AutoCars: accessories

Showing posts with label accessories. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2012

2014 Volkswagen Phaeton

WHAT IT IS: The follow-up to the spectacularly slow-selling Phaeton. It will continue to be assembled at a lavish factory in Dresden, Germany, and once again will share powertrains and technology with high-end Audis and the Bentley Continental range.

WHY IT MATTERS: The Phaeton represents the VW brand’s highest aspirations. As before, the Phaeton will attempt to move VW upmarket into the BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes sphere.

PLATFORM: Architecture usually reserved for Audis (dubbed MLB) will undergird the Phaeton. A longitudinally mounted engine and all-wheel drive are its hallmarks, as is the extensive use of aluminum.

POWERTRAIN: A new, twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 with 345 horses will power base versions. A few will come with the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 that is shared with the Continental range and the Audi S8. Even fewer will come with a W-12.

COMPETITION: Audi A8, BMW 7-series, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS, Mercedes-Benz S-class.

WHAT MIGHT GO WRONG: Perched way above the rest of the VW lineup, the new Phaeton may continue to confuse shoppers.

ESTIMATED ARRIVAL AND PRICE: Anticipated in late 2013, starting at about $65,000.

The Footman James Classic Motor Show was enormous but enjoyable

CLASSIC cars in industrial quantities. That's what you would have got if you'd joined me and thousands of others at the NEC last weekend.

Anyone familiar with the Footman James Classic Motor Show will know it's a big deal - it is, arguably, the only show that caters for fans of all things a bit old and oily on a national scale - but this year the organisers, freed from the constraints of having to share a gig with Top Gear Live, really pulled out the stops to make it bigger and bolder than ever before. It was massive.

Simply getting in is quite unlike any other show I've been to. You park up and get on a bus, which takes you to an elevator, followed by a Heathrow Airport-style moving walkway that seems to go on forever, which leads on to a labyrinth of corridors which in turn brings you to the back of the queue for tickets. This, I think, is deliberate; it's to prepare you for the sheer amount of walking the show itself involves.

Last weekend was a giddying array of just about every vaguely old vehicle ever made - yes, there were Hillman Imps and Ford Anglias at one end and Astons and Ferraris at the other, but if you're the sort of person who lies awake at night dreaming of owning a Vauxhall Nova then you were well catered for too. But our party must have walked miles checking out the seemingly endless sea of classic cars. If anything, it was slightly overwhelming. I stopped taking photos after the 175th click out of sympathy for my camera, but one classic car buff I spoke to had taken hundreds of shots.

I emerged seven hours later with cream-crackered feet and weighed down with bags of freebies, and with the prospect of the long drive back from Birmingham to look forward to. If I'd known just how big it was going to be I would've made a weekend of it - one day for the cars, another for the autojumble - because just the one day is nowhere near enough to take it all in.

It's great to think that even in an age when Britain's turned its back on national motorshows, with the motor makers favouring Frankfurt and Geneva instead, we can still put on an automotive extravaganza on this sort of scale. I'll just make sure I bring comfier shoes next time.

Fire up the... Peugeot 208

PEUGEOT'S back on the ball, if the new 208 is anything to go by.

The French firm's built up a fine reputation for building feisty hatchbacks with a sense of fun - as anyone familiar with the 205, 306 and 106 will surely testify - but to my mind at least the more recent models, particularly the 207, never really caught the imagination in the same way. Deep down, I reckon that's why Peugeot's pulled out all the stops to get it right with its latest supermini contender.

For starters, it looks good, with a sharply-sculpted shape and carefully chosen proportions which at a stroke render the old 207 a bit blobby and comparision. It's the same story on the inside too, with interior fabrics and plastics which owe plenty to its big brother, the 508 saloon. The main thing which strikes you is the unusual way the controls are laid out - you look over the steering wheel to see the dials, rather than through it - but it's as intuitive as it is innovative. Same story goes for the tablet-style computer sitting atop the centre console, although I suspect having an actual iPad dock there instead might have been a smarter move.

But the best thing about the 208 by far is the way it drives. You'd expect that the 1.6 Feline version I tried wouldn't be lacking in pace - at £16,895, it's holding the warm hatch fort until the eagerly-anticipated GTi version arrives - but where it really shines is in the fluidity of its handling and in its natural agility in the sort of low-speed urban darting in and around town.

For the past three years I've always argued the Fiesta is the best of the superminis but the 208 is now a better looking, more entertaining and technologically superior package to Ford's finest. After a couple of years in the hatchback wilderness, Peugeot's got its mojo back and produced one of the best cars I've driven all year.

