Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

I enjoy a slick looking concept car as much as the next guy, even though most concept vehicles are nothing but over-designed eye candy that I really couldn’t see myself driving. But leave it to Volkswagen to come up with a concept that’s more utilitarian than easy on the eyes. Unveiled at the recreational and commercial vehicle show in Düsseldorf, Germany, the VW Caddy Topos Sail concept features an actual wooden boat deck built in to the roof. The Topos Sail is based on the smallest model in the VW commercial van fleet, and besides the real wooden decking it also features aluminum safety rails running along the sides of the roof, flip-up panels that serve as back rests and a matching wood and aluminum ladder built in to the tailgate. Perfect for those days when the local beach or park is too crowded to find a place to have a picnic or just lounge about.

[ Autoblog - Lounge on deck of VW Caddy Topos Sail Concept ]

Sometimes I come a across a product that promises to do so much for you that it seems like an incredible device. Then upon reading up on it you find that there is nothing substantial to back up such claims. Take this awesome HotInazma Pocket, which promises to “improve fuel consumption, reduce emissions” and will even improve the air in your car by acting as a negative ion generator. Awesome.

So how does this magic device work? It simply stabilizes the electricity flowing through your car’s electric system via the cigarette lighter adapter. Uh huh, so this little thing is going to make my car run smoother for just $99.95. I think I’ll wait until we see some actual tests that aren’t conducted by the manufacturer before I get excited.

[ 5StarShine ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Andrew Liszewski

You’re probably going to see this story and these photos pop-up all over the internet today, but as far as I’m concerned, this guy totally deserves his 15+ minutes of fame. Bob Dullam did what most Batman Begins & The Dark Knight fans can only dream of, he built his own working replica of the Tumbler batmobile in his two-car garage using nothing more than photos and extra features from the DVD as reference. He’s been posting pictures of his progress on the SuperHeroHype Forums and apparently intends to build his own Batpod replica next. (Even though it was apparently next to impossible to actually drive.) In the end Bob estimates his Tumbler replica will have cost him between $50,000 to $70,000, but even if all of his neighbors have Veyrons parked in their driveways, I guarantee this thing will turn more heads.

[ SuperHeroHype Boards - My Tumbler Progress ] VIA [ Jalopnik ]

By Luke Anderson

Have you ever put the wrong type of fuel in your car? I’m not talking about skimping out and getting regular when your car calls for premium. No, I’m wondering if you’ve ever put diesel into your gas tank by mistake? Well, now there’s a handy gadget that can check whether or not you’re putting the right stuff in your vehicle.

Install this little gadget on the inside of your fuel flap, then just hold the fuel nozzle up to it ever time you fill up. It will light up to tell you whether or not you’ve got the right type. Seriously, do we really need something like this? Why not just look at the pump and make sure you grabbed the right one? Heck, if I’m not mistaken, the nozzle on a diesel pump is actually larger than that of regular gas so it won’t fit into your car. If you’re really paranoid, then by all means pick one of these up for around $40

[ Fuel Checkers ] VIA [ Red Ferret ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I don’t know if any of you caught the 2-hour ‘pilot’ episode of NBC’s updated Knight Rider series, but I did, and all I can say is that it was pretty… pretty… terrible. When I was younger I occasionally watched the original series, but it wasn’t until the ratings started to dip and they introduced the ‘turbo boost’ mode that I really became a Knight Rider fan. There was just something about seeing KITT transform with all those extra fins and flaps that sucked me in as a kid. Well, clearly the producers of the new series felt the same way, and at this year’s Comic Con they unveiled the new KITT’s ‘Attack Mode’ which quite honestly makes the vehicle look like it just drove off the set of the latest Fast And The Furious film. I’m not going to pretend that the ‘turbo boost’ mode on the original KITT was practical or anything, but at least it kind of fit in with the design of the rest of the car, as opposed to this which looks like a random collection of after-market body accessories. Oh well, I guess there’s always Knightboat, the crime-solving boat!

