Car Tech

Do you feel like you're not quite getting the gas mileage out of your car that you should be? Tracking your fuel economy can provide you with some hard evidence to determine whether something is wrong. Some cars have built-in computers that can calculate your mileage, but they don't offer much in the way of customization or provide other useful stats.

FuelLog is an Android app that can help you easily track your gas mileage and offers a lot of statistics to help you get a better picture of your car's fuel consumption. You can track things … Read more

The temperature inside your car can get insanely hot on sunny days, regardless of the temperature outside. When you get to your car and it's boiling hot, what's the first thing you do? You lower the windows and blast the air conditioner, right?

A convenient feature that's been around for years, but remains unknown to many car owners, is the ability to lower the windows with the key remote. This allows you to begin cooling your car without having to get in first. Unless the car dealership told you about this trick or you happen to read … Read more

Tracking your car's trip data can be fun and interesting, but not all cars come with an advanced trip computer. Using your Android phone's GPS sensor, SpeedView can act as a speedometer with some additional data functions.

The main screen of SpeedView displays a linear compass at the top, an analog speedometer, trip information and a speed graph. You can tap on the analog speedometer to switch to the numeric speedometer, while tapping on the trip data allows you to choose which information you want to display. You can choose between time, average speed, maximum speed, elevation, and … Read more

So, you've got your shiny new Google Nexus 7 in the mail and, after watching the lackluster "Transformers" movie that was included with the purchase, you're looking for something interesting to do with the 7-inch tablet. Why not transform your Nexus 7 into an automotive toolkit that helps you get from point A to B safely and can entertain you along the way?

OK, I'm sure that a number of you are already rolling your eyes and shouting something about distracted driving, which is a genuine concern. I don't see how the 7-inch Nexus … Read more

I like the Kia Soul more than its minibox rivals. It's cheap and cheerful, crisply styled in a way the doughy Nissan Cube should emulate. But I was disappointed in the newly revised power train. It's more advanced in terms of engine tech, output figures, and number of gears yet it all added up to a pretty gutless and vague driving experience. I don't recall that from the 2011 model. The automatic transmission is probably a poor choice for this car if you know how to shift.

It's also no small matter that Kia burdens the … Read more

High-dollar cars tend to lean on the technology pretty hard -- and tend to do it pretty badly. The cabin tech in an Aston Martin or Maserati typically doesn't equal what's in a Camry. But the big boys make up for it with exotic technology in their power trains, audio output, and sybaritic creature comforts like champagne coolers.

I was rather pleasantly surprised to find the 2012 Bentley Conti GT doesn't go too far over the top in high-tech gimmickry. Its W12 engine is exotic, yes, but has been knocking around the Volkswagen group for almost a decade. … Read more

I wasn't sure what to expect when we got the Tacoma in -- we don't review trucks very often and have no idea what we're doing when we take them off-road. But I approach the Tacoma Baja Edition like I do every car: As an everyday ride with some special talents.

The head unit in the Tacoma is more limited than what Toyota is capable of -- in fact, it only offers Bing search and Pandora radio apps, not the full complement of Entune apps like OpenTable and MovieTickets.com. Disappointing and, I feel, an ill-advised segmentation … Read more

Your car's dashboard is probably home to a speedometer, a tachometer, a fuel gauge, and -- if you're lucky -- a coolant temperature gauge. However, your car's electronic brain (ECU) is actively monitoring dozens of parameters behind the scenes that you, the driver, could find useful. This is where diagnostics hardware and apps like Torque Pro and Lite for Android step in, putting all of that data at your fingertips.

Torque doesn't require anything more than the hardware already present on your Android phone to function. Without any external hardware, Torque can still pull sensor data … Read more

Shortly after the Google I/O keynote yesterday, Google rolled out a list of app updates, one of which was an update to Google Maps. In the update, Google enabled the ability to save a section of a map for offline access. This is a great feature when you are traveling in an area with spotty coverage.

To save an area, launch Google Maps and tap on the menu key. Select Make Available Offline from the menu and then narrow down the area you want to save. You'll want to make sure you do this in advance and when … Read more