Filed under: Etc., Technology

There are a lot of reasons for invention that goes beyond necessity, and pure want is right up there at the top. A clever gent named Dave tired of making the 15-minute walk to his freezing cold car, so he built a long-distance remote starter from a prepaid cellphone.

To make it work, Dave removed the vibrating mechanism that would signal a call after receiving pulses from the phone’s circuit board. Then he wired the phone to send those pulses to the remote starter’s switch, and voila: two rings and the car starts up. He is no longer limited by proximity when using the remote start; as long as the phone gets a signal, he’ll have a warm car whenever he gets there. Clever, no?

Total cost of the hack was $71.03, but that doesn’t include the remote starter unit you’ll need to buy and install in your car. And speaking of installing, should you try this out you might want to conceal your handiwork. These probably aren’t the safest days to have someone coincidentally poking under your hood and finding a cell phone wired to your engine…

[Source: Dave Hacks via Engadget]

Build your own remote starter with a pre-paid mobile phone originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Subaru, UK, Racing

Prodrive has had a number of clients over the years. They’ve raced Ferraris at Le Mans, racked up innumerable victories for Aston Martin, and even ran Honda’s Formula One team until they took the reins themselves. But few associations have put the British racing consultancy on the map as much as its collaboration with Subaru in the World Rally Championship.

Unfortunately for David Richards and company, Subaru withdrew last year from the WRC. But that hasn’t kept Prodrive from tweaking out another rally-prepped Impreza, as if to show it still can. Homologated to production-based Group N specifications, the Impreza N2010 packs a twin-scroll-turbocharged two-liter boxer four with competition-spec fuel injectors, catalyst and ECU for an extra 20 horsepower over stock and a wider torque band. It’s also riding on an adjustable Ohlins suspension, with differentials front, center and rear, kept in check by AP Racing brakes and reinforced with an FIA-certified roll cage.

The result is what Prodrive claims is a more competitive package compared to a Super 2000-spec rally machine at about half the price - challengers can pick one up from

Review: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic weathers the storm with aplomb

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All-New 2011 Mazda5 coming to Geneva

2011 Mazda5 - Click above for high-res image gallery The Mazda5 has been around since 2006, going about its microvan business in relative obscurity, yet rewarding buyers with a healthy dose…

Officially Official: Mini unleashes the floodgates on Countryman crossover

Mini Countryman - Click above for high-res image gallery Following yesterday’s leaked images and teaser video, Mini has today officially opened the floodgates of pictures and information on…

Also of interest:

• Hyundai dealer auctions Genesis Coupe for $�16k, doesn’t want to honor deal
• More Bimmer leakage: 2011 BMW 335is images outted
• Report: Marchionne says Chrysler and Lancia could be merged within a year
• Audi A3 TDI getting 4th quarter Super Bowl ad featuring Cheap Trick

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 1.20.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Auctions, Hyundai

File this one under the dangers of mixing traditional Brick & Mortar business practices with the immediacy and transparency of the internet. Glenn Hyundai of Lexington, Kentucky placed a slightly used Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T on eBay Motors. There was no reserve, and a gencoupe.com forum member named McFly made a bid of $16,125 and won the auction (here’s a PDF of the auction in case the eBay link goes dead).

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/autos/Man_wins_Hyundai_on_eBay_for_16k_dealer_says_no’; Not a bad price, especially as the Gen Coupe in question had less than 5,000 miles on it and costs over $22,000 when new. McFly then secures financing from his bank to pay for the Coupe, makes the necessary travel arrangements to go pick up his car (he doesn’t live in Kentucky) and calls the dealer to put down a deposit with his credit card. This is when things begin to go bad. We’ll let McFly take it from here:

I talk to the front desk secretary, ask her how to make my deposit for an Internet Sales deal I have, and she immediately transfers me to Eric Manley. I talk to Eric briefly and he laughs at me over the phone, “Sorry buddy but you’re not getting it for that price, he says.” I tell him it’s a deal that I have worked out with the Internet Sales guy, and I’m ready to make the deposit. He laughs at me again, and says, “sorry buddy, not for that price.” It’s obvious that this guy knows nothing about it, but it’s odd that he won’t let me make my deposit. He’s clearly either confused or not the right guy.

Make the jump for the rest.

Continue reading Hyundai dealer auctions Genesis Coupe for $16k, doesn’t want to honor deal *UPDATE

Hyundai dealer auctions Genesis Coupe for $16k, doesn’t want to honor deal *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc., Videos, Humor

If your Jeep Cherokee has been sitting around for a while, it probably makes a few noises. You might not mind, though, if they were noises as well orchestrated as those in the video shown above.

British saxophonist Julian Smith spent a few hours with a Cherokee and an array of friends with rhythm and came up with a number that could be straight out of Stomp. Or an Art of Noise album. Follow the jump to see the vid, and as a bonus, there’s another take on car beats with Snob Scrilla and a Toyota Yaris. Thanks for the tips, everyone!

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: In Da Club Cherokee? Enterprising kids go all Jeep techno

VIDEO: In Da Club Cherokee? Enterprising kids go all Jeep techno originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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