It’s basically an advocacy campaign from DoSomething.com and Sprint to discourage texting while driving. We just wonder if wearing thumb socks does really make it difficult for one to fiddle with his/her mobile.

“Teens are encouraged to use thumb socks to spread awareness for the campaign through a variety of ways including giving them to their friends, keeping them in their car as a reminder, hosting a Thumb War tournament around the cause or updating their Facebook profile with a photo of them wearing the thumb socks,” said a statement from DoSomething.org and Sprint.

The PSA video features TV’s Joel McHale and Ken Jeong from that show Community.

Ford’s been dishing out sporty versions of its cars recently. Check out this limited edition sporty Ford Fiesta dubbed the S1600.

Yup. The 1600 means something. The car packs a 1.6L Duratec Ti-VCT gasoline engine that dishes out 118 bhp. It can generate 20 bhp more with an optional tuning package from Ford tuners Mountune.

For those wanting a diesel, a 1.6L Duratorq TDCi engine dishing out 94 bhp can be had.

Other modifications include a new bumper, sideskirts, a large spoiler and rear diffuser. The car sits atop 17-inch white alloys. Inside, the car sports leather sports seats, leather steering and knobs.

The car’s based on the Fiesta Zetec S.

Not everyone wants to buy an all-electric bubble car with three wheels. For fun, maybe. If you have that much spare cash, maybe. But if you’re considering getting one for the family, “just like every other American,” then maybe not.

Aptera’s one of those startups that is venturing into such things. They might not have a ready mass market but their breakthrough might just plant those seeds of thought in people’s minds.

An all-electric bubble car might just work particularly if it can get as much as 200 mpg. This one here is the pre-production version of the 2e but Aptera’s now pitching it to get that figure.

A bit of math and geekery might be in order though since the car’s all-electric using lithium-ion batteries to power its electric motor.

Aptera has been dealing with the typical growing pains of a startup but the increasing viability for such vehicles has attracted more support from the industry.

Source: Motor Authority

So the Saints won the Super Bowl sticking it up Payton Manning’s bum.

Non-football gearheads could settle for all the car ads in the biggest night of TV.

Here’s our round-up.

Hyundai Sonata Built by Hand

Hyundai Sonata Painted

Kia Joyride Dream

Audi A3 TDI Green Police

Volkswagen PunchDub

Dodge Charger Man’s Last Stand

Toyota Commitment

GoDaddy Too Hot for TV Danica Patrick

GoDaddy Danica Patrick Spa

Bridgestone Your Tires or Your Life

Bridgestone Whale of a Tale

Cars.com

]]> http://www.carfront.com/video-super-bowl-xliv-car-ad-roundup/feed/ 0 http://www.carfront.com/formula-1-michael-schumacher-confirms-return/ http://www.carfront.com/formula-1-michael-schumacher-confirms-return/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:16:49 +0000 Alex http://www.carfront.com/?p=1442

Happy new year, folks! We’re back from our holiday hiatus. So there’s quite a lot of catching up to do.

One of the biggest news over our time off – Michael Schumacher will indeed be back in top-flight motorsport competition as he confirmed that he will be racing for Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP) starting next season. He even plans to stay on until 2012.

The seven-time champion will be reuniting with Ross Brawn. The partnership had been credited as one of the reasons for Schumacher’s continued success through his stints in Benetton and Ferrari.

And if that’s not enough bombshells regarding the news, The Maestro wants another title. So that would probably even worry, Mercedes GP’s first driver, Nico Rosberg. And everyone else in the field for that matter.

Schumacher teased a return in the 2009 season as a stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa but Schumacher’s return was marred by his own injuries.

Well, sure Fast and the Furious capitalized on the darned thing but the street racing and downhill drifting tradition has long been there.

Anyway, check out this here video from a Japanese drift contest featuring M. Kawabata doing a reverse entry drift. Driving a Nissan S13 (240SX), tt seemed that the car’s tail kicked out way too much that it’s bound to spin but Kawabata-san caught the slide with an opposite lock, powered through, and held on to it. Amazing!

Consider this for a Danish pile up – a VW Touareg SUV, a Toyota Prius and a Tesla Roadster. Reports have it that the Tesla was behind the Touareg at a red traffic light when a Prius rear-ended the Tesla sending it straight underneath the VW.

Word from Tesla has it that it was the Toureg’s fault but by the looks of it, it’s the Prius that caused this gruesome scene.

Just check out the picture of the carnage. Twisted metal and all. How bout that? The car dubbed to be fit for pansies just wrecked a couple of cars.

As always, we just hope everyone involved in the accident’s okay. But whoever’s guilty must pay.

Source: Autopia
Image Credit: John Nuttall

As for Nissan, they have an idea with the Land Glider concept and they’re pretty keen on actually building the radical one-seater electric vehicle.

The Land Glider draws from the electric underpinnings of the Leaf. The car is only 43 inches wide and the car tilts 17 degrees when cornering to help it compensate for its narrowness.

In a world still characterized by people’s need for cargo space, leg room and passenger seating, the Land Glider would definitely cater to a very specific market, the profitability of which would remain questionable but Nissan believes that the market is growing and the company can wait.

Gronholm will be back behind the wheel again. He’s set to drive a 780 bhp Ford Fiesta at the Pikes Peak hill climb next month in the US. But before that, he had some test runs with the Olsberg Motor Sports Evolution team car.

“The car was quite good,” said Gronholm. “We have lots of power. It’s 800 horse power, which is very nice! But it’s not easy to get all of that power down, at the moment, it’s a bit like a switch, so we have some more work to do.”

At 780 bhp, the Fiesta will surely be a mad mean machine. The car will attempt to break the 10-minute mark up the 12.4-mile hill. If successful, Gronholm together with Andreas Eriksson (also in a Fiesta) will be the first ones to break the mark.