What do you get when you combine elements from two hit car shows from opposite sides of the pond? In the most recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, an automotive show that explores everything car culture, Leno got to race alongside Ben Collins, the former Top Gear Stig, in brand new Aston Martins.
Leno and Collins got behind the new prototype Aston Martin DB11 and V12 Vantage S and raced them around Willow Springs. Because Leno was behind the DB11, which is still in development, he really couldn’t thrash the car around as much as he would have liked. That still didn’t stop Collins, who was also the stunt driver for Quantum of Solace, from driving around like a lunatic. The two tried to recreate a movie car scene to the best of their ability, even with the restricted speed limit.
Jay Leno has been on a roll since leaving the Tonight Show. He started up a YouTube channel titled Jay Leno’s Garage which was soon spun off into a television series for CNBC. The show has been monumentally successful, actually becoming the most watched CNBC freshman program. Recently, Leno escaped serious injury when a stunt car flipped over multiple times while filming. Amazingly Leno and the driver walked out unharmed.
Collins too has kept busy, and not just as a stunt driver. He’s been working on video game development, and contributed heavily to the recent and excellent Project Cars, a sim racing game from Slightly Mad Studios.
Leno still continues to update his YouTube channel, giving more in-depth looks at various cars. From the Acura NSX to more obscure cars like the Rocket II Trike, just about every vehicle you could think of has ended up in Leno’s garage.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.