Gearfuse

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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The limited edition LP 650-4 (and really, what sort of Lambo isn’t “limited” to only the highest tax bracket anyway?) isn’t fucking around. Lamborghini released a bunch of new photos and details about the new Roadster and it’s looking pretty damn drool-worth.

The LP 650-4 will feature a Grigio Telesto exterior, combining gray with bright orange for an interesting color scheme. And performance wise? It’s a monster. A new and improved 6.5-l V12 produces 650hp and 660 Nm of torque, pushing the all-wheel drive death trap to a max 205 mph speed, rushing from 0-62 mph in a brisk 3.4 seconds. There’s only plans to produce 50 of these babies. So get your platinum card ready. (more…)

Dynamically Augmenting Wheel System, or DAWS, might sound like some sort of high-tech mumbo jumbo, and for the most part, it is pretty complex. The conceptually designed wheels are divided into eight separate parts which adjust to the car’s center of gravity without losing traction.

You know how motorcycle wheels sort of shift under the driver’s weight as they turn? It’s sort of like that. The segmented wheels allow your car to have the effect of rounded wheels, without the lack of support or balance. And the best part about the whole finished product? They look fucking awesome. The bad news… they don’t taste like pizza. (more…)

Remember that show The Incredible Crash Test Dummies? It makes you wonder: what’s so incredible about crash test dummies, anyway? It’s probably because they come in all different shapes and sizes. Short ones, fat ones, little ones and even tall ones plant their ass in a driver seat and brace for impact.

Oobject must be fans of the 1993 Dummies cartoon show, because it’s posted a collection of crash test dummies used in a variety of different situations. Bet you didn’t know that a motorcycle-riding crash test dummy is made up differently than that of a pedestrian crash test dummy just waiting to be run over at a crosswalk.

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Can you think of anything worse than crashing your car at 100 MPH?

I can. How about crashing your rare Tesla Roaster?

A Tesla dealer and a potential customer were apparently doing 100 MPH during a test drive when they hit….something. The end result is what you see and as horrible as it looks, both men survived the crash. They’re quite lucky, considering the customer was thrown from the car.

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Ford has unveiled its new take on automobile dashboards with what it’s calling the SmartGauge. The LCD gauge will debut in Fords 2010 line of hybrids, the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid. The gauge uses an all-digital screen with lively animations to prompt drivers on good driving habits by displaying a heavily stylized greenery for good behavior. It’s almost as bad as the teddy bear backseat driver.

The gauges are fully customizable, able to display whatever real time data the driver wishes to see. From what I’ve seen in the videos, it looks to be one of the most impressive dashboards ever put in an automobile. It also appears to be way too distracting for drivers, most of which have a bad enough attention span as it is.

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I love the coloring on this LEGO car from Lino Martins. Very intricate, very pleasing on the eyes. Yes?

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None of us can afford a Bentley, but nevertheless, this is a brilliant car. The trunk features an umbrella holder with the backseat sporting a cocktail set complete with shot glasses. The intricacy! The detail! The Arnage Final Series from Bentley is the last run of the Arnage, which was started in 1998. Only 100 of the Final Series will be made and each will be individually numbered. Navigation, satellite system and precision driving. Oh what a day it would be in one of these babies. Too bad that swanky Bentley laptop doesn’t come with the car.

One can dream, right? Pics galore after the jump.
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Nothing beats driving 60 miles for one hour only to end up stopping for an 8 hour charge as you run up the electric bill of some random stranger. Not even Chevy can deny the satisfaction of only having to stop at a gas station once a month, so it’s officially announced the Chevy Volt due out on the streets around late 2010.

If you couldn’t guess it by the name, Volt, it’s the first official plug-in hybrid from a major American manufacturer. Chevrolet is promising costs of just 2 cents per mile, which certainly will put less of a burden on your wallet than any traditional foreign car.  It’s about time some major American car manufacturers stepped into the hybrid race, but I’m still waiting on the elimination of fossil-fuel operated vehicles altogether.

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A private product design firm in Glendale, Arizona is now offering a $200 set of construction plans that will allow anyone to build a plug-in hybrid that gets 225 miles per gallon. Dubbed the XR3, Robert Q. Riley Enterprises says the car has a 100-mile range can use different drive trains to make it either all electric or a diesel-based hybrid. No word on how much the parts cost to make your own car but I’d guesstimate somewhere around the $5000 range for the electric model. It’s no Batmobile but it’ll have to do.

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