Articles by Karla Pincott

We've seen some strange and violent examples of road rage -- and many of them from Russia, the source of this video footage. But this is one of the most bizarre outbursts yet, starting with a Toyota Camry and Mazda MPV -- usually the choices of very sensible citizens -- in a high-speed chase.The two cars continue jousting with each other along the way until Toyota performs a sideswipe that punts the Mazda off the road and into a ditch. And then the action takes a on truly comedic flavour, turning into a slapstick fight with a knife against a shovel.  It looks like we're going to see blood when the Toyota driver appears with the knife, but the shovel-wielding Mazda owner is more than his clumsy match.After Toyota man has a pratfall off the Mazda's roof, there's some more jousting and argy-bargy -- and the whole episode ends thankfully without serious injury to anything but pride.Watch the car crash ends in slap and shovel fight video on our desktop site.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Fans of the long-gone and much-mourned Toyota Supra -- and those hoping to see a successor after its 11-year absence -- can perhaps take heart in news today that Toyota and BMW have confirmed a deal to jointly produce a new sports car platform.BMW development chief Herbert Diess told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper the architecture would spawn two new cars. "We have agreed on a joint architecture for a sports car," Diess said, however declining to reveal more details about the platform.Toyota has previously partnered with Subaru to produce the wildly successful Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ, but while they are near-clones, it seems the Toyota/BMW collaboration will focus on ensuring the two resultant cars are strongly differentiated. "What is important is that there will be two different vehicles that are authentic to the two brands," Diess said.Watch our video review of the tweaked Toyota 86The announcement is not unexpected, following the two brands making an agreement in mid-2012 to collaborate on a range of technology -- including weight-saving strategies and  lithium-air batteries -- and also consider the potential for a medium-sized sports car platform.Toyota is tipped to be unveiling a sports concept that could point to a Supra successor at the Detroit motor show in a couple of weeks, so it's possible that a production vehicle seeded from the show car could include the BMW collaboration. However the Toyota end of the joint development could also end up wearing a Lexus badge.And Toyota is not the only Japanese carmaker partnering with a European brand for a sports car. As we've reported previously, Mazda is collaborating with Italy's Alfa Romeo on a platform that will be the basis for both the next Mazda MX-5 and Alfa Spider.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

With Apple and Google already facing off in a number of other technology sectors, it seems the car is about to become the new digital battleground for the giants. Google and Audi are preparing to announce an alliance at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The partnership will see the carmaker and the tech giant co-develop infotainment systems based on Google's Android software. It's expected the Google technology will allow Audi owners to wirelessly integrate apps and functions from an Android phone to the car's screen. The move is seen as a direct challenge to Apple's coming 'iOS in the Car' system, which is teaming with Audi rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as GM and Honda. The Apple system offers car integration with the iPhone's Eyes-Free Siri mode, phone, messaging, music and navigation features. But Audi is not the only company Google may announce partnerships with at the show. They are reportedly planning to unveil an alliance with chip maker Nvidia to include Android systems in many future vehicles. This would allow the car to have seamless integration of an Android phone's apps, nav, music and other features. The CES has become an annual spotlight for carmakers to show off their future technology, and this year's show is expected to focus heavily on infotainment and autonomous car systems. Both Ford and BMW will showcase their latest developments with driverless systems, while other car brands are tipped to be unveiling more internet integration features -- reflecting the consumer shift to demanding the same connectivity in the car as everywhere else in their daily lives. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Los Angeles photographer Lara Jo Regan is an expert at capturing dogs. As the person who sparked the mid-90s internet craze for Mr Winkle -- a pomeranium-chihuahua stray she adopted and turned into a star of calendars, websites and an episode of Sex and the City -- Regan knows how to extract the best from her canine subjects. And she's put that skill to great use with her latest calendar, which captures the delight dogs take in riding in cars. Now, we'll leave alone any admonishing about the pooches not being safely tethered -- and we're pretty sure some of our dog-owning readers will take on that task. For the moment, let's just assume that these photos were taken under controlled conditions, on private closed roads, and that no dogs were harmed during the photo sessions. Although it's possible the photographer ended up covered in a dangerous amount of canine slobber. Our gallery shows just a few of the photos featured in the calendar and an impending book series. The calendar can be purchased here, and Regan's website also has a section where you can upload your own photos of your furry friends enjoying cars. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

