I've experienced my fair share of driving simulators over the past 30 years. From Atari's Night Driver on the 2600 to Grand Turismo 4 with a Force-Feedback steering wheel and Sparco Racing Cockpit Pro.
But last weekend I tried out the VRX Mach 3 system from Virtual Racer. This system is available for PC, PS3 or Xbox 360. Certainly the most striking aspect of the VRX Mach 3 is the bank of three 24-inch HD LCD Samsung monitors, but the most effective aspect of this simulator is the coordinated seat, pedal and steering wheel force feedback.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Karl on Cars
Chrysler may be be thought of as the third wheel among the Detroit Three, and that the automaker had to be rescued by an Italian suitor didn't do much to change this perception. But when it comes to tech innovations, Chrysler is competitive not only with its Motown rivals, but with car companies from Europe and Asia as well.
The flagship 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 is an unlikely platform to showcase Chrysler's technology prowess, given the vehicle's utilitarian roots. But Chrysler has loaded its popular SUV with plethora of tech, and more rear seat entertainment options than any other automaker, including two exclusives.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Jeep, Test Car Notes
I took the above picture while stuck in traffic in a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 V6 Coupe. Don't worry, I wasn't moving when I snapped it, though I wish I would have been since I was running late.
I called up the "Real-Time Traffic" information supplied by Sirius Traffic on the car's in-dash display. But it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, and by then it was too late to take a detour. While some information about what's ahead and what to expect in terms of a delay is better than not knowing at all, I'm still wondering when real-time traffic will get real.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Mercedes-Benz, Test Car Notes
The Bowers & Wilkins audio system in a 2010 Jaguar XF I recently tested ranks as one of the best high-end stock audio options available. What I appreciate about the system (and previous non-B&W system in other Jags) is it gives you three ways to listen to music.
In the Sound menu are three touch-screen tabs for stereo, three-channel and Dolby ProLogic II. While they all have their advantages and disadvantages -- and it comes down to personal taste -- only one passed our test for accurate soundstaging and imaging.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Jaguar, Test Car Notes
I'd been behind the wheel of a 2011 Mercedes-Benz R350 BlueTEC for less than 10 minutes when it happened: The vehicle took off on its own as I prepared to make a right turn. And on a downtown street crowded with people, no less. I instinctively stabbed the brakes but still felt like an idiot.
I looked down once I stopped and noticed that my left hand landed on the cruise control stalk instead of the adjacent turn signal. Thinking that I was signaling for a right turn, I instead engaged cruise.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Mercedes-Benz, Test Car Notes
THX may not be the first name that comes to mind when people think of premium car audio. Or consumer electronics in general. Bose, JBL, Infinity, Harman Kardon are more well known, perhaps because you can buy actual audio components from those brands. (And at least three out of the four mentioned are part of consumer-electronics/OEM car audio behemoth Harman International.)
THX doesn't produce consumer products, except for a few select automotive sound systems. And that's too bad given the sound of the 14-speaker, 600-watt THX II Certified 5.1 Surround system in a 2010 Lincoln MKZ AWD I recently tested.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Lincoln, Test Car Notes
I look forward to having a car with remote start in the winter because I can simply click a button to crank the cold engine and get the interior warm and toasty before I climb in. I can't recall ever using the feature in the summer, since I live in a part of the country that doesn't get super hot, except for a few weeks each year.
So when I was out with the family on a recent sweltering summer day driving a 2010 Chrysler Sebring Limited, I was glad it had remote start. I parked right outside of a restaurant, within view of where we were sitting while having a bite, and with the windows partially rolled down to let some fresh air in and the heat escape. While waiting for the check I activated the remote start and had set the air conditioner on full blast to help cool the interior -- at least a little.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Chrysler, Test Car Notes
The first vehicle to offer DVD-Audio was the 2004 Acura TL, via a branded sound system called ELS Surround that Grammy-winning record producer Elliot Scheiner had a hand in developing and tuning. But by that point, DVD-Audio, introduced five years earlier in 1999, was already an orphan software format, due to record company and consumer apathy and the quantity-over-quality craze that kicked in with the start of the MP3 era.
While DVD-Audio never thrived in the car, it has survived and is still offered in a handful of high-end vehicles. And it was one of the high points of my experience driving the 2010 Acura ZDX with the Advance Package.
