Blog on 2040Parts

The Monster Audio Lamborghini Veneno is Las Vegas

A Monster Lamborghini would be a monster Lamborghini; and a monster Lamborghini, so the thinking goes, could yet still be enhanced by Monster audio equipment. If Lady Gaga drove the Monster Lamborghini Veneno, she'd be a Fame Monster in a Monster Lamborghini. If someone played the "Space Jam" soundtrack from the Monster Lamborghini's Monster speakers, it'd be Monstars from Monsters in a Monster Lamborghini.

Rolls Royce to create 100 new jobs

LUXURY CAR GIANT Rolls-Royce is to create 100 new jobs after reporting the fourth consecutive year of record sales. Over 3,630 cars were delivered to customers in 2013, the highest in the marque's history, with sales growth reported across several regions worldwide. The biggest increases were in the Middle East (up 17%) and China (11%), but strong sales were also achieved in Germany, Japan and Canada.

Mopar Muscle Ram takes off at Monster Jam

Chrysler Group service and parts brand Mopar is entering the Monster Truck Racing Series with a new toy, the Mopar Muscle Ram monster truck. The series starts with Monster Jam on Jan. 11 in Detroit.

This Kia can calculate your body fat

At the 2014 CES, Kia binged on three-letter acronyms with a slew of connectivity technology that culminated in the first U.S. debut of its KND-7 concept. For a company whose name is composed of three letters, it's not entirely unexpected.

Meet the Jaguar/Land Rover smartphone

Jaguar Land Rover has announced a whole new host of apps that'll be available in vehicles by both brands later this year via the InControl smartphone integration system. With the help of Bosch and a number of third-party app developers, Jaguar and Land Rover will debut integrated in-vehicle app connectivity for phones with the Android operating system, as well as for Apple's iOS. Jaguar Land Rover is the latest company to bring apps to cars' infotainment systems, an innovation that will either greatly reduce distracted driving and make crucial information much more easily accessible or cause drivers to completely ignore the act of driving altogether.

The 2015 Porsche 911 Targa will debut Monday

Porsche's bringing the 997-generation 911 Targa to the Detroit auto show and you can watch it debut live at 11:45 AM EST on Monday, January 13. We've been told to expect a "retro" look, "Echoing the design of the original 911 Targa of 1965..." though we're not expecting to see a soft rear window. To watch the debut on Monday, click here.

CAR Most Wanted of 2014: McLaren P1

By the CAR editorial team First Official Pictures 10 January 2014 10:30 Just like the car’s acceleration itself, things happened very quickly for the McLaren P1. We saw the initial design study at the 2012 Paris motor show, and shortly afterwards, CAR spied disguised prototypes putting in the hard testing yards on the mountain roads of Spain. By the 2013 Geneva motor show, McLaren was ready to pull the wraps off the finished (and barely altered) P1 design, and give us hints to some of the performance figures offered by a carbonfibre, aero-focused missile using a combination of twin-turbo V8 and electric boost power.

Volkswagen Beetle Dune concept for Detroit Motor Show

Volkswagen Volkswagen has announced a Beetle Dune concept will take to its show stand at the 2014 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) next week – promising to bring a bit of beach buggy sunshine to the polar vortex chilled show halls of Detroit. So far VW has only released the pair of design concepts pictured here, but together with a few choice details you can clearly figure out what we’re dealing with here. The Dune is a Beetle that’s been given a rugged off-road makeover.

Online database 'may cut car insurance premiums'

MOTORISTS could see insurance premiums cut by up to £15 a year after the Government announced that all driving licence records are being put online. The searchable database for individuals and companies to check speeding endorsements and other details could also bring down the cost of car hire. The My Licence project is the latest part of the coalition's digital agenda, which has been gradually moving services on to the internet.

CAR interviews Ferrari's tech boss on 458 Speciale and beyond (2014)

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 10 January 2014 11:30 2014 is an exciting year for Ferrari. The new 458 Speciale is relishing the change to take on all comers from McLaren and Lamborghini, and the LaFerrari hybrid supercar will finally be passed on to 499 lucky (and well-heeled) customers. CAR's Ben Pulman met with Ferrari's technical director at the marque's Maranello HQ to talk Speciale, hybrid supercars, and what's next for the world's most famous sports car maker.

