Unknown In Dash Boat Gauges V-179 Starflite on 2040-parts.com

Hyundai integrates Smartphones in to their cars

Hyundai is harnessing the power of the Smartphone to make in-car information and driver settings integrate seamlessly. For those of us old enough to remember the first mobile phones – and the first home PCs – the realisation that we’re all walking round now with Smartphones that have more processing power than it took to put a man on the moon is almost mind boggling. Sadly, most of us use just a fraction of the capabilities of our phones, but the fact we have all that clever tech tucked in our trouser pockets gives car makers the opportunity to harness it to provide more functionality for their cars.

Win a signed Peter Schreyer Kia design sketch

At this week's launch of the new Kia Sportage, CAR witnessed Kia design chief Peter Schreyer sketch out his original vision of the new crossover 4x4. We later clobbered the black-polo-necked styling boss and asked if we could give it away on CAR Online. He agreed, added some finishing touches and signed the Kia Sportage design sketch.

BMW releases power kits for the 135i and 335i models

BMW 135i and 335i models can now be retrofitted with two new performance power kits for more muscle and speed. The Version 1 kit has new engine software to optimize performance, while Version 2 tacks on an auxiliary water cooler and radiator fan to keep the engine from getting feverish during extreme driving. With either kit, horsepower increases by 20 hp, to 320 hp, on both models, and torque jumps to 332 lb-ft for models equipped with automatic transmission.