Car Tech Articles

Nissan's Pathfinder started life as a truck-based SUV, then went to unibody construction in a subsequent generation, becoming a crossover before there were crossovers. That generation was followed by a truck-based model, which gained a little off-road cred. With the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder the pendulum swings back to a crossover design, striving to retain its backcountry capability while adding all the comforts of a minivan. With the Platinum Premium package, Nissan even throws in a rear-seat entertainment system.

What Nissan really attempts with the Pathfinder is to be all things to all people. This effort is, for the most … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- General Motors is eager to get its slice of the app pie.

Mary Chan, head of the global connected consumer unit for GM, told CNET that apps would come to select cars in the second half. The initial set of apps will be per-determined by the company, will be available for download, and will make up the early stages of its in-car app store. More importantly, GM will also debut an app framework in these cars that will enable the download of future apps.

With the proliferation of the app market in mobile devices, GM -- and … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- For parents looking to settle backseat brawls over which kid gets to hold the tablet next, Digital Innovations' EasyMount contraption for tablets offers one affordable solution.

The patent-pending plastic and aluminum mount hooks onto the front-seat headrests with sliding arms that can accommodate most cars, trucks, and vans. Adjustable arms and clips in the mount's center accommodate tablets of varying sizes. The result? A tablet that's equidistant from the left and right back seats, and that can be controlled by any passenger.

The device looks sturdy, though I wasn't able to see it in … Read more

Subscribe:

iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)

Follow @CNETOnCars

This episode we welcome our colleagues from CNET UK who produce the XCar video series. They approach cars in a way that is different yet complimentary to my car tech videos, and we'll be featuring one in each episode going forward. We kick it off by giving them top billing with their lovely video impression of the new Jaguar F-Type, which we have yet to get into the CNET garage in San Francisco. This XCar piece is a nice way … Read more

I wish I could tell you about driving the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse up to its record-breaking speed of 254 mph. Race car driver Anthony Liu did it. Of course, he drove the Veyron on a 5.6-mile straightaway at Volkswagen's test track in Ehra-Lessien, Germany, setting the speed record for a production convertible.

On the rural roads in Napa, Calif., the best I could manage was a few seconds of maximum acceleration, making all four wheels grab pavement with neck-snapping force from the engine's 1,106 pound-feet of torque.

With my foot flat on the gas … Read more

It could be the most extraordinarily bizarre production vehicle in the world. The 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG makes no sense whatsoever. It's a German military truck dressed up in a veneer of civility with a hot-rod engine. It combines legendary off-road capability, AMG performance, luxury, and technology in complete disharmony.

And whether you love it or hate it is a pretty good indication of whether you operate from the heart or the head, at least when it comes to cars.

The sensible approach to the G63 AMG would be to reason that you will never use its three differential … Read more

We've seen some pretty out-there limited-edition cars from luxury manufacturer Lamborghini, but its newest may have just taken the biscuit and sped off with it.

The Egoista, unveiled at the closing gala of the 50th anniversary Grande Giro tour, was designed by Volkswagen's head of design, Walter De Silva, and it's meant to be the ultimate in self-indulgence.

"This is a car made for one person only, to allow them to have fun and express their personality to the maximum," De Silva said. "It is designed purely for hyper-sophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world. It represents hedonism taken to the extreme, it is a car without compromises, in a word: egoista (selfish)." … Read more

Google Maps for mobile is getting some new tricks.

Coming to an updated version of the service for Android and iOS is deeper integration with reviews company Zagat (which Google acquired), built-in offers from participating businesses, an "explore" feature, and dynamic re-routing during navigation if there are accidents in the way.

Google also said it's built a standalone Maps app for tablets, which it plans to launch this summer.

The changes were unveiled during the company's keynote at I/O, Google's annual developers conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Alongside the preview, Google introduced a … Read more

Mercedes-Benz announced it would demonstrate Google local search, Street View, and traffic integrated into the dashboard of one of its vehicles during Google I/O. These features will be introduced soon as part of Mercedes-Benz's DriveStyle app.

Local search will let drivers enter any term to begin a search, resulting in a list of nearby place names. Each entry can be selected as a destination for navigation. The Street View feature will let the driver see a 360-degree view of any destination, as long as Google has covered it.

Traffic data is similar to what can be found on … Read more