Pocketsquare to premiere Panasonic's driver-focussed HMI interior concept at NAIAS

Erstwhile GM interior design chief David Lyon, alongside former GM engineer Nina Mital and ex-Ford designer Gary Braddock – the three members of new Michigan-based design consultancy Pocketsquare – will have the first fruits of their new venture displayed at the NAIAS in Detroit in the form of Panasonic's advanced interior design concept. The interior makes use of Panasonic's new range of head-up displays and smart clusters to reduce driver distraction in advance of the latest proposed NHTSA legislation. The system is said to exceed these measures by as much as 35 per cent.

MP slams ministerial cars 'waste'

MINISTERS have been accused of wastefulness by having their official cars sitting outside Parliament with the engines running. Labour MP Thomas Docherty said he had seen Government cars sitting in New Palace Yard - one of the main thoroughfares in and out of the Palace of Westminster - for more than an hour with their engines turned on. Commons Leader Andrew Lansley said he had not noticed the problem on his frequent visits in and out of the palace.

The safest cars of 2014 revealed by Euro NCAP

Safety in modern cars continues to move on at a relentless pace, and in 2013 the story was no different. We saw the first Chinese car ever to get a full five-star Euro NCAP rating with the Qoros 3, signalling Chinese manufacturers are really starting to think about the needs of other markets around the world – in fact, just to prove that point, Euro NCAP voted the Qoros 3 the safest car of 2013. What a result.

Survey Finds Almost A Third Of Drivers 'Nod Off At Wheel'

ROAD safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line have uncovered a worrying number of drivers have admitted to nodding off when behind the wheel. Of the 1,000 drivers sampled, almost a third admitted to momentarily nodding off while seven percent claimed they had actually fallen asleep while driving. Also, 49 percent of the drivers surveyed said they had driven after less than five hours of sleep.

VL Destino revealed - what became of the Fisker Karma

VL This is the new face of the Fisker Karma, the luxury plug-in hybrid whose parent company went to the wall last year. But it’s not only the Karma’s gap-toothed grin that’s disappeared: its plug-in hybrid powertrain has bitten the dust, too, replaced by a GM-sourced V8 – a supercharged lump boasting 638hp and 640lb ft. Called the VL Destino, the wilder Karma will be shown at this month’s North American International Auto Show, aka the Detroit Motor Show.

Car industry needs to agree on an app standard

Application developers who want their programs to run in cars are flush with options -- too many options. They can choose to target Toyota Entune standard, Ford Smart Device Link, BMW Connect, and many more. All, by the way, completely incompatible with each other, meaning that any programmer who wants their app in multiple cars has a long road ahead of them.

Detroit Motor Show 2014 preview: all the important new cars

The Detroit Motor Show - or North American International Auto Show, to give it its full title - is one of the most important motor shows on the planet. Of all the American shows, Detroit is arguably the best, not least because it takes place right at the start of the year, kick starting the motor show calendar. This year's event takes place at the COBO Center, Detroit, Michigan,13-26 January 2014.

Syd Mead's 'Progressions' exhibition featured on CarArt.us

CarArt.us, the largest online automotive art gallery, is featuring art from world-renowned futurist Syd Mead's 50-piece ‘Progressions' exhibit, a retrospective spanning more than 50 years. Mead's work is shown in chronological order, starting from 1957's Bugatti concept and tracking his progression all the way up to 2010's Megacoach. Highly influential futurist Mead graduated with distinction from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1959, beginning his career at Ford's Advanced Styling Studio in Dearborn, Michigan, before establishing Syd Mead, Inc.

2014 Peugeot 5008 gets a bit of a facelift

2014 Peugeot 5008 gets a bit of a facelift You’d expect an MPV from Peuegot to be a bit of a soggy, boring drive, but actually the Peugeot 5008 MPV is not bad at all. But the problem has been that the 5008 isn’t exactly the best looking kid on the block. But Peugeot has now fixed a lot of that by bringing the 5008 up to date with Peugeot’s new family nose as part of a mid-life facelift for the 5008.

Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment contest pits auto designers against Detroit talent

Local creative and design talent from outside and inside the car industry will go head-to-head in a multi-round competition for the title of Sketchmaster in the Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment (MSBE). To be held at an underground afterparty for the Auto Show Charity Preview on 17 January at the Kunsthalle Museum in Detroit, the self-styled car design fight club will be attended by industry leaders, designers from Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota and Tier One suppliers. Car enthusiasts, artists and designers from around the globe will also be present.

Mazda diesel delayed again

If you've been waiting for a Mazda 6 diesel, prepare to wait a bit longer. After delaying the US launch until Spring 2014, Mazda now says it won't meet that target date either. Mazda says the engine meets current emissions standards using only a particulate filter, but the resulting blend of performance and fuel economy isn't up to snuff.

