Spot Cool Stuff has it on their list of 5 cool camping caravan trailers. It’s the Sealander Aquatic, the trailer that can be used as a camper on land and a boat on a lake. That thanks to it’s 5hp outboard motor and the amphibious frame and chassis. The interior is large enough for two beds, a kitchenette and a cooling & heating system, all of which are removable if you want to make room for more passengers. €15,000
This is definitely not your parent’s hippie-mobile from the late ’70s. Nor is it your older sister’s girly-mobile from the early 2000s. The newly redesigned 2012 Volkswagen Beetle is more sporty, more sophisticated, more pure car than that. Yet, somehow, the Beetle-ness of the vehicle remains.
On the outside, the new Beetle is longer (by 6 inches) and wider (by 3.3 inches) than it’s predecessor. More importantly: it is sleeker. No longer does a VW Beetle look like a box driving down on the highway.
Inside, the new Beetle sports bucket seats and a GPS/stereo touchscreen. Happily, the ridiculous speedometer in the middle console has been replaced by an excellent behind-the-steering-wheel display that’s similar to other VW vehicles.
As for underneath the hood . . . see more
That wind-in-your-hair open road feeling.
That high-above-the-road drive of an SUV.
Now you don’t have to choose between them, that thanks to the 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. It’s the world’s first all-wheel-drive crossover SUV convertible.
Nissan loosely based the design on its popular Murano. But the CrossCabriolet is not simply a Murano with the top chopped off. Nisssan resigned the exterior to give the CrossCabriolet a sleeker look. The interior is more luxurious too, with leather upholstery, heated seats and a GPS nav system. That and more is included in the base price—in a break from car selling tradition nearly every feature available on the CrossCabriolet is standard.
And the ride? While not peppy, it is smooth and quiet. For more, check out this excellent review of the 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet.
It’s the world first radar detector with phone connectivity: the Cobra iRadar.
Pair the small, sleek iRadar unit with an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch via Bluetooth and your handheld device will sound warnings about upcoming speed traps. The iRadar detects X, K and Ka bands as well as laser. And because it integrates with the oft updated AURA database the iRadar will also alert you to otherwise undetectable traffic enforcement cameras. The iRadar unit is priced at an extremely reasonable $130. The iRadar app has an even more reasonable price: free.
For more on the pros and cons of the Cobra iRadar see this review.
Electric cars are no longer glorified golf cars. Today’s battery-powered vehicles are larger, better looking—and faster. Like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-cell.
With a top speed of 160 mph (260 km/h) the E-cell will be the world’s fastest production electronic vehicle once it hits the market. (The current record-holder, the Tesla Roadster, tops out at 191 mph). Four electric motors rocket the AMG E-cell from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. Thanks to the 526 hp that are available virtually across the speed spectrum, adding another 60 mph to that takes about 4 seconds too. As with all electric cars, the major shortcoming of the AMG E-cell is its range: 125 miles when driving optimally and only 25 miles when using a lead foot.
Is it the start of an automotive revolution? The Nissan Leaf, slated to be the world’s first affordable, five-seat electric vehicle for the everyman† is coming to showrooms starting in late 2010. In the United States you can sign up to lease one for a fully refundable $99 deposit. But would you want to?
Here’s why you might:
The Leaf is a spacious, fun-to-drive vehicle. With maximum torque available at all speeds, the Leaf zips off the line and will send you from 0 to 60 mph in a more-than-respectable 6 seconds. The car has lots of vondrous, high tech features such as remote cell phone controls—on a hot day you can call your Leaf and ask it to pre-cool the car to a particular temperature; the Leaf will send you a text message when it is finished. The economics of Leaf ownership is appealing too. Powering a car through electricity costs a fraction of gasoline. And, of course, the Nissan Leaf is more environmentally-friendly than internal-combustion cars
Here’s why you might want to hold off on your Leaf purchase:
