We’ve seen some ambitious projects involving Hot Wheels Tracks in our lifetime, but this one is surely at the top of the list with no dethroning in sight. The three minute long video features a 2000-feet long powered Hot Wheels track. In the span of its ridiculous distance, it goes through 14 rooms of a house, navigates around the exterior of the home and even jumps over a hot tub.

At first we couldn’t even imagine how someone could get away with building this without feeling the wrath of a loved one, taking up considerable real estate in their home and even outside the house. But luckily it’s all for a good cause, helping raise awareness towards fighting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. And of course there’s plenty of skeptics out there that believe this is the result of camera magic, but we don’t really care. With or without it, it’s a pretty impressive video clip and kudos to the creator. The Kinetic King would be proud.

Check out the awesome video after the break.

[Source: Autoblog]

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A new Viper is rumored to surface from the unlikeliest of venues. Rather than the typical selection of an international auto show to unveil the new Dodge supercar, the new Viper will be one of the cars displayed next month at the charity event, Rides and Smiles.

Rides and Smiles gives pediatric patients who suffer from cancer, diabetes, brain injuries, Crohn’s or colitis disease a chance to spend a day at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway, riding around the lap next to famous NASCAR champions piloting some of the most impressive sports cars on the American market today.

According to Dodge, the company has been busy developing new technologies to be implemented into its halo supercar. And finally, we saved the best news for last; the Viper will receive a new engine rumored to produce as much as 700-hp!

[Source: Top Speed]

Just as the Karma begins to enter showrooms, Fisker is raring to get a move on its Project Nina. However, despite the optimism, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Fisker. Although it was initially intended for the $50,000 Nina hybrid to be completed by 2012, circumstances require the product’s launch to be pushed back a year to mid-2013.

Quite a lofty bar has been set as Fisker’s team of 120 personnel expands another 2,500 workers to operate a made-for-Nina manufacturing plant in Delaware. While humble sales numbers are expected for the Fisker Karma, company fonder and CEO Henrik Fisker intends for Project Nina to reach a production volume of 100,000 cars per year.

Earlier, CEO Henrik Fisker announced that Nina will be a competitively priced smaller hybrid sedan, receiving 2.0 liter supercharged TwinPower engines supplied by BMW.

[Source: DelewareOnline via Carscoop]

As engineers of Lincoln quietly work to bring the brand back to relevance, an update to the current Lincoln MKS sedan and MKT crossover will be unveiled at the upcoming 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show as 2013 models.

Although official information has yet to be released, the 2013MY MKS and MKT are expected to receive not only mild cosmetic alterations, but mechanical updates as well.

It will be interesting to see if Lincoln’s new design boss (the man responsible for creating the current look of Cadillac) can do anything to make the MKT look at all appealing.

Look for the new Lincoln MKS and MKT in showrooms next year.

[Source: Carscoop]

See AutoGuide’s complete 2011 LA Auto Show Preview here.

Claiming to be “moving the genre up a notch” Chevy is eager to prove that its Camaro ZL1 is not just a proven performer, but that it can withstand the sort of beating owners are likely to throw at it.

With a 7:41 Nurburgring Lap time (the same as a Porsche GT3), Chevy engineers put the ZL1 through a grueling 24 hour endurance test at the company’s Milford Proving Grounds as a way to see if they could break the car, looking at issues as they pop up, so that they won’t have to once the vehicle is on sale.

Documenting the entire process the video gives plenty of insight at the most capable Camaro ever and a good look the impressive engineering bits that go into making such a car.

Watch the video after the jump:

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It is not common for a car company to take legal action against a publication or TV show based on their opinion of the product, but Tesla did just that after TopGear aired an episode in 2008, featuring the all-electric Tesla Roadster.

According to Tesla, TopGear showed their car in a less than perfect light, claiming it suffered from poor range and even had a problem with the brakes.

The program claimed that the Tesla ran out of range in just 55-miles, well short of the 200-miles its makers suggests. This according to Tesla has been an ongoing cause of concern for its to be customers and hence sued the BBC program for libel.

However, at a ruling on Wednesday at the High Court in London, U.K., the honorable Justice Tugendhat sided with the BBC and said that no TopGear viewer would have reasonably compared the cars performance on the track to compare with the cars ability on the road.

A car would be driven far more aggressively on the track, and would thus be less efficient than when used on public roads.

Tugendhat went on to say; “In my judgment, the words complained of are wholly incapable of conveying any meaning at all to the effect that the claimant [Tesla] misled anyone.”

The judgement in favor of TopGear and its broadcaster the BBC was verbally handed out on Wednesday before lunch time.

Tesla however pointed out five other counts of complaints against TopGear, saying it staged some of the footage, like when the car was being pushed into the garage and also that just a faulty fuse was made to be looked as if the brakes had malfunctioned.

