Autoblog

Cobb Tuning has re-engineered its AccessPort control unit for the new R35 Nissan GT-R. For those of you lucky enough to own a GT-R and not content with its performance out of the box, the $995 AccessPort will reflash the ECU to any one of six different tuning levels.

There are three levels each for Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 can get you up to 63 additional ponies and 70 lb.-ft. of additional twist, while Stage 2 can boost the numbers by 70 and 90 respectively. The AccessPort can also save your stock ECU data and reflash it when you decide you're finished with all that extra gumption. According to a GT-R owner who tried it out, you can be blowing past all those regular GT-Rs in less than an hour.

And that's not all: you can store multiple engine mapping programs, remove trouble codes, install reduced-power valet and economy modes, and update maps over the Internet. It seems like a ridiculously easy proposition for making your supercar that much more super. So if you got one of those GT-Rs that are a little low on horses, this could be just the ticket.

[Source: Bespoke Ventures]

Smoking cigars. It conjures images of wood-lined, quilted-leather private clubs and back-room deals brokered with a hand-shake between captains of industry and diplomats. Though tobacco may be taboo in modern society, cigars still have an air of class about them. At least until Lamborghini got involved.

While we're all for automotive-themed products, especially those of the finely-crafted variety, this seems to take things too far. Made by Tonino Lamborghini (think of it as Sant'Agata's Porsche Design), this range of lighters and cigar cutters, in our view, infuses the flashy, fast-paced Lamborghini image into a realm where it doesn't belong. Maybach can get away with slapping their badge on a smoker's set. Even Porsche Design manages to carry it off with a degree of class. But as much as we like Lamborghini's fantastic sportscars, when our first-born child arrives, we'll take a pass on these.

[Source: eLighters via CarScoop]

With a 510 hp V12 under-hood, you wouldn't need any extra motivation to buy an Aston Martin DBS, but the James Bond factor certainly doesn't hurt. So if you're going to be driving 007's ride, you're going to need a Bond-esque watch to go with it. While 007 sports an Omega, Aston Martin's official timekeeper has come out with a watch complete with the kind of high-tech features that would make even Bond take notice.

Like the first one we reported on a year ago, the second DBS watch from Jaeger LeCoultre integrates a transponder that can open and close the doors on the Aston Martin supercar it's designed to accompany. The device took some 18 months to develop, but operation is simple: touch the glass between 8 and 9 o'clock to open the doors, between 3 and 4 to close them. The watch has been redesigned to incorporate more DBS styling cues, with a silver DBS logo below 12 o'clock over a movement designed to mimic the brake calipers on the top-of-the-line Aston. The new AMVOX2 will be officially unveiled at the Paris show in October. Check out the press release after the jump and the micro-site here for more info.

Click above to view a video of the Chrysler UConnect system.

Chrysler's wireless, in-car Internet system will be made available beginning on August 25th, with pricing set at $499 for the Uconnect equipment, a $50 installation at the dealer, a $35 initial activation charge and a service fee of $29 per month. The cost of the system might be bearable for business users, but everyday consumers may be content with their Edge or 3G-enabled smartphones for mobile web browsing and email.

Check out our original post on the UConnect system here and view a video demonstration of the system in action here.

[Source: InformationWeek]

Click above to view video after the jump

Alex Roy, currently locked in an M5 with our own Damon Lavric, recently got a video tour of a rather nifty Audi R8 owned by someone who insists he remain nameless. Codenamed Blackbird, the coupe is stuffed with enough gadgets to be a testbed for NASA's shuttle replacement, but don't for a second think the interior resembles a jungle of wires, screens and antennae: all the electronic gear is seamlessly integrated in a most impressive way. A sample of the wares in the blacked out supercar with the gunmetal gray blade include four GPS units, two radar detectors, police scanner, CB radio, kill switch for all rear lights, high-speed broadband Internet with Wi-Fi running on a tablet PC, power ports, takedown lights, a remote-controlled exhaust bypass valve, and -- get this -- a liquid-cooled infrasonic wave pulse generator. Apparently, you don't want to stand by that last item if you wish to have children. Follow the jump for the whole story in moving pictures. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[Source: YouTube]

