Tuesday, 20 September 2016

Waze Traffic App Now Helps You Find Parking

Waze Traffic App Now Helps You Find Parking

Waze Traffic App Now Helps You Find Parking

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The Waze traffic app is being updated to help you find the best parking spots.

The company has teamed up with INRIX, which aggregates real-time road traffic data from a variety of sources to provide parking information and services to various automakers including Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. Waze will integrate INRIX's parking information with its own database so that the app can expand the accuracy of its "where to park" feature that was recently introduced. The app will also display pricing information and parking capacity numbers.

SEE ALSO: Here's How to Make Morgan Freeman Read Your Navigation Directions

"Driving around looking for spots impacts arrival times and adds unneeded frustration and stress to the entire driving experience," said Flavia Sasaki Siquiera, Waze's chief of business development, in a statement. "Waze has begun to rollout the first of its parking suite features to solve this issue for drivers. Combining INRIX parking information with our own parking database expands reach and accuracy of the 'where to park' feature."

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US Drivers Waste $2.1B on Premium Gasoline Each Year

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If your car doesn't require premium gasoline, AAA says it's a waste of money.

According to new AAA research, American drivers wasted over $2.1 billion in the last 12 months by purchasing premium gasoline for vehicles designed to run on regular fuel. As a result, AAA conducted a comprehensive fuel evaluation to see if there are any benefits to using premium gasoline when it is not required by the manufacturer. Using industry-standard test protocols, AAA evaluated vehicle performance, fuel economy and emissions, and found no benefit to using premium gasoline in a vehicle that only requires regular-grade fuel.

The research was done in collaboration with the Automotive Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center, and involved testing of 87- and 93-octane gasoline in vehicles equipped with inline-four cylinder, V6 or V8 engines designed to use regular-grade fuel. Each vehicle was tested on a dynamometer to measure horsepower, fuel economy and tailpipe emissions when using both fuel types and a variety of driving conditions. The testing found no significant increases in any of the tested categories, indicating that using premium gasoline when it's not required offers no benefits.

SEE ALSO: Why Are Gas Prices so Low?

AAA then surveyed U.S. drivers and found that 70 percent currently own a vehicle that requires regular gasoline, while 16 percent drive vehicles that require premium gasoline. The remaining 14 percent required mid-grade gasoline or uses an alternative energy source. In addition, in the last 12 months, U.S. drivers unnecessarily used premium fuel in their vehicles more than 270 million times.

"Drivers see the 'premium' name at the pump and may assume the fuel is better for their vehicle," said John Nielsen, AAA's managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair. "AAA cautions drivers that premium gasoline is higher octane, not higher quality, and urges drivers to follow the owner's manual recommendations for their vehicle's fuel."

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Michael Schumacher ‘Cannot Walk,’ Says Lawyer

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Michael Schumacher's lawyer has denied reports that the former Formula 1 champion can walk.

The seven-time champion's lawyer, Felix Damm, told German court that "he [Schumacher] cannot walk" and is not able to stand even with the help of therapists. The details come in a court case against a German magazine, after it quoted an unnamed friend who said Schumacher can walk "a couple of steps." The publication ran its original report last December and featured a picture of Schumacher on the cover with the headline "He can walk again."

SEE ALSO: Michael Schumacher's Condition is 'Not Good' Says Former Ferrari President

Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, has described the speculation as "irresponsible because given the seriousness of his injuries, his privacy is very important for Michael. Unfortunately they also give false hopes to many involved people."

It has been more than two-and-a-half years since Schumacher's accident, when he suffered a head injury while skiing in France. He was placed in a medically induced coma for six months before being transferred to his home in Switzerland to continue treatment.

This past February, former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo who also served as Schumacher's boss when he was racing, said "I have news and unfortunately it is not good," in regards to Schumacher's condition.

[Source: The Guardian]

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Jaguar F-Pace SVR Spied Testing on the Track

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The 2018 Jaguar F-Pace SVR is making its rounds at the Nurburgring.

Aimed to compete with the likes of the Porsche Macan Turbo, the Jaguar F-Pace SVR could arrive within the next year. The prototype caught on camera by spy photographers is heavily camouflaged, but we can see larger wheels on all four corners helping conceal the bigger brakes lurking behind. The front bumper has also been tweaked, with an extra piece of mismatching camouflage is used to cover the larger air intakes.

SEE ALSO: High-Performance Jaguar F-Pace Coming with Over 500 HP

Under the hood, Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division will likely turn to the same powerplant used in the Range Rover Sport SVR and F-Type SVR. So at the very least, expect the F-Pace SVR to have around 550 horsepower.

Discuss this story on our Jaguar F-Pace Forum

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BMW Z5 Finally Goes Testing on the Nurburgring

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A BMW Z5 prototype has been spied testing on the world famous Nurburgring.

Widely believed to be based on the platform developed in collaboration with Toyota, the BMW Z5 will serve as a successor to the Z4, which ended its production in August. What's underpinning the BMW Z5 is expected to also underpin the Toyota Supra's successor, although the two will try to appeal to different markets.

Still heavily camouflaged, spy photographers did manage to sneak in a couple of interior photos this time around. They reveal a digital gauge cluster along with a traditional BMW steering wheel and climate control knobs. The infotainment screen was covered, hinting that BMW has a next-generation unit possibly in development.

SEE ALSO: BMW Z4 Production Ending Soon to Make Room for Rumored Z5 Successor

Both BMW and Toyota have been keeping relatively quiet on the development of their sports cars, despite prototypes being spied over the last few months. Expect the BMW Z5 to launch as a roadster with a soft top, getting rid of the current model's retractable hard top in order to save weight. Under the hood will likely be turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engine offerings and rumor has it a hybrid powertrain is in the works to pair with the German automaker's xDrive all-wheel drive.

Look for the BMW Z5 to finally make its debut sometime in 2017 before it heads to dealerships as a 2018 model.

Discuss this story on our BMW Forum

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2017 Honda HR-V Hits Showrooms With New Color, Higher Price

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The Honda HR-V is entering its 2017 model year with a starting MSRP of $20,200 including destination, which represents a price increase of $150 over the 2016 model.

Honda has also introduced a new color for the HR-V called Lunar Silver metallic, which replaces a previous paint offering called Alabaster Silver.

Besides that, the 2017 HR-V stays true to the formula used in 2016. It comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, push-button electric parking brake with Automatic Brake Hold, rearview camera with guidelines and an infotainment system with Bluetooth connectivity and Pandora support.

Under the hood of the HR-V is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that makes  141 horsepower at and 127 lb.-ft. of torque. That engine can be mated to a six-speed manual transmission or a CVT, with front-wheel drive HR-V models earning up to 31 MPG combined. All-wheel drive models will earn 29 MPG combined.

Sales of the Honda HR-V have been steadily improving, with over 7,000 models sold in August. The small crossover is proving to be popular with buyers, and even impressed our editors in a big shootout of small crossovers.

Discuss this story on our Honda HR-V Forum

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