If you’re a bit squeamish, it’s probably best not to watch the video below. This ad for Australia’s Ford Falcon EcoBoost, features two talking Cane Toads in the middle of the road conversing into the night. See it Here You learn a bit about Australia’s indigenous toads, like the fact that the poison these toads secrete as a defense mechanism against native wildlife is considered an aphrodisiac to some cultures. Let that settle in. You also learn that they are adept to how fast cars are (maybe from hours of Frogger game play). Apparently, one of the toads, Ralph, wasn&rsqu...

Men love cars. Do women love cars? Yes! Auto Venus is an automotive industry based website ‘built for women by women’. The site covers basic topics that any auto focused hub would generate, including reviews on new cars, current trends within the industry, and…reviews on child car seats?  Don’t be fooled though, Auto Venus is far more than a spin on the automotive arena according to a mom’s perspective; all the female authors are clearly car enthusiasts at the core. The articles may have a feminine touch to them but the quality is solid, providing a refreshing take on vehicles that are usually reviewed for MPG and how fast t...

A luxurious house, a Rolex watch, or maybe some Italian designer duds can all point to superior financial success. What’s another way to let the entire world that you’re rolling deep? Your car. For those that have worked hard (or were just plain lucky) to earn enough money to burn on high-end vehicles, here’s a list of the best trophy cars out there. See the Cars Here You might find these gaudy rides driven by high-level execs, neurosurgeons, or sports superstars, like the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG. Those with plush tastes but who still have a need for speed can look no further than the Ferrari 458 Spider or...

I’ve heard some pretty good impressions of celebrities, politicians, and even cartoons, but the video below features a guy who can do an even better impression of your car. Featured on a recent episode of Australia’s Got Talent, 19 year old Daniel does his impression, not of people, but several vehicles of different makes and models. It’s actually pretty amazing the kinds of noises he can produce and how much it sounds like the different engines. He even nails the effect of the vehicles passing by as the sounds vanish into the distance. Check it out here. Could this be the next ...

Driving distractions from cell phones, and texting in particular, has been a major concern for law enforcement and vehicle safety organizations since the conception of SMS began. As if speaking on the phone weren’t distracting enough, drivers are now causing accidents while sneaking glances at text messages, tapping out responses, and opening apps while behind the wheel. Until now, the main solution has been increased fines to send the message that texting and driving isn’t worth the penalty. But now, there’s a new high tech solution that, believe it or not, is a smartphone app that actually prevents cell phone distraction. The new Drive Safe Mode™ ...

Have you ever met anyone whose parallel parking skills reminded you of a game of pinball? Someone at Ford certainly did and it inspired a pretty outrageous way to advertise their new active park assist feature. To let French drivers know about the new feature, Ford’s marketing team set up a billboard-sized digital display that mimicked the scoring display you might see on an old arcade pinball machine. The scoreboard was set up above a lone parallel parking space between two cars that actually lit up and let out pinball noises when bumped by careless French drivers as they attempted (poorly) to squeeze into the vacant space. At the end of the video, a brand new Ford is awarded to the worse driver as designated by his exceptionally high pa...

At the 2012 New York International Auto Show, many vehicles boasted revolutionary MPGs and heightened environmental consideration, but only one turned the focus to its 640 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque. That was the 2013 SRT Viper, which showcased many other improvements to match the bulks in power. The Viper isn’t under the Dodge name anymore. Instead, its namesake is of Street & Racing Technology (SRT), which is a high-performance auto group under Chrysler and the team which has historically been responsible for working on new Viper projects. SRT has continued a commitment to improving the Viper, and the impressive horsepower and torque are improvements to the last Viper which sported 600 ponies and 560 t...

Gas prices continue to rise these days and bank accounts aren’t the only things being affected among consumers. According to a recent study, the average fuel economy of new cars purchased is also rising – no doubt an indication that unfaltering price increases at the pump have made a significant impact on driver's buying decisions.  Understandably, it seems as fuel costs increase, drivers wish they could their ride could get them farther on a single tank. When it comes time to buy a new vehicle, drivers that don’t opt for a used vehicle are springing for cars with better gas mileage to curb the inevitably rising cost of oil. According to the study performed at the University of Michigan, t...

