How can we forget the guys from Traxxas, especially after they turned our 2011 Christmas wish list upside down with the X0-1?
But even if we didn’t - or couldn’t, considering we didn’t have $1,100 to spend on an RC - get our hands on the X0-1, Traxxas is offering something that could very well fit into our $299 price range.
It won’t hit 0-60 mph in 2.3 seconds or 0-100 mph in 4.92 seconds, but the 1/16th scale Ford Mustang Boss 302 is a treat on its own. Don’t be too consumed about the size of the Boss 302 because for it size, it’s pretty darn accurate.
More than just its looks, this Mustang comes with plenty of performance credentials, including a choice between a Velineon 380 or Titan 550 motor, full time AWD, a fully-adjustable suspension, and a top speed that’s in the vicinity of 50 mph.
Traxxas has released a minute-long promo video for their latest pride and joy. Watch the video and you just might be coaxed into ordering one.
Trust us, the temptation was more than we could handle.
Usually when you say Lamborghini you automatically think at hot supercar. But, by time to time the Italian company is teaming up with different high-tech companies and come up with things wearing their famous bull logo. For example, do you remember the ASUS Lamborghini VX6 and VX7 announced about two years ago?
If you do, today we have another surprise for you: a new android tablet sold under the name Tonino Lamborghini. In fact, to be more precise, the new tablet will wear the famous bull logo, but Tonino Lamborghini is the company responsible for developing watches, cigarettes, PCs and much more and it is a little bit different from the Lamborghini in Sant’Agata.
The new table features a 9.7-inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 and comes equipped with a a 1.2GHz Qualcomm, 512 RAM and a storage capacity of 4 GB, but expandable.
The table is priced at 1830 euro - $2,300 at the current exchange rates. So it seems that a Lamborghini logo costs pretty much, as the tablet itself is not very impressive.
The window sticker is an often forgotten item when you buy a car. For the most part, we just rip them off and throw them out, and this act of removing the sticker has been commonplace for decades. Most often, the only time a window sticker is saved is when the car is a collector’s item straight off of the showroom floor. This leaves two options, don’t display a window sticker at all, or have a brand-new-looking replica made that stands out like tank tracks on a WRX.
Well, that’s no longer the case for Porsche owners, as Stuttgart Studios offers replica delivery stickers with optional aging and weathering, giving them an authentic look. By using your Porsche’s VIN, Stuttgart determines all of the codes that were on the original window sticker and creates the sticker just as it was in real life. For an extra cost of $14.95, Stuttgart will add “Motif” to your sticker, which gives it a look and feel that a decades-old window sticker should have.
Judging by the examples that Stuttgart has on its site, it very well might be worth the base $99.95 price to have a sticker made, then the additional $14.95 for the “Motif.” What’s even cooler is that they don’t have just one “Motif” that every sticker gets. They list a total of 12 “Motif” selections on the website, but imply that there are many more options.
This definitely gets TopSpeed’s “Ultimate Niche Marketing” award for 2012. How in the heck these folks came up with this idea is beyond us, but it’s definitely a great idea.
Most automakers have the propensity to look for other avenues to affect their bottom line apart from the cars they build. In some cases, it’s through fashion and in other cases, it’s through accessories. Some even go as far as building race simulators.
In the case of Ferrari, it’s all of the above - and then some.
Now, the Italian automaker is diving into the world of golf with the release of the Ferrari Golf Collection.
Working in partnership with Cobra Puma, the new collection features a number of golf gear that will carry the unmistakable Ferrari brand. The crown jewel of the collection is the COBRA Ferrari Driver, a golf club that was inspired by the COBRA ZL Encore Driver and carefully modified by Ferrari aerodynamics engineers to reduce drag coefficient, allowing the club to improve its head speed.
To show just how important this item is to the collection, Ferrari and Cobra Puma even went as far as adding a hand-stitched leather grip, a headcover made from genuine Ferrari leather, and a Fujikura Motore Speeder Shaft. Heck, it even comes with its own display box for crying out loud!
In addition to this wonderful piece of golf gear, the Ferrari Golf Collection also includes apparel, footwear, visors, bags, belts, gloves, and of course, umbrellas.
The collection is scheduled to go on sale next month, which means that if you need a fresh change of golf paraphernalia, then maybe you ought to give this new collection a swing. No pun intended, of course.
Typically when we review watches, it is a fine timekeeping piece, like a Tag Heuer, but sometimes we just can’t pass up a cheap, yet amusing, watch. Enter in our latest example, the Max Speed Speedometer watch, and you hit all three qualities we look for in an inexpensive watch: neat, innovative, and car-centric. This watch takes the latter of our three key qualities to an extreme that we rarely see.
The face of this watch is set up to look similar to the dashboard of a car, as it has a speedometer that goes from 05 to 55 in increments of five and a tachometer that goes from 1 to 12. The Speedometer is what tells you what minute it is and the tachometer tells you the hour. To make sure there is no confusion on the minutes when the watch is between two increments, a gear position indicator below the speedometer has number 1 through 4 to tell you the precise minute.
In the top left hand corner you have two gauges, one looks like a fuel gauge and it tells you if it is a.m. or p.m., and the other looks like another tachometer that tells you the day of the week, with Saturday and Sunday being in the redline.
