windshields.  But we promise — they are faster than imagination.

There’s a new one.

The Donto Motors P1 is the latest overgrown kart to hit track day.  Argentina-based Donto motors is behind this thing.  They’ve mounted a 1.8-liter turbo’d four from Audi in the back of an FIA-approved racing chassis.  This is the engine from the Audi A4, but mounted in a kart-like whippet that weighs under 1,500 pounds.

Performance figures aren’t yet available (this is just a prototype), but Donto says they’re aimed for the Ariel Atom and KTM X-Bow, two little rockets that get from zero to sixty in under four seconds (in the Atom’s case, 2.7.  Yeah, read it twice.  You saw it right the first time, didn’t you?)

Donto’s car might be a bit slower, thanks to the fact that it has an actual roof and seats two.  But we’re betting it will still outrun a 911 without breaking a sweat…and all for about $55k.

Rides Like an Audi…and it’s Priced Like One, Too

You buy this one for the sound it makes. A guttural roar that seems to rumble up from the Earth itself, at the command of your right foot. It’s somehow brutal and subtle at the same time. It sounds like a demon in a finely tailored suit. It sounds like the anger of a patient man.

The 2010 Volkswagen Touareg, in its last year before a redesign, is still a little bit of an enigma. It’s the most expensive thing Volkswagen sells in the United States. Since VW has its own luxury marque — Audi — the Touareg’s price is confusing. Our fully-equipped TDI model carries a sticker price of $59,850 – a lot to pay for a VW. But it’s a lot of car.

V-Dub engineers worked hard tuning the pipes, and they got that much right. After a week in the Touareg, we are happy to report, they got a lot right. But at that price, they have to. Can it hold its own against luxury competition?  Click through for the details.

Exterior

It looks the part. The Touareg sits somewhere between midsize and large, but it carries its bulk well. As most automakers have moved from truck-based, body-on-frame SUVs to car-based crossovers, many sport ‘utes have started to look cartoonish. Most designers can’t seem to figure out how to build a big, heavy, four-wheel-drive vehicle off of a sedan platform without drawing something that would look at home on a science-fiction set with some green dude with five eyes behind the wheel. But Volkswagen built a gorgeous one.
The corners are smooth, rounded, polished. The ride is actually quite high (it’s adjustable, but even the lowest setting doesn’t exactly hug the road), but it never looks ungainly. Spring for the 20-inch alloy wheels. It looks more at home on those than on the standard 17-inchers.

Also, buy a dark color. Our test model, in Sapphire Blue Metallic, turns a few heads. Similar Touaregs in lighter shades of silver or white barely get a glance. Dark shades set off the chrome well – and there’s a lot of it. A huge chrome grille. Chrome step plate on the rear bumper. Chrome lining the undersides of the mirrors. Even the roof rails shine. These German designers used brightwork fearlessly, like American designers used to, and it works here.

VW clearly faced that price problem head-on here. It’s not easy for the Touareg to look the part of a $60,000 car while wearing the same badge as a $16,000 punch bug on the grille. But we think they’ve pulled it off.

Interior

Audi interiors are usually the very best in the business, short of something hand-built by Rolls Royce or Bentley. It’s easy to see that that design quality has carried down in the Touareg.  If you want your Touareg to look the part of a luxury SUV, there are a few option boxes you’ll want to check. It works best in two tones. Our tester, in black-and-tan leather (VW calls it Anthracite and St. Tropez) has a high-class look that single-color seats don’t quite match. Two-tone leather costs the same as single-shade, so trust us, and check that box. Walnut trim is standard, but the Lux Limited Package, which adds those 20-inch wheels, gives you polished aluminum instead. We like the metal look. Most manufacturers have it these days, but VW used two different polishes on its aluminum, giving the interior more of a textured, subtle look. It works. It works very well.

The Premium Technology Package isn’t cheap (a $6,350 option), but it gives you an easy-to-use touchscreen interface, a hard-drive based nav system that responds quickly, Bluetooth and satellite radio.
It takes a few minutes of adjustment to get the 600-watt, 10-speaker Dynaudio system to sound just right, but once you have it set to your taste, it sounds like 15 speakers. The sweet spot is aimed just a little toward the front seats, so the driver gets the best part of the show.

