We obsessively cover the auto industry…

There is nothing new about an electric skateboard (you can pick one up today at Sears or Toys 'R' Us), but the founders of ZBoard have come up with an innovative way to make electric mobility safe and easy. The ZBoard uses intuitively placed weight-sensing pads to control acceleration and braking, and Translogic recently had the chance to check one out.

Weighing in at 30 pounds, the ZBoard is powered by a 400-watt motor and a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery giving the board a 10-mile range and top speed of 17 miles per hour. The unique sensors on the Canadian maple deck allow riders to lean forward to accelerate and lean back to slow down, stop and even back up. Early prototypes used electric brakes to bring it to a stop, but after it was discovered that this caused damage to some electrical components, the design was changed to incorporate regenerative braking for better stopping and longer range.

Created by Ben Forman and Geoff Larson as a part of a mechanical engineering project, the two men expected to sell 25 boards in three months, but instead they sold that many in just three days. There are two versions of the ZBoard with the Classic going for $649 and the Pro (the model tested by Translogic) priced at $949.

While we're still holding out for the day when hoverboards become a reality, the ZBoard definitely sounds like a lot of fun. Check out how it works in the video below.

Just When It Gets Really Good, We May Not Get It



The (final) final decision on whether or not we will get the second-generation Audi A3 Sportback in the US has yet to be handed down by the juries in Ingolstadt and Herndon (Virginia, corporate seat for Audi USA). But that doesn't mean we can't head to the roads of the Monte Carlo Rally in this car's most powerful and accoutered trim three months before European customers take deliveries in late February. Our ride for the day? The A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI Quattro S-line with the beefy six-speed S-tronic, a car good for 181 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque between 1,750 and 3,000 rpm. If it came available in the US, we anticipate pricing would begin around $34,500 for this topmost trim.

When we get a shot to drive on these utterly spectacular roads, the assumption would be that our Audi of choice would be an RS trim with a chassis set up for our usual abuses. Such was not the case this time, however, as our tester did not even benefit from the optional Audi Magnetic Ride dampers that are now available on the A3. Audi Drive Select is standard at this engine and trim level (we had the European "Ambition" trim, which equates roughly to Premium Plus in the States), and this does provide for the recalibration of several dynamic bits between Efficiency, Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual modes. With the six-speed S-tronic gearbox, ADS takes care of shift responses, as well.

Although this A3 Sportback was not like an RS3 by a longshot on our route, we simply toned down our rate to match what might be the driving attitude of a typical owner. Taken as such, this top tune of the 2.0 TDI engine, plus all of our model's premium touches inside, made for a thoroughly satisfying experience on roads any enthusiast would never want to leave. Conditions were ideal, as there was literally zero traffic to disturb our exploration of this latest Sportback.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT is an exquisite sports car that probably needs no help flying off dealer lots, even with a starting price of almost $200,000, but Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City has come up with an interesting incentive to sweeten the deal. For buyers who purchase a new SLS AMG from dealer stock before the end of the year, the dealership is throwing in a new Smart Fortwo from its inventory at no charge... with a required coupon no less.

In addition to being a great tactic to get a little free press, the spare car also makes sense as an alternative to the SLS, which measures more than 15-feet long - almost twice the length of a Fortwo - and has a 563-horsepower engine that sucks down gas at the rate of 13 miles per gallon in city driving (and even that's provided you don't give in to the devil on your shoulder). Plus, at the end of the day, this really isn't that big of an incentive. Being given a slow-selling $12,490 car for the purchase of a model starting at $199,500 represents about a six percent incentive, which is along the lines of a $1,900 rebate for a $30,000 car.

To get the free Smart, just visit the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Facebook page, redeem the coupon and then go buy yourself a new SLS AMG. Congratulations!

The 2013 Audi RS6 Avant, fittingly red with rage in its press photos, is here. It's engine bay holds the 4.0-liter TFSI V8 with two twin-scroll turbochargers and cranks out 560 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque – that latter figure available from just 1,750 rpm. This gets people and their cargo from 0-to-62 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds. Top speed on the standard wagon is 155 mph, while wagons fitted with the Dynamic package are able to get to 174 mph and those with the Dynamic Plus package go all the way to 190 mph.

It's about 220 pounds lighter than the previous generation RS6 Avant and fitted with stop/start and cylinder deactivation, so combined fuel economy is 24 miles per gallon – that's 40 percent better than before. Shifting happens via an eight-speed tiptronic with improved shift times and a long eighth-gear ratio to boost highway mileage.

The adaptive air suspension keeps things comfy, while on the other side the chaperone of performance is Quattro with torque vectoring, dual-mode exhaust with switchable flaps and six-pot calipers on the front rotors. Things can be taken further with the optional sport differential, sport suspension with Dynamic Ride Control, dynamic steering, carbon fiber ceramic brakes, a sport exhaust and 21-inch wheels.