[ Attack KITT Reveal - Knight Rider at Comic Con ] VIA [ Autoblog ]

By Evan Ackerman

Alright, so technically I guess the Chevy Volt is losing amps, not volts, but it was a pretty obligatory headline, right? GM says that they’re going to be reducing the size of the Volt’s gas tank from 12 gallons to something less than that (but they’re not exactly sure how much yet). This’ll drop the range of the Volt from about 600 miles to less than 400 miles.

Just to recap, the Volt travels its first 40 miles on pure electricity (which it gets from your wall outlet). After that, a gas powered generator kicks in to extend the range of the car. On a day to day basis, most people don’t drive more than 40 miles, so the gas tank isn’t a factor at all. When it comes to longer trips, GM says that having a range of 600 miles isn’t really necessary since “most bladders can’t go 600 miles.” Um, okay. Also, reducing the size of the gas tank will apparently reduce both cost and weight, enabling GM to call this an “improvement,” although I can’t imagine it’s really that significant.

I guess this shouldn’t be that big of a deal, and this sort of thing is only to be expected as the Volt transitions from concept to reality, but I’m worried that the essence (and the remarkableness) of the Volt is getting slowly eaten away. The late 2010 release date is only a few years away, but a lot can happen between now and then, and so far, it hasn’t been anything good.

[ Chevy Volt ] VIA [ Autoblog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s an interesting approach to dealing with the glare from oncoming headlights while driving at night. This LED panel easily attaches to your sun visor with a set of velcro straps and provides a soft white glow which is bright enough to make your pupils slightly shrink. While it won’t completely eliminate the glare from headlights, it does mean that your pupils won’t have to suddenly adjust when another vehicle passes, and it should help reduce the amount of squinting you have to do. The brightness of the LEDs can be manually adjusted to a level you find comfortable to drive with, but a set of ambient light sensors can also do it automatically. That’s particularly useful if you happen to be driving in the day but enter a dark tunnel and want your pupils to be adjusted for when you re-enter the sunlight at the other end.

The Anti-Glare LED Panel is available from Pro-Idee for about $360.

[ Anti-Glare LED Panel ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Apparently in some parts of the world you’re not allowed to have a GPS device suction-cupped to your windshield. And if Johnny Law frowns on you doing that, I can only assume the other options like duct taping it to your steering wheel, or hanging it from your rearview mirror are also out of the question. That’s when you might have to settle for the Nav-Mat GPS Dash Mount from Bracketron. It’s basically a weighted pillow that features a mounting surface on top where you can attach your GPS device’s windshield mounting bracket. Its weight, combined with an anti-skid material on the underside allows the Nav-Mat to stay perched on your dashboard while supporting a GPS device that weighs as much as “several pounds.”

At $29.95 it’s considerably more expensive than a roll of duct tape, but I guess it does make it easier if you ever wanted to use your GPS device in another vehicle.

[ Bracketron Universal Nav-Mat GPS Dash Mount ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Jonathan Kimak

Ok, maybe you will tell the police officer that caught you speeding that you didn’t know the speed limit when you really did know. But sometimes you get distracted for a second because you’re switching tracks on your iPod and you miss seeing the sign and the next sign might be 10 miles away. That one second distraction could cost you hundreds of dollars in speeding tickets.

Vauxhall Motors, a British subsidiary of General Motors, has come up with a camera to fix that problem and possibly save you money. The optional camera takes 30 pictures a second and analyzes the pictures with image recognition software to detect all the speed limit signs it passes and then posts the current limit on the dashboard of the car.

The system will debut in Vauxhall’s upcoming Insignia sedan and might be available for 2010 models of cars in the US. Of course if you do have this in your car and are speeding, you’ll have a far harder time trying to explain how you didn’t know the speed limit when you have a big light that says 65 on your dash.

VIA [ Kicking Tires ]