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Categories: Acura, Car Audio and Technology
Automakers charge in excess of $1,000 for in-dash nav systems, when you can get similar features on a lower-priced portable -- and now nearly the same functionality on an even less expensive smartphone nav app. Even though I liked the neat little nav system in a 2010 Mazdaspeed 3, the price (part of a $1,895 Tech Package option) left me less than impressed.
The downsized nav system in the Mazdaspeed 3 -- the screen is a mere 3.5 x 2.25 inches, smaller than even some of the lowest-priced portables -- has its upsides, but just as many downsides as well.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Mazda, Test Car Notes
Since I mainly test technology, one of the first things I scope out on the copy of the Monroney (aka window sticker) that accompanies each car is the column typically found along the right-hand side, where the options are listed. It's where I usually find what kind of tech toys a vehicle has, and how much they cost.
So when I checked the sticker for a 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander 3.0 GT S-AWC and found that the Premium Navigation & Leather Package runs $3,000, my first impression was, "Ouch!" But after a week in the Outback I came away thinking that the pricey option package arguably packs a lot of features for the money.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Mitsubishi, Test Car Notes
The 2011 Infiniti M37X is a high-tech wonder with an alphabet soup of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Lane Departure Warning/Prevention (LDW/LDP), Blind Sport Warning/Intervention (BSW/BSI), Distance Control Assist (DCA), Forward Collision Waring (FCW) and Intelligent Brake Assist (IBA).
These all help prevent drivers from getting in accidents and can be quite intrusive, although you can turn them off. But the ADAS feature on the vehicle that I found the most interesting (and the most intrusive), ECO Pedal, isn't designed to save lives but instead save fuel.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Fuel Efficiency, Infiniti, Test Car Notes
Who would pay almost $500 to add flashing lights to a car? Or over $200 to add the Shag Dash Topper shown in the photo above? That's what I wondered after a week in a 2010 Nissan Cube 1.8 S.
I'm all for whimsy, and my kids liked the Cube so much that my 11-year-old daughter announced that it's her new favorite car (after the 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan, mind you). But rather than just marvel at how insanely inane such features are like my colleague James Riswick, I have to wonder who actually pays for such features.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Nissan, Test Car Notes
Last week I blogged about the frustrating iPod integration in a 2010 Lexus ES 350, in which the system decides to play a sample of the music on the device as you scroll through a list of menu items. But this problem, which also popped up on a 2010 Toyota Camry XLE I tested last week (and every Toyota and Lexus I've been in recently), is minor compared to other tech troubles I uncovered in the Camry. And it shows the difficulty automakers face when trying to accommodate the latest portable devices drivers bring into the car.
It's not like I have the latest and greatest phone, a year-old iPhone 3GS, which just became antiquated. And I haven't had the exact same issues in other Toyota and Lexus vehicles, such as not being able to pair my phone with the Bluetooth system, as shown in the long video above (with apologies for the blinking display).
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Lexus, Toyota
Few things are more frustrating than when you're rocking to a great tune on the road, only to have the music interrupted for some reason. I've found this to be a common symptom of poorly planned steering-wheel audio controls, like those in late-model Jaguars with similarly shaped and closely spaced volume up/down and track up/down thumb wheels. Just when I'm ready to crank it up, I inadvertently hit the track up/down control instead ... and the moment is over.
But I noticed something just as infuriating in a few Lexus and Toyota vehicles I've recently tested, as shown in the video above I shot last week in a 2010 Lexus ES 350. When scrolling through artists on a connected iPod, whichever artist the screen's blue highlighted bar lands on, the iPod automatically begins playing from there. And the same thing happens when scrolling through songs.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Lexus, Test Car Notes
The thing I like about cruise control is that while on the interstate I can set it and don't have to fret that my heavy foot might inadvertently get me into speeding-ticket territory. And a lot of drivers like to set their cruise speed just under what they think won't cause the highway patrol to pick them out of the crowd.
With some speedos and cruise systems, it's a guessing game and you have to set the speed at some approximation of the intended target. But cruise systems like the one in the 2010 Lincoln MKT allow precisely setting a speed in digits.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Lincoln, Test Car Notes
