Maranello, 27 August 2009 – In the run-up to the official unveiling of the Ferrari 458 Italia at the Frankfurt Motor Show on the 15th of September, enthusiasts can find out more about the car on www.ferrari.com. There they will find the first photographs of the 458 Italia's interior and of the steering wheel and instrument binnacle which represent a significant step forward in the concept of the ergonomic interface between driver and car.

In fact the main commands are now grouped on the steering wheel, the secondary commands are handily set in two satellite pods either side of the dash and there are now comprehensive instrument displays on the panel ahead of the driver. These solutions represent an important safety aspect, enabling the driver to concentrate fully on driving. Similarly this layout ensures maximum control of the car in high performance driving, an uncompromising approach that derives directly from Ferrari's F1 experience.

Working closely with the Ferrari Styling Centre, the engineers have thus reinterpreted the positioning of the major commands to provide a truly driver-oriented cockpit. All steering-column mounted stalks have been eliminated, with the indicators, full beam, flash and windscreen wiper functions now being activated by buttons on the steering wheel boss. The button to select the shock absorber setting is now positioned next to the ‘Engine start' button where it falls readily to hand. Behind the wheel are a number of secondary functions, such as the stereo, while the gearbox paddles are now longer making shifts even easier from any steering angle.

The right-hand satellite pod on the dash incorporates controls for the infotainment, the Bluetooth connection, sat-nav, digital speedo and rear parking camera. Clustered on the left-hand satellite pod instead are the optional cruise control, buttons for choosing the video setting of the left-hand dash TFT screen and the on-board computer interface. The latter controls the trip computer, the Vehicle Dynamic Assistance and the display of the car's set-up.

The Vehicle Dynamic Assistance monitors the operating parameters of the most important areas of the car – engine/gearbox, tyres and brakes. The VDA is enabled in the following manettino settings – Race, CT off and CST off – and provides visual confirmation of the status of each component based on an algorithm from parameters reading lateral and longitudinal acceleration, revs and speed. This enables the driver to assess the ideal operating conditions for the car. There are three status settings: WARM-UP (operating temperature too low), GO (ideal operating conditions) and OVER (one or more components are no longer at their optimum level and need cooling).

Along with the photos now on-line, the Ferrari site also includes an exclusive video interview with Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of Pininfarina S.p.A., who provides in depth insight into the 458 Italia's design philosophy and exterior styling. The next release on www.ferrari.com will include an analysis of the car's performance characteristics with an interview with seven-times F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher.

The headlamp converter takes advantage of the adaptive headlight controls and allows for the beam pattern on the A4 Allroad to change to accommodate either left hand drive or right hand drive nations. It's not exactly a "why haven't they thought of that before" moment, as electronically controlled active headlights are pretty new, but still, an awfully clever feature you Europeans never new you needed. [GermanCarBlog]

Mr. & Mrs. Pump
These must be lawyers. Photo Credit: David Clow

Street Corner Living Room
This Dutch street scene is either a commentary on life in transit or an angry ex with a sense of humor. Photo Credit: Material Boy @ Flickr

Loch Ness Monster Crossing
We didn't realize Nessie was living in France, but a summer in Paris is just what it needed.

Deer Blind Towers
This series of Deer Blinds outside a Cabela's in Buda, Texas isn't intentionally surreal road art until the bicycle is added. Photo Credit: Chainsawpanda @ Flickr

Families Crossing
Seriously, they're in a hurry. Emsef @ Flickr

Traffic Barrel Monster
Have we mentioned how much we love the traffic barrel monster? Totally worth going to jail over.

Don't Mess With Their Ecosystem
Seriously, those Kangaroos are going to jack you up.
Photo Credit: Grilled Baby Pandas @ Flickr

[via Swick]

Butt Hole Road
One of our favorites, Butt Hole means "watering hole" in an older form of English.

Cock Hill Lane
We assume a rooster roamed these parts.

Cockburn Street
Pronounced coh-burn, if you pronounce it with a hard "k" sound it's because you didn't wrap it up.

Dumb Womans Lane
Ann Coulter has to live somewhere.

Slutshole Lane
Slut used to mean "mud" and therefore this is mud shole lane. Take too many trips down this road, though, and you'll end up on Cockburn Street.

Economy Road
Oh no, we're in the red! Even worse: it's a cul-de-sac.

No Name Street
After reviewing these other names, we think this was the safe way to go.

PeePee Falls Street
One more reason why you should always wear a hat.

Penis Road
The "Pen Is Mightier."

Blueball Avenue
We don't care how much it hurts, avoid Slutshole Road.

Titman Road
Who isn't?

The Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road wraps its way around the Jebel Hafeet Mountain, the second highest peak in the U.A.E. at over 4000 feet. The road offers brave drivers 60 corners over 7.3 miles of perfectly paved asphalt while offering a beautiful view of the desert below. As Tiff points out, numerous drivers have misjudged the corners. The rubber graffiti written all along the road's concrete barriers, a sign some should stick to just going straight.

For those who have mastered all 60 corners of the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road only a small car park with 2 porta-johns (for you to empty out your pants) and cafe await you at the top of the peak, but we're guessing those aren't the real prize. Did we mention that there's only one way down? We're hoping that Ol' Master Wert will hand us the keys to something special and give us the okay to take a short journey to the oil-rich capital.

View Larger Map

(photo credit: Renen Jose Navalta via flickr)
[via 5th gear]

Cables have been buried in the ground several feet from the road, running parallel to it. The electromagnetic field they emit has been calibrated to detect the interruptions caused by deer, elk, or other large animals passing over it. Signs positioned along the roadway then light up to alert drivers to the presence of the animals. For the trial phase, radar detectors are being used to calculate both the volume of traffic and its speed. Should the alerts be capable of convincing a significant enough portion of drivers to slow down when animals are present, the system could be rolled out across frequent animal crossings statewide.

We’d love to see technology like this applied to roadways. Combined with other advanced warning systems like BMW’s night vision-equipped 7-series it could make the road a safer place for humans and animals alike. [via Treehugger; photo nrcdeer.com]

Made by Honda as part of an upcoming advertising campaign, the road's incredibly out-of-tune rendition of "The William Tell Overture" (you might know it as the theme from The Lone Ranger) attracted tourists but annoyed locals to no end. Honda states that the road was tuned specifically to the tires and wheelbase of a Civic, so that may explain why it sounds so terrible in this video. We're thinking that the neighbors living about a half mile away and can't get to sleep at night from the racket really don't care to hear it at all. [CBS2, dailybreeze](Hat tip to Rene!)

Through a system of taxes, incentives, legislation and earmarks, the privatization of our road network is drawing rapidly nearer. This will mean an increase in both toll roads and congestion charging as public transportation suffers from the lack of investment as its channeled elsewhere.

The WaPo goes on to explain that while this policy is heavily criticized, a large investment in the road network is needed and drivers are going to be the ones paying for it, either through tolls and similar charges, or through increased fuel taxes. But, as the price of fuel skyrockets, it's looking increasingly unlikely that it'll be the latter.

We don't necessarily think that road pricing is a bad thing, but would like to see a substantial portion of the money raised reinvested in public transportation. Encouraging rather than forcing people to pursue alternative means of commuting. [Via The Washington Post]

Photography credit: Andrew Ciscel