Ok this is kind of cool and somewhat useful — a BMW owner in Munich apparently grew tired of his black bimmer and hired a group of guys to wrap it up in some white tape (in lieu of a new paint job).

Now this isn’t your normal run-of-the-mill duct variety, but a more advanced 3M wrap, and the process is actually referred to as “foiling”. It’s the stuff used by the German military (drab colored) and it protects paint finishes from rock damage, nicks, chips, etc. And the stuff lasts.

German foiling link here. Be sure to check out the foiled Veyron and the R8.

You can leave your car “wrapped” for 3-4 years without any resulting damage. You can even take it Read the rest of this entry »

Have you had a look at Zap’s website lately? No? Who’s Zap? Zap stands for Zero Air Pollution.

The forward-thinking folks at Zap are currently taking reservations for their latest (and perhaps greatest) all-electric zap-mobile: the Alias.

Headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA, this developer of ingenious, high-efficiency cars, scooters, cycles and boat engines (yes) hasn’t been asleep at the wheel lately. They’ve come up with quite an assorted selection of alternative energy conveyances that surely fit the needs and driving styles of many consumers.

Here are a few specs on the Alias from the company’s website: Read the rest of this entry »

Audi is about to release their next version of the MMI (Multi-Media Interface) for the A8. The MMI is what powers the navigation, radio and car systems.

With a high-capacity HD, a DVD drive and super-fast processors, it is much more versatile and its performance is higher than ever before. The new MMI’s first appearance will be in the A8 luxury sedan, but before long it will also be Read the rest of this entry »

The cash in question is a cool $5000. That would be the deposit, in case (God forbid) something were to happen while you test drive the all-new Tesla Roadster, the ultimate electric-powered sports car. Tesla Motors, based in San Carlos, Ca, opened its second showroom this morning just down the road on 101, on 300 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. (The first showroom opened in Santa Monica in May.)

The showroom, which replaces an old Chevrolet dealership on a busy block of shuttered car lots saw curious on-lookers and some serious potential buyers today. Except that you can’t really walk in, buy it, and then drive it out the door, like in most other places. If you do manage to fall head over heels in love, Tesla is happy to take a similar deposit and apply it to their current $109,000 MSRP.

And if you just want to take it out on 280 (take Santa Cruz Avenue west, then slight left on Alameda de las Pulgas, then right on Sand Hill) or join the Read the rest of this entry »