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Lotus has rolled out a new trailer for the company's Exige S. Those who are easily tired by flashy cuts and metaphor may want to skip this one, as it pits the supercharged V6 hellion against a boxer. No, not a Porsche or Subaru boxer engine. An actual boxer, as in, a pugilist.

Our brows may be a bit too low to understand the concept at work here, but we appreciate a good advertisement when we see one. With plenty of tire smoke, lots of doughnuts and dramatic shots of the black body work on the Exige S, the clip hits all the right notes.

The Lotus Exige S packs 346 horsepower in a 2,380-pound track-bred package. The supercharged 3.5-liter V6 mounted mid-ship delivers 295 pound-feet of torque. Given that the old Exige S could clip off 0-60 mph runs in the 4.1 second range, we wouldn't be surprised to hear that the 2012 model can do the deed in the high three-second range. Hit the jump to take a look at the video.

Google co-founder Larry Page sat down with the Internet giant's former CEO, Eric Schmidt, for a Q&A session during this week's Zeitgeist 2011 event, and when the topic of increasing processor speed came from an audience member, Schmidt went into the infinite possibilities afforded "when you have all the computing power and all the telemetry and everything going on in the world in real time." Not surprisingly, Page made the leap right to autonomous cars.

"The automated car stuff is a good example of this possibility," Page told the assembled masses. "It seemed pretty practical. You think that driving a car is hard, but it's actually not that hard... for a computer. If the computer has good data about what's around it."

And then Chairman Schmidt jumps in with this gem: "Our computers drive our cars better than you do when you're drunk. That's our starting point."

That's not a very high bar Mr. Schmidt, but we digress...

Check out the conversation starting at around the 29 minute mark in the video after the jump.

After our first drive of the Hyundai Veloster, we described the three-door hatch as an 'eco-sport' rather than an 'all-out performance car'. The 1.6-liter four-pot under the hood produces 138 horsepower and 123 pound-feet torque, which provided 'adequately entertaining' acceleration. In other words, we wouldn't mind one bit if the Veloster got an extra dose of power.

The folks over at ARK Performance were thinking the same thing, and are set to debut a custom Veloster at SEMA in November with an extra dose of oomph under the hood. The additional ponies – 210 in total – comes courtesy of intercooled turbocharger system and a high-flow exhaust system. ARK has also worked over the rest of the Veloster with six-piston front brakes, coilover suspension system, custom Alcantara interior and a widebody kit with green and grey graphics.

You can check out the full list of upgrades after the jump, and be on the lookout for live coverage of the car at the SEMA Show come November.

Modern Car Thieves Outsmart The Law By Cloning



When it comes to car theft, the good news is that law enforcement has become so good that theft rates have dropped for a decade. The bad news is that this is forcing car thieves to become far more clever and daring than they ever were in the past.

Not long ago, chop shops were the favorite fence for car thieves. They'd drop off a stolen vehicle where it would get "chopped" into its most lucrative parts and sold off for big profits. But today, chop shops are practically passé. Now car thieves find it faster, safer and more profitable to "clone" a car.

Cloning is not a new practice, but it's becoming more and more popular. It involves stealing a car, then creating a new title and VIN for it, but doing it in a way that makes it very difficult for law enforcement to track. And car thieves are adopting depressingly creative ways to clone cars.

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Your dream of owning a $45,000 Lotus plug-in minicar could become a reality in 2013. If that's truly your dream, then you'll be thrilled to know that the extended-range Lotus Ethos will reportedly hit U.S. dealerships in late 2013 as a Model Year 2014 vehicle.

Unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Lotus' minicar concept, now called the Ethos, will enter the production cycle in 2013. That's official. However, word of the Ethos coming to the U.S. has not been confirmed by the automaker.

In production form, the plug-in Ethos is expected to employ a range-extending 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine. Lotus claims the Ethos will have an electric-only range of 37 miles before that range extender swings into action, adding 270 miles of gas-burnin' action. Top speed checks in at a reported 76 miles per hour and the 0 to 62-mph dash takes nine ticks of the second hand.

So, it's time to start gearing up for the possible arrival of a $45,000 plug-in minicar with a Lotus badge. We'd be willing to bet that its steep price tag will be a bit of an issue when it comes to racking up sales here in the States.

Ford took everyone by surprised when it unveiled the F-150 SVT Raptor back in 2008, not only with the truck's capability but by the fact that they had the guts to produce it at all. The success of the Raptor left other automakers scrambling to produce something similar, although everything yet has fallen short in one way or another. Chrysler unveiled the Ram Runner Concept at SEMA last year, although you have to build it yourself if you want one, and GM has merely teased the idea of producing the Sierra All Terrain HD Concept shown earlier this year.