The RS6 shall be known by gnarly aero mods outside, set off by matte aluminum and high-gloss black trim, the large rear diffuser and two oval tailpipes. Inside will be lots of black, set off by red and white accents, heaps of carbon fiber and aluminum-look trim, diamond quilting on the seats and new treats like the Formula-One-style shift lights. And oh by the way, it holds nearly 60 cubic feet of your stuff behind the rear seats.

All the details are in the press release below, all the photos in the high-res gallery above.

Let it be noted that the best way to stop an out-of-control car with no brakes is to try engaging the parking brake. That being said, it's also a terrifying occurrence, so logic is sometimes thrown out the window in lieu of more of a reflex-oriented response. Brian Reynolds, 40, found himself in the latter scenario when the brakes on his Chevrolet pickup failed near a park in Salem, Massachusetts. While it isn't clear whether Reynolds attempted to engage the parking/emergency brake, at some point he opened the door and tried pulling a Fred Flintstone, using his foot to try and stop his truck.

At some point after opening his door, the Salem Patch reports that Reynolds fell out of his still-moving truck. The pickup ran over his leg before continuing down the street, only to crash into a fire hydrant. Although the specific injury wasn't reported, Reynolds was hospitalized, and adding insult to injury (in the most literal sense of the phrase), the local police reportedly ticketed him for operating a vehicle with defective equipment.

November was a rough month for the Dodge Dart. All told, Chrysler managed to deliver 4,489 units, down from 5,455 in October, but perhaps more telling is the sizable inventory Dodge now has on hand. Chrysler added a third shift to the Belvidere, Illinois plant that produces the new compact in order to satiate projected demand, and as a result, Dodge now has a 112-day supply of Dart models. That equates to 23,446 units waiting for a new home. Automakers typically average a supply of around 73 days. But the news wasn't so grim for the rest of the Chrysler stable.

Ward's Auto reports the Chrysler 200 saw particularly good sales through November, with the four-door seeing a 49.6 percent increase through the first 11 months of 2012 compared to the same time period on 2011. Likewise, the genetic sibling to the 200, the Dodge Avenger, saw sales jump 54.8 percent year over year through the same 11 months.

The 2013 Lexus ES has earned a five-star crash rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The 2013 ES 350 and ES 300h hybrid earned the highest ratings in each of the government's crash evaluations, including overall driver safety, frontal crashes and overall side impacts, save one. The sedan only achieved a four-star rating in the NHTSA rollover protection test, but that fault wasn't enough to keep the vehicle from earning a five-star designation overall.

The announcement doesn't mention the recent Consumer Reports claim that the ES comes with a faulty emergency trunk release that can be easily broken in a panic situation.

As you may recall, the 2013 ES 350 carries an MSRP of $36,100, plus an $895 destination fee and offers buyers a 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 good for 248 pound-feet of torque, as well. The ES 300h, meanwhile, stickers at $38,850 plus the same destination charge.

The 2014 Jaguar XFR-S might have only been good enough to take the runner-up spot in our Editor's Choice top five debuts at the LA Auto Show, but we'd be hard-pressed to find a car with a more exhilarating exhaust note. As proof of this, Jaguar released a video showing the XFR-S tearing up a windy, European mountain road in close to a minute of hardcore driving footage.

The big blue cat has the same great exhaust note of the XKR-S, and the driver puts all of the car's 550 horsepower to work demonstrating the handling – and drifting – abilities of the new XFR-S. If there's any disappointment to be had, it's the fact that you have to jump to the 30-second mark of the video for any of the action to start.

Scroll down to watch the video, and be sure your speakers are turned all the way up.

Imagine that an automaker was displaying more than ten percent of its existing production under one roof - a manufacturer like Ford would have millions of cars on display. Yet Voisin automobiles, the iconic French luxury brand from the 1920s and 1930s, needs to display just 17.

Gabriel B. Voisin began producing cars in 1919. As an aviation pioneer (he is credited with developing Europe's first heavier-than-air engine-powered aircraft capable of sustaining controlled flight) who eventually focused his talent in the automotive sector, his designs were technically detailed, aerodynamically efficient and with an art deco aesthetic – it is easiest to simply consider them stunning.

While more than 10,000 automobiles were assembled in the suburban Paris factory, fewer than 150 are known to still exist. Amazingly, the famed Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, has more than a dozen of his masterpieces (plus original artifacts) on display through April of 2013. This unprecedented show is the first opportunity to see so many examples of Voisin's work in the United States.

Notable examples include the 1935 Type C25 Aerodyne that won the coveted Best of Show award at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance as well as a reconstruction of the 1923 Type C6 Course "Laboratoire" race car that experimented with a double wedge-shape airfoil for improved aerodynamics.

The curators opened the doors to Autoblog the other day, so we sent Drew Phillips in with his camera for a closer look. The pictures are amazing, but the real beauty of a Voisin is in the small details. It should go without saying that this is the type of automotive exhibit that is truly worthy of a road trip to view.

The crew at Hennessey has finally gotten around to showing the world just how quick the Venom GT really is by pulling off a 0-230 mph sprint on runway. The best run took a scant 19.96 seconds to stick the speedometer at 228 mph.

That's the kind of speed that will peal your eyelids back if you aren't careful. Of course, it takes some pretty lofty power figures to generate that kind of velocity. The Venom GT benefits from a General Motors LS9 V8 engine pulled from the wicked Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

After some healthy tweaking, including abandoning the factory supercharger for twin ball bearing turbochargers, the 7.0-liter V8 spits up to 1,244 horsepower to the rear wheels. We're just happy to see all that thrust get put to task. You can check out the quick video of the Venom GT sprinting to glory below.

Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte has it good. He is a member of the Swedish Royal Family, he dates a model and he has been voted by Forbes as one of the "20 Hottest Young Royals." If that were not enough, he is a fairly successful racecar driver. The latter has earned him a spot on the Volvo Polestar racing team for the Swedish Touring Car Championship. The prince will be piloting a race-spec S60 in the 2013 STCC campaign.

Starting in 2008, Prince Carl Philip began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup, where he placed as high as 11th. In 2010, he finished first in the Porsche GT3 Endurance competition, and most recently, he placed fourth in the 2012 Swedish GT GTB.

As his motorsport career up to this point suggests, the prince is quite serious about racing and the STCC is the next step up. According to Prince Carl Philip, "There is no tougher championship in Sweden and at the same time as I have respect for it, it motivates me greatly." You can read more on Prince Carl Philip's upcoming campaign with Polestar in the press release below.

LA Auto Show, Forza Horizon, Lincoln Motor Company



Episode #311 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and George Kennedy talk about the Los Angeles Auto Show and the big deal Ford is making over its re-launch of Lincoln as Lincoln Motor Company. Also this week, an interview with Turn 10 Studios Creative Director Dan Greenawalt about Forza Horizon. It's a extra-value-length podcast this week. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!

Autoblog Podcast #311:




Topics:

• LA Auto Show recap
• Forza Horizon
• Much ado about Lincoln

In the Autoblog Garage:
2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3
2013 Buick LaCrosse Touring
2013 Subaru Outback

Hosts: Dan Roth, Zach Bowman, George Kennedy

---

Get the podcast
[UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10PM Eastern at UStream
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly

Feedback
Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com

Review the show in iTunes

We have no qualms admitting our love for vintage Japanese tin. There's just something about the country's hardware from the 1960s and '70s that flips all the right switches for us, and the lovely Skyline sits at the top of that heap. Our friends at Petrolicious seem to share that infatuation. The film crew recently sat down with Ivan Jaramillo outside of San Francisco to take a look at two very special members of his collection. You see, Jaramillo doesn't just own one Skyline. He owns a pair of them, and, unlike some collectors, he uses the cars as they were intended to be enjoyed.

Petrolicious spent some time filming Jaramillo's Hakosuka and Kenmeri tearing through redwood forests with their triple Mikuni carbs barking at the treetops. If you weren't a fan of the ancestors to the modern Nissan GT-R before taking a look at the latest effort from Petrolicious, you will be by the time the clip comes to a close. Check it out below.

Don't let those Kias in the back of this photo fool you – the camouflaged car you're looking at here is the next-generation Hyundai Genesis. Remember, we've already seen Kia's new rear-wheel-drive flagship – the oh-so-suavely named Quoris – so this big roller is indeed the successor to Hyundai's Genesis sedan.

Codenamed "DH," the Genesis will ride on an updated version of Hyundai's rear-wheel-drive architecture, though as we've reported several times, all-wheel drive is also likely in the cards for the new model. Other DH enhancements will be the shedding of some weight – as much as a couple hundred pounds – and a sportier tuning.

Design wise, the new Genesis will get a much sleeker, more upscale look – something that's evident even with all of the camo glued to this test car. Up front there are revised LED running lamps, swoopier styling, and more elegant taillamps out back.

Powertrain options aren't expected to change too much, with the 3.8-liter V6 and 5.0-liter V8 carrying over with only some simple massaging. Eight-speed automatic transmissions will be fitted across the board (like they are now), though a rumored ten-speed automatic 'box is even said to be in the works.

Look for the new Genesis to bow sometime next year.