It is 2013 and the world still does not have jetpacks, Star Trek Replicators, or time machines. But before you give up on your dreams of a high-tech future, listen to what Lexus has just come out with. Their Integrated Safety team was on hand at this year’s CES Show in Las Vegas to show off a self-driving car.
You may remember that I wrote about Google’s Self-Driving Prius as part of my SEMA 2012 coverage. This car works in much the same way as Google’s car: it relies on a multitude of sensors and instruments to safely navigate its way to your destination.
There is an astonishing amount of technology present in today’s automobiles. Everything from transmissions to traction control, stability control, and other vehicle monitoring systems are all controlled by onboard computers. Therefore, it makes sense that General Motors would showcase its latest gadgets not at an auto show, but at the 2013 International CES show.
CES is the world’s largest trade show, drawing thousands of engineers, geeks, and tech-minded people from all over the world. Here, GM was showing off its latest in-car infotainment system called MyLink. The MyLink system won a CES Innovation Award for 2013 and was available for demonstrations throughout the show.
In previous articles, I’ve owned up to the fact that I don’t know as much about pre-1960s stuff as I probably should, and usually it doesn’t bother me very much. Most of that stuff looks the same to me anyways. The cars are generally kept in one of two conditions: original and slow (boring), or 1996-era Super Chevy’d out with a small-block and tweed and billet everything (lame).
They’re last unrefined burp of automotive machismo to wear the Fleur-de-lis/Checkered flags. They ran every bizarre type of small block that Chevy could cram into them: Crossfire, TPI, the DOHC LT-5, and even twin-turbo models (RPO B2K) from the factory.
In it’s time, the C4 handily beat many of it’s “super car” contemporaries in performance comparisons. It was the fastest, meanest, plastic-fantastic-piece-of-shit on the road. It liked to metaphorically hold it’s competitors down like an evil bully and make them smell it’s nasty, overhead valved farts and then shove them into a trashcan. On the road, where there was no authority other than the local police department, the super cars had to take their lumps and move on. On the track however, they complained to the SCCA about the C4’s utter domination. The blue-bloods of racing were sick of being pushed around like the antagonist of some Pantera song, and by 1988 they had gotten their way. Continue reading →
Believe it or not but there used to be small trucks, with a frame and everything, like this S10 Blazer I spotted the other day. Now, I understand that the ‘need’ isn’t really there anymore but I miss seeing them around. pretty much everything out there now is based off of a family sedan, which seems odd for a ‘truck’.
Crossovers are basically cars that sit too high with a hatch and worse mileage. I’m not saying to sell your Fusion Edge or Altima Murano to rush out and buy a beat up old S10, what I’m trying to say is that if you keep mindlessly buying this shit they will keep making it. Maybe I’m too old, or out of the loop, or I just simply do not get it (or all three). Do people buy them to sit up higher and feel more confident? I drive a 4 door car that is neither lifted nor lowered, I can see traffic around me just fine and I’m willing to bet it would do just as well offroad. I’m having a hard time seeing the benefits of a crossover vs a normal car.
So you want a car that kind of reminds you of sitting in a small truck? Is it one of those too cool for school things? You don’t want to be seen in a mini van so you choose to drive a what is essentially a mini van without sliding doors hoping that no one will notice? The world may never know. Then again, why were people buying S10 blazers? Who knows? At least they were capable when they needed to be though.
You are the reason they don’t make wagons anymore, and I’ve been on a wagon kick lately.. asshole. Oh yeah, the S10 Blazer.. I didn’t crawl under it to have a look at what’s doing under the hood. I know that I sure wouldn’t want someone crawling under my car while I was in the store, so I can’t confirm that there’s a small block sitting under the hood. However, It’s safe to assume that there is and has been one there for probably 15 years, 6 years after they bought those wheels. This truck is so close to looking right, I hope they fix some of what they messed up in the (obviously) 90’s.
It is 2013 and the world still does not have jetpacks, Star Trek Replicators, or time machines. But before you give up on your dreams of a high-tech future, listen to what Lexus has just come out with. Their Integrated Safety team was on hand at this year’s CES Show in Las Vegas to show off a self-driving car.