Any golf fan knows that Florida’s Bubba Watson is now the proud owner of a nice new green jacket after winning the 2012 Masters Championship. What they might not know is that he is also the proud owner of a bright orange 1969 Dodge Charger called The General Lee, known famously as the iconic chariot of “The Dukes of Hazzard.” One of 321 models used in the 1980’s TV program, the charger was bought by Watson in January for $110,000. The Charger boasts a 440 cubic inch Magnum V-8 engine which cranks out 364 horsepower – a few more than the actual horse ridden by General Lee in the Civil War. Aside from the bright color and powerful engine, Bubba’s new ride also features a Confederate battle fla...

It may never actually be piloted by the caped crusader, but the new Nissan DeltaWing certainly looks like something out of a comic book. But instead of cruising the streets of Gotham City, the DeltaWing was designed to tear through laps on a racetrack. That said, it does have potential to demonstrate some superpowers in the racing world. Backed by Nissan and Michelin, the DeltaWing project focuses on furthering the motorsport industry by innovating a vehicle that maximizes efficiency with optimal aerodynamic properties, heightened fuel economy, and lowered tire consumption all while delivering exceptional speed and performance. To test the new creation, the DeltaWing will run in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest endurance ...

The 2012 Geneva Motor Show opened this week and we’re already seeing some amazing wheels being showcased. With wacky designs and extreme horsepower, Switzerland’s annual automotive extravaganza is always sure to showcase some of the most amazing automotive spectacles of the year. Among the many highlights was a one-of-a-kind open-top Lamborghini that sold for 2.8 million, a 1,200 horsepower Bugatti convertible, Bentley SUV, and many other high-octane rides that are just as visually striking as they are powerful. Despite all the plethora of super performance engines and sleek streamlined designs, technology won over this year with the Chevy Volt taking the prestigious Car of the Year award. After a series of rigorou...

  Have they invented the world’s first invisible car? This video of Mercedes’ new hydrogen powered F-Cell might make you think so, but it’s not actually the case. That is, unless you consider environmental visibility, since the F-Cell boasts 0.0 environmental impact. As for the cloaking effect featured in the thumbnail above, that’s a clever stunt that Mercedes launched to promote their new vehicle that is “invisible” to the environment. To do it, the people at Mercedes equipped a vehicle with a series of cameras on one side and a shroud of LEDs on the other to display the camera view and create the illusion of tra...

  Gas prices are still rising, and the cost to fill up has jumped significantly even since our post about 3 Low Cost Auto Parts that Improve Gas Mileage. The climbing prices have made everyone more conscious of their gas consumption and made them desperate to find ways to up their fuel economy and lower their bills.   There are many ways to reduce fuel consumption and many are just simple changes to driving habits, or things to be aware of. We recently found a helpful article about gas consumption...

Hope you enjoyed the big game a couple weeks ago – we certainly did. We also enjoyed all the big budget ads that are guaranteed to go along with the biggest televised sporting event of the year.   This year there were plenty of automotive ads to enjoy, including everything from vaporizing vampires to the new Acura NSX as sought after by Jerry Seinfeld. Among our favorites was Hundai’s Genesis Coupe, which showed that a responsive brake / acceleration sequence can second as an effective resuscitation technique, and Honda CR-V’s re-invigoration of Ferris Bueller’s Day off with some help from Matthew Broderick.   ...

As a startup, sharing parts between models means more efficient manufacturing, & since that is the main hurdle between Tesla & commercial success at this point--their designs are brilliant, & electric cars are widely known to be of the best near-future technologies--leveraging work on the Model S sedan for the Model X crossover will, possibly, make clearing that hurdle a bit simpler. Sharing parts between models is a common practice in the auto industry, though it can be taken far--just ask the "old" General Motors. But in Tesla's case, sharing 60 percent of the parts between the Model S & Model X makes great sense. Called "falcon wings" by Tesla & Elon Musk, the doors don't open upward like traditional...

  Valentine’s Day is upon us, and for those scrambling for the perfect gift to show you care, we would like to help.  People love their cars and they spend a lot of time in them, which is why a gift for your ride means a whole lot more than some boring flowers or chocolates. So while we may not be in the confectionary or flower arrangement business, we can at least help you find the perfect gift for the car lovers in your life. This year, we suggest you think outside the box, and start thinking inside the garage.   For some, the key to their heart is also the key to the ignition, so be sure to hit our Valentine’s Day Sale for great deals on car accessories like ...

