Oh, we’re not lying – that would just be mean. Volkswagen is indeed giving away six brand new 2010 GTIs! And if you’re thinking that you have to sign away your first born child or give up the sweet taste of chocolate for a year to enter, you’d be wrong. Just download their Real Racing GTI game for the iPod and iPod Touch and you’re entered.

Don’t fret, people who don’t have that fancy-schmancy technology (cough, us, cough), you can still enter. Phew.

If you can’t afford the real thing, but you still want to see your dream car in action then you might want to look into a radio-controlled mini dream car. R/C cars are everywhere, but for the most realistic looks and detail our favorite manufacturer is Tamiya. The company’s been around since the ’70s and has pioneered many advancements in the world of R/C. If you’re into imports, race cars, exotics or 4×4’s then there are amazing scaled down realistic models to be had.

Tamiya produces a number of different chassis that support bodies like the Ferrari FXX, Ferrari F430, Porsche Turbo RSR, Suzuki Swift rally car and Ford F-350, among others. You also have the option to add more powerful engines, upgraded suspension kits or stronger transmissions. These kits will set you back about $400, but they’re the best in the biz. They can also hit speeds of up to 50 mph – which is fine if you’re cool chasing after one.

So it seems that with such a volatile car market, Land Rover has decided that what it needs is to do to remain competitive is to make telephones. Partnering with Sonim Technologies, the duo has created the world’s first IP-67-rated phone, and we all know what that means! Actually, we have no idea what that means, but in layman’s terms: it’s everything-proof.

This nifty piece of kit is resistant to dirt, dust, sand, pet dander and any number of other small particulates that you can think of. The S1, as it’s known, can be submerged in over 3ft of water for 30 minutes, and still take pictures with its 2 mega-pixel waterproof camera. It also comes equipped with GPS, FM radio, a flashlight, and Bluetooth. Lord knows one can get away with all sorts of shenanigans, especially when you have 18 hours of battery life and a pet dander-proof phone. Imagine the possibilities! [Source: Jalopnik]

Meet Rev, the iPhone app that, for $40, effectively turns your handy-dandy Apple phone or music player whatchmacallit into an OBD-II scanner. It also uses the iPhone’s accelerometers and GPS to calculate things like fuel economy and g-force load. Hit the video above to learn more about the app, demoed partially through the experiences of Billy, a driving enthusiast with a Volkswagen Beetle. And here we thought those two things were mutually exclusive… [Source: iCars Singapore via YouTube]

While it might sound the part, the Fujitsu-Ten DREC-3000 isn’t the name of the next great RoboCop replacement, but rather a new in-car camera that can be used to provide flashback replay of accidents. Basically it’s a black box for your car that constantly records over itself and logs the last 20 seconds of driving onto its SD card. Alternatively, a switch can be flipped at any time to record some on-road antics, but we’d advise against uploading footage of your ‘Awesomest burnout EVAR!’ onto YouTube lest you desire a surprise visit from the local authorities.

[Source: Crunch Gear]

Thousands of booths crowded the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, all overflowing with new and innovative technology. But it wasn’t all digital cameras and video games, there were cars, lots of little toys for them, and nearly the entire North Hall was dedicated to the genre. On one side of the convention you could sit in a simulator and drive a Lamborghini, and on the other side you could sit in a real one – sans the driving, of course. Computers and cell phones galore, but almost every object that uses a single silicon chip had a presence at CES.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a single green car product though, even in the environmentally friendly tech area. With the push towards greener cars from American automakers and aftermarket parts companies, the absence of tech to help them along was surprising. The closest they came to environmentally friendly transportation products were the electric bikes and scooters thats are gaining in popularity, but nothing to help make cars already on the road better and safer for the environment. We’re hoping this is not due to the fact that people aren’t making these products, but rather that they just weren’t present at CES.

Alpine. Pioneer. Sony. Kenwood.  All the standard car-audio companies you’d expect to see there, you did, and then some.  They almost all used tricked out cars to gravitate you toward their booth, and lets face it, its hard not to want to check some of these out. International Truck and Engine had a truck lifted so high they installed a flatscreen between the wheelwell and the wheel itself.  That’s dedication. But honestly, it all seemed like the same old deal – until they turned on the stereo. And then you remember why CES is so amazing. The companies’ systems shook the components on the roof 35 feet up and could be heard over a hundred yards away.

But away from all the obscenely excessive sound systems, there was an audio company there that had something different going on.  It wasn’t a speaker company though, it was a software company.  Astound Stereo has developed software that basically gives you 5.1 stereo sound, with any two or more speakers. That means it can be had in your car, your laptop speakers or even earbuds. Basically, the technology gives you the illusion that the sounds are coming from every direction.  Not revolutionary, and probably not necessary if you don’t have disposable income, but a surprisingly fun experience with considering your little iPod headphones can now scare the crap out of you while you’re watching a rip of My Bloody Valentine on the bus.

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We’ve got new reviews of the 2010 Mustang GT, 2009 Touareg TDI and the iconic Nissan 370Z. If you’re still scratching your head, wondering what to get your friend for Christmas, look no further than our Top 10 Car Gadgets for Christmas list. New technologies keep cropping up in the field of alternative fuels. Keep things straight with our  Electric Vehicles: 2009 and Beyond story, which goes in depth into the future of the EV.

As always, for the latest reviews and features, head to DriverSide’s Spotlight.

Ever wondered how fast your car can hit sixty or the quarter mile? Do you have an iPhone? Wait no longer. The clever people at BunsenTech have produced a car performance meter application for the apple iPhone and iPod Touch called Dynolicious. iPhones and iPod Touches come standard with an onboard accelerometer, which senses movement and changes the screen both vertically and horizontally. Dynolicious took the signal from the onboard accelerometer and is now able to produce fairly accurate 0-60 times, 1/4-mile runs, and more. It even senses lateral G’s and horsepower. And all this without any wires or other equipment. At a price of just 13 bucks at the Apple Store, there’s no reason to not get one.

[Source: Dynolicious]

While the new Apple iPhone 3G has stolen the gadget spotlight lately, there are plenty of other nifty hand-held devices out there perform just as well, if not better. That’s especially true if we’re talking about the Garmin Nuvifone. If the name sounds familiar to you, it should. The Nuvifone is produced by the same folks who have created some of the best personal in-car GPS systems on the planet, and they’ve used that expertise with the Nuvifone. For people on the go who travel between vehicles frequently, the Nuvifone offers fantastic turn by turn directions, 3.5 gigs of storage for pictures, videos or music (take that, iPhone) and “Garmin Online.” The service offers up-to-date traffic reports, sports scores, stock prices and local events. No word on price just yet, as the Nuvifone should be available by Q3 this year.