Audi and MIT have teamed up to create what appears to be the Mother of all GPS units and one of the most intriguing automotive gadgets yet.

AIDA – Affective, Intelligent Driving Agent – is the next generation of GPS. If you’re impressed with turn-by-turn instructional driving, this will blow you away. AIDA becomes your own personal driving manager by operating from a stored informational base. Your most common routes are learned, studied and even improved upon by knowing current road conditions, traffic patterns and accidents. An alternate route recommendation can appear even before you’re aware one is needed.

Improving the quality of driving is every manufacturer’s goal; this takes it to a whole new level.

Toyota Prius Times Square iPhone Application.

1 Popular socially conscious hybrid
2 or 3 unique iPhone ideas
A handful of cutting-edge creatives from Saatchi & Saatchi
A pinch of cash

Mix liberally, add cash as needed; serve chilled to a couple million people for approximately three days.

Fans of the Toyota Prius created drawings on their iPhone that were displayed on digital billboards,in Times Square, on October 26th-28th. Another great example of a manufacturer using new tools to create a connection with current and new fans. Connections are what create memorable experiences; those experiences need to be built and nurtured in new and different ways if brands expect to maintain customer loyalty.

This is new, different and memorable – and I’m not much of a Prius fan. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid catches my eye…

Honda’s new, potential entry in the compact electric segment is the  EV-N. This electric roller-skate also has a solar roof to power those tiny wheels. Other interesting features:

• Custom seat covers – Cool


• Front flat-panel has embedded lighting to display patterns – Odd


• Small electric unicycle that fits inside door panel – Creepy

Not in the market for an oddball, new compact electric vehicle? Looking for something at the other end of the spectrum – say a used Chevrolet Escalade?

Monster-sized SUV’s and Hummers gave way to the crossover; coupes gave way to the super-subcompacts and then came the smart car.

The Lumeneo Smera tops them all. I’m not even sure if this is considered a car – is it a scooter? A covered motorcycle? Whatever it is, this is sweet.

• Eight feet long


• 31 inches wide


• One seat


• Little room for luggage handbag


• two 20 horsepower electric motors


• Top speed: 80mph


• Range: 93 miles per charge

Don’t live in France? Have more than yourself to cart around town? Here’s five of the small used cars with high gas mileage, all for around 15k.

• Used Mazda Miata MX-5


• Used Mini Cooper


• Used Toyota Yaris


• Used Volkswagen Jetta


• Used Honda Civic EX

If you want more driving tips to save fuel and info about fuel cost estimates, download the 2009 Fuel Economy Guide.

Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via Flickr

One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500. It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster’s supercharger.

With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F.

Nitro methane burns yellow… The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 deg F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

In order to exceed 300 mph in 4. 5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G’s. In order to reach 200 mph (well before half-track), the launch acceleration approaches 8G’s. Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

Top fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light! Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load. The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.

Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $1,000.00 per second.

The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona , CA). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66′ ofthe run (05/25/05 Tony Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ).

Putting all of this into perspective:

You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter ‘twin-turbo’ powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a top fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the ‘Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The ‘tree’ goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him.

Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1,320 foot long race course.

And that my friend, is ACCELERATION!

Thanks to @JimmyADUSA for this educational automotive gem.

According to RL Polk, the median age of US passenger used cars has increased to 9.4 years. The number for light trucks has also increased, to 7.5 years.

The need for service repairs and automotive care will increase as vehicles continue to age. Some people should just put their ride out to pasture. Check out these high quality repair solutions – hopefully they took full advantage of the C4C program.

Photo credits: There I Fixed It.

Ken Block is one of the top Gymkhana drivers in all the land. He’s turned driving into an art form. The 2nd video is his latest masterpiece.

Chris Brogan recently wrote about gaining traction with your online voice and leveraging the power of your network. I understand the analogy within his message  - another comment he made rang loud and clear. He really likes the Cadillac CTS-V. Huge crush actually.

I’d be a fool if I didn’t put the rubber to the road to get some traction and help Chris with additional information and resources for his four wheel fondness in the CTS-V.

Chris is a well known trust agent; we’re also driving hard as a consumer trust agent, changing the way people buy used cars. Simply because consumers asked.

Regardless of when and where you decide to purchase any vehicle Chris, part of our mission is to help the car shopper become the most intelligent buyer possible.

• Negotiating prices is out – our Used Car Superstores eliminate the need for this. Shoppers asked for this and we delivered.


• Guarantees are in – all of our vehicles come with a 3-Day/500-Mile Money Back Guarantee. Something else shoppers wanted.


• Quality is always in – every vehicle has a clean vehicle history report and passes our strict 85-point certification inspection.


• Memorable experiences are in – car shopping doesn’t need to seem like a trip to the dentist or having dinner with your Mother-in-law.


• Simple online research is in – you shouldn’t feel as if you’re writing a PhD Thesis. Plenty of new tools make this easier than ever.


• The best selection is in – if we don’t have it in stock, you can order any used car your heart desires.


• Lowest prices are definitely in – we scour the markets to find our customers the best savings possible. Our in-store research computers let you know you’re getting the best price possible.

