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Toyota, Lexus dominate KBB's Best Resale Value Awards

Toyota and Lexus stormed the 2014 Kelley Blue Book Best Resale Value Awards, winning a combined 18 categories including best brand and best luxury brand. This marks the third year in a row that both automakers have won the Brand and Luxury Brand resale value awards. In all, Toyota won 11 categories and Lexus won seven.
Honda made a good showing, as well, winning two segments (Accord Plug-In Hybrid and Civic Si) and putting one car on the top-10 Best Resale Value list (CR-V). Chevrolet did even better, winning two segments (with the V6 Camaro and the Corvette) and placing three cars on the top-10-overall list (again, the Camaro and Corvette, plus the Silverado 1500).
The other winners came from Jeep, Dodge, Infiniti, Subaru and Audi. To give you a clearer picture of the Toyota and Lexus domination, their 18 mentions represents more than half of the 34 awards (including the top-10-overall list).

The revolutionary Bose suspension that could have been

The Bose name pops up on these pages every once in a while – usually, as you might expect, because some automaker or another has installed its audio systems in one or more of its models. But a few years back, the research-driven audiophiles at Bose developed a revolutionary adaptive suspension system that could have been a game-changer. Sadly, it wasn't. The Bose suspension system was a technological breakthrough. As you can see from the pair of Lexus LS sedans demonstrated (and the Porsche Cayman thrown in for good measure) in the two-minute video above from CNET, the system virtually eliminated body roll and smoothed out bumps in the road to near glass-like serenity. It could even jump over minor obstacles. Unfortunately, the system was too heavy and expensive to put into production, and the project was shelved. Instead, it was repackaged into a suspended driver's seat for heavy-duty, long-haul trucks and called the Bose Ride System. It's said to significantly reduce fatigue and back pain while encouraging driver alertness and wellness – which is all well and fine, but a far cry from what the suspension system could have meant for the automotive industry. Just think about that the next time you notice the Bose logo on the speaker grille in an upscale vehicle from the likes of Audi, FCA, GM, Mazda, or Nissan – all automakers that offer Bose audio systems, and which might have considered implementing the advanced suspension if only it were more practical for production. Latest Video: News Source: CNET via YouTube Lexus Technology Videos lexus ls cnet

Vice chronicles Okinawa's illegal street racing scene

We all know that street racing is dangerous, and that motorsports are best left on the track or drag strip. However, that doesn't mean that there still isn't some outlaw allure among enthusiasts of racing on public roads. In this video, Vice Japan profiles Eikichi Nagayoshi of Japan's island of Okinawa. He is a used car dealer by day and an illegal racer by night.
Nagayoshi has a deep love for his highly customized Toyota Aristo (better known to us as a first-generation Lexus GS) that he claims produces over 1,000 horsepower and has hit 205 miles per hour. He races his car both on drag strips and in drifting competitions, but says that he often has to ship the car to mainland Japan to compete. In the absence of those opportunities, he sometimes gathers friends and takes the racing to the public roads. While we're not down with street racing, this Vice video is an intriguing personality piece, as well as a look into Japan's fabled underground racing scene. Scroll down to check out the video, but make sure you have the "CC" button clicked, because several portions are subtitled.