The idea of this watch is simply awesome, but the execution is pretty cheap. It would be much cooler and less cheap looking if the gauge needles actually moved, but instead just a blue LED light illuminates behind each numeral and the gauges remain fixed in one position. It screams “cheap” just like those watches that have 10 different faces on them but only the main watch face is actually operational. Also, a rubber watch band is just not something that you want to wear anywhere other than the gym or on a run.
Oh well, maybe someday someone will create this style of watch with actual moving components. Until then, we can at least be humored by this one.
There are many aftermarket tuning firms in the world that can take your everyday ride and turn it into a true work of art. For some, it’s a matter of paint and pizzazz; for others, it’s all about high-end parts and mechanical know-how. From the makers of the Ford Mustang Bosch Iridium Edition RTR that was given away at the 2011 SEMA Auto Show comes another piece of the automotive puzzle: the Bosch OE Fine Wire spark plug.
Bosch’s advertising spree for their new line of spark plugs uses a tool that most of us use on a daily basis: our gut. These hilarious commercials show a man who uses his gut to make his everyday decisions, such as knowing when two new beers are in order, knowing when to shut up when his wife is nagging at him to get out of the garage, and apparently, knowing when Bosch OE Fine Wire spark plugs need to be the chosen ones for his car.
"Bosch Iridium’s ultra-fine wire center electrode design improves ignitability, lowers voltage demand and delivers up to 4X longer service life versus standard copper core plugs. Laser welded iridium-platinum alloy inlay on the ground electrode resists cracking and potential loss for improved durability."
Bosch OE Fine Wire spark plugs can fit any American, European, and Asian engine.
Any true automotive enthusiast knows the name "Vallelunga," but for those that don’t, it is a challenging road circuit designed by Italian racing legend Piero Taruffi. It is located 20 miles outside of Rome and was the site of many thrilling races in the 1960s and 1970s, featuring all of the legendary Italian marques. Knowing that, it is no surprise that Autodromo has released a chronograph that carries this name.
The new Vallelunga is a beautifully minimalist watch inspired by racing tachometers used in many Italian Prototype and Grand Prix racing cars of late 1960s and early 1970s. It is powered by a robust Swiss Made Ronda Quartz 5020.B movement. It features a stopwatch, 30 minute counter, and big date calendar window. It will be offered in Black over Black or White over Stainless and will be priced at $550.
The Nurburgring, considered by man as one of the most grueling and demanding race tracks in the world, is turning 85 years old.
To mark this special occasion Nordschleife is releasing a commemorative, 1927 24-hour timepiece that pays homage to the legendary race track. The stainless-steel timepieces will be made available in either 1.4" or 1.7" cases dressed in either black or white. A unique characteristic of this watch is the 24-hour set-up that takes the place of the 12-hour configuration you’d find in most timepieces today.
The 24-hour configuration was done particularly to honor the 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race, regarded as the most famous race to be held in the iconic race track.
Pricing for the watch is pretty affordable, too. For the smaller version, you’re going to have to shell out a $110 while the larger version retails for $140.
Unlike some of the special edition timepieces that are being released these days, the Nordschleife 1927 24-hour timepiece sounds like a pretty good deal to us.
The popularity of driving simulators has literally increased 10 fold with the ever-changing and advances in technology over the past few years and no, we’re not talking about your generic simulators such as Forza and Gran Turismo. We are actually referring to full-on simulators which offer you the best possible experience you can get this side of actually driving a car.
There are literally dozens of these systems offered in the market, and the vast majority of them simply feature a seat, pedals, steering wheel and a gearstick with a standard flat-screen television. However, if Motion Simulation and the masterminds at Ariel have their way, the face of racing simulators is set to change for the better, and we’re over the moon by the prospect.
In the brand new system offered by the pairing, you get a complete capsule to best replicate the feeling of driving a true sports car, such as the Ariel Atom and features three high-definition projectors offering a screen no less than 2 meters wide and home to seven million pixels. All up, this new system offers an unmatched 180 degree driving experience and can also be used for a variety of other compatible gaming uses.
Hit the jump to read more about the Ariel Atom simulator.
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The name Traxxas is likely to ring a bell, as we brought news back in December 2011 bout how the R/C specialists had officially created the world’s fastest remote-control car available to the public. Now, less than four months later, the geniuses at Traxxas have delivered something arguably even more amazing, with the recent launch of the Traxxas R/C funny cars.
Funny cars are some of the most recognizable cars involved in motorsports today as they simply scream speed, and this new range of R/C cars is no different. They have taken a leaf out of other R/C cars produced by Traxxas including the X0-1 and the mini-replica of Ken Block’s Gymkhana car and simply hit the nail on the head.
They come crammed with all the technology one could ever hope for in an R/C car including launch control as well as burnout and staging modes to light the rear tires up in clouds of smoke just like the full sized cars. It’s currently unclear just how fast these pocket rockets accelerate, but they’re capable of top speeds in excess of 70 mph, and may be quicker off the line than the X0-1 which can hit 62 mph in a scarcely believable 2.3 seconds.
At the moment, the funny cars are offered in four different liveries ranging from the Robert Hight AAA Auto Club Ford Mustang to Mike Neff’s Castrol GTX Mustang. It’s unclear if Traxxas plans on bringing additional variants to the market and just how much they’ll set you back, but they will definitely pave the way for future models.
Could Formula One or NASCAR replicas be on the agenda for Traxxas? We certainly hope so. What do you think?
