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Ford Transit Skyliner Concept is a Gulfstream for the road

If you are afraid to fly or just want to arrive at your ultimate destination in absolute comfort, then the Ford Transit Skyliner concept might be the perfect vehicle for you. Built by Galpin Auto Sports and based on a 2015 Transit, the van is basically a private jet on wheels. It even has a touch of Transformers about it with the ability to switch between four modes by pressing a button in a smartphone app.
Based on the long wheelbase, high-roof model with 487 cubic feet of cargo space and 6 feet, 9.5 inches of interior height, the Skyliner has movable captains chairs that shift around among four modes. In theater mode, the seats turn and recline to face a 52-inch retractable movie screen with 7.2 surround sound. For business, a motorized table unfolds, and the chairs gather around it. There is a mode for tailgating where the door opens four-feet wide, and, when traveling, passengers can recline back with footrests that extend for maximum comfort.
To make the ride even plusher, there is a satellite and media server to meet your entertainment needs, and there is even a built-in bar in the back. If this Ford had a bathroom, you could live in it. Of course, you would need to hire a driver to enjoy all the amenities in the back.

Amazon looking to bring Kindle to your next car?

Maybe so. The online retailer and digital media monolith recently announced the Amazon Cloud Player, an application for Ford Sync that allows users to stream media from their Amazon Cloud account directly to a Ford vehicle. This foray into automotive technology got the minds at Gigaom.com thinking about what could be next for Amazon. As Kevin Fitchard writes, the logical step is to make audio versions of your Kindle library selections available in your car. As he points out, Amazon has already laid the groundwork for such a move.
Amazon pulled the sheets back on Whispersync for Voice last year. The tech pairs ebooks with an Audible book for a small extra fee, allowing users to either read along with a narrator or switch between audio and text versions on command. Fitchard says it wouldn't be some great leap to apply the same principles to a car, where voice recognition software would allow users to pause or select chapters without ever taking their eyes off of the road.
It all sounds just fine to us, but Amazon hasn't said a thing about such a move. Still, we wouldn't be surprised to see the company come down this road in the near future just the same.

Is it time for American carmakers to give up on dual-clutch transmissions? [w/poll]

Last week, in the midst of Detroit's first days seeking relief in Chapter 9 of the bankruptcy code, Automotive News contributor Larry P. Vellequette penned an editorial suggesting that American car companies raise the white flag on dual clutch transmissions and give up on trying to persuade Americans to buy cars fitted with them. Why? Because, Vellequette says, like CVT transmissions, they "just don't sound right or feel right to American drivers." (Note: In the article, it's not clear if Vellequette is arguing against wet-clutch and dry-clutch DCTs or just dry-clutch DCTs, which is what Ford and Chrysler use.) The article goes on to state that Ford and Chrysler have experimented with DCTs and that both consumers and the automotive press haven't exactly given them glowing reviews, despite their quicker shifts and increased fuel efficiency potential compared to torque-converter automatic transmissions.
Autoblog staffers who weighed in on the relevance of DCTs in American cars generally disagreed with the blanket nature of Vellequette's statement that they don't sound or feel right, but admit that their lack of refinement compared to traditional automatics can be an issue for consumers. That's particularly true in workaday cars like the Ford Focus and Dodge Dart, both of which have come in for criticism in reviews and owner surveys. From where we sit, the higher-performance orientation of such transmissions doesn't always meld as well with the marching orders of everyday commuters (particularly if drivers haven't been educated as to the transmission's benefits and tradeoffs), and in models not fitted with paddle shifters, it's particularly hard for drivers to use a DCT to its best advantage.
Finally, we also note that DCT tuning is very much an evolving science. For instance, Autoblog editors who objected to dual-clutch tuning in the Dart have more recently found the technology agreeable in the Fiat 500L. Practice makes perfect - or at least more acceptable.