Is this the best looking saloon on sale today?

IN THE classic gangster film Get Carter, the villains drove a Jag MK2. In The Long Good Friday, the vehicle of choice was an XJ6.

This automotive star of this year's gangster film - The Sweeney - was a Jaguar XF. Having clocked one parked up in a Southport side street today, it's not hard to see why.

I've already driven the 2.2 diesel version of the Brit saloon and can tell you that from a driver's perspective it's excellent; one of the best new cars I've tried this year, in fact. But what I could see from the Stratus Grey example I saw, with its understated alloys and meshed grille, was that it looked the part too. In cinematic terms, it's exactly the sort of quietly menacing motor an assasin would drive.

Until this year I would've argued the best looking Jag is in fact the big XJ - there's something about the challenging styling, which stands out next to all the other luxobarges, that I love - but now I reckon the smaller XF's caught up with it. After being wowed by the stunning C-XF concept car of all those years ago, I know I wasn't the only one to be a bit dissapointed with the production version that followed - far too much in the way of gloopy headlights and not enough in the way of visual treats.

The facelifted version, though? That really is a treat for the eyes.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the best looking saloon on sale today. Better than a Maserati Quattroporte or a Merc CLS? I'd reckon so...

The Most Expensive Car Ever Insured Pictures

It may be hard to define what amount of a car maybe insured for.

More expensive cars will cost more to replace, and so the insurance will cost you more too.Naturally, there are always limited edition cars that would have to be insured for a lot of money, because there are limited cars that might be when equated with them.Cars that are regularly parked at the roadside are at a higher risk of being stolen or involved in collisions, and so will be more expensive to insure.

This is a kind of car that recorded the most expensive car ever insured:

Rolls Royce Silver Ghost
has been insured for $50,000,000.

Ferrari GTO
$28,500,000

Bugatti Type 41 Royale
$12,000,000.

Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR
$2,000,000.

Bugatti Veyron
This is easily about the most costly cars in the world, and it is only logical that it is also one of themost expensive cars insured too. Insurance companies would need to consider the rarity and the repair costs of these vehicles.

McLaren F1
$1,000,000

Ferrari Enzo
Limited edition of this vehicle was sold for $1,000,000.

Koenigsseg CCX
$700,000.

Porsche Carrera GT
$440,000.

Pagani Zonda C12
$428,000.

Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

Ferrari GTO

Police Cars

The progress of the automotive world force the police to adjust the streets.If the police can not customize their vehicle with the road users so they will not be able to order the vehicle and maintain their dignity.Here this the coolest police car in the world:

Bugatti Veyron Police Car

Chevy Camaro Police Car

Corvette C6
The sixth and most current generation of Chevrolet Corvette introduced last 2005. Has 6 liter LS2 V8 producing 400 hp.

BMW Coupe Police Car

Car Accessories

Anywhere in the world!
Generally, there are two major categories of car accessories namely Interior Auto accessories and Exterior car accessories.Among various safety car accessories...

Interior Auto Accessories:
Air freshener, carpets, floor mats, seat covers, television, stereo system and DVD system, air bags, rear view mirror etc are all Interior Auto accessories.

Exterior Car Accessories:
License plate, side bars, body panels, light covers, exterior lights, wheel covers, windshield wiper blades etc are all Exterior Car Accessories.

How to Pimp Your Ride?
No matter what auto accessories you choose for your car, you must make sure that you buy the ones that you needs most, and furthermore, should always buy the best possible quality product as well.You should make a list of all the car accessories that you like to have in your car. After that you can prioritize the car accessories which you need to install first in case you have a limited budget.You can find a design that suits your personality and tastes perfectly.To make your car appear classy you should think about something budget friendly, easy to place yourself and available at many shops, the decorative pillar posts.

One additional car accessory you should install in your car is some sort of GPS navigation.The next cool and affordable car accessory we recommend are Bluetooth speakerphones,rearview cameras.There are many hidden dangers and spots that are hard to see behind you.Another upgrade you should consider are high performance headlights.The good news is that these add on features can make your driving experience safer.After you install various car accessories, you should also consider the following three things specifically scent,music,and upkeep.This will make your car is always convenient.Choose a scent you really enjoy to freshen up the atmosphere in your car,a good sound system can make a three hour drive seem like it's passed in moments.
Some examples of car accessories that you can apply in your vehicle: