iguidez - All latest news

Honda has been hard at work trying to get back on track with so many catastrophes hitting the company and even though the car company is usually lethargic and conservative they usually deliver well built vehicles. Honda is a company that is not afraid to offer new vehicles such as the FCX Clarity or the Civic Natural Gas and for their insight and engineering I salute them. Today Honda has once again delivered a vehicle that could certainly bring in some urban dwellers that are looking to cut out oil completely and go electric. The 2014 Honda Fit EV is their ticket to getting a versatile vehicle that has plenty of interior room, especially for a compact little car.

As for the Fit EV it received the top spot for EV’s as the EPA delivered its results. 118MPGe is the rating that the Honda Fit EV received with a combined range of city and highway driving of 82 miles of range which tops even the golf cart like Mitsubishi i-MiEV. So this will probably cause Mitsubishi to start losing out on a few sales but since there will only be about 1,000 Honda EV Fit vehicles being leased in only California and Oregon this year means that Mitsubishi should still be able to move some metal. What will draw in some Fit buyers is the fact that this car is delivering 188 lb-ft of torque and has a sporty suspension setup so this could actually be a fun little car to drive.

Delivery of the 2014 Honda Fit EV to the west coast starts this summer and then east coast gets it next year. Honda will start the program as a lease only and will likely start offering them for sale as a 2014 model , as for the price for a Fit EV looks to be in the range of $40,000 which will be about $10,000 less with government subsidies. Look for all EV’s to start getting updated batteries as we have already seen the Chevy Volt get. Honda claims that the 2013 Fit EV is able to recharge in three hours with a 240-Volt kit which is helping to draw in customers. So look for there to be massive advancements in the EVs that will benefit all of us as they become more convenient and better at distance and efficiency.

Posted in: Honda

2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe

6:28 AM

cyber

There is something to be said when you drive a nice luxury coupe such as the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe. This car tells others that you are either a well to do professional that likes to wrap it up or that you are an empty nester looking to drop those keys into a bowl in the hopes that someone more attractive picks it out. What I am trying to say through this bizarre analogy is that a coupe symbolizes freedom and these coupes symbolize badass looks with a little bit of performance stuffed under the bonnet. From a 1.8L to a 6.3L there is fuel efficiency and then there is speed.

The 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-250 Coupe starts at $37k and offers the Turbo 1.8L. With the 4 banger you get 201 hp and 31 mpg’s on the highway through a 7-speed automatic transmission. Good gas mileage but not good performance. If you or daddy can fork out $42k you can get the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C- 350 Coupe that sports a 3.5L V6 that produces 302 hp. Fuel economy drops but only to 28 mpg on the highway. If you want the muscle car tire melting ability then you need to look at the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe that pumps out 451 hp thanks to its monster 6.3L AMG V8. The AMG C63 gets you from 0-sexy in 4.4 secs. The problem with all that fun is that you are only going to get 19 mpg on the highway if and only if you can keep your foot off the gas pedal, which is impossible. The AMG C63 comes at a price of $61k but hey it’s an AMG. If you have more money then you can go for the AMG C63 Performance Special Edition or for the Black Edition but that’s top secret.

These coupes are set to offer a little bit of everything. If you want luxury but have a commute or like trees and baby seals then the C250 is your ride. If you need a little more oomph then the 302 hp C350 is what you need. Still decent on gas as well as power and is the perfect all around vehicle as well as makes a great inclement weather and road trip car with the available 4Matic AWD system. Then if you are balls out ready to slide sideways and ruin some rubber then the powerful and sought after 2013 C63 AMG is the top pick. Either one you choose you will be getting a good looking coupe.

Categories: Mercedes Benz Tags:

Posted in: CClass,Coupe,MercedesBenz

The 2013 Nissan Xterra

2:53 AM

cyber

Over 5 years ago big massive dinosaur SUV’s roamed the land and had quite an ability to go anywhere although they usually roamed around on smooth surfaces. As more and more SUV’s started roaming the land, their food was becoming scarcer and although they were surviving, they were stressed. Then in 2007 a comet of financial burden would crash down and caused many SUV’s to become extinct as their owners could not afford them anymore. Owners wanted a dinosaur that were less destructive and hungry and that’s when all the auto manufacturers started euthanizing the SUV. Today we see that auto manufacturers with the exception of Jeep are executing their SUV’s with extreme prejudice. On the plus side Jeep sales are great and they are thanking all the other manufactures for scrapping their programs.

So what is Nissan to do, they have already turned the Nissan Pathfinder 2013 Model into a nose coned minivan and have Xterra fan boys and girls such as myself that are asking for a continuation of this inexpensive means to outdoor freedom. The problem is that market trends don’t look to hot as everyone either wants a fat-ass 7-passenger minivan crossover thingy or they want a cute little crossover that can’t go off more than a dirt road. So hopefully we will see that there is some life still in the 2013 Nissan Xterra. The Nissan Xterra has been a large seller for Nissan in the past but is not really producing any wow figures. What may save the Xterra is the Frontier. As these two vehicles share everything but a bed (get it) they are pretty much like one vehicle that is just optioned heavily. But Frontier sales have been good to Nissan as it is only second to the Rogue in Nissan truck sales.

So hopefully Nissan will go back to the roots of the Xterra and give us a capable off-road vehicle for cheap and startit off with no frills in the interior because we are just going to mount GPS’s, Tilt Gauges, Mag-Light holders and GoPros on the dash anyways. We just need the beefy powertrain and maybe some MPG’s can be squeezed out as well. But look for the Direct Injected 3.7 L to go into this baby and a starting price tag of around $25K. As we get updates we will post them.

Posted in: Nissan,Xterra

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

2013 FFR Project 818

11:21 PM

cyber

Ok so you are at the track and you have been working on fine tuning your mom’s Ford Escort in order to throw down some better times. You and your friends have been working on the car but since you’re from the poor side of town you don’t have thousands of dollars to throw down on a Lotus Elise. Well that is about the time as Fred Maximillion Percilus Blueblood Jr III comes by with his Lotus Elise and challenges you to a race and the winner gets the girl. So what do you do? Well Factory Five Racing has you covered as they may just be introducing the answer to all our “blue collar” racing needs.

Factory Five Racing has long been a builder of replica Shelby Cobras as well as Daytonas. These replicas and others are impressive to say the least as they are not fragile little fiberglass rides with a VW engine powering it. These vehicles can be used as daily drivers if one was so inclined. The company has now decided to take on its next challenge and that is a fast and inexpensive racecar for the masses and that my friends, has us very interested.

The vehicle is known as the Project 818 as it stands for the weight which is 818 kg or 1800 lbs. The kit is setup with a tubular frame and utilizes as many parts from a 2002-2007 Subaru Impreza and WRX as possible. The result is a low price vehicle that can be repaired and worked on cheaply if there is ever the need. As for the price of the kit it seems that Factory Five Racing wants to shoot for a target price of under $10,000 for the non-running kit and $15,000 for everything. So if this is the case you can easily have a 227 hp Turbo that can be boosted or fit an STI engine and make 300 hp stock. These engines can of course be custom built and make as much as 1,000 hp but that will be up to you. So we await word on the final price of the Project 818 and will be sure to update you all when we get word. So start looking for donor Subaru’s.

Posted in: Project

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Inmate upsets Obama in US primary

11:35 PM

cyber

9 May 2012 Last updated at 18:57 GMT Keith Judd in a prison photo in 2008

Keith Judd is due to be released from prison in June 2013 US President Barack Obama had to fight off stiff competition from a convict in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.

Although Mr Obama's path to his party's nomination to run for a second term is all but assured, the result underlines his unpopularity in the state.

Texas federal inmate Keith Judd won about 41% of voters in the poll, while Mr Obama took 59% of the vote.

Mr Obama lost the state in the general election in 2008.

As of January, he held a 33% approval rating in West Virginia.

Judd was able to get on the ballot by filing a form and paying $2,500 fee, a state spokesman said.

He is in a federal prison in Texarkana after an extortion conviction for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999.

The Obama administration's energy policies have upset West Virginia's powerful coal industry.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Senator Joe Manchin, both Democrats, have declined to say if they will support Mr Obama in the upcoming election.

Candidates normally qualify for delegates to the party's national convention by attracting 15% of the vote in the state.

However, state party executive director Derek Scarbro told the Associated Press that no-one has filed to be a delegate for Judd. They also believe Judd has failed to file other paperwork required of presidential candidates.

Posted in: Inmate,Obama,primary,upsets

Media Center yanked from Windows 8 Release Preview, here's how to re-enable it

8:13 PM

cyber

Microsoft has already said that Windows Media Center will be available to Windows 8 users as a separate, paid for add-on, rather than being integrated into the OS as was the case with the last two releases of Windows. Although it was still present in the Consumer Preview, if you’ve already installed the new Release Preview build you may have noticed that the media center software is nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, there is a way to enable Media Center in Windows 8 Release Preview for free so users can continue testing it in the interim. Also, if you want to play DVDs on Windows 8, Media Center or a third-party app are required, as Microsoft decided not to include DVD and Blu-ray playback by default anymore.

Here are the instructions as detailed on a Microsoft Windows 8 Release Preview FAQ:

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.)Enter add features in the search box, and then tap or click Add features to Windows 8.Tap or click I already have a product key.Enter this product key: MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7 and then click Next.Select the checkbox to accept the license terms and then click Add features.Your PC will restart and the Windows Media Center tile will be pinned to the Start screen.

This is the same procedure users will need to follow when adding Media Center to the final version of Windows 8 — save for the fact that you’ll need to pay for the license key. Microsoft hasn’t revealed exactly how much the upgrade will cost yet, besides saying that "it will be in line with marginal costs".

Posted in: Center,heres,Media,Preview,reenable,release,Windows,yanked

Judge rules in favor of Google, APIs cannot be copyrighted

4:16 PM

cyber

google, android, oracle, judge, infringement, jury, apis, copyright

US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco has ruled against Oracle in their lawsuit with Google. The judge declared that copyright law does not reside over APIs, specifically in this case, with Google’s use of Java when they developed the Android mobile operating system.

Last month a jury found that Android does not infringe on patents from Oracle. The search giant was being charged with eight counts of infringement that covered two separate patents. The jury determined that Google did infringe on 37 Java APIs when they were creating Android but they were unable to ascertain if its use constituted as “fair use” under copyright law. Without a ruling here, Oracle was unable to proceed and collect damages which is where this latest ruling comes into play.

Alsup said that Google didn’t copy Oracle’s programming code in Android but rather wrote their own code to replicate the same functions. Google reportedly used some of the same phrases in their code but it was necessary to maintain the same level of interoperability. He concluded that names, titles and phrases aren’t covered by copyright law which is what Google’s use amounted to.

Company spokesperson Deborah Hellinger told Bloomberg that Oracle plans to appeal the ruling.

“This ruling, if permitted to stand, would undermine the protection for innovation and invention in the United States and make it far more difficult to defend intellectual property rights against companies anywhere in the world that simply takes them as their own,” said she in an e-mailed statement.

Google is still responsible for using nine lines of Java code in Android but the charge is limited to statutory damages not exceeding $150,000, a far cry from estimated $1 billion payout Oracle was seeking.