What buzz words come to mind when the word ‘hybrid’ is thrown about? Sexy? Sporty? Fast? No, no, and no.  Our impression of hybrids will change in the coming years.  The days of synonymous associations of the term with Toyota Priuses and Honda Insights are numbered.  The Geneva Auto Show premiered a couple hybrid sports cars even Nostradamus could not prophesize.  The best in show award for electrocuted ponies goes to…

The Porsche Carrera GT Hybrid, err, I mean the Porsche 918 Spyder Plug In Hybrid Concept!

Mid mounted symphonic V8? Check.  500 ponies? Check.  9200 redline? Check.  What you might not know is nearly half of the stable is available on tap by two electric motors.   In fact, the car can run exclusively on the 218 electrocuted horses for 16 miles.

The additional hybrid equipment includes a lithium ion battery pack under the passenger’s toosh and two electric motors supplying the 218 horses, one on the front and another the rear axle.  With all the additional hardware, the car still weighs in at under 3300 lbs.  Oh and it lapped the Nurburging quicker than the Carrera GT.  And did I mention Porsche claims 78 Miles per gallon at the pump?

Mind = Blown

My answer, without equivocation, is no.  TomTom, Garmin, and Magellan might be disappointed. And yes, I know there are $100 iPhone apps out there which provide the same service.  Take a look at the Lexus Navigation System, the Audi Navigation system, and the BMW Navigation system in their 2010 flagships and see if the iPhone will suffice.

It is easy to forget how far car navigation has come.  10 years ago, car navigation simply entailed a series of maps uploaded onto a CD or a DVD.  GPS would find the car’s location and triangulate it to the map on the screen.  Voila.  Today, everyone with a smart phone has Google Maps and/or Mapquest.  You could argue these applications aren’t as responsive.  Fair enough, grab a TomTom and Garmin, problem solved, right? Not exactly.

Car makers are smart.  They know the navigation package has the highest mark up.  They have been charging inflated prices upwards of $5000 for the “technology package” for ages.  The selling point is convenience and the pretentious right to say  “I got a BMW with Nav! Top of the Line!” as opposed to “I got a BMW.”

Luxury car makers are successfully distancing themselves from TomSquared and company.  Mercedes Benz now offers a Navigation system with a 6 disc DVD player.  The Lexus navigation system will not only give you active traffic updates but also update you on how your stocks and Lakers are doing.  Audi’s navigation system takes it one step further and adds a TV tuner.  Great, now you can connect to your phone via bluetooth and vote for your favorite American Idol all while zooming up the on ramp.

Like Ophelia, no one out-crazy’s BMW.  On board the BMW navigation system is an 80 gig hard drive.  With the hard drive comes a CD/DVD reader and a USB port so you can not only upload songs, but movies, files, documents and family photographs as well.

How do you make something good better? Just add Google.  Yes, BMW navigation system will integrate with Google.  You can “tell the car” where you will be traveling while enjoying the morning coffee on your desktop.  When you jump in the car, the navigation is already there.  Gmail fan? Great, now all your contacts can be uploaded into the BMW Navigation system – this means the physical address will be marked on the map along with names and numbers.  Scroll to John, click the home/office address, and you have directions.  Simple.  Want to text him instead? BMW now has Google voice recognition built in, say it and it shall be texted.  Voice enabled Google search is there too.  Somewhere KITT is rolling in its grave..

Would I pass over Garmin and pay $5000 for a car navigation system? If that’s what it takes to say, “I got a BMW with Google! Top of the Line!”

I am a little frustrated. My car radio decided to leave me for eternity; it was time for us to part ways. The solution seems pretty simple right? Just go to the dealership and get a replacement CD changer. WRONG. I don’t understand how someone can ask for such a large amount of money for a 7 year old part. I know I am not getting the best bang for the buck. I know I am not getting the most up to date, audiophile quality head unit.

Truth is, I don’t want to. I am a simple human being. I want a simple replacement to what I’ve had in the my car for the past 7 years. So I try Best Buy, Fry’s, and other local electronic stores. Again, nothing. After banging my head online for a few hours, I found a great car radio replacement solution. Best Buy size selection and warranty in car audio minus the outrageous stealership prices – all for stock car radio parts.

Why aren’t there more of these? I am still searching but quite frankly, getting tired of stolen car stereos on ebay and craigslist and the lack of warranties from other stores. I am curious, am I the only one who likes my car audio the way it is – stock? And willing to go through all this to get my car back to its simple, clean look? Call me crazy but I’d rather rebuild my CD changer than part ways with it for eternity.