I spent the weekend down in Daytona Beach covering the Spring Break Nationals Car Audio Competition. Were you there? Man... Tons of hot cars, cool products, a bright warm sun, girls in bikinis.... This job is really rough sometimes. I don't know how we do it. You know what keeps me going? Cool stuff like this:
- The guys at EyeCandy in Orlando Florida brought an absolutely INSANE Hummer limo to SBN. Stretched, third axle, six 30" chrome wheels, full Pioneer A/V DJ system, marble floors, suede and leather interior, and... a throne. Seriously. Check it.
- Scosche has a new dash kit available for all you 2007+ Mitsu Eclipse owners. You can finally dump the factory radio and upgrade. For real.
- The guys at Al & Ed's Autosound checked out the new Pioneer AVIC-D3x in a smart FourTwo. We've got the video, and it's dope.
- Orca design just developed a new marine audio grille that'll keep Focal speakers dry in your boat. It uses a mesh backing like that used on an Injen cold air intake. The stuff is called "hydro-phobic polyester". No you can make your owns waves in audiophile style.
- Infinity just released the deets on the new Kappa speakers, and we've got all the specs and lots of pics! THey look like a million bucks, but come in under $250!
- If you're an audiophile who likes to spend ridiculous amounts of cash on your car (like me), then these new Morel Elate Limited speakers are right up your alley! Carbon fiber cones, bad-ass crossovers, and they ship in a big metal suitcase. Morel calls it a "gift box", but it looks like a case the Transporter would carry.
GM is gonna let the H2 die. With gas approaching $4 per gallon, they haven't exactly been selling too well. And, starting in 2011, the H2 will be subject to the new CAFE standards (it is currently exempt, due to its 8,600 pound gross weight). So, no more H2 after 2011. Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of the H2, but I know there are a lot of folks on CarDomain who love them. More on the H2's demise at Jalopnik.
Will you be sad to see the H2 go?
Update: Jalopnik is now saying it's gonna stick around until 2014.
Generally, bad reviews of anything—records, restaurants, cars—are just more entertaining. Even when people are just saying, and not even hating, commentary which tears a product, or person, to shreads makes for pretty compelling copy. Why do you think buying a 12-pack of High Life without seeing a picture of Britany Spears is unlikely? But leave it to Consumer Reports to do the impossible, as the magazine's list of 2008's 11 worst cars is as boring as you'd expect from the consumer advocates. Reading this list is only slightly more gripping than reading my mother's recipie for corn chowder. And I really didn't like how the reviews dismissed off-road performance, then proceeded to trash a bunch of off-road vehicles. Bravo y'all! Of course, domestics make up the lion's share of the field, but there are also a couple of foriegn marques in the mix. What do you think about this list?
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy—whew, say that three times fast!—just released a list of the greenest and meanest cars in America, and on the green side, Toyota's Prius came up a big, fat loser. Sorry. It actually came in second, behind Honda's greener-than-Kermit-the-Frog-on-a-lilly pad Civic GX, which runs on compressed air. As expected, small cars and hybrids make up the remainder of the green list, and also as expected, the rides on the mean list look way, way more fun. The VW Tourage—with the CFC-belching diesel V10—took the top "honors," while dream machines like Bugatti's Veyron and Lamborghini's Murcielago came in at numbers two and six, respectively. Of course, neither one of those models probably sees 1/10 the annual miles a Ford Focus—number nine on the green list—does, so in reality, they probably pollute a lot less. But whatever, check out the full breakdown over at Wired.
I'm not a fan of SUV-based limos, though admittedly, they're fun to laugh at when they get into embarrassing mishaps. For the most part, though, they just kind of gross me out: they just seem so totally in-your-face wasteful. This one claims to be an entire nightclub on wheels, with disco floors and ceilings, great sound and trippy lighting throughout, and not one but two VIP lounges. It's also purported to be the first triple-axle H2 in the UK, and the site renting it promises it'll "make all other Hummer limos look like dwarfs." Ugh.
As everyone knows, today is Valentines Day. Bo-ring. It's also the 40th anniversary of Bob Bondurant School of High-Performance Driving. While I knew about the school, I never knew much about the man who founded it. What a bad-ass. Now I want to go even more. Here's the news:
- Shots of the Tiburon replacement have leaked. While I'm not stoked Hyundai is branding it with numbers and letters—i35—instead of giving it a proper name, it looks sexy as hell. Just offer a V8, ok? AutoBlogStar via World Car Fans
- Nissan is investing in IT to make their dealer network run more efficiently. That sounds cool. Better than using technology to turn its halo car into a tattling nanny, anyway. Automotive News
- Morgan still makes all of its cars by hand, on wood frames. But that hasn't stopped the company from looking forward. Check out the gorgeous hydrogen car it's set to bring to Geneva. Wow. Wired
- If you drive a Hummer and have been wanting to make your machine even more offensive to tree-hugging hippies, this six-wheeled deal might be just the ticket. English Russia
Chicago is home to the oldest and biggest auto show in the states, so there'll be some wicked debuts—and lots of other generally trick stuff—to behold this week in the Windy City. We're super stoked about—stubby hood or not—Dodge's 2009 Challenger, the potent little Yes! Roadster, and Chevy's new giant-killer, the ZR1. Concept-wise, we'll be posting killer shots of Dodge's ZEO, Hummer's beyond-burly HX, Mitsubishi's ferocious looking Concept-RA, and Audi's wicked R8 V12 TDI. Head over to the show's official site to see exactly what's going to be there, and if there's anything you're dying to see, let us know!
A Hummer pickup seems like a no-brainer, so it's not terribly surprising they're going to debut one at the Chicago Auto Show. With relatively small five foot bed, the new H3T won't be quite a full-size rig, but the long cab at least looks like it'll allow rear passengers some decent legroom. I have to admit that while I did think that the HX Concept revealed in Detroit was bad-ass, I'm not the biggest fan of Hummer's. I think every incarnation of them has gotten progressively less bury looking. What's your opinion? Read more over at Freep.
Shots of the Hummer HX concept got out early and now they're all over the net. GM calls it a "youthful, open-air entry-level-size Hummer" and it's powered by a 3.6 liter V-6 E85 FlexFuel engine mated to a six-speed automatic tranny. It's good to see a reasonably sized Hummer that might actually venture off road. More over at Autoblog.
Apparently after performing at Live Earth, Fergie decided she needed to change her ways and help save the planet. So she's selling her DUB Edition H2 on eBay, and all proceeds go to Global Green USA. I guess that means the new owner gets to drive a Hummer totally guilt free?
