The Brains of Auto Experts See Cars like Faces

My brother is like Rain Man when it comes to cars. He can see a car for a split second and know the make, model, year, and pop out a little historical tid bit about it. I’ve always wondered how he can be that good. Is it his experience in the car industry? Is he just that much smarter than me? Well, the answer may lie in his Fusiform gyrus.

See, faces have a special place in the human brain. Statistically, all faces are remarkably similar, with only very slight differences in the dimensions and shape. It should be difficult for us to tell each other apart, but our brains have evolved a special section devoted totally to facial recognition called the Fusiform gyrus. In fact, there’s a disorder called Prosopagnosia, where the Fusiform gyrus is either damaged or doesn’t work properly, and the unfortunate people with that disorder simply can’t tell other humans apart by their faces. Essentially, they see human faces “normally”, while most of us have an enhanced ability to recognize faces because of our special brains bits.

Ok, what does all this science business have to do with cars, right? Well according to the journal Nature Neuroscience, car experts like my brother perceive automobiles just like most of us perceive faces, with their fusiform gyrus.

In the study, Isabel Gauthier of Vanderbilt University and her colleagues designed an experiment to try figure out exactly whats going on with car experts. The scientists recruited 20 car experts and 20 car novices and showed them alternating images of automobiles and faces while monitoring their brain activity. The researchers asked the subjects to compare each face with the previously shown face, and each car with the previous car, to ensure that they were looking at a face while thinking about a vehicle and vice versa. The team found that the most car-savvy individuals recognized the cars as a whole, but their ability to process faces declined as a result. Vehicle newbies, in contrast, used the slower bit-by-bit approach to categorize cars but saw no decrease in their ability to process faces. Gauthier says that these finding suggest that auto experts are using the same neural circuitry for both faces and cars.

Related posts:

• Real Time Parking Info on the Web for Philadelphia Drivers?
• LA 2008: U.S. smart fortwo BRABUS is officially official
• Mercedes Announces Plans to Offer Turbocharged Engines Across its Lineup by 2010
• Chinese automaker to build sedan on Saleen platform?
• Detroit Auto Show Preview: Mercedes Vision GLK FREESIDE Unveiled

Related posts:

• Aston Martin to Rebadge the Toyota iQ
• AutoblogGreen for 11.26.08
• Surprise! Big Cars Beat Up Small Ones in Crash Tests
• Extended Warranties for Your Car: Worth Buying?
• Walker Canada Makes Another Batch Of Driveshaft Through The Skull Shirts, Get Yours Now! [Novelties]

Top 10 Cheapest New Cars To Own

This may have seemed like a no-brainer: The cheapest cars to own are the ones with the best gas mileage.  Right?  Not exactly.  Edmunds five year audit of the cost of ownership takes in to account many factors including intial cost of vehicle, depreciation, financing (based on a 60 month loan), taxes, fees, insurance, maintenance, repairs and yes, gas mileage; averaging 15,000 miles a year.  Hoping for a Mustang or Jeep to make the list was maybe a pipe dream.  But what about a Mini?  It gets great gas mileage.  But, as you may have guessed, the top 10 is mostly populated by a yawn inducing collection of cars.

Hyundai Accent

It should be noted that Edmunds does not factor in any environmental impact or pollution statistics into the equation.  For instance, the top mpg car sold in America is the Prius, which ranks 33 on the list because its base price is $22,160 wich is almost double the Chevy Aveo, which ranks #1.  Also, Edmunds explains that gas prices are not the most important factor in calculating the costs of ownership.  The Aveo would hold the No. 1 spot even if gasoline should go to $6 per gallon.  Again, almost entirely because of its inexpensive intial cost.  In fairness, my previously derogatory remarks aside, there are a couple of models on this list that aren’t completely hideous in my mind.  (I’d rather not say which.  I have my reputation to protect.)

Honda Fit

Here are the Top 10 least expensive cars to own over a five-year period, according to Edmunds’ True Cost To Own scale. (Cost-per-mile is in parentheses):

1.) Chevy Aveo5 Special Value hatchback ($0.42)
2.) Hyundai Accent GS 2-door hatchback ($0.43)
3.) Honda Fit 4-door hatchback ($0.44)
4.) Toyota Yaris 2-door hatchback ($0.44)
5.) Honda Civic DX 4-door sedan ($0.45)
6.) Nissan Versa 4-door hatchback ($0.45)
7.) Mazda3 4-door sedan ($0.46)
8.) Kia Rio 4-door sedan ($0.46)
9.) Scion xB 4-door wagon ($0.46)
10.) Toyota Corolla CE 4-door sedan ($0.46)

In the aftermath of Suzanne’s series of posts about which vehicle gives you a better chance to “get some,” (I’m keeping it clean), it is obvious from the responses from readers that what is most “attractive” to both sexes is intelligence.  If nothing else, buying one of these cars makes economic sense.

Related posts:

• An electric car concept, the FT-EV, will be unveiled during the Detroit ...
• Spy Shots: Toyota iQ caught on the roads
• Toyota to produce Camry hybrids in Australia by 2010
• Toyota working on family of clean diesel V8s for Tundra and Sequoia
• 5-door Toyota Yaris coming to the U.S. in 2009

Related posts:

• By the Numbers - November 2008: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime Edition
• New Ford Fusion Hybrid Becomes First Ever Hybrid NASCAR Pace Car [Ford Fusion Hybrid]
• AutoblogGreen for 12.24.08
• It’s Not Just About Length, It’s How You Use It!
• Battle of the Hybrids Begins

Georgia Man Found Drunk In His Acura, Blows 5 Times The Legal Limit

Video Footage Courtesy CNN

In Cherokee County, Georgia police were called to respond to reports of a man who appeared to be heavily intoxicated, sitting behind the wheel of a red Acura Intergra in a shopping center parking lot. When police approached the man, identified as Mark Douglas, they found a beer resting between his knees and a BAC reading that they couldn’t believe. According to Officer Shane Collie, “When I initially [saw] the reading on the Alco-Sensor I actually thought that it was broken because it immediately went to .47 and I’ve never seen it read that high.”

When Douglas was taken back to the station and administered the test again, he blew a .432. Still incredulous, Officer Collie also said, “Most people get…alcohol poisoning in the .3’s, in the .4’s most people generally die or they’re in comas…” Douglas, however, was upright and walking.

Charged with 5 DUI’s, Douglas is being held at the Cherokee County Courthouse, he is scheduled to appear before the court on September 23, 2008.

Related posts:

• BMW 1-Series Convertible Will Be Released in the US Next April Starting Around $40K
• Bill and Connor in the Pacific Northwest
• The Ugliest Cars of 2009 and 2010
• Top Gear 13×03 Out Now
• 2008 Honda S2000 Type S Unveiled

Related posts:

• I didn’t find much… The car first ran at Indy in 1938 with ...
• Spy Shots: 2009 Honda City Exposed...Should Honda Bring it the US?
• Jenn Thomas: Not Settling For Less
• Honda's Prius Fighter Will be Here in April 2009 and for Less than $19K
• Honda Announces Plans for a Fit Hybrid and Releases More Details About its Prius Fighter

Real Time Parking Info on the Web for Philadelphia Drivers?

I live and work in downtown Philadelphia, and parking here is ruthless, but it’s getting easier. We already have Parking Authority smart cards that all the city’s meters accept, and now the Philadelphia Parking Authority is considering wireless sensors in each meter that can detect an open space and then relay that information to a website. Driver’s would be able to use their PDA or iPhone or whatever gadgets that I can’t afford to check for parking spots in real time.

Parking Authority planning director, Rick Dickson (best name ever, I might add), says you could eventually access a list of the parking spots in desired area. If they create a google maps version, I think they’ll have a hit.

The technology is being tested out in San Fransisco right now. There’s no firm word that it’s going to be a reality in Philadelphia, but the Philadelphia Parking Authority has apparently already contacted vendors for the wireless sensors and they’re just waiting for feedback from their SanFran counterpart about how well the system works.

The future is now people. But see, if we had the flying cars we were promised, we wouldn’t need so many street level parking spots.

Related posts:

• Hemi Cuda rendering: Chrysler! Hire this guy, as your design team is stale
• LA 2008: U.S. smart fortwo BRABUS is officially official
• Toyota iSwing: Going Way Beyond Hybrid
• Group Wants Pontiac GTO Investigated
• Detroit Auto Show Preview: Mercedes Vision GLK FREESIDE Unveiled

Related posts:

• Carbonyte stretches the Smaaart ForTwo
• Smart For Two goes electric
• Carbonyte stretches the Smaaart ForTwo
• Peugeot 107: Smart Urban Companion
• Widebody Smart ForTwo by Konigseder (Smart 451)

Olympic Air Quality Concerns Leads Bejing to Ban Auto Repairs and Painting

It has been some time since China had any good press, and recent protests over air quality by Olympic athlete’s and international protests for a free Tibet have done little to lighten the mood. Things for China did not improve in the slightest when a University of California study released their findings and named China the #1 polluter on the planet (…YES! High Five!).