The final price a car buyer pays for his or her vehicle shouldn’t be a function of their negotiating skills. The retail car industry is changing. Hopefully, some of that change comes from our own traction.

Let us know if you need any help Chris – we’d love to match you up with your crush. Until then – shop smart.

Of course, everyone is always welcome to drop me a line @AuctionDirect

BMW is working on an augmented reality system to create the most effective and cost efficient repair system possible. Service personnel can see the items needing attention, step by step instructions and the tools required for the job using the data goggles and a wi-fi connection.

If this can go mainstream, you’ll see more quality used BMW cars on the road and service trips won’t be as costly. Plus, if this type of technology is available for personal use, you’ll probably see a surge in self-service repairs. I’d be more interested in getting under the hood of my car if this was available.

Want to avoid speeding tickets with the help of your iPhone? Well of course, there’s an app for that too.

Trapster’s community of 300k+ users are responsible for the 200k+ updates that exist within the network.

• Speed traps


• Police hang outs


• Speed cameras


• Stop-light cameras

Gain an extra level of interaction, after signing up for Trapster.com, and you’ll get text alerts with new reports. A nice option is the voice alert to keep you aware of upcoming speed traps. Incredibly, Trapster will also gauge your speed and direction to provide pinpoint precision to its alerts to keep you on the road ticket free.

Auction Direct always encourages driving at posted speed limits. Having the right tools is just another smart idea while on the road.

Be sure to follow Trapster on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Volkswagen created one of the most technologically advanced automotive manufacturing facilities in the world. Located in Dresden, Germany, the complex creates a one-of-a-kind experience for the true VW enthusiast.

Aptly named The Transparent factory, visitors and customers alike can interact much further than the typical “factory tour.” Pick out your desired vehicle, interact with the manufacturers themselves and if you’d like, even participate in the creation of your new set of wheels right on the production line floor.

The production line is a marvel of technology itself; robots, hidden in-floor production tools and suspended manufacturing processes leave you scratching your head in amazement. Seeing this facility in action is a powerful sales tool on its own. This screams quality.

American automotive manufacturers should take a page from the German’s play book. We need this type of vehicle production magic for the car buyer and adopt the same “transparent” philosophy. Increasing the engagement level of car consumers and demonstrating the quality and care that go into the creation of a vehicle can be a powerful thing for the Big Three.

Image by kodiax2 via Flickr

Depending on which side of the desk you’re on in a car dealership, or which manufacturer provides you with your weekly paycheck, sentiment surrounding the Cash for Clunkers program was either a huge success or a tremendous flop. Here’s the first round of results from the 690,114 applications submitted worth over $2.8 billion.

Did you know that current deals submitted can still be rejected? If the auto industry was looking for a way to improve the public’s perception of car dealers, rejecting current submissions won’t help. Used car dealers are working hard to change the public’s image; a “bait and deny” program certainly hurts that effort.

Notice only five manufacturers are represented on this list: Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan.

Top 10 Most Purchased Vehicles:

1. Toyota Corolla

2. Honda Civic

3. Ford Focus FWD

4. Hyundai Elantra

6. Nissan Versa

7. Toyota Prius

8. Honda Accord

9. Honda Fit

10. Ford Escape FWD

Top 10 Trade-in vehicles:

1. Ford Explorer 4WD

2. Ford F-150 Pickup 2WD

3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD

4. Ford Explorer 2WD

5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD

6. Jeep Cherokee 4WD

7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD

8. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD

9. Ford F-150 Pickup 4WD

10. Ford Windstar FWD Van

What did GM and Chrysler do to miss this opprotunity? Were the lingering bankruptcy memories still too strong? Were the requirements not as widely applicable to the current batch of GM and Chrysler vehicles on the road?

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to Cash for Clunkers program,” Ray LaHood, U.S. transportation secretary said Wednesday. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund (or declining) showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel-efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

Trade-in vehicle statistics:

• 84 percent of vehicles traded-in were trucks


• 59 percent of those truck trade-in customers bought passenger cars


• Average trade-in mileage was 15.8 mpg


• Overall economy increased 9.2 mpg, or 58 percent


• Average new vehicle purchased receives 24.9 mpg

The White House Council of Economic Advisers predicted the following:

• Q3 economic growth of 0.3 to 0.4 percent at an annual rate


• Sustainable GDP from increased vehicle production and inventory fulfillment requirements


• 42,000 total jobs created and/or saved

Top 10 State Revenue Winners:

• California: $326,822,000


• Texas: $183,776,000


• New York: $156,292,000


• Florida: $146,565,000


• Illinois: $143,613,000


• Pennsylvania: $138,651,500


• Ohio: $136,267,000


• Michigan: $132,407,000


• New Jersey: $103,375,000


• Virginia: $98,523,500

Was your application rejected?

If so, do your used car research and you’ll find opportunities for savings above and beyond the rebates offered from the Cash for Clunkers program. And, without the hassles.

Vanity plates. People either love ‘em or hate ‘em.

This is a great piece of work by artist Mike Wilkins that you can’t help but appreciate – car fan or not. All 50 states – including the District of Columbia – organized to spell out The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

Have a cool vanity license plate on your used car? Share it…