Technology

Tesla owners will soon be able to take binge watching to the next level after Elon Musk confirmed that Netflix will make its way to the brand's multimedia systems.

Tyre-specialist Sumitomo Rubber Industries has teamed up with Kansai University to develop new-generation rubber that can harness electricity while vehicles are on the move.

Spanish smart safety company Badennova has developed an intelligent speed bump known as BIV that will reward careful drivers while also punishing speeders.

You’ve got to try pretty hard to find proper icy driving conditions in Australia, but when you do, you want to have every option at your disposal to give you the best chance of avoiding a collision. Just look at the popularity of inherently all-wheel drive Subarus in the Snowy Mountains area or Tasmania. Audi is another brand synonymous with all-wheel drive, but parent brand Volkswagen is turning all four wheels by an increasing measure, with 44 per cent of passenger car and SUV sales now wearing 4Motion badges. The German brand claims this is double the industry average. It’s not just ice where all-wheel drive can come in handy either. Gravel, wet bitumen and mud are much easier to come by, and often when you’re not planning to. Australian roads are still 56 per cent unsealed according to Volkswagen.It’s easy to say that stability and traction control systems go a long way to playing the same role as all-wheel drive when it comes to accident avoidance, but it’s important to understand that all wheel drive as a proactive means of preserving traction, unlike traction and stability control which are reactive. If you can prevent a problem before it starts, surely that’s better, and the systems actually compliment each other when calibrated to work in harmony. Given the lack of ice in Australia, we’ve just travelled to New Zealand to experience Volkswagen’s 4Motion systems in the most trying of conditions, at work in everything from a small SUV, to a hot hatch, to a full-size commercial van. Volkswagen 4Motion all-wheel drive is currently available in two main types, Haldex and Torsen. The Haldex-type used in all 4Motion models aside from the Touareg and Amarok, and is a part-time system where fluid pressure controls a clutch pack to send power to the rear wheels as needed.The latest fifth generation Haldex-type system is integrated with a whole bunch of drivetrain sensors to help predict traction loss before it happens.The Touareg and automatic Amaroks use a full-time system with a Torsen, or torque sensing, mechanical centre diff that’s essentially reserved for their north-south engine layout. The Torsen system was made famous by various Audi Quattro models, and also sees duty aboard vehicles as diverse as the Toyota LandCruiser Prado.The third 4Motion type currently in use is only found aboard manual versions of the Amarok, and is essentially the traditional mechanical low-range transfer case. This version was not available to test in New Zealand. Volkswagen chose the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground in Cardrona to highlight 4Motion’s ice capabilities, which is the sort of James Bond mountain-top network of ice circuits you’ve probably dreamed about. It would be ideal to test the same cars back to back in two- and all-wheel drive, but given the ice was hard enough to walk on, two-wheel drive would have been next to useless. So the fact that the 4Motion cars were able to drive at all is amazing. They did have winter tyres fitted, but I really doubt they made any difference on the slick ice. The cars on hand represented a good spectrum of the VW 4Motion range, including the upcoming T-Roc small SUV in 140 TSI guise, the Golf R hot hatch, the Tiguan 162 TSI mid-size SUV, the Passat Alltrack 140 TDI wagon, the Arteon sedan, the new Touareg large SUV in NZ-spec 210 V6S guise, the Amarok Ultimate 580 and would you believe it, the big Crafter van in MWB TDI 410 spec. The two ice courses on offer proved a masterclass in weight transfer and how a bigger car is much harder to turn. And I’m not just talking about the Crafter either, the T-Roc may seem like just a Tiguan with the back of its roof chopped off, but it is so much more nimble than the Tiguan on the ice. The longer wheelbases of the Passat Alltrack and Arteon made them even more difficult to unsettle, but the lower ride height and roofline of the Arteon made it that much easier to change directions.The ice also highlights how each car is set up to suit its intended purpose. The Golf R will let you turn off all its stability control for proper Ken Block-style four-wheel drifting, while the cars aimed at more sedate driving, like the Touareg or professional use, like the Amarok and Crafter will keep some of the stability control on all the time in the interests of outright safety. This also highlights the role of stability control with all-wheel drive. Without stability control, it is a challenge to get a car sideways, and planting your right foot will quickly straighten everything out. But with stability control, it’s almost impossible to induce oversteer, and therefore pretty much idiot proof, so they work really well together.For this integration of systems to keep vehicles as large and rugged as the Amarok and Crafter stable in these conditions is simply amazing.  The benefits of all-wheel drive aren't so obvious on dry bitumen, which is indeed where most of us spend most of our time driving. But to demonstrate how broad the models’ range of capabilities are, Volkswagen gave us access to Highlands Motorsport Park race circuit to experience most of the same cars at the other end of their performance spectrum.We drove the Haldex-equipped Tiguan, Arteon, Golf R and Passat Alltrack back to back with the Torsen-equipped Touareg and Amarok, and couldn’t pick any difference in the systems on the dry bitumen surface. This is going to sound a bit like a VW ad, but our track time did highlight that both 4Motion all-wheel drive systems are beautifully integrated with the stability control, suspension and tyres, with no sense of tugging or unsettling emergency reaction when you reach the limits of adhesion.This includes the Amarok too, which is a big ladder chassis ute with a solid axle and leaf springs on the back, and it maintains stability and predictability. A dual cab ute! On a racetrack!

BMW’s new-generation 1 Series will land in Australian showrooms in the fourth quarter this year in two flavours, 118i and M135i xDrive guise, with pricing expected to come in at around $45,000 before on-road costs for the former and $60,000 for the latter.Though an official confirmation is still forthcoming, CarsGuide has seen documentation confirming specification for both the entry-level, front-wheel drive 118i and flagship all-paw M135i hot hatch.While the 118i is expected to step up significantly from the outgoing version’s $38,990 pricetag, the changeover to new-generation form will come with a substantial lift in equipment and technology.Standard equipment in the 118i will include 18-inch M alloy wheels, an M Sport exterior styling package and LED headlights, while inside, two 10.25-inch screens – one for instrumentation and the other for multimedia – are fitted, along with a head-up display and illuminated trim finishers.Powering the 118i is a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine (shared the entry-level X1 and X2 SUVs, as well as the Mini Cooper) producing 103kW of power from 4200-6500rpm and 220Nm of torque from 1480-4600rpm, which is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.With drive sent to the front wheels, the 0-100km/h acceleration takes 8.5 seconds.For comparison, the outgoing 118i produces 100kW/220Nm from the same engine configuration, which is sent to the rear wheels.Meanwhile, the top-spec M135i’s expected $60,000 price will place it lineball with its $59,990 M40i predecessor, as well as competitive against the $65,800 Audi S3 and incoming Mercedes-AMG A35.Though engine outputs are down from 250kW/500Nm to 225kW/450Nm – due to a switch from a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline six to a 2.0-litre force-fed four powerplant – the new-generation M135i will sport all-wheel-drive traction instead of being rear driven.Drive will be channelled through an eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission, enabling a 0-100km/h sprint in 4.8sec.The top-spec M135i will add 19-inch Cerium Grey-coloured wheels, keyless entry, automatic climate control, adaptive LED headlights with high-beam assist, leather upholstery and an uprated harman/kardon sound system.A smattering of M Sport goodies are also fitted, such as brakes, steering wheel, seats and rear spoiler.Although the 1 Series is available with a choice of five engines overseas, BMW Australia has opted for petrol-only power for its new small hatchback.CarsGuide understands more variants will launch next year to bolster the 1 Series range, but the bulk of sales are expected from the 118i and M135i xDrive versions.

Mercedes-Benz is primed to take the hassle and frustration out of finding a car park with the launch of a public self-driving trial in Stuttgart that can autonomously park and retrieve vehicles.The pilot program is the world’s first to receive approval for public Level 4 autonomous parking, and is being conducted by Daimler and Bosch, the former supplying vehicle technology and the latter providing intelligent parking garage infrastructure.Bosch’s parking sensors will monitor the garage and direct the vehicle accordingly, while the technology in the Mercedes-Benz car will translate the commands into driving manoeuvres.According to Daimler, the system works as simply as “drive into the parking garage, get out, and send the car to a parking space just by tapping on a smartphone screen”.The car will then navigate to a predetermined space, where it will sit until summoned back to the same drop-off spot at a later time.The key aim of the trial is to measure the safety and viability of self-parking technologies, with systems able to detect pedestrians and other cars to reliability stop and avoid obstacles.Though the automated valet parking service is restricted to the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart, the trial could pave the way for a wider rollout in future.Daimler head of automated driving Dr Michael Hafner said: “This approval from the Baden-Wuerttemberg authorities sets a precedent for obtaining approval in the future for the parking service in parking garages around the world.“As a pioneer in automated driving, our project paves the way for automated valet parking to go into mass production in the future,” he said.Meanwhile, Bosch member of the board Dr Markus Heyn said Germany continues to be a pioneer for self-driving technology.“This decision by the authorities shows that innovations like automated valet parking are possible in Germany first,” he said.“Driverless driving and parking are important building blocks for tomorrow’s mobility. The automated parking system shows just how far we have already progressed along this development path.”

It wasn't enough for Hyundai to come after Toyota's market share in the hatchback space. Now it's after the niche Toyota Prius, too.

Does the 2010 BMW Z4 sDrive23i auto MY10.5 have built-in navigation in the dashboard?

Ford has unveiled an all new pick-up truck concept - and it could be coming to a keyboard near you soon.

Ford Australia has added a suite of advanced driver assist safety systems, including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, to its entry-level Everest Ambiente for no added cost.