Cars

TheFeed believes the children are our future; teach them well and let them lead the way. Just don't drive them anywhere.

According to a recently published study from a British insurance company, kids cause more driving distraction and thus accidents than cell phones, coffee drinking, cigarettes or anything else. The study contends that nearly 3,000 accidents are caused every year due to driver distraction.

TheFeed has always known it was safe to drive its sidecar-equipped motorcycle down California's freeways while simultaneously drinking a double-expresso, calling our agent and smoking a corncob pipe, and now its backed up with solid research. As long as we keep any of our army of Illegitimate children at home, we'll never crash! Thanks, Great Britain! We owe you!

whatcar.com: Kids are drivers' biggest distraction

It was bound to happen. Someone out there couldn't deal with the Prius' outstanding 50 MPG and just had to take it to the next level.

The Lithium Technology Corporation has unveiled their version of the Prius hybrid and it's a "plug-in." The new model uses an advanced lithium iron phosphate battery that allows the hybrid car to travel up to a distance of 125 miles per gallon of fuel. If Toyota were to adopt the new battery system, it could lead to the most efficient mass-produced car in the world.

With the cost of gasoline reaching a premium here in the good ol' US of A, the Toyota Prius demonstrated by LTC would cost you almost nothing to fill up. The car charges up by plugging into a power outlet in the owner's garage.

Next up....Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor!!!

The Future Of Things: New 125 Miles per Gallon Toyota Prius

American car companies may not be the best at developing fuel-efficient cars, but they sure know how to pack some muscle into 'em.

The latest issue of Motor Trend has hit the stands and what better place for Cadillac to unveil the powerplant that will be pushing along the 2009 CTS-V at blistering speeds. Straight from the Corvette Blue Devil, the CTS-V will be receiving a "detuned" version of the 7.0L LS7 engine.

Pumping out roughly 600 horsepower, the CTS-V will have the BMW M3 and Audi RS4 - both producing only 420 horsepower - and the Mercedes C63 AMG - 503 horsepower - eating rubber.

Oh, and for those of you sitting in your BMW M5s, your puny 500 horsepower still doesn't compare.

AutoBlog: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V will have 600HP Corvette Blue Devil engine!

Scion, the youth-branded line of automobile, has become Toyota's little division that could.

Having sold over 170,000 xA, xB and tC cars, Toyota must now make a big decision: do they add a fourth line to the Scion brand?

Back when Toyota unveiled the tC, we felt that they were on the road to success offering a coupe that was not only affordable, but that actually looked really cool.  Their next decision is key and if they decide to take advantage of the Scion Fuse concept car that was unveiled in 2006, they could not only reach their goal of selling 200,000 cars a year, but surpass it...easily.

For now, it is a wait-and-see process, but keep your eyes peeled for some news out of one of the major auto shows.

AutoBlog: Scion may break promise to itself, add fourth model

Oh what a feeling indeed!

Toyota has been receiving reports that 20 Tundra camshafts on their new 5.7-liter V8 engines have actually snapped. Let's keep in mind that this number equates to 0.06 percent of the Tundras on the road, but nonetheless, these are Toyotas we are talking about.

The blame for the problem appears to be an outside supplier who provided the camshafts with "a metallurgical defect in the casing," aka, they f*d up and are never going to be used by Toyota again.

If you were one of the 30,000 people who were unfortunate enough to land one of these messed up camshafts, Toyota will send a brand spanking new 5.7L via airfreight to your nearest dealer for installation.

AutoBlog: Aw Snap! No, really - 20 Tundra camshafts have snapped

Forza Motorsport 2 (the racing sim that affords players the option to give their cars fully customizable paint jobs, among other things) has made its way to the Land of the Rising Sun and based on early videos, we can forget X to the Z, Xzibit. It’s clear nobody knows how to pimp out rides like Japanese gamers.

Kotaku.com: The Amazing Japanese Forza 2 Paint Jobs

The current trend of low-key silver, black, white and gray car colors is about to get its ass kicked by the upcoming new wave of “vibrant colors and glitzy finishes.”

BooYaa!!!!

Or so says hue guru Li Edelkoort, whose ability to accurately predict color trends has given her cult status in the fashion and design industries. She runs the Trend Union, which provides color forecasting guides two years in advance of the seasons that cosmetic, fashion, interior and product designers work toward.

On the other hand, who in their right mind would listen to anyone who calls themselves a “hue guru”??? I mean, have you seen what SHE drives (pictured above)?

YahooNews.com: Painting a brighter future

Racing fans, start your sense of distracted impatience: Forza 2 is hitting retail stores next week.

Not only that, but the price of the force-feedback Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel has dropped down to a manageable $129.99.

