Accidents on the Nurburgring Nordschliefe in Germany will be tended to faster than ever thanks to a new emergency response vehicle. What better choice than the car that has one of the fastest — sorry 911 owners — ring times? You probably guessed it, they’re using a Nissan GT-R.  Hit the jump for pics and info on the car’s special equipment. [Source: GTRBlog]

The car’s decked out with safety equipment like a full roll cage and Recaro carbon fiber racing seats. That should do the trick for keeping occupants safe while racing to spots on the track, where seconds can mean the difference in getting people out of burning cars safely. Although I wonder what getting out of the car in a hurry will be like with a harness to unbuckle and a roll cage to jump over?

The GT-R is equipped with a system that can put out car fires in no time, which is located in its trunk. With a fire fighting vehicle like this watching over me, I’d definitely feel much safer while driving the ring.

The real question is, who doesn’t speed?

Now I am no saint, but I have also been known to observe the vast majority of safety laws (often times, at my own expense).  But now for the low low price of $250, plus a monthly fee, any one of my family members can monitor my driving behavior and find yet another reason to criticize me.

Gee, what loving parents wouldn’t want to spy on their children’s driving?

Of course the inventor of the device (a 20 year old male, mind you) fervently states that this device isn’t for spying, but to monitor for the driver’s safety.

I am sure the legislature will find a way to implement these and rape us of our pocket books for “our own safety.”  Plus, who wouldn’t want to know where everyone is going at all times?

Reference here.

Seriously, why did they even try crash avoidance software like this in the first place?

While we’re spending billions of dollars to bail out the struggling motor industry, it’s really troubling to see that the automotive industry has been using solid objects on their crash avoidance test cars, instead of something, oh, say less damaging and wasteful.

Note: This is wasteful.

That’s right, folks!  Step one in not losing money is cutting down waste – waste like crashing cars when you don’t need to.  Now, instead of using giant steel-reinforced concrete to trip the radar sensor, the brilliant minds at Ford are using full-sized inflatable cars.  Who would have thought, a balloon Master Chief could save thousands of dollars a pop for the testing of  the future pedestrian collision software, literally.

Believe it or not this cars body panels are almost entirely made of self expanding foam. Based off a Mercedes a group of guys in Lithuania covered the entire car in foam and then began to meticulously carve each piece. In addition to doing the outside they also rebuilt a bunch of interior pieces. Check out the Gallery to see the construction pictures.

Originally found englishrussia.com

"Weaken brake power"? Sounds like another potential case of the Firestone tire disaster on Ford Explorers.

You will be seeing a video shootout between the Dinan 335i and the E92 M3 on WebRidesTV.com this May. In the meantime, let me give you my impression of the most touted M car since the E39 M5.

First off, the M3 we tested was equipped with the six speed manual. Actually, I prefer manual transmissions for driver involvement, to the DSG type paddle shifters which give you no brainer perfect performance shifts every time.

Secondly, our M3 came as a refrigerator white coupe version which is not the most flattering color for the coupe. More on exterior design later.

Starting with the interior, I am not a fan of the iDrive system. It is still a pain in the butt to use. BMW has made improvements but I think they should start over or make a deal with Audi to buy theirs. The dash of the car is a tall vertical face design, with the glare shield level with the top of the chest of a six footer driver, giving the driver the feeling of driving while seated in a barrel. This dash design also tends to close in the cockpit with the dash high and close to the driver. Not only is the dash design not very exciting and high end , but the materials used, especially accents are not in keeping with a 70k msrp car. The brushed aluminum trim and vinyl surfaces look inexpensive. Finally, the steering wheel’s fat rim is about the size of a long extruded Bavarian bratwurst. Please, BMW, a thinner rim would be nice.

One more thing about BMW cars, they have the lamest cup holders. They are too shallow for safety and too flimsy for longevity. They are the first thing to break.

The exterior of the E92 M3 coupe is an improvement over recent BMW designs by the celebrated Chris Bangle head of BMW design. Please go to stopchrisbangle.com. After the latest 7 series and 5 series design debacles BMW had no where to go but up. I would think the M3 needs to make a masculine statement in it’s look. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. The rounded conservative shape, Coke bottle rear quarters, the feline front end, doo dad fender/hood openings and orifice shaped side mirror brackets add up to a feminine looking design, did I say girls car? A friend of mine said “it’s doesn’t look like a muscle car, its obviously not a sports car, but I can see a 35 year old blond optometrist driving it”.

Would you know, looking at it, that the M3 has a killer drive train and chassis setup? Yes it does!

Even though the E92 M3 looks like a girls car it drives like man’s car. When driving on the track or in the canyons or changing lanes on the interstate this is one of the best powered and handling sedans ever. Besides our track experiences with this car I had it in the canyons this past Sunday in the midst of some very fast sport liter bikes. I had no trouble running with them in the twisties, and in fact I drove up their tail pipes of the ones in front and they moved over.

When pushed hard there is no tire squeal or any indication with all the electronic aids deployed, that the M3 is working very hard. It does it all effortlessly. Transitions are smooth and precise, power band utilization is perfect, the M3’s brakes burn off kinetic energy with ease. The chassis is compliant and handles rough road surfaces with a poise you don’t see in a track ready car. I now understand why BMW engineers took 600k miles to set the car up. The car handles perfectly. No excessive push, squat, nose dives or body roll.

The M3 can be driven normal legal speeds without the feeling of wanting to hammer the throttle because you are at the wheel of a “race car”. In fact the driving experience at normal speeds is similar in feel to that of a new Mustang, sitting low, looking over a high dash across a bulging hood through a narrow windshield. Unfortunately, it costs 2 1/2 times more but delivers 1000% better handling with a vastly superior driving experience.

If any body cares about mileage, I averaged 12.8mph with over two days of testing. The factory says 15.8 city and 30 highway, but not in the power mode!

To put it simply, other countries just do many things better than we do. Take the Germans, for example, when it comes to aftermarket alloy wheels. All aftermarket wheels sold in Germany must meet or exceed the German national directive for light-alloy wheels (TUV). You can’t even legally sell wheels in Germany that have been tested based on other internationally recognized standards, such as those issued by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The German government can hold liable companies and testing officials that do not strictly comply with German wheel regulations. Not only do German consumers have access to the best products in the market, the government is actually looking out for their safety through regulations some may consider rather draconian.

The ideal situation for the US market would be strict enforcement by the DOT on product quality and safety. There is a myriad of regulations established by the DOT called the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for which OEM suppliers, such as tire and wheel companies, must pass in order to become / be a vendor to OEM vehicle manufacturers. But this (FMVSS 110) is NOT applied to aftermarket wheels. Why not? The DOT doesn’t seem to care. US customs certainly doesn’t do anything to halt the influx of substandard products. Essentially, it’s a consumer-based matter. It’s a matter of supply and demand. Throw in proper design, materials engineering, finite element method, prototyping and testing into the manufacturing process and you end up with a set of wheels that cost multiple times more than its bargain priced counterpart.

Based on these factors, one must really question the structural soundness and safety of certain wheels out there – oversized wheels for SUVs and luxury sedans (”bling”) and copycat wheels for sport compact applications are the first to come to mind. What are you really getting when you opt for these wheels? A dangerous and scary question to ask. Ultimately, however, it is the consumer that demands these substandard products and creates a market for which a countless number of suspect manufacturers are more than happy to serve.

We, Americans, truly do suck.