Finding it easier to squash and ignore the Tibet issue Chinese authorities are focused on showcasing their Olympic host city. As a means of addressing air quality issues Bejing has issued a few directives that are aimed at resulting in more sunny days in the Capital city.

In an effort to curb carbon emissions from automobile traffic Bejing has issued the equivalent of Drive-Day rationing. Based on the last letter of your license plate cars are ordered to only drive every-other day. And in a well-mannered society such as China we are certain there will not form a Black Market for extra license plates. (more…)

Related posts:

• A New Model Year - From Volvo
• HUMMER HX Concept To Be Unveiled at Detroit
• Schwarzenegger: a Prius or Challenger guy?
• The Top 7 Gas Guzzlers of 2007

Related posts:

• Corvette ZR-1 Eaton Supercharger Explained In Detail
• Gas Prices Dip Below $2.50
• Ozzie & Harriet
• Scion iQ: Green Concept
• 2009 BMW M3 Sedan and Convertible Spy Photos...They're Pretty Naked....

What Does Your Ride Say About You? - Part 1

In the mega-hit film adaptation of Transformers: The Movie last year Bernie Mac’s character said something to the effect that… the driver doesn’t pick the car. The Car picks the Driver.

It is with that in mind that we began to collect some information from some very kind Cars and their willing Drivers. The goal was to answer the question, as simply as possible, What Does Your Ride Say About You? In this multi-part series we will be assembling a montage of Rides and their Drivers and occupants in an attempt to explore that question.

The following 10 volunteers have provided their answer to the question, along with our own RideLust offering of what we think. Let’s see what we have here: (more…)

Related posts:

• NYT argues GM engineered its own downfall
• Chrysler Walks the Plank
• Barack Obama Will Not Meet Rick Wagoner Without Preconditions [Financiapocalypse]
• The Ugliest Cars of 2009 and 2010
• Formula Drift Vegas: Goin’ Big and Crappin’ Out

Related posts:

• The Road Ahead for GM and Chrysler
• Ford Outsells Toyota; Chrysler Deserves Its Bankruptcy
• Chrysler and Chery quit talking about small car
• Daimler split from Chrysler
• Electric Cars Discounted for AARP Members Courtesy of Chrysler

Hemi Cuda rendering: Chrysler! Hire this guy, as your design team is stale

How is it that the people outside of the car industry can envision the possibilities but those wrapped up in the politics of car manufacturing cannot? That is not always the case because some fantastic cars have slipped through the fashionable filters, but when you have design by committee the usual result is a car lacking in design. However, when you take one man sitting a computer with an idea in his head sometimes you will find the most fascinating results. Take the case of Nate Craver and his Chrysler Hemi Cuda concept rendering.

The “what’s old is new” concept has been around a long time and the auto industry is in its hey-day right now with that concept. The Ford Mustang and the Ford Thunderbird are prime examples of the concept that have seen success. The Pontiac GTO on the other hand… that is a prime example of a remake that in no way resembles its heritage nor displays any imagination and as a result receives little attention. The recent model of the GTO resembles every other Pontiac being built today.

In Nate Carver’s Hemi Cuda concept there is still a hint back to the classic but in a very forward thinking design. This is a concept that I could get behind and that would totally go against the Chrysler design groups overall theme of Boxy-by-Design. The Dodge Viper and the Dodge Demon roadster concept are the only cars in the Chrysler family that show any influence from aerodynamic research in their design. This Hemi Cuda concept would be just the jolt of sleek speed Chrysler needs.

As a conceptual idea this would be a Hemi Cuda that could compete in all venues and would literally twist peoples necks as they wrenched back to see it in passing. But that is just one man’s admiring…  what do you think of this Chrysler Hemi Cuda rendering? Does the NEW Chrysler company have the stomach to take such a risk? Does this concept Cuda look Cuda enough to satisfy the Cuda-nites and yet inspire a new generation of Cuda fans?

Source[nate carver-flickr]

Related posts:

• “In these tough economic times, consumers appear to be torn on whether ...
• The 2010 Mustang poses as KITT during an inspection and impresses ever ...
• Ford Recalls 145,000 Vehicles, Including Escape Hybrid
• Unemployed Canadian Ford GT Pace Car Goes Up For Auction [Racing News]
• Porsche 911 GT2 Bi-Turbo: Designed by Wimmer RS

Related posts:

• Staged Rally held in Chicago against CAFE increases involving UAW workers
• By the Numbers - November 2008: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime Edition
• Automaker Fleet Mileage Worse Than 10 Years Ago
• Smart Really Coming to U.S. in 2008
• GM’s Tahoe, Yukon Hybrid report a 40% Increase in Fuel Savings, but at what cost?