*This is a guest post written by APN president, Charles Bonfiglio: Hi my name is Charles Bonfiglio I'm a car guy and I have been a car guy all my life. I owned and operated eight of the largest Auto Repair & Tire Centers in the world and have worked on all the kinds of cars - Mercedes Benz, BMW, Corvette, Chevy, Cadillac, Honda, Toyota - all of them. So my advice to you is that when dealing with cars, it is just as important to deal with the car owners first to make sure that they get the advice they need. So be sure to talk with your mechanic about what your car needs before you get any work done to ensure you are aware of all the options that you have for the repair or service, like brand p...

With the big game coming up, we're not sure whether to be more excited for the action during the matchup, or the commercials during the breaks. Everyone knows the Super Bowl showcases the year’s best ads and, like many others, we can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store. Apparently Audi couldn’t wait either, and released this clever Super Bowl ad early, featuring a camp of festive vampires and the Audi S7’s new LED headlights, which would make the AS7 the ride of choice for any vampire hunter. ...

When searching for auto parts online, it’s easy to find yourself at a comparative shopping site. Comparative shopping sites are online portals that aggregate thousands of places your product is being sold online so you can find the lowest price. These sites are great for clothes, DVDs, or other products that will provide equal performance wherever they come from, but when it comes to auto parts there are a few reasons comparative shopping sites probably aren’t your best choice.  The problem with comparative shopping sites is that the only real comparison is price. When it comes to quality, warranty, and customer satisfaction, most of these sites do very little to let you know anything about where your product is coming from. When buying a part for your veh...

I stumbled across a recent Popular Mechanics article the other day that described the ways Ford tests it’s vehicles in the most extreme weather conditions. I had always assumed they took the vehicles and tested them on location, but in the Ford testing facility, it turns out the most extreme weather conditions can be found without ever leaving the garage. It’s more of a wind tunnel than a garage, actually – much like the ones you see featured in some luxury and sport vehicle commercials to showcase the elegant and aerodynamic shape of each model. This wind tunnel, however, simulates a lot more t...

What better way to kick off 2012 than with brand new cars, customs, and concepts at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show which opened its doors today. Also known as the North American International Auto Show, hosted in the COBO Center in Detroit, the show runs from January 9th - 22nd and is the largest auto show in the United States. We’ve been following the action on a few different auto-focused blogs, and since we weren’t at the show personally, we thought we would share some of our favorite sites that are now covering the biggest auto show in the US.   Check out the pictures, articles, and videos here: ...

Getting a boat launched certainly isn’t the most exciting part of sea travel, and neither is getting it back on land. For owners of the new Iguana 29, however, you can skip the docks by beaching your boat and then driving it home.   Drive it home at 5MPH that is. This new amphibious speed boat lets you cruise the seas at up to 35 knots, but it also has deployable tank treads that can easily climb up the shore and navigate the beach. Again, you won’t be breaking any land speed records, but it’s convenient enough that you can drive the boat to the trailer without leaving the parking lot – plus the thing looks so cool any speed inadequacies are made up for by the fact that your boat is equipped with tank treads. &nb...

Toyota recently released a video to promote their concept car, the Fun-Vii. The new concept car is shown to have a digital display as an exterior, allowing for instant graphical changes like you would with a cell phone background, full-windshield navigational displays, and a general bombardment of images and colors that are more likely to induce a seizure than help you with your daily commute. ...

I work for Auto Parts Network, but being the small start-up E-commerce company that we are at this point in time, our offices are on the back side of a Meineke shop (which also includes a Tint World franchise).  The owner of Auto Parts Network, Charles Bonfiglio, also owns this Meineke franchise (and the Tint World franchise), and is utilizing this space for offices to try and keep start-up costs for Auto Parts Network low, which we pass on to our customers in lower prices.  This will be a great story for the future, when we are a big successful company, you know how it goes, “Remember when our offices were on the back side of a Meineke shop?  Ha, ha, ha!”  But I digress. The other day I was walking around the Meineke/Tint World/Auto Pa...

  A few weeks ago we told you about Bully Dog and how they offer free products to customers that donate their vehicles for a couple days of new product testing. Offering up your vehicle for testing is a great chance to get some free auto upgrades, and there’s no risk to your vehicle, but Bully Dog isn’t the only manufacturer that does it.   Need a New Performance Air Filter? If you head to K&N’s website (http://www.knfilters.com/vehicles/needu.htm) you’ll see some places all over the world where they are calling vehicle owners of all makes and models to donate a few days of their ride to test the performance of their ...

