Another automaker set to enter the 2009 L.A. Design Challenge is General Motors with their play on the popular Guitar Hero video game brand that get gamers in touch with their musical sides. The 2030 OnStar Car Hero from GM is a driver training device that is packaged to look like a video game of today, the Car Hero features three stages of automotive instruction. The unit will take users from piloting a somewhat traditional four wheeled machine used for teaching the rules of the road all the way up to a gyroscopically controlled single wheeled vehicle with upgraded maneuverability that will challenge the driver’s skills against the car’s autonomous system.
Aside from being a learning device, once fully unlocked GM’s car of the future will also be full of features like P2P applications like Friends and Fantay Drive. The first is a futuristic take on Twitter that lets your companions come along with you on your journey and opens up a direct line of communication with them from wherever you are on the planet. The Fantasy Drive feature is the perfect alternative to tiresome and lengthy commutes allowing the driver to virtually escape the traffic and much like a bonus level in a video game experience unique and fantastic alternative driving environments. The GM Car Hero blurs the line between driving and gaming, and if the next generation of automotive consumers have anything to say about it, General Motors’ car of the future is guaranteed to be a hit.
Official details after the jump.
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The 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas was a high point in this automotive journalist’s career. Aside from the multitude of of high performance tuner cars and the chance to ride shotgun in a Corvette with a racing instructor, SEMA also offers visitors the opportunity to witness the unimaginable. Lucky for us, right as we stumbled across this pristine looking Ferrari F40 the guys in the booth were worried about the fitment of the classic super car’s engine cover. This gave us a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the twin turbocharged 2.9 Liter V8 that makes 471 HP, and because we happen to be the gear heads that we are no opportunity was wasted. Honestly, the only way that you would ever get to experience something like this is if you drove by an F40 stuck on the side of the road with an inquisitive owner or if that guy is your best friend.
Check out the gallery below to have a closer look.
Remember the Formula One wheel that we found in the Enkei booth at the 2009 SEMA Show, well there was one other item on display that was almost as impressive as a 14 inch wide lightweight wheel that is good for turning in at 200 MPH, one of the most aggressive looking Subaru Impreza WRX STi hatchbacks that we have ever seen. Apparently the car was fully built by Design Craft Fabrication for a former motocross race who wanted to trade in his two stroke bike for an all wheel drive turbocharged flat four cylinder STi. With his initial intentions to rally the new Subaru, the exorbitant costs of campaigning a rally car turned his ambitions towards Time Attack on track ambitions.
Design Craft took every opportunity to develop new parts for the customer vehicle, like a V mount radiator and intercooler set up, a set of custom pistons from J.E. to handle the boost generated by a Garrett GT3582R turbocharger and one of the wildest body kits we have ever seen. However there is one piece of the Time Attack STi puzzle that should seem familiar to you, that is if Subaru hadn’t pulled out of World Rally Championship competition. That is because this STi is wearing a legitimate Prodrive WRC wing on the back, and as far as we know it is the only one in America.
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Although you may not have heard of the the Japanese petroleum group, the Nippon Oil Corporation, however you may be familiar with the name Eneos. Even though we don’t have any of their gas stations here in the U.S. you might have seen the red Eneos sticker stuck to the front of synthetic oil products in almost any automotive parts store here in the States. Aside from the lovely ladies posing for photos and signing autographs, they also had a few high end vehicles on display at their booth at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas last week.
The first item of interest was a very clean Bentley Continental wearing a subtle body kit that mimics the more powerful Super Sports model. The other cool car in the Eneos display was a triple black kitted Ferrari F-430. Starting off with a flat black finish the Ferrari rode on a set of matching matte black mesh rims that gave us a good look at the braking hardware underneath. However one of the nicest touches on the mid engine prancing horse were a pair of Scuderia inspired glossy black striped running the entire length of the vehicle.
The German suspension manufacturer Eibach is well known for being innovators in the field of automotive spring manufacturing, while at first these aftermarket metal coils were meant simply to lower the car’s ride height, these days springs are tuned to not only drop the vehicle but enhance its handling as well. A perfect example of a high performance machine upgraded with the help of Eibach is the Rally Innovations
Nissan GT-R that was residing in the coveted corner spot of the spring maker’s booth. The Japanese super car has been slightly massaged into a machine worthy of the name Godzilla. The GT-R wears a new nose complete with a larger front opening and a few new vents to extract the hot air out from behind the radiators. Riding on a set of Work rims wrapped in sticky Falken tires and of course the obligatory Eibach suspension, this GT-R not only haas the perfect stance to intimidate
Porsche 911 Turbo owners, but now it has the legs to run rings around them as well.
