Thanks to certain European websites, BMW's 3-Series coupe replacement is out a few hours early. Here's the 2014 BMW 4-Series revealed in production form.

The 4 will take on the Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz C-class coupe and make its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. It will come here later this year as a 2014 model in either rear- or four-wheel drive.

The 4-Series was shown as a concept at the Detroit auto show back in January and is based on the 3-Series platform. The front and rear tracks are wider for a lower and wider look. Stylistically, the new car borrows from the latest 3-Series, especially up front where the 4's headlamps butt up against the kidney-shaped grille.

 

• Photo gallery: 2014 BMW 4-Series coupe

The 4-Series is about an inch longer and 2 inches wider than the 3-Series coupe. The wheelbase is up 2 inches, and the track widened 2 inches in front, 3 in the rear. Significantly, the car's widest part is across the rear wheel arches -- helping provide it with a more aggressive cab-backward stance.

 

Based on what it calls "landmark research," the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said that "hands-free is not risk-free" when it comes to using voice activation to access in-car infotainment features.

The nonprofit organization said that even while using voice-to-text technology, as a driver's mental workload and therefore distractions increase, "reaction time slows, brain function is compromised, drivers scan the road less and miss visual cues, potentially resulting in drivers not seeing items right in front of them, including stop signs and pedestrians."

Based on the research from its new distraction study, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is urging the public not to use voice-to-text features while driving to access infotainment features, and AAA is taking its case to lawmakers, government agencies, safety organizations and directly to car company executives.

"This research is unique because it is the first study to comprehensively measure the effects of mental distraction and driving," Jake Nelson, the director of Traffic Safety Advocacy for AAA told MSN Autos. "The results demonstrate that you are not necessarily safer just because your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road." 

Fans of the long-running "Need for Speed" series of video games have had a banner week. Not only was the upcoming installment "Need for Speed: Rivals" showcased at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, but fans and the gathered media saw the announcement of a "Need for Speed" movie, to be released next year with "Breaking Bad" actor Aaron Paul in the lead role.

Well, the lead human role, anyway. Every great car-centric movie or TV show needs a "hero car," an iconic automobile that is so fast, loud and cool-looking that it’s what you think of when you hear a movie’s title, or the starring actors and plot. "Bullitt," "Gone in 60 Seconds," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Knight Rider," "Cannonball Run" – the list goes on and on.

The pitch for the entire "Fast and the Furious" series may well have been a whiteboard with “Hero cars zip across screen, dozens at a time, like energy-drink-chuggin​g bees” scrawled across it. With the "Need for Speed" movie paying homage to the car-culture flicks of the '60s and '70s, it definitely needed a hero car, and thanks to Ford, it has one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The base 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan will cost $46,025 when it goes on sale this fall. That’s a $6,035 increase from the current model’s $39,990 price after shipping charges.

 

For 2014, the CTS sedan is seeing a major overhaul, with a longer, leaner body and a new optional twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 engine rated at 420 hp. The twin-turbo V6 can be had with the new Vsport trim, which starts at $59,995 after shipping charges.

 

The CTS is also available with a naturally aspirated 3.6-liter 321-hp V6 mated to a new eight-speed automatic in rear-wheel-drive models or six-speed automatic with all-wheel drive. The base engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged I4 rated at 272 hp and paired with a six-speed automatic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toyota Motor Corp.'s incoming chairman said he wants the sports car the company is developing with BMW to be a midsized vehicle comparable to the discontinued Toyota Supra.

 

Toyota's next sports car should be like the Supra so that it doesn't overlap with the 86 coupe, Takeshi Uchiyamada said in an interview today in Osaka at a gathering of members of the Keidanren, Japan's biggest business lobbying group.

 

Still, such decisions are up to engineers, Uchiyamada said.

 

"That's what I want but it's not me who makes the decision," said Uchiyamada, who's known within Toyota as the "father of the Prius" for his work developing the world's best-selling gasoline-electric car.

 

Honda is recalling 18,352 cars in the United States to fix weak brakes, the automaker said today.

The 2006-2007 Honda S2000 and 2006 Acura RSX have brake boosters that can cause "decreased brake assistance over time" and make it harder for drivers to stop the vehicle. Honda said that it received many warranty claims related to the issue, but that no injuries or accidents were reported.

In total, 5,239 S2000 models and 13,113 RSX models are affected. Dealers will replace the brake booster starting in mid-July. Owners can visit www.recalls.honda.co​m and www.recalls.acura.co​m for more details.

On Wednesday, Toyota recalled 242,000 hybrids worldwide to fix weakened brakes due to a cracked pressure accumulator, including about 87,000 in the United States.

[Source: Honda]

 

One of the most dangerous aspects of riding a motorcycle is not being seen by other motorists in traffic. But using vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, drivers in cars, trucks and buses would be able to know that a motorcycle is nearby -- without ever having to look for or even hear it.

This could go a long way toward lowering the recent rise in motorcycle traffic fatalities, which is why the two-wheel vehicles have been added to the federal government’s massive connected-car field trial currently under way in Ann Arbor, Mich.

For the study, which kicked off in August and involves more than 3,000 vehicles, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), automakers, technology suppliers and others to determine how V2V as well as vehicle-to-infrastru​cture (V2I) communication can help reduce accidents. At the end of the field trial, NHTSA will determine whether to mandate the technology for new vehicles.

Now two motorcycle manufacturers -- BMW and Honda -- have partnered with UMTRI and Cohda Wireless, which provides communication technology for the project, to take part in the field trial.

 

Welcome to Exhaust Notes, our self-titled, semiregular roundup of automotive bits and pieces from around the Web.

Unlike other posts on this blog, these are truly notes, but they're worth a few moments of your precious time.

This week, General Motors joins the frenzy of electric-car discounts, Audi gives the scoop on three new diesels, and an old Saab lawsuit against GM is thrown out by a federal judge.