Now, Toyota is stepping up to the plate with the Tacoma TRD T|X Baja Series. Unveiled today at the Texas State Fair, this limited-edition truck takes inspiration from Toyota's Baja racing history and features items like an electronically-controlled locking differential, TRD off-road package with Bilstein race shocks and an increased ride height of two inches, BF Goodrich T/A KO tires and bead-lock style wheels. Power comes from Toyota's 4.0-liter V6 and both a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission are available.

The TRD T|X Baja Series also benefits from changes made to the standard Tacoma for 2012, including a restyled front end with a new hood, grille, front bumper and headlights. The interior gets a new instrument panel, updated gauges, new steering wheel and more. You can read full details about both the standard Tacoma and the limited edition Baja Series in the press release after the jump.

There's a long press release and a video after the jump with scads of information, but it distills to this: controlling machines with your brain. José del R. Millán, a researcher at Switzerland's EPFL, has been developing the technology both for communication and mechanical-control purposes, and Nissan Europe has partnered with the lab with an eye on taking such technology to cars.

Nissan's take, for instance, is that as you "think about turning left ahead... the car will prepare itself for the maneuver, selecting the correct speed and road positioning, before completing the turn." Our take is that you can stay tuned for 2050 when your car realizes you're about to scrap it, and the police pull you over for thinking about speeding. Until then, your future is spelled out in words and a video after the jump.

Scion has released a volley of information on the company's latest Release Series models. The 2012 xD Release Series 4.0 will come to dealers dipped in an exclusive Premium Blizzard Pearl paint with 16-inch alloy wheels as standard equipment. Inside, color-matched trim panels along the center console, steering wheel and doors echo the exterior scheme, and a set of embroidered carpet floor mats round out the upgrades inside. Scion says that the company will only produce 800 examples of the xD RS 4.0, each starting at $16,250, excluding a $750 destination charge.

In addition, Scion is also rolling out the xB Release Series 9.0. The larger five-door, which can be seen above, will only be available in bright orange Hot Lava paint, and a honeycomb lower grille and illuminated Scion badges help set the model apart from the rest of the fleet. Inside, the vehicle's seats wear perforated simulated suede seat covers with an embossed Scion logo. Scion intends to manufacture 1,500 examples of the xB RS 9.0. Expect to the vehicle to start at $18,110, excluding destination. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Porsche is apparently still working on a new small sports car designed to give the Lotus Elise something to chew on, at least if the reports coming from CAR Magazine are to be believed. Code-named Project Mimo, the vehicle is slated to be positioned below the Boxster and be built on the bones of the rumored Audi R5 and Volkswagen BlueSport convertibles.

CAR reports that all three machines are currently mired in the engineering feasibility stage of production, which means the whole lot could be binned at any moment. Even so, the Mimo is rumored to come with a 1.9-liter flat-four-cylinder engine under its hood.

The Audi, meanwhile, will likely pack a version of the company's stout inline five-cylinder, leaving the BlueSport to work with whatever green-tilted powerplant Volkswagen can come up with. The small-displacement flat-four in the Mimo will likely be paired with a turbo for something around 210 horsepower, according to CAR. That sounds fun and all, but we like the notion of a Porsche with a price tag of less than the $48,100 the German automaker asks for the Boxster.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that two companies have joined forces to create a push-to-start button that can automatically sense the driver's blood-alcohol level. Takata, an Auburn Hills-based parts supplier and TruTouch, an Albuquerque-based firm, have received a $2.25 million grant from the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety to help make the creation commercially viable.

Currently, the device is about the size of a bread box and uses an infrared sensor to determine the amount of alcohol in a person's system. In addition, the invention currently takes several seconds to function and only works accurately at room temperature.

The ACTS grant should help both Takata and TruTouch work through those issues to create a version of the technology that could conceivably fit behind a vehicle's start button, take just a few milliseconds to determine someone's BAC and be able to accurately do so in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero. There's also the equally challenging feat of getting the device's total cost down to around $200 per unit. The idea is to take the invasiveness of a Breathalyzer out of the equation while still preventing impaired drivers from taking to the road.

Cadillac really is ready to challenge all comers in the luxury automobile segment, then Mercedes-Benz is a great target to shoot for. As such, perhaps it's not surprising that Caddy put together a video showing how it can easily dispatch one of the German automaker's products. The battleground is a straight stretch of asphalt with a starting line, finish line and hit-the-gas-now light tree. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a little bit of America versus Germany automotive action, no? Problem is, from our vantage point, Cadillac isn't exactly fighting fair.