While we had heard a lot about the
Jeep Wrangler Overland modified by Chrysler’s in house tuners Mopar, but we couldn’t fully appreciate the go anywhere and then camp anywhere Jeep until seeing it in person at the 2009 SEMA Show. The interior of the Jeep Wrangler Overland features water resistant Mopar front seat covers, rugged Mopar slush mats, a Daystar dash bin and lower switch panel that powers the added accessories. Enhancing the Wrangler’s off road ruggedness is a 3 inch lift from American Expedition Vehicles as well as a full traction rear sway bar. The added clearance allows aggressive 35 inch off road tires to be mounted on the 17 inch steel Mopar wheels. However the real beauty of the Overland is the full size tent that opens on the extended roof panel and an equally spacious shade providing tarp that gives it owners the perfect place to have a picnic while on safari.
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Not much has been heard from Jeep in recent months, but that hasn’t stopped the brand from showing up at SEMA to unveil the Jeep Lower Forty concept. The off-road vehicle, which is based on the Jeep Wrangler, was fine-tuned by Mopar Underground and is powered by a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine with a Getrag six-speed manual transmission that uses a Dana 44 axle in the front and a Dana 60 axle out back with both being fitted with 5.38 gears.
Jeep also took the liberty of adding mammoth 40-inch tires to the Lower Forty concept, which was done by taking away a number sheet metals from the vehicles and increasing the width of the fender by an inch and raising it up four inches higher to make room for the 40-inch tires.
Jeep also included a slew of other features for their Lower Forty concept, including the addition of a carbon fiber hood, a chopped windshield, a custom bikini top, and a new rear tailgate.
Additional features include a carbon fiber hood, custom bikini top, a chopped windshield, and a color-matched interior with Katzkin leather seating. You can read more details after the jump, and we have plenty of high-res photos in the gallery below.
Press Release after the jump.
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The American tuning firm AMS Performance showed up to the 2009 SEMA Show with their fully built NOS Energy Drink time attack Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Make no mistake about it, despite the orange Evo’s somewhat stock appearance, this racing machine is much more than a turbocharged all wheel drive tuner car with a few vinyl decals and a nice set of rims. Looking closer at the championship winning Evo X, you will notice an insane ground effects package made from carbon fiber and appears to extend almost a foot in either direction from underneath the vehicle. On the inside there is stricpty seating for one, after all this is a race car, and an intricate roll cage that almost certainly is more of a chassis stiffening item than a safety device, but we wouldn’t discount it in the case that the driver puts the Evo on its lid.
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There could have been well over 1 Million horsepower from all the high performance machines both inside and out of the Las Vegas Convention Center last week at the 2009 SEMA Show. Aside from the seat of the pants the only way to measure the amount of thrust that an automobile can make is with a dynamometer. It is not every day that you get to see the inner workings of a dyno, how the tires turn a large metal drum which then spins an electromagnet which through the beauty of math and science is able to calculate just how much power realy is making its way to the pavement. So it was quite a treat to see this display from Mustang Dynos at SEMA exposing all its inner workings for all of the crowds to see.
The Japanese automaker Mazda is also entering the 2009 L.A. Design Challenge with the Souga, a minimalist lightweight sports coupe that is made up of experimental shapes, ornate detailing and a dramatically proportioned exterior. The Souga is the next step in Mazda’s Nagare design language with its flowing exterior and sweeping lines. The Souga is designed around VMazda, a virtual reality website that acts as a design playground for young automotive enthusiasts allowing them to experiment, build, and share their four wheeled dreams in a virtual world at no cost. The car would be sold as an affordable shell and monthly payments would be made for the electricity it consumes much like a cellular telephone bill, and because most modern digital devices have become integrated into automobiles, this eliminates the need to clutter the driver’s concentration with a host of accessories and add ons, thus simplifying the Souga driving experience.
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