Lame. Okay, so air bags were a good idea when they came out. They added safety with virtually no effort on the part of the driver. Even passenger side air bagsstill a good idea. But knee air bags? Seriously? Carmakers are even talking about making air bags to prevent back seat passengers from hitting the front seats. What will they think of next, giant padded walls inside the car to keep you from hurting yourself?

Game. Greater smartphone integration into all aspects of the car, from streaming your mp3s stored inside the phone straight into the car stereo, to projecting the navigation system in your phone onto the car’s DVD player. Now that’s smart: taking an already existing technology and adapting the car to use it without any additional effort on the part of the owner.

Lame. Apparently, the executive boardroom tables at Ford suck all the common-sense right out of the room. That’s because in spite of well-earned criticism for the MyFordTouch touch screen layout, they’ve decided to add it to more models for 2012. Touch screens work great for some things: smart phones, iPadsbut for turning up the heat in your car, it’s easiest just to have a knob. Or a switch.

Undecided. The auto-stop feature, which turns off your engine automatically at things like stop lights, is being added to more models than ever. In theory, it is designed to be imperceptibleto turn back on as soon as you go again. In practice, if it means having to wait for your car to turn on again, it could turn lame real fastor it could mean saving a few bucks on fuel with no perceived difference if it works as advertised.

Game. Secretariat would be proud. The fastest horse ever was always underestimated because of his smaller sizeand today’s engines are smaller and more powerful than ever. GM’s Buick Regal has a 4 banger that puts out 270 horsesjust about the same horsepower as a new 289 V8 produced in a 1965 Ford Mustang when they came out.

For someone not familiar with how check the oil, much less able to actually change it, being knowledgeable enough to pinpoint the actual luxuries of a luxury car may be like learning a foreign language. Riding in a luxury car after years driving something…well, less than luxurious, can be an astonishing revelation. Who knew a car could feel so much like home?

One thing that purchasers of luxury cars always demand is comfort. If you’re going to shell out as much money for a car as you could on a house, you’d better be able to sit and enjoy the ride. The interior furnishings and materials in luxury cars are top-quality: real leather and premium fabrics, polished wood veneers, shiny dials and gauges, and lots of leg room. The quiet shush of the engine combined with the state-of-the-art sound system means you’re in the middle of a concert while getting directions from your onboard computer to the best Greek restaurant in town. These things are easy enough for anyone to understand.

What is not so easily apparent are the technologies under the hood and buried in the body of the car itself. These are the technologies that support all the grandeur of elegant interior furnishings.

Similar to the fashion industry, the best designs and technological innovations eventually trickle down to less expensive automobiles. Advancements in engine design and efficiency, handling ability, and safety features all started out in the luxury car market; but great mileage, better speed, keyless entry, DVD entertainment systems, and other useful improvements are incorporated into the lower-priced car arena as prices come down and automobile manufacturers see a market in the middle class.

All that innovation and new gadgetry is going to cost you in the luxury market. Being able to let your vehicle handle the parallel parking doesn’t come cheap, but that’s one of the reasons a person might choose to spend the money on a luxury car: the ease of driving.

Essentially, luxury cars are about comfort as well as the joy of having the newest and best in new technology on the market. You’ll pay for every added perk, but you’ll sure enjoy the ride.

A car stereo is a sound system that is fixed inside an automobile. Nowadays we do not have to buy and install a car stereo; most of the time it is pre-built inside a car. It includes a number of equipment like amplifiers, speakers, and CD or cassette player. The features include specially designed in built items to go with the design and components of the car.

The demand for car stereos is rising so much that manufacturers of home audio system are investing in this field. This resulted in tough competition that compelled the makers to update the technology and provide similar features at a much cheaper rate.

Before buying the audio system, one should consider some points. It is important to see whether the car stereo fits in the car or not. Car stereos are bought for great sounds, so checking the sound quality before buying is also a good idea.

People used to put their battery operated music system inside the car for the listening experience; however, it was before the invention of car stereo. The drawback was the inability to cope with the high temperature and the shake inside the car. The first car stereo speaker that came to the market was a radio fitted in the dashboard with two speakers in the front door.

Motorola was the first to bring this kind of car stereo to market. The battery of the old car stereo was not of superior quality and could not be played for longer hours. It could only play audiocassettes. Moreover, the sound quality was not up to the mark. The longevity of this old car stereo was poor too. Compared to new car stereo the old car stereo was quite big in size.

Other than the looks of the car stereo, the products are always valued for sound quality. The new car stereo has a DVD player and pop up display LCD screens. The LCD screens can be either slide out or folded, though that depends on the head unit. Nowadays, new car stereos can fit in traffic signal messages and has a memory card with huge space. Some of the new car stereos include MP3 players, CD system, etc.

An MP3 car stereo is a kind of stereo that can play audio CDs, MP3 files, etc. and that too for longer hours. One of the distinguishing features of this stereo is programmable track memory. The memory also comes with digital anti skip facility and digital standard headphones. In addition, they are endowed with AM/FM tuners where one can store FM and AM stations.

Loud car stereos are quite a craze among the young generation and can play music above 140 decibels. However, this kind of stereos can cause hearing problems. In fact, loud music inside the car can make one unaware of the surroundings that may cause severe accidents.

CD car stereos have become an essential car necessity. This new kind of car stereo is provided with radio. It is helpful in many ways because it allows the user to access or go through the latest updated news, information regarding travel, etc. They can also play MP3.

Presently, car stereos are not only entertainment equipment but, to some extent, they have become a status symbol also.