General Motors' luxury arm picked out a Mercedes-Benz C300 as its desired target. There's really nothing in Cadillac's stable right now that lines up directly with the C300 (the CTS is too large and the ATS isn't here yet), so the American automaker decided to trot out... an Escalade.

Now, we're all for vehicles of different shapes and sizes lining up in one-on-one motorsports combat, but there's nothing fair about this fight. The C300 is an entry-level luxury sedan powered by a modest 228-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 engine (it's not even the most powerful 'regular' C-Class – that distinction belongs to the 302-hp C350). In the other line sits a gurgling, much more expensive luxury SUV with its 6.2-liter 403-horsepower V8 power plant loping eagerly under the hood.

Why not put an Escalade Hybrid up against an SLS AMG? If the 'Slade managed to beat that, then we'd really have something to talk about, eh?

Click past the jump to watch Cadillac show up a Mercedes-Benz that didn't deserve it.

"The best Chrysler sedan we've seen in decades," says Consumer Reports, in reference to the 2011 Chrysler 300. At the risk of damning a very fine car with faint praise, that may not be all that much of an accomplishment. And we'd have to add that the last all-new Chrysler 300, which hit the market in model-year 2005, was also the best Chrysler sedan the world had seen in decades.

That said, we agree – the redesigned 2011 Chrysler 300 is indeed a giant leap forward for the brand.

The previous-generation Chrysler 300 only managed to eke out a rather miserable score of 64 points, which placed it near the bottom of its class of upscale sedans. The redesigned 2011 model, though, earns an "Excellent" overall test score of 80. Also receiving Excellent scores are the 2012 Hyundai Genesis (which led the field with 92 points, according to CR) , along with the refreshed Acura TL and Toyota Avalon, all of which fall into the same upscale sedan classification.

In other news from CR, the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid sedan did not fare well when tested against its non-hybridized siblings. With an overall score of 69, the Sonata Hybrid earned a full 20 points less than the highly rated gas-only Sonata GLS. CR cited poor handling and an unrefined drivetrain as reasons for the low score, saying that "the trade-offs in driveability, refinement, and braking performance are too high" versus the Sonata GLS.

Also tested by CR was the all-electric Nissan Leaf, which was blessed with an overall score of 78. The electron-fueled hatchback was praised for its low running costs of just 3.5 cents per mile, but it was held back by a highly variable driving range that plummeted to just 60 miles in the winter with the heat on. Driven gently in mild weather, CR managed up to 90 miles of range from the Leaf.

For all the details from Consumer Reports' latest round of automotive testing, check out the complete press release after the break.

California has passed new a new law that further regulates the car-buying process, and the changes appear to be mostly positive. Automotive News reports that, beginning next July, dealers will need to slap a red warning sticker on any vehicle with a salvage title. That means any vehicle that has been legally deemed flood-damaged, junked or salvaged will receive the ominous label.

The new law will also mandate the use of electronic vehicle registration for new and used vehicle sales. This system will reportedly result in faster registrations, and a license plate will arrive in six weeks, which sounds good compared to the six months under the current system.

The dealers of California will need to pony up as a result of the new law, but in the end, the customer always foots the bill. The new legislation allows dealers to up documentation charges from $45 for leases and $55 for sales to $80 for both. That sounds like a lot, but AN points out that California car buyers will still pay less for documentation than all but one other state in the Union.

Ram has announced a slew of additions to its line of pickup trucks, starting with the 1500 Tradesman Heavy Duty. The vehicle combines all of the excellent value of the standard Tradesman, but throws in the joy of three-quarter-ton towing and cargo capacity as well. Ram says that the vehicle now boasts the best-in-class title for both of those categories. With a maximum trailer weight of 11,500 pounds, the Tradesman HD tops the Ford F-150 by 200 pounds and the Chevrolet Silverado by 800 pounds. Meanwhile, Ram has also rolled in a 3,100-pound payload capacity, which exceeds the F-150 by 40 pounds and the Silverado by 1,235 pounds.

Things aren't all sunshine and rainbows, though. The Tradesman HD is only available as a two-wheel drive truck with a regular cab and an eight-foot bed.

In addition, Ram has broadened the model availability in the company's 1500 Express trim. Buyers can now opt for Crew Cab and Quad Cab configurations for the first time. The 1500 Express Crew Cab starts at $28,050 while the Quad Cab lands closer to $30,010, both without destination or handling charges. Both will still come with the company's 5.7-liter V8 as standard equipment.

Finally, Ram has grown the company's Rambox system to accommodate 6-foot, 4-inch bed lengths, which means that Quad Cab buyers can also enjoy the in-bed storage system. Check out our galleries then hit the jump to read up on Ram's press releases.