If Santa didn't bring what you really wanted for Christmas, here's a hint to leave him for next year. Remote control car maestros HPI have released their second Ken Block replica -- sanctioned by the world's top hoon himself.Watch the desktop version of the Ken Block HPI RC replica video here.The meticulous 1:18 scale replica is the Ken Block 2013 GRC Micro RS4 With Ford Fiesta H.F.H.V. Body. And it echoes the real car in every important way -- as HPI sets out to demonstrate in a miniature salute to Block's insane Gymkhana 6.Watch Ken Block's Gymkhana 6 drift mayhemWith a track set up to mimic Block's 'ultimate gymkhana grid obstacle course', you get the signature manoeuvres and slides through tight container tunnels and overpasses, some fun with construction equipment, a spiked wrecking ball and a couple of other cars filling in for the Lamborghini Aventadors in the original.Watch Ken Block's Gymkhana 5 'ultimate urban playground'While the HPI car can't quite match Block's Fiesta in a 0-100km/h time of 1.9 seconds, it has enough acceleration and handling ability - and the hands on the remote control clearly have enough skill -- to show the potential fun you can have with the scale model. All that's missing is the cloud of tyre smoke.Watch the Ken Block Gymkhana in a Target store spoofHPI says the RC Block Fiesta is kitted out to easily handle an outdoor course as well, with an electronic speed control for the high-powered 180-size motor powering all four wheels with a full-time 4WD belt drive, coil-over shocks and waterproof steering servo.Watch Ken Block's backwards entrance into ClipsalIt's controlled via 2.4GHz radio system that automatically prevents frequency conflicts, with the pistol grip control has adjustable steering and throttle trim, steering dual rate, end points, servo reversing switches, and a third channel for optional extras.HPI points out that the car's GRC Spec replica wheels are also true to the originals on Block's Rallycross car, right down to the colour and the 'high-performance, grippy rubber' -- perfect for shredding.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Audi will be showcasing the new A3 in its Super Bowl ads for February, and we could be seeing the precursor to the campaign in this humorous commercial that draws on the virginity pledge movement.Watch the desktop version of the Audi A3 virginity ad here.Also watch Audi's 'Prom' 2013 Super Bowl ad here. The full-length ad -- there are three shorter excerpts floating around -- advises you to practice 'luxury car abstinence' so you don't end up 'regretting your first luxury car' and doing the 'drive of shame' (which is worse than the 'walk of shame' according to Audi).Also watch Audi's Christmas dig at BMW, Mercedes and Lexus here.The mockumentary style shows young people pledging to 'wait' and not be tempted by the tawdry attractions of the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus, with one young yuppie even changing jobs because his company car is a Merc.Also watch Audi pit old Spock vs new Spock in this ad for the S7.The set of four ads hasn't been officially released, so we don't know yet if these are the ones planned to be screened at the Super Bowl or are a lead-up to the day's star ad climax.Also watch Audi take a swipe at BMW, Mercedes and Lexus owner stereotypes here.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

Lexus has already released two teasers and a tiny trickle of information for the RC F Coupe ahead of its debut at the Detroit motor show in a couple of weeks. But the best detail to come to light so far has been the leak of what's said to be engine figures in an alleged debut invitation.If that leak -- sent to autoblog.com from 'an anonymous tipster -- is the real deal, the RC F will be powered by a 5.0-litre V8 we've previously suggested will be a tweaked version of the one in the IS F delivering 343kW (a lift of 32kW). It's not known yet whether torque will also rise above the carryover 505Nm, but some reports have suggested it could get close to another 40Nm.Of course, the truth of the 'leaked' engine and power depend on whether the leaked invitation is real. It's linked to a matching website, which would be a lot of trouble for somebody to go to just as a red herring. And a cynic might suggest it could have been leaked by Lexus themselves.We've also heard suggestions that the RC F has been the subject of some weight-trimming strategies to have it tip the scales well under the IS F's 1700kg -- including a carbon-fibre bonnet, roof and bootlid -- which should help performance exceed that of the IS F's 4.9 seconds for the 0-100kmh sprint and top speed of 274km/h.

