360 DEGREES Weblog

If you do what I do everytime you go out and forget where you’ve parked your car, or have major trouble in finding your way back to your hotel, then worry no longer.   The ECCO GPS Keychain will help to show you the way.

This staggeringly small GPS system is set to revolutionise the way you find your way back to…well, wherever it is you started.

All you need to do is ‘lock in’ your starting location, then when you come back, simply follow the ECCO’s LCD display back to your car, or hotel.

The ECCO’s internal battery recharges via USB, but don’t worry about carrying your laptop around at the same time, as the charge lasts for a month on standby and almost two weeks if you use it for ten minutes every day.  Not bad!

The ECCO GPS keychain costs £69.99 and is available from Firebox

Hyundai Motor Company has rolled out the latest addition to its Blue Drive™ line-up at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show - the i-flow. Sharing similar lines to the Blue Will Concept shown in Detroit in January, the concept hybrid certainly lives up to its name… flow it does. The aerodynamic skin, coupled with the use of lightweight materials, solar panels and innovative design elements like an adaptive front spoiler and side rocker blades, add up to a claimed fuel efficiency of 3L/100km and CO2 output of just 85g/km

The comparatively small, but incredibly exclusive Swedish car manufacture Koenigsegg, has now surpassed any expectations even of those who are used to the maximum on the track and the Koenigsegg standard, and oh-so needed G-sensor. Agera is the new name that’s meant to nurture a speed enthusiast’s dreams with performance figures, and a smooth, stealthy look beyond all beliefs. The touted next-evolutionary-step design is accompanied by 910 disciplined horses, which effortlessly provide a 3 seconds sprint to the 62, and a regal peak torque of 811 lb-ft, produced by a 4.7-liter V8. Maintaining the evolutionary aspiration, Koenigsegg found itself using carbon fiber and an aluminum honeycomb material to forge a 159 pounds slim chassis around a sporty interior.

Citroen is forging further ahead with its premium DS initiative at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show with the debut of the limited edition DS3 Racing.

Based on the Mini-rivaling DS3 premium hatchback, the DS3 Racing packs a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine producing 200 horsepower. Tuned by Citroen’s world championship rally team, the DS3 Racing sits 15 millimeters lower and 30 millimeters wider than the stock version. Special graphics, wheels, bodywork and carbon-fiber trim also help differentiate this special model, which will only be produced in limited quantities and, sadly, not available in North America.

When the $1.5M Russian SUV failed to adorn its interiors with whale penis leather, it was time to create an unbelievable armored car to keep up with the continued (mis)adventures of the world’s most expensive SUV. DARTZ has signed a contract with Riviera Premium Service and now this uber luxury, super strong and extra fast Russian Tank can meet you at a nice airport and deliver anywhere you want. So, if you find the idea of the world’s most expensive SUV, minus the whale-penis leather interiors, and if by any chance you’re visiting any cities of the French Riviera, you can rent a DARTZ at Cote d’Azur. As it is with the unique cars, armored DARTZ is of course, in limited edition. However, there’re a plenty of color options to choose from, including your choice of color if booking order is placed a week before.

Mercedes-Benz and Cigarette Racing converged upon the 2010 Miami International Boat Show last week to unveil a new 46-foot custom racing boat inspired by the automaker’s SLS AMG supercar. In lieu of the Gullwing’s lone 6.2-liter V8 engine, which puts out a measly 563 horsepower, the Cigarette boat offers a pair of twin-turbocharged 552-cubic-inch Mercury Racing engines. Each mill cranks out 1,350 horsepower. Yep, that’s 2,700 total horsies. Giddyup.

The new Cigarette 46-foot Rider features hand-applied AMG ALUBEAM silver paint, as seen on the SLS AMG supercar. According to the automaker, its specially developed painting technique “covers body surfaces like a metallic skin, targeting light reflections to further emphasize exterior character lines and design details.” We’ll take their word for it.

Step inside the boat and you’ll be greeted with marine-grade upholstery that’s designed to resemble the two-tone porcelain and white Nappa leather offered on the SLS AMG. So far, there’s no word on how much this custom Cigarette will go for, but something with a six-pack of zeros is virtually a lock.

Ralph Lauren has one. So does Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and some of the richest men in the world. Now you can get your hands on an extremely rare automotive icon, a legendary 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO being offered for private treaty sale by RM Auctions, at a price that could easily top $25 million. The car, chassis no. 4675 GT from an important Japanese collection, is one of only 36 250 GTOs originally produced and one of a limited few with Series II GTO bodywork. In 2008 British real estate baron Bill Ainscough reportedly sold his 250 GTO for about $28 million to an anonymous tycoon, making it the world’s most expensive car. “The Ferrari GTO is unquestionably one of the most iconic and coveted cars in the world,” notes Max Girardo, Managing Director of RM Europe. “This is truly a rare occasion for collectors to acquire such an important piece of automotive history.”

An extremely rare alloy-bodied 1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT (above), one of only 75 built, is expected to fetch up to $1 million at RM Auctions’ Automobiles of Arizona event at the Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix on January 21. The exclusive competition variant of Aston’s famed DB4, the model was formally introduced in September 1959 at the London Motor Show and was based on the race winning prototype driven to victory at Silverstone in May 1959 by the great Stirling Moss. The example on offer is the last DB4 GT built and underwent a complete restoration during 1994-95. The car has a luxurious Connolly leather interior with Wilton wool carpets, handles like a race car and does 150 mph.

Well, a car equipped with a GPS system is God’s gift to men who don’t ask for directions, even when they are lost! So, now for those wanderers, here’s car-splurging with a cause. The 2011 Audi A8 yet again proves why not just eye-candy but is also value for money. The sedan comes with an 8-inch LCD screen that shows you land marks in 3D, thanks to a collaboration with the Google Earth and terrain-mapping functionality. The new system will use a UMTS modem for transferring data to the navigation system for downloading the maps. The data is then used to make an online search through a multimedia interface through which a user can search for “Cabinet maker” which displays the results.

Looking around the Hyundai Genesis website, we stumbled into the “engineering” section and found this amazing background-sized picture of a Genesis completely disassembled, IKEA-style. Want to see how it got that way? The epic time lapse video’s above.