According to the official press release, the comination of the wheel and the game set "a new precedent for realism in the racing simulation genre that will have gamers feeling every bump in the road and every jolt of acceleration as they take the corners on 12 of the most renowned tracks on the globe."

We're sold already!

More details below.

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We are living in a science fiction movie.

Honda is releasing the first hydrogen-powered car. In 2008. Next year.

According to Honda, the car's power will be "derived from a broad range of sources, including methane or natural gas, bio-mass and renewable sources like solar or wind." They're also toying with a home hydrogen energy generation station that runs off natural gas.

I want a home hydrogen energy generation station.

The Honda FCX has a 275-mile range and goes up to 100 mph.

WANT.

Jalopnik.com: Honda Hydrogen FCX Coming in 2008!

The Gumball 3000, an annual 3000 mile car rally that occurs on public roads in Europe, is a lot of fun when it's fake. Movies like Cannonball Run are hilarious. But in real life, without the hysterical mugging of Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise, the race is less like a screwball comedy of flashy cars and hot chicks, and more like a horrible vision of the Western world's class system, where careless rich people use the landscape and lives of regular people as backdrops to their hedonistic, money-fueled nihilism. Or something like that.

Anyway, the inevitable happened at this year's rally: A hit-and-run accident in Macedonia left a man dead and his wife in the hospital in critical condition. After the crash, gumball driver Nick Morley and co-pilot Matthew McConville reportedly exited their overpriced death machine and ran from the scene of the crime without stopping to check on the well-being of the couple. They were picked up by another Gumball driver and made it as far as the border with Turkey before being arrested. Reportedly, after being let out on bail, Nick Morley, tried to flee the country in a private jet. He was arrested again by the Macedonian police before he could board his plane.

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We're sure you're a worthwhile person, but you need to face this truth: You'll never be able to afford a Ferrari. We have several dozen ringing our compound, but you... Sorry. Nope. Never gonna happen.

Luckily, you can live vicariously through an upcoming PS3 Ferrari videogame.

Massimo Fedeli, Managing Director of Ferrari GB stated "Since the launch of the next-generation consoles, the video game industry finally has, at its disposal, a machine with enough power to truly and loyally represent the Ferrari driving experience...we're very excited to be working with System 3 to produce a cutting-edge racing experience for those fans."

featuring . The launch platform for Ferrari Challenge is the PlayStation 3 and the game has been developed to maximise the technology in the new console format such as a 16-player feature,

The game will feature real cars, real tracks and true Ferrari racing dynamics and a 16-player mode. It will come out around Christmas in England. No word on the U.S. yet..

GameNews: Ferrari Breaks Silence on System 3's Ferrari Challenge Video Game

In just the first three months of the year, Toyota Motor Corp. has already become the world's top auto seller, passing rival General Motors Corp. for the first time.

Hahahahahaha! GM, you stupid jerks!!!! Can’t even hold onto your silly title!!!

Toyota only sold a pithy 2.35 million vehicles worldwide in the January-March quarter, the company said, surpassing the 2.26 million vehicles that

GM only sold a pithy 2.26 million vehicles in the first quarter, as opposed to Toyota beyond-incredible 2.35 million. Why, ‘cause they are LOSERS!

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You have to hand it to the British: When they make a car show, it rules!

Don't believe us? Check out this vid we found on youtube of Britishcar show Top Gear. The hosts mod out a Mercedes Benz so the interior resembles an English country cottage, complete with wood-burning stove, then they take the monstrosity out for a spin.

We like this about, oh, a bazillion times better than Pimp My Ride.

To celebrate Earth Day this year, MTV’s Pimp My Ride crew is teaming up with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a very special episode to air April 22 at 1 pm ET/PT.

How special?

Very f***ing special, okay?

On the show, the Terminator himself visits Xzibit and his boys as they take a '65 Chevy Impala and give it a ecological alteration, proving power and preservation can co-exist…with the help of massive auto industry conglomerates! Yes, with the help of Galpin, Imperium Renewables, General Motors and others, the Impala gets an 800 horsepower diesel engine that will run on biodiesel, turning it into one helluva clean machine!

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We're not sure how the New York Auto Show decides on the car of the year awards, but this year, the winner of car of the year is the Lexus LS 460. We wouldn't kick one out of bed for eating crackers, sure, but car of the year, really? Although... it parks itself! Damn!

 
The Audi TT took design of the year, which is sort of fitting in some strange way, and the "green" car of the year did not go to the Prius, believe it or not. The most enviromentally friendly auto, according to the New York Auto show: The Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec, a turbo-diesel kinda ride.

Autoblog: New York Auto Show: Global Schmobal, 2007 World Car of the Year Awards