Complaints? Just a few, and none that would rule it out. The back seat’s a little tight for adults. We also found the seats could use a bit more support to the sides. They’re wide, and flat. Perhaps those German engineers have read too much about America’s obesity problem, because they’re very wide and flat. They’re comfortable for calm driving, but you slide a bit when you start to get a little aggressive behind the wheel…and…well…there’s that sound we told you about…

Performance

That gorgeous rumble will have you driving a little too hard. It will make you want to bury your right foot in the carpet. It’s that diesel engine that’s to blame. It’s actually just a 221-horsepower V6. Nothing to be ashamed of, but once you’ve driven it, you’ll be surprised by that figure. It feels like 350 horsepower. Diesels offer so much low-end torque – 406 lb-ft in this case – that they can feel like a lot more power than they actually produce. It’s a trick that pays you back at the pump, too. The feds will tell you that the Touareg TDI gets 18 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway. We found it easy to beat those numbers, and we weren’t exactly trying to drive it slow.

The car makes it hard to resist driving with a little attitude. All that torque means that it’s surprisingly easy to chirp the tires and jump away from a stoplight. You’re not going to out-drag a Mustang, but the Touareg doesn’t feel like a big SUV when you step on it. It comes only with a six-speed automatic, but you can shift it manually with a tap of the stick if you’d like. There’s also a Sport mode, which actually works. It moves the shiftpoint from 1,500 rpm to 2,500, and the change is noticeable.

An adjustable suspension (a $2,750 option) is the same. Many manufacturers build adjustable suspensions, but in most, the changes are barely noticeable. Here, each of the three settings feels distinctly different. Comfort mode is soft, and won’t spill your coffee on a bumper-to-bumper commute. Sport mode is firm, stiffens up the springs to prevent body roll and makes the tall SUV feel nimble on a winding road. Auto mode is…well, honestly, we spent most of the time in Sport. That sound begs for it.

And that’s where the big VW’s secret identity shows. The Touareg, you see, was developed jointly with Porsche. It shares its chassis with the Porsche Cayenne SUV. This thing has Porsche bones, and on a winding road, you can tell. Set the suspension to sport, keep power on just a little deeper into the corners than you feel like you should, and it comes alive. The steering is perfectly weighted.
The big thing starts to corner like something out of Stuttgart.  The big thing starts to dance.  The Touareg handles with a grace and athleticism it shouldn’t have.  If you push it a little too hard, the anti-lock brakes reel it all in pretty quickly. Stopping distances are impressive for such a heavy vehicle.

We didn’t get much time to test the Touareg in rough conditions. Its 4motion full-time four-wheel-drive has a reputation as a very capable off-road setup, but sadly, we didn’t even get a rainstorm to play in. To justify its luxury price tag, the Touareg would need serious performance chops. And it has them. With that growling diesel’s massive torque and surprising agility for such a big vehicle, it rides like an Audi. Under the right circumstances, it rides like a Porsche.

Safety

The federal government gives the Touareg a perfect five stars in every crash test, and four stars in the rollover test. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has never tested one. The full list of safety equipment you’d expect to see is there, including six airbags. It lacks some of the more advanced electronic systems German automakers have put out in recent years – there’s nothing to brake automatically if you don’t.

Value

So, if you’re going to drop $60k on a luxury SUV, should you consider one with a Volkswagen badge? When Audi and Porsche and Mercedes and BMW and Lexus can all sell you something with a more impressive logo on the grille for that price?
After a week in the Touareg, we wouldn’t hesitate.

It looks like a $60,000 ride – particularly in a dark color with all of the brightwork options checked. It feels like one from inside as well – particularly in two-tone leather with all of the electronics options checked. And from behind the wheel, it feels sportier and more composed than any VW has a right to feel. That Porsche skeleton and that torque-heavy V6 seal the deal. And yes, this Touareg was loaded with options, but that’s part of the point.

You could buy a Porsche Cayenne at this price, but it would be a bare-bones model. You could buy an Audi Q5 or a BMW X5, but you lose the thrust of that big diesel and pay a price in fuel economy – and once again, you’ll have to go light on the options.
The Touareg, on the other hand, comes in at $60k with absolutely every option box checked. It might sound steep for a Volkswagen – but this thing is so well-put-together that they could have slapped an Audi badge on the grille instead, and no one would have complained.

After a week in a Touareg, it’s not the idea of a $60,000 VW that makes no sense to us. It’s the fact that they didn’t put a luxury banner on this one and try to charge more for it. For that glorious rumble alone, it’s worth every penny.