The Holiday season is upon us, which means you should probably be stressing out about finding gifts for all your loved ones. We can't help you with E-Readers, blankets with sleeves, or DVDs of the latest vampire movie, but we can make sure all of the car-lovers in your life are taken care of with the new launch of the APN Pre Holiday Sale.  The Auto Parts Network Pre-Holiday Sale - Now 'till December 9th If you think the best stuff under the tree ends up behind the wheel, Auto Parts Network has great automotive gifts for just about any car enthusiast. Maybe your garage-tinkering uncle is looking for some new performance parts, or your sister is looking to add some style to her rid...

Bully Dog offers up a vast selection of high-quality performance auto parts like air filters, intake kits, exhaust systems, and ...

Melbourne-based car manufacturer, Holden, has re-created their first-ever 1969 concept car, the Holden Hurricane. It's been over forty years since the first debut in 1969, but a group of Holden workers have made it a special project of theirs to restore the revolutionary concept, an endeavor which they have been working on since 2006.   The finished vehicle will be showcased in the Motorclassica Car Show in Melbourne, AU where it is sure to turn a few heads and jog a few memories. In its day, the Hurricane not only looked the part of a futuristic vehicle, but packed several ground-breaking technological features that are commonly used in vehicles today. Though you wou...

  K&N Air Filters is an awesome company for their commitment to quality and their passion for providing the best air filters out there.   That said, we think there is a lesser-known reason K&N rocks – not related to product performance, but to the confidence they display in their own warranty, and in their pledge to protect customers from swindling dealerships that try to falsely void factory warranties.    The K&N Consumer Protection Pledge   For K&N CEO, Steven Rogers, it isn’t enough that you just buy a high performance K&N air filter, he wants to be sure that your K&N products can be installed without vo...

Exhaust system manufacturer, MagnaFlow is committed to the philosophy “Quality, Power, and Sound.” MagnaFlow strives to produce the best performance exhaust systems available on the market, and while they certainly deliver on the promise of quality and power, they go above and beyond to prove themselves in the department of sound. Listen to MagnaFlow Products in Action Online From the MagnaFlow website, visitors can do more than just look at MagnaFlow exhaust systems – they can actually hear them thanks to a vast audio library that lets customers access sound clips of MagnaFlow products installed on a variety of awesome vehicles. Just go to...

Congratulations to Paul Busby, the August winner of the Auto Parts Network Facebook Contest!  He has been notified via email and will soon receive a K&N Air Intake Kit for his '99 Dodge Dakota R/T. Here's Paul's reaction to the news of his prize: "YAAAAA HOOOOOOO!!!!! My Baby will Purrr with the new K&N Air Intake system! Thank You So Much!! Ive never won anything like this!!" We were almost as excited as he was. Also, a big thanks to everyone who posted their cars on our Facebook Page! And don't forget... this is a monthly contest, so keep those car photos coming. You could be our next winner! Here are ...

Computer chip programmers might just be the best power-per-dollar investment for your car or truck. CPU programmers boost power and fuel efficiency using a variety of low and higher octane fuel levels. But the extent of CPU programmers don't end there. Some even recalibrate your speedometer when using larger diameter tires. Or scan the engine for trouble codes. Chip programmers work by altering factory fuel/ignition timing tables in the Electronic Control Module (CPU). A lot of today's chip programmers also provide you with the ability to switch to different performance modes, such as: improved torque more horsepower improved fuel effici...

Very green in that it is a totally electric car that can go 244 miles on a single charge and Extremely Mean because it can go from 0 to 60 in about 3.9 seconds!  The Tesla Roadster is made by Tesla Motors in California and was first available in 2008.  It is an engineering marvel that looks very similar to a Lotus Elise and in fact shares some parts with that car.  Lotus provided advice to Tesla on designing and developing a vehicle, as well as producing partly assembled vehicles.  The Tesla Roadster is the first all-electric vehicle in serial production to be made in the United States that is capable of running on the highway.  This is not the only first for this uniquely engineered car; there are several, actually:  The first to use lithium-ion battery...

It's official. Auto Parts Network has just kicked off our latest addition to our site, and we will blogging and discussing a number of interesting things going forward. We will soon be launching information articles, how to guides, and lots more to make your automotive experience here at APN the best on the web. I would love to get some feed back from people about what they want to hear? What are the most common repair questions you have? What would you like to see a video of? Perhaps that really difficult installation of that part you have been thinking about getting from our site? Or perhaps you vehicle has some weird issue - a noise, an electrical...