The case will resume in a few weeks time. We will keep you posted on this developing news story.

[Source: The Guardian]

AutoGuide.com would like to announce that Charles Britt of Butler, Tn., is the recipient of a $500 Discount Tire gift card. Britt was randomly selected from the thousands of entries to the AutoGuide.com/J.D. Power Audience Survey.

Polling members of AutoGuide’s Forum Network, the survey asked questions to find out how social media and other online tools help to influence new car buying decisions.

The staff at AutoGuide.com would like to thank all those who participated. And congratulations to Charles Britt!

Shop for your new car at AutoGuide.com

Are you getting excited for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas? It’s less then two weeks away, and to get you a fan-frenzied mood, Ford has begun to tease us with its bespoke designs.

From subdued to outrageous and brand-spanking new to ancient, Ford will be showing off a little something of everything at the show, but taking the spotlight with be a few customized Fiesta and Focus models.

Sure to draw attention from the crowd are seven Focus hatchback and sedan models that boast customization by 3dCarbon, ROUSH Performance Products, The ID Agency, Capaldi Racing, Steeda, Bojix Design, and COBB Tuning. With such prominent names, you can expect to see some radical performance and styling modifications to these cars.

“Millennials, which this car is all about, want to personalize every aspect of their lives – everything from laptop covers to body art, and even cars,” said Mike Murphy, Ford C-Car Marketing manager. “Being unique allows them to stand apart and be different, and all the Focus models we have on display at SEMA live up to that standard.”

On the Fiesta side, there will be three customized models, courtesy of M2-Motoring, Gold Coast Automotive and Aaron Vaccar.

Expect to hear more from Ford about what it is bringing to the table at the SEMA show this week, including an all-new 363-cubic-inch Ford Racing stroker engine and a Ford licensed restoration part for the classic ’64-65 Mustang.

GALLERY: Ford Focus and Fiesta SEMA Show Cars

See AutoGuide’s complete 2011 SEMA Show Preview here

Toyota‘s leadership in the hybrid car category has reflected extremely highly on its perception as a “green” automaker. And for good reason, with two-thirds of all hybrids currently on the road being Toyota brand products. Much of that success can be given to the Prius, with more models sold than all other hybrids combined, totaling 52 percent of all registered hybrids.

The numbers grow further in Toyota’s favor if you take into account all Toyota brand vehicles. Adding in Lexus sales, Toyota Group models makes up 73 percent of all registered hybrids.

Next to Toyota’s 66.4 percent share of the hybrid market, Honda ranks a distant second with 15.7 percent. Totaling 288,906 units, much of Honda’s success has been with its Civic Hybrid with just shy of 200,000 units sold.

Broken down by brand, Lexus ranks third with 6.4 percent of the market, although if you include those vehicles in the larger Toyota number, then Ford comes in third with 6.3 percent.

According to data compiled by Polk Automotive, at the bottom of the list are Kia, with just one registered hybrid, Hyundai with four and Infiniti with 12. (Note: the data is as of April 2011 and since then these three automakers have all begun selling hybrids in more significant volumes).

With Toyota’s hybrid sales comprised of just the Prius, Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid the Big T is looking to continue stay on top in the hybrid segment, launching the Prius v this year and Prius Plug-in Hybrid next year, followed by the Prius c. An all-new Camry Hybrid is also expected to double Toyota’s annual sales volumes in that segment.

Toyota is also on the verge of a milestone in the U.S. market with 959,794 Prius models currently registered.

GALLERY: 2012 Prius Plug-in Hybrid

[Source: Polk]

Hit the jump for a full breakdown of hybrid model sales Continue Reading…

Audi‘s growth plan will hinge significantly on the success of its upcoming all-new A3 model. Teased with the A3 Sedan Concept at the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year, the 4-door was an obvious sign that Audi wants to push the car hard in the North American marketplace. And why not, with the proposed concept almost identical in size to the current A4. Plus, with the concept car’s 408-hp engine and beautiful styling it certainly won over the younger enthusiast base – including most every blog on the internet.

According to Audi chief designer Stefan Sielaff, along with the sedan, the German automaker is looking to introduce three additional models in the A3 range. Essentially a down-sized version of the A4/A5 range, there will be an A3 hatchback (a must for Europe), as well as both a convertible and sportback model.

Using different versions of the same MQB modular architecture, the longer 103.5-inch wheelbase will be used for the sportback and sedan, while a shorter 102-inch wheelbase platform will be used for the convertible and hatch. Audi has no indicated if it will build a coupe model for the A3 family, although S and RS models are likely.

GALLERY: Audi A3 Sedan Concept

[Source: AMUS]