Click above for gallery of the Glue-On Brembos in a variety of colors

Poseurs, take note: you can finally corral all that imaginary power your Hyundai Elantra SRT8 isn't making underhood. Eric Hsu at JDM Insider's Beyond the Dyno blog came across what'll doubtless be the latest trend to show up on M-badged Plymouth Breezes everywhere: bogus, glue-on brake caliper covers that give you the high-performance Brembo look while perfectly maintaining your fakemobile's incomprehensible lameness. When it comes to things that suck, innovation knows no bounds.


[Source: Beyond the Dyno]

Just in time for Pebble Beach, Cars That Matter is rolling out a price guide that can give you the current collector value for hundreds of cars on your java-enabled smartphone or PDA.

If you're a collector you've probably researched the catalog and car you want to bid on before you take your bidder number. But what if a 1968 Checker Wagon in good condition and with the Factory Taxi option -- just the one you've been looking for -- is added at the last minute? How do you know how much to pay?

The guide gives you Checker prices broken down in three tiers for the sedan and the wagon, ranging from $7,200 to $20,500. It also lets you know to add another $3,500 for the Factory Taxi option, and a further 20-percent if it were a 1970-71 with the V8. It's the kind of tool that might help you never pay too much for a classic car at auction again. Or, at the very least, you'll know ahead of time that you're about to take a bath on that yellow submarine...

[Source: Cars That Matter]

FasTrak is an "electronic toll collection system" used in California. Once you set up an account, you get a transponder that simply debits your account balance whenever you pass through a toll booth. The system uses RFID technology to broadcast your account information to the toll booth receivers. According to Hack A Day, the system is anything but secure.

Among other problems, an attendee at the Black Hat 2008 conference in Las Vegas found that because the in-car transponders don't require any authentication, anyone with an RFID reader can get the unique ID from any car and then use that in their own transponder. Not only that, but you could also force any other transponder to take on a new ID because of the system's open over-the-air upgrading system.

To change the system would require legislative action since it's all defined by California laws, so Californians shouldn't expect a quick fix. Until -- and if -- a fix comes, we suppose the best that can be done is to make sure you scrutinize your FasTrak bill. And keep an eye out for guys kitted out like Star Trek yeomen wandering the park-and-ride commuter lots... Thanks for the tip, fabienne!

[Source: Hack A Day, Photo by JasonJT | Creative Commons 2.0]

When a BMW 335i owner in Munich became bored with his black coupe, he hired a team to wrap it in white tape. Two days later, he drove home in his refreshed "Alpine White" coupe (with an M3-appearing black roof). No, it's not normal tape. It's a special 3M wrap, and the process is known as "foiling." Apparently, the German military has been using the process (with an olive drab tape) for some time now. Likewise, the process is popular with race teams and taxi companies. Available in countless colors, the tape itself is thick enough to protect the paint from minor chips and nicks, and it can be left adhered to the surface for 3-4 years without damage (!). Adhesion isn't a problem either, as the tape can even withstand an automatic car wash without peeling off. Thanks for the tip Frank.

[Source: E90post]

As if "shift lights" weren't annoying enough... Nissan's new "ECO pedal" has been engineered to encourage good fuel economy with a servo-actuated gas pedal that will push back on the driver's lead foot when on-board computers detect wasteful acceleration. According to Nissan, vehicles equipped with the ECO pedal, and real-time fuel consumption gauges in the instrument panel, have returned a 5-10 percent increase in fuel efficiency. The Japanese automaker says it has plans to begin installing the ECO pedal in models next year, although there is no word on what models, or markets, will get the system. We're betting it's an option unlikely to show up on the GT-R anytime in the near future.

[Source: Reuters]