No matter how safe the car manufacturers try to build their car models, the reality is that accidents still occur, involving both adults and children passengers. This is why automotive companies do their best to reduce the impact and to limit the effect of a car crash on human body. As we all imagine, our body reacts different on different age, so that the protective measures in case of accidents must be distinctive.

According to this idea, Ford Motor Company have officially announced that they had started building a digital human child, as they did the adult version too. This new digital child crash dummy would have all the characteristics of a human body in childhood, complete with its internal organs, skeleton structure and brain, all as a part of their safety research. By this, Ford hopes to find out how things differ, and what they can do to make things better.

For building the digital model, the researchers started from monitoring and studying injury trends for children, who are generally much more vulnerable in car crashes. To this, Ford will add the date medical scans (children's MRIs and CAT scans) provided by volunteers and anatomical texts in order to generate information about child geometry and body, so they to understand how crash forces affect children and to come with ideas to prevent them.

This kind of research from Ford is admirable, because it helps car tests to become more accurate, and hopefully the future cars will be as safe for kids as they try to be for adults.

[Source: Coolest-gadgets, Photo: Facebook Ford]

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Ford’s Digital Child Crash Dummies

SsangYong KEV2 Concept

The South Korean automaker Ssangyong will unveil today a new concept car at the 2011 edition of the Seoul International Motor Show. Dubbed Ssangyong KEV2 Concept, it is going to be the electric version of the Korando crossover model.

SsangYong KEV2 Concept

Although at this moment we don't have any official information about the car, these rendered images are official and said to resemble what the concept will look like. It is very easy to figure out that this is an EV as there is no radiator grille in the front. The car's front fascia will sport an array of slim line LEDs, very stylish if you ask me.

SsangYong KEV2 Concept

As far as the cabin is concerned, the KEV2 Concept will benefit from a modern layout, featuring a Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet as the central console interface while the passengers in the back are spoiled by a couple of LCD touchscreen.

As a reminder, Mahindra & Mahindra recently acquired SsangYong and during this month's Geneva Motor Show, the automaker showcased the SUT-1 Concept, a sleek pick-up truck that will go into production in 2012.

Source: caradvice.com.au

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2011 Seoul Motor Show – SsangYong KEV2 Concept

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento

You probably already know that Lamborghini has given the green light for production for the amazing Sesto Elemento. Only several units will be made, and three of them are slated for the United States market. La Jolla, a dealership located north of San Diego, has confirmed that the Italian automaker will deliver three units stateside.

The price for this very rare beauty is going to be $3.44 million. According to various reports, customers will have to make three equal payments of $300,000 or higher, and the rest of the money will be paid at the end of the deal, just like Lamborghini did with the Reventon. For this money, you'll get a V10 engine that develops 570 hp and a car that has a power-to-weight ratio of 1.75 kg / hp, allowing the Sesto Elemento to do the 0-60 mph in only 2.5 seconds, before hitting a top speed of more than 186 mph.

Source: TopSpeed

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Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, Available For Order

According to the comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, a speeding ticket could add at least 20% to your insurance costs. They figured out that drivers that have a speeding conviction and six points on their license could pay 19% more on average in comparison to a driver that has a clean license. More than that, those drivers that have multiple convictions could pay a whopping 54% penalty.

The website listed five quotes for a 30-year-old male teacher, living in Manchester, UK, with a five-year no claim discount, driving a Ford Focus MY06 for 10,000miles annually. Here are the quotes and what happens after getting speeding-related points:

Source: moneysupermarket.com via whatcar.com

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Enjoy Speeding? Prepare To Pay More For Your Insurance

According to a recent report from Pike Research, annual sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will surpass one million units by the year 2015. Despite the fact that this "green" technology is relatively new to the market, more and more people are buying these cars thanks to their lower or zero CO2 emissions, quieter ride; money saved on gas, and why not, government tax deductions.

At this moment, almost all of the car manufacturers in the world are either launching electric / plug-in hybrids to the market or they are testing this technology. This report predicts that despite the fact that the penetration of such cars will remain somewhat low in the years to come, sales will reach a critical mass in the following period, allowing the uptake to be accelerated. This should happen by the year 2015, when the annual sales will exceed the 1 million units mark for the first time.

Pike Research estimates that 56% of all green cars will be electric vehicles and they will be very popular in the Asia Pacific region, a market that will represent more than half the total global market, followed by the Europeans who will also start to buy more and more electric or hybrid cars.

Regarding United States and Canada, buyers will prefer hybrids thanks to their extended range and the combustion engine back-up option. For these markets, hybrids will represent 71% of all green cars sales by 2015.

Source: pikeresearch.com via nextgreencar.com

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One Million Annual Green Car Sales By 2015

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you live in a big city you probably waste a couple of hours every week driving to and from work. One solution to this problem comes from Chaoyi Li, who is the designer of the MiraQua. He thinks that these small electric cars are exactly what we need to get rid of the congestion. He designed the car as a solution for the excessive traffic congestion in China.

As you can see, this compact-looking EV is pretty different from what we've seen before. It has an in-wheel motor and drive-by-wire technology. It features a specially designed front wing that kind of rises up and acts as an entrance from the front. The foldable front seats allow the passengers to get to the rear seats.