Mercedes-Benz has been busy behind the scenes giving its impending C-Class a serious boost upmarket with uprated technology and styling drawing on its flagship S-Class.  And the upgrading continues with the AMG Sport Line pack for the C, with details showing a more aggressive approach.With the AMG Line, the C-Class gets a suspension set-up that slings the car 15mm lower than the standard model, and the dropped wheel-arches are filled with larger AMG 18-inch five-spoke alloys behind which are perforated brake disks with new calipers bearing the Mercedes branding.There's a more aggressive body kit, with the nose getting a sportier front bumper and gaping air intakes to underscore the mesh grille and chrome accents, low-sculpted AMG side skirts and metal window bevels enhance the profile, and the tail finishes off with a new diffuser and bumper nestling larger exhausts.The engine line-up for the launch of the new model starts with the base C180's turbo 115kW/250Nm 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol, claiming 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds and fuel economy of 5.0L/100km. The C200 has a 135kW/300Nm turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol (0-100km/h of 7.5 seconds and 5.3L/100km).The C220 Bluetec carries a 125kW/400Nm 2.1-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel (0-100km of 8.1 seconds and 4.0L/100km). The C63 AMG's new handbuilt twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine is tipped to be bringing somewhere between 340-370kW.European-market transmission choices are a six-speed manual (not likely for Australia) and seven-speed auto, and all cars will get engine stop-start and brake energy recuperation systems to help fuel economy.  Both the standard C-Class and the AMG Line are expected to debut at Detroit motor show in January and arrive here in the second half of 2014, with the fire-breathing C63 AMG storming in later in the year.

Coffee and cars just somehow go together perfectly -- and we're not just talking about the next season of Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, due to launch on January 2. However we may have found the perfect coffee machine for his show: a precision engineered masterpiece crafted using materials and processes more usually seen in the skunkworks of Forumla 1 teams. Watch Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee | Season 3 trailer The Espresso Veloce Serie Titanio V12 is designed to resemble a half-scale F1 engine, and is made from race-ready materials like titanium, aluminium and stainless steel. Priced at 9000 pounds ($16,500) only 500 of this model will be created. But if you miss out on one of these, you might go for the V10 or V8 versions, or their counterparts in the Serie Carbonio Nero black carbon-fibre model lines. Like the Titanio V12, they're assembled from more than 90 precision components machined from solid billets, and must conform to tolerances within a tenth of a millimetre. Tungsten and argon welding is used to create features like the aviation-spec titanium exhaust pipes -- which deliver the coffee into stainless steel 'piston' cups' -- while anodising and hand polishing add colour and shine. The pipes get an 18-hour stint in a zirconium ball-polisher to create a mirror finish, and the tips are blued with heat to echo the discolouration of racing exhausts. Precision manufactured, with over 90 machined components in a high-tech facility using solid billets of high-grade aerospace alloys, similar to those used in contemporary Grand Prix engines. The coffee works include an internal tank joined to a high-pressure pump feeding a heat exchanger that passes boiling water through the pipes into the head, resulting in 22 bar pressure to pump out the perfect shot. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Audi has registered a handful of new nameplates that suggest we'll see more SUVs join their range. Of particular interest is the trademarking of the name 'SQ2' which hints at a performance variant of the expected Q2 small crossover SUV. The car is tipped to take some cues from the Crosslane Coupe Concept unveiled at the 2012 Paris motor show as a four-seater, according to Britain's Autocar. However it is a surety to grow an extra seat on the production line and will likely be built on the parent Volkswagen Group scalable MQB platform -- which also underpins the latest Golf. Earlier in December, Audi teased an image of a crossover -- smaller than the Q3 but larger than the Q1 -- set to debut at Detroit motor show in January. It shows a coupe body with a sleek 'sporting brake' roofline and was accompanied with statements about both sportiness and offroad ability. The German prestige carmaker recently teased the coming Q1 crossover that will go on sale in 2016, adding at the time that they intend to grow their number of models from the current 49 to 60 within the next six years. Autocar reports Audi has also registered 'SQ4' -- suggesting we could see something filling the gap between the Q3 and the Q5 -- and Q9, pointing to the potential for a large (and likely seven or eight-seat) SUV to top the range sitting above the current seven-seater Q7. And there is also trademarking for the 'f-tron' name, which could be destined for a future fuel-cell vehicle, following Audi's nomenclature of e-tron for electric cars and g-tron for compressed natural gas ones. However nameplates are often registered years ahead of any vehicle appearing -- and sometimes for vehicles that never appear, simply to corral the name -- so it could be some time before we get more news of what's on the plan with these ones. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott