Gearfuse

DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block began with a plain old Subaru rally car, but with the help of Vermont SportsCar created a 400 horsepower cat track monster. With a turbocharged engine and a new set of cat track tires, the Subaru-based TRAX STI provides pure rally power in alpine conditions.

Based on a race ready Subaru WRX STI rally car, the TRAX is considered the world’s fastest cat track operation automobile. If you like to show up at the slopes in nontraditional style, you can’t do much better than this sick vehicle.

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Japanese robotics company ZMP have created the Robocar Z in hopes that it can teach us more about the future of robot-controlled automobiles. The vehicle has a protruding which holds two cameras which connect to a state of the art image recognition system.

The Robocar is thought to be an ideal platform for testing robotized vehicle automation before heading to the big time. The Robocar Z has its very own API and runs off of Linux, so developers are apparently encouraged to work their magic. The basic model costs a staggering $7,ooo to produce.

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You might be hesitant to cover your car with witty bumper stickers. Whether you don’t want to ruin your car’s cosmetics or don’t want to wreck the warranty, you just haven’t gotten to the point where you’re comfortable applying stickers to your car’s body. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a witty retort when your on the move.

These awesome micro-bumper stickers fit right on the heel of your shoes, offering shoe-likened mottoes, similar to their automobile counterparts.

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Back in 1980, cocaine was up and coming and Europeans had plenty of it. As they did their daily bumps, shoving the cursed powder into their bodies, an idea sparked in the mind of one Trevor Fiore. He’s the designer behind the car you see here. It’s called the Citroën Karin and it’s probably the ugliest automobile you will ever see.

Hit the jump if you feel like vomiting.
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Take a near-bankrupt automobile manufacturer and a company that makes personal transportation vehicles used mostly by colleges and you’d think you’d have a disaster on your hands, correct? Apparently, such is not the opinion of General Motors and Segway. The two companies are teaming up to create the PUMA, or Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project. The vehicle, shown above, will feature a 35 MPH top speed and will get a measly 35 mile charge on its lithium battery pack.

OK, I get it. Cool idea. Rad vehicle. But 35 miles on one charge? Sounds pointless unless I can recharge it in 15 minutes at any electrical outlet, don’t you agree? Regardless, if this doesn’t bankrupt GM, I don’t know what will.

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Hey, if I had a shitload of oil money, I’d probably make everything from my kid to my dog to my iPhone gold-plated. Such is the case in Kuwait, where some rich motherfucker owns a $1.75 million Bugatti Veyron. As you’re probably well aware, the Veyron is the creme de la creme of street legal automobiles. This time, it’s kicked up about 100 notches with a gold paint job that makes it look absolutely stunning. In fact, it’s so stunning, the car “requires” a $10,000 detail job and “is stored in a climate-controlled atmospheric chamber inside the garage.”

A bit too much, even for a sultan. Right? I’ll stick with my gold-spraypainted Geo Tracker thank you very much.

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While I’d rather walk than be caught dead riding a scooter these days (I mean, come on, so 2001,) I’d much rather rent a scooter than buy one full-price, especially if I happened to be too lazy to walk the city streets, which would never happen because I am a brute man of laziness and blubber strength and steel.

What makes the Link Scooter System so cool? Well, for one, if someone were to spot you riding your scooter (the horror!) you can just assure them that you had to rent the fag-mobile for the day because you needed a quick and cheap method of, I dunno, saving babies from fires and putting your jacket over puddles for stuck-up damsel bitches in faux-distress.

Designed by Anton Grimes of University of New South Wales, the Link Scooter System was designed to reduce the mass of automobiles which slay millions of retarded scooter riders daily. Mostly because the scooter-ees are too busy wiping drool from their lips and shitting in their diapers to look for on-coming traffic. Losers.

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Gas prices may be hovering right now but we should be focusing on getting off foreign oil and getting on to the grid. The Wheego Whip is the car that can help us do just that despite being made by Chinese manufacturer Shuanghuan Automobile. It looks just like a Smart Car, except it’s actually an all-electric vehicle. For $19,000, you’ll get a plug-in car that can hit a 60 MPH top speed and does 50 miles on a single charge. Mediocre, but perfect for short trips or if you live in a city.

Unfortunately, the Fed has to do a bunch of safety testing on it before it can be driven on highways and such. For now, it’ll be limited to 35 MPH, making it a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle or NEV. Have fun playing Wheego Polo in a few of these $19,000 golf-karts.

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One of the most dangerous things you do on a daily basis (besides drive your automobile) is fiddle with the power cords of home appliances. You never know when pulling that cord will result in a tear and a powerful shock that you’ll certainly remember. Good thing designer Kim Seung Woo has redesigned the standard power cord with a glow-in-the-dark ring. And no, this hole is not for fucking.

The ring makes finding the socket and unplugging the cords, day or night, an easier task than ever before. No more deadly volts coursing through your body, sir!

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Steve Jobs is a lot like a teenage girl. He is all about the outfits, obsesses about his foes and is dealing with hormone issues. Wait, what? That’s right. The Wall Street Journal posted this excerpt of a statement from Steve Jobs:

…my doctors think they have found the cause — a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. … The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment.

Losing protein doesn’t sound very healthy, but really Steve? Hormones? Perhaps I should get you a stick of Proactiv for your acne and a book on wet dreams or “nocturnal emissions.” It seems that all the Apple rumors about Steve Jobs dying, etc. can be laid to rest…for now.

UPDATE: Steve Jobs’ letter from Apple.

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