Thanks to the fact that front portion of the car opens up entirely and the front passenger side seat is foldable, it is very easy to access the rear seats through the front entrance. In addition, you can easily store luggage there as the entire passenger side leg area is available for storing stuff.

Unfortunately, we don't know if there is going to be a production version based on this concept, but the future for city cars looks very promising if you ask me.

Source: alternative-energy-news.info

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MiraQua, City Car Of The Future?

Let’s take a better look at Fast Five‘s story:

We’ve got a perfect setup: ex-con – ex-cop plus some of the best drivers in the world all against one of the toughest FBI agents ever seen in a blockbuster. And to make things more complicated, Hobbs’s (Dwayne Johnson) partner for this job is a hot blonde who falls in love with the bad guy.

Why Brazil? Because Dominic is trying not to get caught before his last job that could set him an his crew for life. Let’s face it, we’ve never seen a car chase in Rio de Janeiro before, so that should be thrilling enough. Fast Five comes out April 28th.

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Fast Five’s bad guys vs good guys duel

2012 Nissan GT-R VVIP Edition

First of all, the car you see in these pictures is not tuned by Mansory or by any other tuner with bad tastes. As a matter of fact, Nissan themselves ruined the 2012 GT-R. This special edition was named "VVIP" and it is easily distinguishable by the black carbon fiber rear spoiler and the 24 karat gold plated side panels and grill. Obviously, there are dozens of VVIP badges.

2012 Nissan GT-R VVIP Edition

The cabin is not that bad. They fitted the GT-R with a hand-crafted leather interior by master craftsmen at Seton Company Inc. Muelheim an der Ruhr in Germany. The seats are quite cool, featuring an exclusive quilted designed combined with a reticular pattern. Clients can choose from one of the many colors available for the cabin, including four upper area interior colors and seven for the lower area.

2012 Nissan GT-R VVIP Edition

In addition, this special GT-R is fitted with a Bose sound system that can be exclusively tuned according to the driving position of each driver. This sound system has woofers made out from carbon fiber that can cancel vibrations.

No changes as far as the engine is concerned, which means that you'll have to "settle" with the V6 3.8-liter that produces 530 hp @ 6,400 rpm and 451 lb.-ft of torque between 3,200 and 6,000 rpm, good enough for a 0-60 mph sprint in less than 3 seconds.

2012 Nissan GT-R VVIP Edition

The standard version of the 2012 Nissan GT-R has a base price of $89,950 while the Black Edition will set you back $95,100. This "blinged" out version has a whopping price of approximately $220,000, which if my math is right is more than double!

The car is available at selected dealers in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai showrooms in the UAE.

I'll never understand why car manufacturers and tuners decide to come up with an elegant edition of a proper sports car (or vice versa). In my opinion, it is one or the other. Don't get me wrong, I like cars that are developed to be both sporty and elegant, but to turn one that is already on the market into the other… it will never work. The best example would have to be this. And don't get me started on that preposterous price tag!

Source: inautonews.com

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2012 Nissan GT-R Gets Blinged

Starting tomorrow, the Thai motorcycle taxis will use a new device for the first time ever: a meter. In Thailand, motorcycle taxi is the most used form of transportation, but despite this any of them didn't had a meter to measure the driven distance. Before this device to be created, almost every moto-taxi journey ended in lost fares or confrontations or with the feeling that either driver or passenger was cheated.

"Most every driver and passenger we've spoken with or surveyed dislikes negotiating the fare. It's the number one complaint."

Who had the inspired idea of solving this problem? Paul Giles, an American entrepreneur who was doing business in Thailand and who, eight years ago wondered why nobody ever thought about equipping the bikes known as moto-taxis with meters, and, consequently, in 2011, after eight years of research and development, build one himself and sold it to moto-taxi drivers.

So, as a result to all this, April will be the month for Thai government and a motorcycle taxi association to begin a pilot program to test Moto-Metered taxis on the streets of Bangkok. In addition to standard speed sensors found on all meters, the device has a GPS and inertial navigation system and standard speed sensors.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apparently, the moto-drivers' reaction to this device is extremely positive.

"There's a lot of buzz among drivers that this is a defining moment for their industry, that the Moto-Meter will bring long-sought-after legitimacy to their profession, and that this advancement will improve their lives".

(Paul Giles)

The prognosis of the success: 50,000 Moto-Meters sold in the first year, with eventual market penetration of 10 percent of the world's motorcycle taxi drivers.

To what other purpose do you think this meter device can be used?

[Source: Fastcompany]

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Meters for Thai Motorcycle Taxis

Lamborghini Cabrera (Rendering)

A couple of weeks ago Lamborghini's possible future line-up was revealed and we've learned from it that the replacement for the Gallardo will be named Cabrera and it will hit the market sometime in 2013. Some say that it will pack a V10 engine that will produce about 600 hp. The current Gallardo packs 552 ponies from its V10 power unit.

Raising the power figure will most likely be done by installing a supercharger that will provide the additional 40 hp or so, making it a worthy adversary for the beautiful Ferrari 458 Italia. Rumors say that the Cabrera will sport carbon fiber reinforced (CFRP) parts that will shave off some of its weight to make it faster and more agile.

Once more information is revealed, we'll keep you posted. Stay tuned.

Source: TopSpeed

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Lamborghini Cabrera, Gallardo's Replacement?