MSN readers back 80mph limit on UK motorways

Getty Images Half of you back an 80mph speed limit on British motorways, according to a poll of more than 40,000 MSN UK readers. An overwhelming 20,000 of you said the limit should be raised from the current 70mph, while a quarter of respondents preferred to stick with the status quo. Microsoft poll results Our poll was published in the week when the government announced plans to reduce the speed limit on a section of the M1 in Derbyshire and Yorkshire in a bid to cut air pollution.

Lexus RC F Coupe: OFFICIAL

The Lexus RC F (pictured) revealed ahead of its Detroit debut The Lexus RC F Coupe has been revealed ahead of its debut at Detroit next week, and it looks very promising. Lexus aren’t being specific about its output, but they do say the RC F is “the most powerful V8 performance road-going car ever developed by Lexus” with over 450bhp. That makes the RC F more powerful than the BMW M4 or the Audi RS5 which should mean the Lexus will be able to hold its own with the hot coupés from Germany, with a 0-62mph in the low 4 seconds.

Ford at CES: Charge your car with science and wash your dishes while you sleep

Ford's C-Max Solar Energy Concept is a "plugless plugin," said Donna Bell, which initially sounds silly -- as if the carefully structured chaos and noise of CES may have finally gotten to her. But as someone who has been managing Ford's electric vehicle infrastructure for the past 20 years, she isn't being facetious. Solar panels on the roof of a car aren't anything new -- the Fisker Karma used them to power the radio and other in-car accessories, to cite a soon-obscure example.

This could be your first autonomous vehicle

While Google's autonomous fleet of robot cars prowls Silicon Valley and gets all the press, the first, or one of the first, truly autonomous vehicles you may ride in could be something like this: The humble, people-moving Navia. Developed by a French company called Induct, the Navia is ringed with laser beams (not frickin' laser beams. Ed.) that help it navigate through city streets or college campuses without the aid of a track in the ground, a rail or even GPS (GPS is not accurate enough, Induct says).

Chrysler 200 revealed before Detroit auto show debut

A few days before its reveal at the Detroit auto show, photos of the upcoming 2015 Chrysler 200 have appeared online. This is the midsize sedan's first major restyling since its debut in 2010, and its exterior styling has been toned down somewhat from the first-generation version of the 200, made famous for its 2011 appearance in Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" Super Bowl spot. That's right, that was the 200 in that ad, not the larger Chrysler 300.

Audi reveals 2014 TT interior at CES

To reveal a new car’s interior before we’ve even seen a concept sketch of the whole vehicle sketch seems odd. But nevertheless, that’s exactly what Audi has done with its 2014 TT, unveiling the car’s cabin at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The German firm’s choice of venue is significant, too, underlining how the new TT will “come with a new generation of electronics and connectivity features.” On Bing: see pictures of the 2014 Audi TT Find out how much a used Audi TT costs on Auto Trader The new TT will feature the same “Audi virtual cockpit” as the Audi Sport Quattro laserlight concept – also unveiled at CES 2014 – representing the first appearance of the new tech  a production Audi.

Nearly a half of male drivers admit to sleeping at the wheel

Nearly half of male drivers admit to having fallen asleep at the wheel, a survey has found. Road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line found that 31% of all drivers admit to ‘head-nodding’ at the wheel – meaning they’ve fallen asleep while driving a car for between two and 30 seconds. The best cars you can sleep in On Bing: see pictures of tired drivers 45% of male drivers admit to head-nodding, compared to 22% of female drivers.

Union calls on Nissan to recognise workers

Nissan must surely be on the crest of a wave right now, celebrating its success at the 2014 What Car? awards, where it picked up the reader’s choice prize for the next generation X-Trail, and saw the all-new Qashqai take both the small SUV and the overall Car of the Year trophy. It’s also just announced that its Sunderland plant – where the old and now the new Qashqai are assembled – has built over a million vehicles in the last two years.

Nearly half of male drivers admit to sleeping at the wheel

Nearly half of male drivers admit to having fallen asleep at the wheel, a survey has found. Road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line found that 31% of all drivers admit to ‘head-nodding’ at the wheel – meaning they’ve fallen asleep while driving a car for between two and 30 seconds. The best cars you can sleep in On Bing: see pictures of tired drivers 45% of male drivers admit to head-nodding, compared to 22% of female drivers.