Bumblebee returns as 2016 Chevy Camaro in Transformers 5

he Transformers movie franchise started off with decent potential way back in 2007, but it's been a sad downhill ride ever since. It's not that we expect much of a plot, but seeing Optimus Prime and his merry bunch of Autoblots get more and more garish in each successive film hurts our hearts as '80s children who grew up on the classic cartoon. Suffice it to say, we don't have high hopes for the next flick.

In any case, Bumblebee returns for Transformers: The Last Knight, which is expected to hit the big screen in June of 2017. As expected, the robot sidekick isn't a Volkswagen Beetle, as he was in the cartoons. Instead, Bumblebee remains a Chevy Camaro – part of a massive deal that has resulted in an overabundance of GMproducts appearing in the franchise. And since the Camaro was redesigned for the 2016 model year, it only makes sense that Bumblebee would be due for a makeover, too.

Take a look at the next Bumblebee above. As far as we're concerned, a bare Camaro would be much better than the awful mess of wings, splitters, baubles, and bolt-ons affixed to the TF5 version of the poor yellow coupe. Which is to say that it's pretty much exactly what we expected from the blockbuster mind of Michael Bay, who, incidentally, tweeted the image @ the wrong General Motors. 

Homemade Motor Car

BMW has the first smart emergency system for motorcycles

While cars and trucks have long had smart emergency systems to send help in the event of a crash (think services like OnStar), motorcycles have had to go without -- a scary thought if you've ever worried about wiping out miles away from help. That's where BMW might just save the day, though. It's introducing the first smart emergency tech for motorbikes, Intelligent Emergency Call, to give the two-wheel crowd a proper safety net. You can trigger it yourself, such as when you need to help a fellow motorist, but the real magic comes with its automatic responses.

IEC's acceleration and lean angle sensors can not only tell if your bike falls or crashes, but time the call for help based on severity. A bad accident will call for help immediately, for instance, while a gentler incident provides a delay so that you can cancel the call. If things are dire enough for that call to go out, it'll send your ride's position at the same time.

Don't expect to see this system in North America, at least not any time soon. IEC will first launch in Germany sometime in early 2017, and it'll spread to other European countries soon afterward. There's no mention of availability in other countries, unfortunately. However, you may well see equipment like this become widespread among bike makers eager to one-up the competition.

2017 Bugatti Chiron: The $2.6-Million, 1500-hp, 261-mph Image Booster

 

With the Bugatti Veyron’s top-speed records, a price tag over $1 million, and distinctive melted-scoop-of-ice-cream styling, it was an instant rolling superlative when it debuted in 2005. Its successor, the new Chiron, is even more of a record- and headline-grabbing show pony. Is it faster? A 310-mph (500 km/h) speedometer and Bugatti’s claim that it’ll do 261 mph say it is.

Never mind that there are few places in the world where anyone could achieve 261 mph, and even fewer owners who will ever attempt the feat, what could hypercars such as the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, or McLaren P1 offer in retort? That their top speeds are lower, they’re less comfortable, or, critically, that they’re—gulp—cheaper? The Chiron’s game is to be so unattainable, so unimaginable, so magical as to reestablish Bugatti as the ultimate automotive accouterment for those who measure their cash reserves not by face value but with a yardstick. 

Make Bugatti Great Again

Bugatti says the 4400-pound Chiron is “the world’s first production sports car with 1500 hp.” It’s best to simply shelve any expectations of modesty on Bugatti’s part. After all, when the car you’re replacing produced 1200 horsepower, hit 258 mph, and cost more than $2 million, adding an extra 300 horsepower, 3 mph of governed top speed, and half a million to the window sticker matters. Oh, and just 500 will be made, because nobody wants a mass-produced $2.6-million car. 

Between Bugatti’s braggadocio and posturing, there are real improvements to the Veyron’s formula. Does it matter that, if every strand of carbon fiber in its new central tub were laid end to end, they’d “stretch nine times the distance between the earth and the moon”? No, and we pity the Bugatti employee charged with checking the arithmetic on that factoid. But it is indicative of a real effort to reduce—or at least hold the line on—the Chiron’s weight relative to that of the somewhat pudgy Veyron. All of that carbon fiber—the body panels also are made of the stuff—helps keep the Chiron right around the same weight as the 4486-pound Veyron, despite being 3.2 inches longer, 1.6 inches wider, and 0.3 inch taller. Bugatti further claims that the Chiron’s structure is as stiff as those underpinning LMP1 racing prototypes.

Volvo's pedestrian airbags

As proof of just how quickly automotive technology can advance, just check out the Volvo V40. Developed with an external airbag aimed at better protecting pedestrians in the event of a collision, this innovative safety device could be phased out soon in place of more advanced active safety technologies like pedestrian detection and auto braking. Go Auto had a chance to talk to Volvo senior VP Lex Kerssmakers at the Tokyo Motor Show, and he suggested that the V40's under-hood airbag will not be used on the next-gen XC90 and might not even be continued on non-SUV models. The passive airbag was designed to deploy at speeds of less than 31 miles per hour to help limit head injuries to pedestrians, but new active technologies are designed to prevent collisions in the first place.

The interview also reveals some details about the new XC90, such as the inclusion of a plug-in hybrid system and the debut of a new safety technology. Kerssmakers told Go Auto that a new Volvo concept will be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but it won't be for the XC90. 

Source - Autoblog